Behind Wells followed 55 soldiers, 12 civilian militiamen, 9 women, and 18 children. Some of the women were on horseback, and most of the children rode in one of the two wagons.
The remaining Miami brought up the rear. Two fifers and two drummers played a tune that time has forgotten—although it seems preposterous that those desperate musicians would have been so tone-deaf as to perform the Dead March, as Juliette Kinzie reports. In , the main branch of the Chicago River did not follow a straight course into Lake Michigan. Instead, just east of the fort, it curved south to near modern-day Madison Street and then emptied into the lake.
After the column left the fort, accompanied by the Potawatomi, it marched south along the river and shoreline, following a course that today would have lain a little east of Michigan Avenue. Around what is presently Roosevelt Road, a series of low sand dunes sprang up, separating the shoreline from the prairie. At this point the troops from Fort Dearborn kept to the shoreline, while the or so Potawatomi kept to the west side of the dunes, where they were mainly hidden from view.
What occurred next happened hurriedly. Swinging his hat around his head, Wells rode back to the main column shouting that the Potawatomi were about to attack. Captain Heald ordered his troops to charge, and the soldiers gamely scurried up the dunes with bayonets pointed, breaking the Potawatomi line. Low acknowledges that the Potawatomi had gathered in ambush.
The Potawatomi fell back, allowed the soldiers in, and enveloped them on their flanks. Eventually the soldiers retreated to the shoreline, making a defensive stand on a high piece of ground. By then, the 30 Miami had fled. The men discharged their muskets and then wielded them like clubs before they were all slain. From the bloody melee, two incidents, essentially grounded in fact, emerge.
Aware of the slaughter at the wagons, Wells rushed to the aid of the women and children. Another account, told by Pokagon and others, had Wells rushing back to the Potawatomi camp intent on revenge. Overcome by sheer numbers, he never made it, though his bravery earned the hyperbolic admiration of Pokagon. Honoring their slain antagonist and hoping to imbibe a little of his courage, the warriors consumed the heart of William Wells. As the two grappled, a second Potawatomi stepped in, seized Mrs.
Helm, and dragged her down to the lake, where he proceeded to drown her. Or so it appeared. In fact the warrior was Black Partridge, and the pretend drowning was a ruse to save Mrs. It must have seemed like an eternity, but only about 15 minutes had passed. The battlefield grew quiet. Captain Heald, seriously wounded—he would walk with a cane the rest of his life—agreed to parlay with the Potawatomi, who were led by a chief named Black Bird.
After receiving promises that survivors would be spared, Heald agreed to surrender. Though wounded, Rebekah Heald survived the battle. The victorious warriors led their captives back to the fort and, that night, tortured to death several badly wounded soldiers. There may have been some confusion as to whether soldiers already near death were included in the surrender agreement. The second fort was built after the war in The new post had a wooden palisade, officer and enlisted barracks, a garden, and other buildings.
This post was garrisoned until , re-garrisoned between and Parts of the fort remained until an fire destroyed much of the post and the Chicago Fire finished off the few remaining buildings. The fort site is an official Chicago Landmark and is commemorated with a Cartouche on the Michigan Avenue bridge and brass site outline markers on the bridge and in the sidewalk. Visited: No Template:PageFooter. Jump to: navigation , search. Army troops fought periodically.
In the Battle of Fort Dearborn part of the War of , Potawatomi Native Americans burned the fort down, but it was rebuilt in on the same site. The settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River was eventually joined by new riverfront enclaves—among them a settlement at Wolf Point. Fort Dearborn is commemorated as one of the four red stars on the Chicago flag. More than years after it was built, Chicago is still centered on the few acres just south of where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan.
In This Section Buildings of Chicago. Edwin Helm, who lived with Gen. Hunter, until the war of the Rebellion; he then went into the army, and never being heard from, is supposed, by his relatives, to have been killed in the war. Others claim that he has since lived at St. Helm is said to have died whilst traveling at the East, about , at or near Bath, Steuben County, N.
Margaret Helm were married in Detroit, , and after his death she married, at Chicago, , Dr. Lucius Abbott, of Detroit, Mich. He was appointed assistant- surgeon from Connecticut, Jan. Helm had a brother, Francis T. Helm, who was appointed lieutenant from New York, in 18 14, and left the army at the close of the war, ; he had a son, Charles J.
Helm, who was appointed first-lieutenant from Kentucky, March 8, , and served in the army until the close of the Mexican war; who married Louise, daughter of Col.
William Whistler, now living at Newport, Ky. He was aid-de- camp to Gen. John S. The details of the massacre would require more time than I have to spare on this occasion. I have given all that the records at Washington show. Kinzie, who was a boy here at the time, having been born in Sandwich, Upper Canada, July 7, , published in Louis, in ; History of the Maumee Valley , by H. Upon this matter and many others appertaining to the early history of Chicago, Mrs. Those who think lightly of her work should call at my office and copy a thorough index of it, which I have made, and they will find that Wau-bun is a historic treasure.
Robert Fergus, of this City, is publishing a very valuable series of pamphlets upon Early Chicago , in which much respecting this massacre is given.
After a diligent search at the various Departments, I can not find that any of the soldiers here at the time of the massacre, nor that any of their descendants, have applied for a land-warrant or a pension. So I have been unable to procure for you the names of any descendants of those whose lives were preserved, nor can I give you the names of those whose lives were lost, except those published in the papers about the time, nor the names of any living descendants. The company- roll can not be found.
Yet I will give to whatever history this address may acquire the names of the soldiers and of others I have found out, and perhaps some family genealogist may yet do what I have been unable to do. Corbin was inhumanly massacred. Holt, wife of Sergeant Holt, is mentioned as having afterward lived in Ohio. Sergeant Hays was killed. Among the soldiers who were killed, or who died from exposure after the massacre, were John Neads, Hugh Logan, August Motte, and ———Nelson from Maryland.
The painting represents Mrs. Helms being rescued from her would-be slayer Nau-non-gee by Black Partridge. To her left os Surgeon Van Voorhes falling mortally wounded. Other characters depicted are Capt. William Wells, Mrs. Heald on horseback, Ensign Ronan, Mrs.
Ronan, Mrs. Holt, Mr. John Kinzie, and Chief Wau-bun0sie. In the background are Indians, the wagons containing children, and off on the lake is the boat bearing Mr. During my residence in Chicago, I have made repeated efforts to trace out some descendant or relative of Capt. Nathan Heald without success. After I began to write this address, I felt more anxious than ever to learn something more of him, and addressed letters to various places seeking information.
Luckily, one of my letters reached -a gentleman who knew a son of his, and he lost no time in seeing him and some neighbors who also knew the family ; and in hastening to me the following statements, gathered in a short interview; being remembrances of what they had heard from his parents, they having read nothing upon the subject and not thinking that there was anyone at this late day feeling any interest in it:.
Samuel Wells, of that place. They started at once for Fort Dearborn, and went all the way on horseback. She rode a beautiful and well-trained bay mare, upon which the Indians ever looked with longing eyes.
They made several attempts to steal her. She was riding her when the attack was made, and the Indians considered her one of the greatest trophies of the battle. Great, but unsuccessful efforts were made to repurchase her. Hull sent Capt. Wells, with about thirty-two friendly Indians, to escort Capt.
Heald to Fort Wayne. There were in Fort Dearborn only twenty-five or thirty fighting men. The others were upon the sick-list. It was in the very hot weather of August. The order to vacate created no dissatisfaction at Fort Dearborn or vicinity, except with the sutler or storekeeper, interpreters, traders, and that whole class who felt that their occupation would be gone if the Fort should be abandoned. They are the persons who have handed down all the reflections upon Capt. When the soldiers had proceeded about one and a-half miles from the Fort, they were surprised and surrounded by about Indians who had formed in a horse-shoe or semi-circular shape upon the bluff.
The troops were upon the lake shore. Heald were riding together. Wells was somewhat in advance, dressed in Indian costume, with his Indian forces. Wells first noticed the design of the Indians and rode back and informed Capt.
Heald, who at once started for the most elevated point upon the sand-hills, and endeavored to mass his wagons, baggage, women, and children, and sick soldiers, so as to make a better defence whilst the fight was going on. At the first attack, Capt. Early in the fight, Capt. Heald and his wife became separated. Wells rode up to Mrs. Heald, with blood streaming from his mouth and nostrils, and told her that he thought he had been fatally wounded, and requested her to inform his wife that he had fought bravely and knew that he had killed seven Indians before he was shot.
Soon his horse was shot, and, as the horse fell, his foot was caught in the stirrup and he was held under the dead horse some time. Whilst in this position, he killed his eighth Indian. He was released from this position just in time to meet his death from a bullet in the back of his neck. The Indians immediately scalped him, cut out his heart and flourished it about upon a gun-stick, then divided it into small pieces and ate it whilst warm, Mrs.
Heald being a witness. She was led back to the Fort as a prisoner. Heald received a wound in the hip which always troubled him, and, it is believed, caused his death in He drew a pension in consequence thereof. Having but about a half-dozen men left in a fighting condition, Capt.
Heald surrendered. The Indians returned to the Fort, plundered and burned it. They then camped along the lake shore, near the Fort. The next morning, an Indian chief, named Jean Baptist Chandonais, who was a half-breed, having possession of Capt. Heald as his prisoner, sought out the captor of Mrs. Heald and purchased her. She had supposed that her husband was killed. Chandonais took Mrs. Heald to her husband.
She had received six wounds. When the Indians were leading her away as prisoner, one of the squaws attempted to take a blanket from her, when she, with her riding-whip, struck her several times; which act of bravery, under the circumstances, greatly excited the admiration of the Indians.
The next day, the chief Chandonais took all the warriors with him for the purpose, it was said, of burning a prisoner, leaving Capt. Heald and wife in charge of the squaws and a young Indian boy. That evening, through the assistance of the boy who accompanied them, and probably with the assent of Chandonais, they made their escape in a birch-bark canoe to Mackinaw, and finally reached Detroit, where Capt. Heald surrendered himself as a prisoner of war.
The British officer in charge was a Mason as well as Capt. This officer greatly assisted them and, when exchanged, he gave them money to take them home. The Indians took from Capt. Heald a large ornamental silver shawl or blanket-pin, marked R. Heald a tortoise-shell comb mounted with gold, and they were finally sold at St.
Louis, where Lieut. Heald and wife came to St. Charles County, Mo. Heald remained there also until her death, April 23d, , aged eighty-one years. She was a leading member of the Baptist Church, and was greatly respected for her great firmness and kindness. They were buried upon the home place. Heald left a manuscript history of her horseback tour from Louisville, in 1, to Chicago, of her life whilst at Chicago, and of the massacre, and her final return to St. But it was lost during the war of the Rebellion.
They had two daughters, both now dead, Margaret dying single in , aged twenty, and Mary the oldest dying in , the wife of Capt. David McCausland, who still survives her. He represented St. Charles County in the Missouri Legislature in Samuel Wells, father of Mrs. Heald, was a noted Indian -fighter and brother of Capt. William Wells. Chandonais and his son visited Major Heald in the fall before his death, and passed some days with him, recounting the scenes of the massacre and calling to mind the incident of the blanket.
Samuel Wells was from Kentucky. William Wells, brother of above, was from Kentucky, was captain commanding company of spies, under Maj. Anthony Wayne, from July 28, to December, William Wayne Wells, son of Capt. William, was appointed cadet at West Point from Indiana, September, ; second-lieutenant, ; first-lieutenant, ; resigned July 31, , and died in All accounts agree that the massacre took place about one mile and a-half south from the Fort.
It was pointed out to me in , and the historic bluffs or sand-hills existed for many years thereafter. Medore B. Beaubien, son of Gen. Beaubien, sends me, by his brother, Alexander, who has just returned from a visit to him, at Silver Lake, Shawnee County, Kansas, the following to read to you:. I was born at Grand River, Michigan, in , and came to Chicago with my father, in , and walked over the ruins of the old Fort that was burnt by the Indians.
Wentworth caused a general commotion in his audience by saying:]. Ladies and gentlemen, I am going to give you a recess by introducing to you a gentleman who unexpectedly called upon me yesterday, and whom I believe you will all be glad to know. Nathan Heald, commandant of the Fort at the time of the massacre, who came here on purpose to witness the ceremonies of this day.
There is no doubt but the Indians, who resided within the immediate vicinity of the Fort, were friendly, and did their best to pacify the numerous warriors who flocked here from the more distant hunting-grounds. But they were so determined upon warfare that they proceeded, directly after the massacre, to Fort Wayne, and joined the Indians there in a continued assault upon the Fort, until relieved by Gen. Harrison, on the 16th September, following. Scarcely a person escaped the massacre who did not have some kind words to say of some friendly Indian whose acquaintance had been previously formed.
The Adjutant-General writes to me that his records only show that the post was reoccupied about June, , Capt. Hezekiah Bradley commanding.
The troops continued in occupation until October, , when the post was evacuated, and left in charge of the Indian-agent. It was reoccupied, October 3d, Nothing is on file respecting the rebuilding of the Fort. John C. Calhoun was Secretary of State, and I remember, in a conversation with me about Chicago, that he claimed that the Fort was completed under the early part of his term as Secretary of War, and he asserted that there was a disposition among the officers here to call it Fort Chicago; but he thought it would be disrespectful to Gen.
Henry Dearborn, then living and standing high in the affections of the people, and having a claim upon their gratitude as a soldier and statesman. The building of the Fort in , may have been the cause or the result of the treaty of that year, in which the Pottawatomies ceded to the United States all the country in this region, described as the country upon the headwaters of Lake Michigan. They remained the peaceful occupants of all they wanted until after my arrival, Oct.
Our old settlers received a very welcome visit not long since from Col. John T. Colonel Sprague was son-in-law of Gen. Worth, and won honors in the Florida and Mexican wars. He has recently deceased. He entered West Point from Massachusetts, in , was made captain in , and resigned, 2 2d June, It was there where Stephen A. Douglass arid John T. Stuart, candidates for Congress, had a public discussion in He was the first man to establish an office for the sale and purchase of real estate and payment of taxes here.
He died here January 3, , leaving a widow and son, both still living here. I quote from a paper read before the Chicago Historical Society by Hon. Arnold, its President, upon the authority of Mr.
Nellie Gordon, and published in the Chicago Tribune , July 18th, In , the Kinzie family returned to their desolate home in Chicago. The bones of the murdered soldiers who had fallen four years before, were still lying unburied where they had fallen. The troops, who rebuilt the Fort, collected and interred the remains. The coffins which contained them were deposited near the bank of the river, which then had its outlet about at the foot of Madison Street.
Among my earliest recollections of Chicago was seeing projections of coffins from the steep banks of the lake shore, south of the Fort, about Lake Street. The Commandants. Bradley again, to Jan. Alexander Cummings to Oct. McNeil to July, ; Capt. Greene to Oct. None of them have descendants in this region of whom I ever heard.
I never had an acquaintance with any of them, except Col. Mc- Neil, afterward brevetted Brigadier- General. He was a native of New Hampshire, and passed his last years there. From him I received my earliest impressions of Chicago.
He claimed that his daughter, now living, the widow of Hon. Chandler E. Potter, of Manchester, N. I met her, a few years since, walking from the site of the Fort, and she told me she had been trying to find her birthplace. Another daughter, still living, is the wife of the present Gen. Henry W. He lost his only son, Lieutenant J.
Winfield Scott McNeil, in an engagement under Gen. Hernandez, with the Indians, in Florida, in John Sullivan Pierce, and Lieut. Benjamin K. McNeil was the competitor of Gen. Scott, for being the tallest and heaviest man who was ever in the American army. Both were brevetted for their gallantry at the battle of Niagara, Canada, in , where McNeil was so severely wounded that he was incapacitated for further duty, and went into civil service, being at one time surveyor -general of the port of Boston.
I have often measured with both these distinguished men, and I feel safe in saying that those who have seen me have an accurate idea of their size and height.
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