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Fort Dearborn Massacre
Lieutenant Linai T. Helm, U.S. Army

15 August 1812

...This being done, Capt. Heald hesitated and observed that it was not sound policy to tell a lie to an Indian; that he had received a positive order from Gen. Hull to deliver up to those Indians all the public property of whatsoever nature particularly to those Indians that would take in the Troops and that he could not alter it, and that it might irritate the Indians and be the means of the destruction of his men.

Kenzie volunteered to take the responsibility on himself, provided Capt. Heald would consider the method he would point out a safe one, he agreed. Kenzie wrote an order as if from Genl. Hull, and gave it into Capt. Heald. It was supposed to answer and accordingly was carried into effect. The ammunition and muskets were all destroyed the night of the 13th. The 15th, we evacuated the Garrison, and about one and half mile from the Garrison we were informed by Capt. Wells that we were surrounded and the attack by the Indians began about 10 of the clock morning. The men in a few minutes were, with the exception of 10, all killed and wounded. The Ensign and Surgeons Mate were both killed. The Capt. and myself both badly wounded during the battle. I fired my piece at an Indian and felt confident I killed him or wounded him badly.

Replica of Fort Dearborn, Chicago's first public building.

I immediately called to the men to follow me in the pirara, or we would be shot down before we could load our guns. We had proceeded under a heavy fire about an hundred and five paces when I made a wheel to the left to observe the motion of the Indians and avoid being shot in the back, which I had so far miraculously escaped. Just as I wheeled I received a ball through my coat pocket, which struck the barrel of my gun and fell in the lining of my coat. In a few seconds, I received a ball in my right foot, which lamed me considerably. The Indians happened immediately to stop firing and never more renewed it.

I immediately ordered the men that were able to load their guns and commenced loading for them that were not able. I now discovered Capt. Heald for the first time to my knowledge during the battle. He was coming from towards the Indians and to my great surprise they never offered to fire on him. He came up and ordered the men to form; that his intentions were to charge the body of Indians that were on the bank of the Lake where we had just retreated from. They appeared to be about 300 strong. We were 27, including all the wounded. He advanced about 5 steps and not at all to my surprise was the first that halted. Some of the men fell back instead of advancing. We then gained the only high piece of ground there was near. We now had a little time to reflect and saw death in every direction.

At this time an interpreter from the Indians advanced towards us and called for the Captain, who immediately went to meet him (the interpreter was a half Indian and had lived a long time within a few yards of the fort and bound to Mr. Kinzie; he was always very friendly with us all). A chief by the name of Blackbird advanced to the interpreter and met the Captain, who after a few words conversation delivered him his sword, and in a few minutes returned to us and informed me he had offered 100 dollars for every man that was then living. He said they were then deciding on what to do. They, however, in a few minutes, called him again and talked with him some time, when he returned and informed me they had agreed if I and the men would surrender by laying down our arms they would lay down theirs, meet us half way, shake us by the hand as friends and take us back to the fort.

General William Hull

I asked him if he knew what they intended doing with us then. He said they did not inform him. He asked me if I would surrender. The men were at this time crowding to my back and began to beg me not to surrender. I told them not to be uneasy for I had already done my best for them and was determined not to surrender unless I saw better prospects of us all being saved and then not without they were willing. The Captain asked me the second time what I would do, without an answer. I discovered the interpreter at this time running from the Indians towards us, and when he came in about 20 steps the Captain put the question the third time. The Interpreter called out, "Lieut. don't surrender for if you do they will kill you all, for there has been no general council held with them yet. You must wait, and I will go back and hold a general council with them and return and let you know what they will do." I told him to go, for I had no idea of surrender. He went and collected all the Indians and talked for some time, when he returned and told me the Indians said if I would surrender as before described they would not kill any, and said it was his opinion they would do as they said, for they had already saved Mr. Kinzie and some of the women and children.

This enlivened me and the men, for we well knew Mr. Kinzie stood higher than any man in that country among the Indians, and he might be the means of saving us from utter destruction, which afterwards proved to be the case. We then surrendered, and after the Indians had fired off our guns they put the Captain and myself and some of the wounded men on horses and marched us to the bank of the lake, where the battle first commenced. When we arrived at the bank and looked down on the sand beach I was struck with horror at the sight of men, women and children lying naked with principally all their heads off, and in passing over the bodies I was confident I saw my wife with her head off about two feet from her shoulders. Tears for the first time rushed in my eyes, but I consoled myself with a firm belief that I should soon follow her.

I now began to repent that I had ever surrendered, but it was too late to recall, and we had only to look up to Him who had first caused our existence. When we had arrived in half a mile of the Fort they halted us, made the men sit down, form a ring around them, began to take off their hats and strip the Captain. They attempted to strip me, but were prevented by a Chief who stuck close to me. I made signs to him that I wanted to drink, for the weather was very warm. He led me off towards the Fort and, to my great astonishment, saw my wife sitting among some squaws crying. Our feelings can be better judged than expressed. They brought some water and directed her to wash and dress my wound, which she did, and bound it up with her pocket handkerchief. They then brought up some of the men and tommyhawked one of them before us.

Postcard. The First Fort Dearborn built in 1803, from the painting by Lawrence C. Earle. (CCW 11.4)

They now took Mrs. Helm across the river (for we were nearly on its banks) to Mr. Kinzie's. We met again at my fathers in the State of New York, she having arrived seven days before me after being separated seven months and one week. She was taken in the direction of Detroit and I was taken down to Illinois River and was sold to Mr. Thomas Forsyth, half brother of Mr. Kinzie's, who, a short time after, effected my escape. This gentleman was the means of saving many lives on the warring frontier. I was taken on the 15th of August and arrived safe among the Americans at St. Louis on the 14th of October.

Capt. Heald, through Kenzie, sending his two negroes, got put on board an Indian boat going to St. Joseph, and from that place got to Makenac by Lake Michigan in a birch canoe....

The Fort Dearborn Massacre

On August 15, 1812, Captain Nathan Heald was prepared to carry out the final details of a rather disturbing order from his American commander, General William Hull. Heald was told to lead his modest group of soldiers, militiamen, women and children, out of Fort Dearborn to the safety of Fort Wayne. More than half of this party would not live to reach their destination.

The evacuation of the fort, located near the mouth of the Chicago River, comes as Hull’s confidence in his Northwestern campaign begins to crumble. After hearing that Fort Mackinac has fallen to the enemy, Hull decides that Fort Dearborn is at risk.

Relations with the nearby Potawatomi and Winnebago had become increasingly strained. William Henry Harrison had campaigned against the local Natives since 1811. More and more Indians were siding with the British. Given the volatile situation, many residents of the fort were convinced that staying put was less risky than physically exposing themselves on a march. Heald, though sympathetic to their point of view, could not be persuaded to disobey his commander.

Fort Dearborn Massacre Monument

Hull also ordered the destruction of all the fort’s excess arms, ammunition, and whiskey. Heald was to distribute the remaining goods to the local Indians in the hopes of appeasing them. Blankets and food were not foremost on the Indians’ minds; the booty they had hoped to gain had been deliberately destroyed. Some sources would later claim that the Indian attack was in retribution for this deed.

The party of fifty-four soldiers, twelve militia, nine women and eighteen children was led by a former Miami warrior, Billy Wells. Under the influence of Wells, who was born white but raised as an Indian, thirty or so Miami warriors agreed to accompany the group. Wells’s face was painted black. The war paint was an appropriate symbol of the imminent danger. He fully expected an ambush and spotted signs of it early in the journey. Just over a nearby sand dune, Chief Blackbird waited to strike. He was at the head of a five hundred-man Potawatomi and Winnebago ambush party.

Medal given to Chief Blackbird who led the Pottawatomies and Ottawas in the Fort Dearborn Massacre of 1812. Presented to him by the British Commander on Drummond Island, Ontario, in 1815.

Wells and Heald led a desperate attack up the dune. The wagon-train of women and children was left unprotected. In no time, the Americans were completely surrounded and alone; the Miami warriors had fled upon realizing the strength of the other tribes. Half the soldiers were killed and the local militia force was systematically wiped out. One bloodthirsty young warrior slipped into a covered wagon and beheaded twelve children. Mrs. Heald's black slave, Cicely, was one of two women killed while fighting to save the young ones.

Heald was wounded but alive. Wells was not so lucky. His head was cut off and his heart eaten by the chiefs who hoped to gain some of his courage. Despite Heald’s efforts to ransom the survivors, more were killed after the battle. Others remained Indian prisoners for almost a year.

This violent defeat of the Americans, coupled with the British success at Detroit, convinced the tribes of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri to join Tecumseh's growing Confederacy. Within weeks of the outbreak of war, Fort Wayne remained the only U.S. military post in the Old Northwest. American hopes of a quick three pronged assault of Canada evaporated. The American public was outraged by the brutality of the Fort Dearborn Massacre and cried for revenge.

Additional Sources:

www.galafilm.com
www.hillsdale.edu
www.chicagohs.org
www.library.wisc.edu
memory.loc.gov
www.chipublib.org
www.lib.cmich.edu

On This Day In History

Birthdates which occurred on August 10:
1810 Camilio Benso di Cavour Italy, PM
1865 Alexander Glazunov St Petersburg Russia, composer (Chopiniana)
1869 Lawrence Binyon Vienna Austria, writer (Symbolic Wounds)
1874 Herbert Clark Hoover West Branch, Iowa, (R) 31st Pres (1929-1933)
1874 James (Tod) Sloan jockey, created monkey crouch riding style
1889 Irene Steer England, 4 X 100m relay swimmers (Olympic-gold-1912)
1893 Douglas Stuart Moore Cutchogue NY, composer (Good Night Harvard)
1893 Viscount Dunrossil Scotland, Gov Gen of Australia (1959-61)
1899 Jack Haley Boston Mass, actor (Ford Star Revue)
1900 Arthur Porritt NZ, 100m sprinter (Olympic-bronze-1924)
1900 Norma Shearer Canada, actress (Divorcee, Idiot's Delight)
1909 Leo Fender, inventor of the first mass-produced electric guitar.
1909 Mohammed V King of Morocco (1953, 1955-61)
1910 Angus Campbell US, psychologist (Elections & Political Order)
1912 Richard Reeves NYC, actor (Murph-Date With an Angel)
1913 Noah Beery Jr NYC, actor (Rockford Files, Quest, Doc Elliot)
1913 Steven Nagy bowler, 1st to bowl 300 on TV (1954)
1914 Jeff Corey NYC, actor (Getting Straight, Superman & Mole Men)
1920 Red Holzman NBA coach (NY Knickerbockers)
1923 Rhonda Fleming Hollywood Calif, actress (Spellbound)
1924 Martha Hyer actress (Day of the Wolves, Night of the Grizzly)
1928 Eddie Fisher Phila Pa, singer (Oh My Papa, Lady of Spain)
1928 Jimmy Dean Tx, actor/singer (Jimmy Dean Show, Diamonds are Forever)
1933 Bill Nieder shot putter, (Olympic-gold-1960)
1933 Rocky Colavito Bronx, baseball player (Hit 4 HRs in a game)
1939 Kate O'Mara Leicaster England, actress (Caress Morell-Dynasty)
1940 Bobby Hatfield Wisc, rocker (Righteous Bros-Unchained Melody)
1941 Anita Lonsbrough England, 200m backstroke swimmer (Oly-gold-1960)
1942 Betsy Johnson fashion designer (1971 Winnie Award)
1943 Ronnie Spector [Veronica Bennett], NYC, singer (Be My Baby)
1947 Ian Anderson Scotland, rocker (Jethro Tull-Bungle in the Jungle)
1948 Pal Gerevich Hungary, fencer (Olympic-bronze-1972, 80)
1948 Patti Austin singer (The Real Me)
1952 Ashley Putnam NYC, soprano (NY City Opera 1978)
1959 Mark Price bass/vocals (All About Eve, Tin Huey-Contents Dislodged)
1959 Rosanna Arquette NYC, actress (Desperately Seeking Susan)
1961 Beatrice Alda daughter of Alan Alda, actress (Lisa-Four Seasons)
1961 John Farriss rocker (Inxs-Kiss the Dirt)
1962 Dan Donovan rocker (Bad)

Deaths which occurred on August 10:
30 BC Cleopatra VII, Ptolemae queen, beloved by Caesar, dies
0794 Fastrada, 3rd wife of French king Charlemagne, dies at 30
1867 Ira Frederick Aldridge US Negro tragedian, dies (birth date unkn)
1930 William H Taft, US president (1909-13), dies
1945 Robert Goddard father of American rocketry, dies
1962 Ted Husing sportscaster (Monday Night Fights), dies at 60
1963 Estes Kefauver (D-Sen-Tn), dies at 60
1974 Ilona Massey actress/singer (Ilona Massey Show), dies at 64
1974 Pedro Regas actor (Pat Paulsen's « Comedy Hour), dies at 92
1976 Ray "Crash" Corrigan cowboy (Crash Corrigan's Ranch), dies at 74
1977 Vince Barnett actor (Star is Born, Human Jungle), dies at 75
1979 Dick Foran actor (OK Crackerby), dies at 69
1985 Kenny Backer comedian, dies of a heart attack at 72
1987 Clara Peller actress (Where's the Beef), dies at 86
1988 Adela Rogers St John journalist (Free Soul, Honeycomb), dies at 94
1988 Arias Arnulfo 3 time president of Panama, dies at 86

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1965 MAILHES LAWRENCE SCOTT HOT SPRINGS AR.
1969 MICKELSEN WILLIAM E. JR. MINNEAPOLIS MN.
1970 CROWLEY JOHN E. WILLIAMSON NY.
[REMAINS ID'D 04/22/00]
1971 BATES PAUL J. JR. MESA AZ.
1971 DOLAN THOMAS A. BALTIMORE MD.
1972 SANSONE JAMES J. NORWOOD MA.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

On this day...
0070 "2nd Temple" of Jerusalem is set aflame
654 St Eugene I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
955 Otto organizes his nobles and defeats the invading Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld in Germany.
1519 Magellan's 5 ship set sail to circumnavigate the Earth
1557 French troops are defeated by Emmanuel Philibert's Spanish army at St. Quentin, France.
1680 In N Mex, Pop‚ leads rebellion of Pueblo Indians against Spaniads
1743 Earliest recorded prize fighting rules formulated
1790 Robert Gray's Columbia, completes 1st American around world voyage
1792 Mobs in Paris attack the palace of Louis XVI
1809 Ecuador declares independence from Spain (National Day)
1821 Missouri admitted as 24th US state
1827 Race riots in Cincinnati (1,000 blacks leave for Canada)
1831 Former slave Nat Turner led violent insurrection against slavery
1831 William Driver of Salem, Massachusetts, is the first to use the term "Old Glory" in connection with the American flag, when he gives that name to a large flag aboard his ship, the Charles Daggett.
1833 Chicago incorporates as a village of about 200
1835 Mob of whites & oxen pulled black school to a swamp out of Canaan NH
1846 Congress charters the "nation's attic," the Smithsonian Institution
1856 Hurricane washes away 2-300 revelers at Last Island, Louisiana
1861 Battle of Wilson's Creek, Missouri
1866 Transatlantic cable laid - Former Pres Buchanan communicates over it to Queen Victoria
1885 Leo Daft opens America's 1st coml operated electric streetcar (Balt)
1887 Excursion train crashes killing 101. (Chatsworth, Illinois)
1888 NY Giant pitcher Tim Keefe sets a 19 game win streak record
1893 Chinese deported from SF under Exclusion Act
1900 1st Davis Cup Tennis Tournament (Mass) US beats England
1901 Chic White Sox Frank Isbell strands record 11 teammate base runners
1904 Japanese fleet defeat Russians off Port Arthur
1907 Prince Scipone Borchesi wins Peking to Paris, 7,500 mile auto rally
1911 Parliament Act reduces power of House of Lords
1913 2nd Balkan War ends, Treaty of Bucharest, Bulgaria loses
1919 Ukranian National Army massacres 25 Jews in Podolia Ukrane
1921 FDR stricken with polio at summer home on Canadian Is of Campobello
1938 119ø F (48ø C), Pendleton, Oregon (state record)
1944 Boston Brave Red Barrett throws only 58 pitches to beat Reds 2-0
1944 Race riots in Athens Alabama
1945 Japan announces willingness to surrender to Allies provided the status of Emperor Hirohito remained unchanged
1948 ABC enters network TV at 7 PM (WJZ, NY)
1948 Allen Funt's "Candid Camera" TV debut on ABC
1949 Natl Military Establishment renamed Dept of Defense
1954 Sir Gordon Richards retires as a jockey with record 4,870 wins
1960 Discoverer 13 launched into orbit; returned 1st object from space
1961 England applies for membership in the European Common Market
1965 Joe Engle in X-15 reaches 82 km
1966 1st lunar orbiter launched by US
1966 Daylight meteor seen from Utah to Canada. Only known case of a meteor entering the Earth's atmosphere & leaving it again
1973 1st BART train travels thru transbay tube to Montgomery St Station
1975 David Frost purchases exclusive rights to interview Nixon
1977 Phillies & Expos play a doubleheader that ends at 3:23 AM
1977 Postal employee David Berkowitz arrested in Yonkers, NY, accused of being "Son of Sam" the 44 caliber killer
1979 Wings release "Getting Closer" & "Baby's Request"
1980 Allen, the most powerful hurricane in Caribbean hits Brownsville, Tx
1980 Jack Nicklaus wins PGA Championship for 5th time
1981 Coca-Cola Bottling Co agrees to pump $34 million into black business
1981 Pete Rose tops Stan Musial's NL record 3,630 hits
1981 The Richard Nixon Museum in San Clemente closes
1984 Mary Decker trips on heel of Zola Budd during 3,000m Olympic run
1985 Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (every Beatle songs) for $47 million
1985 Uno Lindstron of Sweden, juggles a soccer ball 13.11 miles
1986 Billy Martin day, Yanks retire #1
1987 Flight Readiness Firing of Discovery's main engines is successful
1988 President Reagan signed a measure providing $20,000 payments to Japanese-Americans who were interned during World War II.
1988 UN estimates Asia's population hit 3 billion
1990 US's Magellan spacecraft lands on Venus
1991 NFL sportscaster Paul Maquire suffers a heart attack at 53

Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Ecuador : Independence Day (1809)
Missouri : Admission Day (1821)
Italy : Palio Del Golfo (2nd Sunday) - - - - - ( Sunday )
Zambia : Youth Day - - - - - ( Monday )
Elvis International Tribute Week Begins
National Lazy Day
Daughter's Day
Don't Wait...Celebrate Week Begins

Religious Observances
Ang, RC, Luth : Feast of St Laurence, deacon/martyr at Rome

Religious History
1742 English revivalist George Whitefield observed in a letter: 'It is a very uncommon thing to be rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus. I find persons may have the idea, but are far from having the real substance.'
1760 Philip Embury (1728-1773) arrived in New York the first Methodist clergyman to come over from England.in America.
1841 Birth of Mary A. Lathbury, American Sunday School leader and poet. Daughter of a Methodist preacher, two of Lathbury's poems later became popular hymns: "Break Thou the Bread of Life" and "Day is Dying in the West."
1855 Birth of Frederick J. Foakes-Jackson, Anglican theologian. His numerous publications centered around church history. His best-remembered work is "The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I: The Acts of the Apostles" (5 volumes, 1919-33).
1948 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

Thought for the day :
"Some rise by sin and some by virtue fall."

You might be a guitarist if...(Happy birthday Leo)
your wife tells you she dented the fender, and you run to the guitar room to check on your strat.

Murphys Law of the day...(Nurses Laws)
Doctors only ask your name when the patient isn't doing well.

Cliff Clavin says, it's a little known fact that...
An average ear of corn has 800 kernels, arranged in 16 rows.