War 1812 (4 page)

Looking at Moses, he nodded his agreement with what Gesslin had done as he turned from the scene. Looking about the yard, several empty and broken clay jugs of rum were found. Jonah kicked a half-burned blanket aside and found a pouch full of tobacco.

“They overlooked that,” Moses said.

Jonah handed the leather pouch to his friend for safekeeping. They both enjoyed a bowl of the devil’s weed when the opportunity to light their pipes arose. On the other side of the lean-to flies buzzed around the carcass of the cow the Indians had skinned to use the hide on the girl. As the green skin dried, it would tighten on the girl until she couldn’t breathe… a slow death.

“Those were a torturing bunch of heathens,” Moses volunteered.

Not knowing if they were being watched or not they made a quick job of burying the family. Nosing around while some of the men were digging the graves Jonah and Moses found a small cellar with several jars of canned foods. The woman had done a right smart job of canning in preparation for the hard winter ahead. The men took what they could carry and then with little more than a prayer they left the buried bodies without the benefit of a cross. The group had been there no more than an hour when they made their way back to the trail.

They rode until dark and then made camp. While some of the men tended to the horses, others went about preparing the campsite. A couple of small fires were made to make coffee and heat up some of the canned goods they had found. The fires were well banked so the blazes were not visible from beyond a few feet. Making a few small fires was better than a large blaze which would have created too much of a glow. Moses spread his and Jonah’s bedrolls on a pile of pine needles next to a gigantic old pine tree. As Jonah lay down, he pulled his blanket up over him as there was a chill in the air.
It will come a frost soon,
he thought. Lying there in the quiet, he could hear the river as the water flowed. Before morning, the sound of an animal walking down to the water to drink woke Jonah up. The chatter of a couple of boar coons fighting made several of the men rise up from their blankets until each had identified the sound. Satisfied no Indians were about, they rolled over and went back to sleep.

Jonah had volunteered himself and Moses’ services to stand watch, but Gesslin said they had a routine down and didn’t want to break it. The thought was appreciated but not needed. Jonah wondered if Gesslin didn’t trust them as woodsmen yet.

Seeing Jonah’s look of concern, Gesslin quickly dispelled that idea. “We have a system,” he said. “There’s no need to change. The men know each other and who relieves whom and where they bed down.”

When the gray light of false dawn appeared the men got up and started stirring about camp. The ground had been cold even through the pine needles and ground blanket. Jonah awoke with a dull ache and stiffness in his back. Watching some of the others stretch, he realized he wasn’t the only one the cold, hard ground had gotten too. Of course, they hadn’t had a fire of any size to help with the cold either.

In half an hour, the men had their fill of coffee and bacon. They had finished what bread they had brought. They would have to make pan bread from now on if bread was to be had. One of the men had walked to the river’s edge to wash the frying pan and rinse out the coffee pot. He had no sooner gotten out of sight when he rushed back into camp.

“Injuns,” he hissed. “Several large canoes full of the devils.”

“How far?” Gesslin asked.

“In sight.” By that, he meant they’d made it around the bend in the river and were on the straightway. That meant they were no more than one hundred fifty yards and probably less.

Gesslin called to one of his men to secure the horses; so they wouldn’t break loose if it came to a fight. The fires had been put out a good fifteen minutes ago so there was no smoke but the unmistakable smell of cooked bacon and wood smoke hung heavy in the early morning air. Jonah had seen Gesslin send a man to the river to keep watch. He was back now.

Jonah heard him tell Gesslin in a hushed voice, “There are five canoes with four or five warriors in each. They all had on war paint.” One, he noticed, had on an army coat.

It could have been picked up anywhere or anytime,
Jonah thought,
maybe even from the burned out settler’s cabin.
The most important part of the man’s report was that they were closing in toward the bank on our side of the river.

“Looks like we’re in for a fight,” Moses whispered as he handed Jonah his long rifle.

Without another word, they all spread out. Picking their belongings off the ground, the men found cover for themselves. The area wouldn’t stand a close inspection but from a distance all looked as it should be. The smell was what lured them in, Jonah was sure. The Indians landed and drew their canoes high on the river bank, moving silently through the trees to where the camp had been.

The men crouched, waiting, as the Indians inched forward making their way around small saplings and briars. Jonah’s group waited, hoping and praying the horses wouldn’t make a sound. Jonah had grown up in and around the woods. His father had taken Moses and him hunting from the time he was able to pick up a gun. Later, it was just Moses and Jonah supplying most of the meat for the table. Jonah’s father preferred deer over cow any day. However, all the hunting Jonah had done for wild game was nothing compared to hunting a man.

He’d learned the hard way when he was with General Wayne’s scouts. The snap of a twig under his arm as he raised his rifle had caused a swarm of Indians to attack him once. Luckily, the other scouts had been there.

Now Jonah waited and watched. He could feel his heartbeat, but he was not nervous. As the Indians moved closer, each cautious step brought them a little closer to the trap. Suddenly, a brave raised his bow to fire. He died before the arrow was fully drawn back. The sudden explosion of gunfire left half of the Indians down and kicking.

The Kentuckians rushed from their cover with Jonah and Moses along with them. One brave hacked at Jonah with a tomahawk. He parried it easily with his rifle then butted the Indian with the brass butt plate. For a moment, the hand to hand fighting was intense. However, half the Indians had been dropped with their volley. Moses was in a crouched position as a brave circled with him. Once the brave got a little closer, Jonah laid the barrel of his rifle against the warrior’s head, splitting the upper ear and scalp. The brave yelped in pain, went down on all four but came up quickly running for the river. Three more braves followed after him. The rest were down, some were dead, and others were just wounded.

Jonah did a quick count. Every one of the Kentuckians was accounted for with no apparent serious injury.

“Moses,” Jonah called. “Come with me.”

They ran down to the river but were too late to catch the retreating Indians. Four Indians were paddling a canoe hard, their arms rising and dipping as they headed down river. They were already too far for a good shot, so the two men went back to the campsite. The dead Indians had been stretched out together. The more seriously wounded were left lying, and those with minor wounds were bound loosely. They would break free soon, after Jonah’s group had broken camp and pulled out. They could attend to their own then.

In less than half an hour, the men had packed their blanket rolls, saddled their horses and were on their way. The sun peeking over the trees sent rays of sunlight through the forest. Jonah had never run from a fight, but looking back at the dead bodies and thinking about the settlers they had buried yesterday, he thought…
what a waste. Will it always be so? Surely men would look back at history and not repeat the same mistakes. Or would they?

It seemed as if Moses was reading Jonah’s mind or following his gaze. “It’s been like this since David’s time,” he said.
Moses would know,
Jonah thought. He was a man who knew the scriptures.

Chapter Four

T
he remainder of the
trip to Franklinton was uneventful. They passed a couple of small parties of Indians, but they were not wearing war paint. One party even had a few squaws and small children in it, so there was little to fear from them. It was late… almost nine p.m. when they came to the outskirts of the town.

Despite the lateness, the men were all satisfied that they’d decided to press on since dawn. Arriving in town tonight meant not having to spend another cold night on the trail and worrying about Indian attacks. The men must have looked a sight as they walked their horses down Gift Street. Although there were a few people stirring, most of the houses were dark as folks had already gone to bed. A dozen heavily armed men riding into town was enough to cause the few people who were still up to stop and take note.

They rode on briefly stopping at a livery stable long enough to find out if there were any soldiers in town, and if so, where they could be located. They left the livery stable and headed down Broad Street. As they rode in the direction where the army was camped, they passed a jail and a courthouse.

Gesslin turned in the saddle and spoke to his men, “You men keep civil while we are here. I don’t want to have to come looking for you at either of those places.”

This brought a couple of laughs and snickers as Gesslin knew it would. He then turned to Jonah and spoke, “You probably don’t know it, Jonah, but it was a Kentuckian who built this town. Fellow named Lucas Sullivant. He was a surveyor. He was sent to survey the Scioto River. Afterwards, he was given several thousand acres as reward for his trouble. Part of what is called the Scioto River Basin. He first laid out his town starting at the riverbanks. Then the rains came and flooded the proposed town site. That didn’t bother him much though. He just started over, moving the town about a mile away. To bring in folks, he gave away plots to anyone willing to build a house on a certain street. It was named Gift Street. That’s the one we rode in on. Since then, he’s got hitched. Now he’s done built his wife a fine new brick house. He also built her a church, and some say a school is in the making. Now, other folks, land speculators and such, are pushing a new town just up the road. They call it Columbus. Lots more money involved, so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Franklinton just dried up or got swept aside for this new town. Don’t seem right though. Not after all Sullivant did for the place.”

“You seem to be well informed,” Jonah said.

“I should be. I was one of a group of twenty men Sullivant brought up from Kentucky to survey the river. That was back in 1795. He offered me the same deal of free land to build on. Said it was to honor Ben Franklin, but I wanted to head back home. I figured I’d let others have the pleasure of honoring old Ben.” Turning in his saddle, Gesslin spoke to the men. “Here we are, fellows.”

The group pulled up in front of a brick building with a sign that read, Sullivant Land Office. A uniformed sentry stood watch at the front door of the building. Tents and campfires were visible in the field behind the building. The door of the building opened before they could address the sentry. A tall man with a glass in his hand opened the door and stepped outside. The sentry came to attention.

The man stared at the group for a moment then spoke, “Damn, Clay, took you long enough. I figured you’d either gotten lost or had your hair parted.”

Smiling, Gesslin dismounted and shaking the man’s hand said, “Well, there was a few who tried it.”

After shaking hands, Gesslin introduced Jonah, “Colonel Johnson, this is Jonah Lee. Lee, this is the best soldier in all of Kentucky… Colonel Richard Mentor Johnson.”

Dismounting, Lee shook hands with the colonel. After the greeting and introductions were complete, the sentry was sent to fetch a sergeant who took the rest of the Kentuckians to find a campsite. Moses looked at Jonah who gave a slight nod. They had come this far with the group, so they’d camp with them tonight. Jonah would find out from Johnson where he might find General Harrison. But that could wait until tomorrow. Thus far, the President’s paper remained unused. How long would it remain so?

Jonah liked Johnson immediately, as he had Clay Gesslin, but he didn’t want to reveal his hand as yet. Some people would act much differently when they think they are on equal ground, compared to someone seen as having more authority.