all his companions were killed. When Oliver
drew near the fort, the night was extremely dark, and he was only
enabled to discover the spot by the spreading branches of a solitary
oak tree, standing within the fortification. The boat was fired upon by
the sentinels of the fort, but on their being hailed by captain Oliver,
no further alarm was given. After landing and wading over a ravine
filled with water, the party groped their way to one of the gates, and
were admitted. Tecumseh and his Indians were extremely vigilant, and,
at night, usually came close to the ramparts for the purpose of
annoying our troops, as opportunity might offer. So soon as general
Harrison had received the information brought by captain Oliver and his
companions, he made his arrangements for the ensuing day. Captain
Hamilton, attended by a subaltern, was immediately despatched up the
river in a canoe with orders to general Clay. The captain met him at
daylight five miles above the fort, the boats conveying the
reinforcements having been delayed by the darkness of the night.
Captain Hamilton delivered the following order to general Clay. "You
must detach about eight hundred men from your brigade, and land them at
a point I will show you about a mile or a mile and a half above camp
Meigs. I will then conduct the detachment to the British batteries on
the left bank of the river. The batteries must be taken, the cannon
spiked, and the carriages cut down; and the troops must then return to
their boats and cross over to the fort. The balance of your men must
land on the fort-side of the river, opposite the first landing, and
fight their way into the fort through the Indians. The route they must
take will be pointed out by a subaltern officer how with me, who will
land the canoe on the right bank of the river to point out the landing
for the boats."[A] As soon as these orders were received by general
Clay, who was in the thirteenth boat from the front, he directed
captain Hamilton to go to colonel Dudley, with orders to take the
twelve front boats and execute the plan of the commanding general on
the left bank of the river; and to post the subaltern with the canoe on
the right bank, at the point where the remainder of the reinforcement
was directed to land. It was the design of general Harrison while the
troops under Dudley were destroying the enemy's batteries on the
north-west side of the river, and general Clay was fighting the Indians
above the fort