Siege of Fort Meigs [pp. 75-81]

SIEGE OF FORT MEIGS.
your joints, and nerve your vengeful arms for deeds
of mighty daring!" Seeing several men turn away
sufficiently infuriated, I marched up to see if I
could be inspired with the same desirable ardor;
for it seemed to be in horrid harmony with the
dreariness of the surrounding scenery. I looked
down upon the corpse, which wore all the freshness
and bloom of life, and contracted my muscles, and
clenched my teeth, and held my breath, and put
forth every device, mental and physical, in courting
the furies, but all to no purpose. I felt no fell spirit
of vengeance gnawing at my heart. Despite of my
late supply of provender, the sensation_jf hunger
was the dominant distress within. I saw that it
was sad butchery that had been perpetrated by naked savages, who had been goaded and hunted down
themselves, like beasts of the forest. But the sight
neither augmented nor diminished the principle
with which I set out-the amor patrie which I had
drank in at my mother's breast-nor did it rouse
me to emulate the barbarous example. And this
patriotism sustained us long after Major L. had
grounded his fury at his own peaceful fireside.
Here it was determined to take up our winter
quarters. We formed a hollow square in a thick
grove, on the most commanding hill. We then
had to fell trees, and throw a breast-work around
the whole army, before we were permitted to retire
to rest. As it regards regular meals, they were
fast going out of fashion; and that night supper was
postponed. After we were suffered to see to ourselves, each mess kindled a princely fire; for whatever else might betide, we always had an enviable
supply of wood. We then sat down, in doleful
plight, to parch corn; and we comforted each other
by talking martially about Tupper's men, who had
occupied that ground before us, and who had been
driven to such straits, as to eat roasted hickory
roots. Our ambition rose no higher than parched
corn, until a luckless epicure exclaimed, "Boys,
did you ever hear of'hog-meat and homnmony?"
"0, don't mention hommony: you will make us
squeal right out." "Well, sirs, it is not only mentionable, but it is highly feasible. Now if you will
only cast in a generous contribution of corn, we'll
borrow a camp-kettle, and make a royal mess of
hornmony." Having been partly raised on hommony, we all understood very well how to dispose
Sf the good dish when cookled, but we had brought
out no recipe concerning the preparation. However, it was decided, without a dissenting voice, that
it must be boiled. Moreover, we knew that we
had taken the first step right, according to Mrs.
Glass-we had "caught" the corn. So at it we
went. All other business was suspended, and we
laid as close siege to the camp-kettle as ever Edward, king of England, did to Calais. Every hour
or so we would dip up a spoonful to try it; but it
really appeared that the longer we boiled it the hard!
er it got. We persevered until day dawned upon us,
and then, to our great mortification, found that we
had not only lost our corn, but our night's rest.
Our distressing march had closed; and for several
subsequent weeks we tasted the labors and fatigues
of a soldier's life. The troops were employed daily
in digging trenches, felling trees, splitting logs,
setting up picketing, raising blockhouses, and doing every kind of work that was necessary to fortify our post, which embraced nine acres, and which,
when finished, was called "Fort Meigs." This season of fatigue was replete with hardships, especially
as it was in the depth of winter, and accompanied
with many privations. However, our bodies and
minds were actively employed, which rendered our
condition far preferable to that which immediately
followed; for having finished the public and private
work which was necessary to make our quarters
tolerable, if not comfortable, a state of indolence
and inactivity succeeded that was highly deleterious to the army. The winter was unusually severe, even on the frontiers. One unfortunate sentinel froze at his post in less than two hours. We
here had an opportunity of testing the mistaken
policy of some fond parents, who think that they
have accomplished a stroke of generalship, when
they hide their children from the contagious disorders which occasionally visit their neighborhood.
Numbers were swept off by the mumps, measles,
whooping-cough, and other distempers, which came
upon them at this unpropitious time and place,
where there was little remedy and less medical
skill, and where the soft hand of the warm-hearted
mother, and the sleepless solicitude of the affectionate sister could not reach them. They died
daily. The mournful air of "Roslin Castle" became the prevailing music of the day, while the
sharp rifle-cracks of the platoon told how many
were borne to their long home. A deadly homesickness overwhelmed our troops, and we believe a
repentance of war was kindled in every bosom,
from the highest to the lowest.
Some stirring incident would occasionally occur,
as a kind of ennui-breaker, and rouse us from our
torpor. At one time our spies brought intelligence
that a party of about seven hundred Indians were
diverting themselves with a war dance on the ice,
near the mouth of the river. In the dusk of the
evening, General Harrison, at the head of fifteen
hundred troops, started for the party, although not
particularly invited. At a late hour in the night
the blazing fires of the enemy appeared on the
bank of the river. We were now wide awake.
The day of battle, about which so much had been
said, was now right before us. The detachment,
thrown into a crescent, with the artillery in the
centre, cautiously approached. We found the fires
77