b'The History of the War of theAutumn of the Black SnakePART 1 By Alan RockmanT his is a true story aboutand almost caused disaster for the Revolutionary cause. the original Old West.George Washington had appointed to various commands The original Old West,Charles Lee, Horatio Gates, and Arthur St. Clair with the Northwest Territory thatmixed results. Lee, supposedly the best of the bunch, got is today the states of our mid- himself captured early in the war, then bungled things so west included Indiana, Illinois,badly at Monmouth, almost turning victory into defeat, Michigan, Kentucky, and more specifically, Ohio and is thethat Washington personally sacked him on the field of land from the Ohio River north to the Great Lakes, from thebattle, not before he uttered loudly a string of curses that Appalachian Mountains west to the Mississippi. astonished his officers nearby. Gates did well at Saratoga, but largely in an administrative role, the real fighting - It is also the story of the second part of our real first Civiland winning - was done ironically by Benedict Arnold, War, the war of the Colonists against the Loyalists and theirsoon to betray his country.Indian allies. The first part was our American Revolution, the third and final part was the War of 1812. The secondThe third was Arthur St. Clair, who abandoned Fort part was the war that was fought after Yorktown for thoseTiconderoga at the beginning of the Saratoga campaign rich lands beyond the Appalachians, the rich soil, theand was almost court-martialed for giving up that vital forests, and the rivers, a war that lasted from roughly 1781post without a fight. Washington, who knew him from to 1811, three decades where Americans loyal to the King ofthe time they had served in the French and Indian War, England fought settlers who were sometimes their relativestrusted St. Clair well enough to make him governor of and friends for supremacy of those (then) Western lands.the Ohio territory and field commander of the little army It was a war where disaffected and dissatisfied Indianssent out to drive the Indians out of the forests and woods. who, rightfully worried about their future, egged on andSt. Clair would reward Washington\'s foolish trust in him encouraged by the British terrorized the frontier. by losing three-quarters of his command, plus scores of camp followers who should never have been allowed to be It was a savage war throughout the vast forests of Ohio,there, hacked or shot to death by the tribes in the worst Indiana, and Kentucky, where "no quarter" marked by theAmerican military disaster up until Pearl Harbor, BataanGeneral Arthur St. Clairsmoke and smell of burning cabins and Indian villages wasand Kasserine Pass in World War II.the norm as was the hideous torture to death of captives by both sides. One of Washington\'s most favorite and most daring among those who chose exile in Canada, becoming a British of generals was the American-born (Pennsylvania)Army general and the lieutenant governor of Canada. He General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Through his efforts,would later reluctantly fight his old countrymen during the energy, enthusiasms, and exertions (that wrecked hisWar of 1812 (Humphries, Edward, Great Canadian Battles, health) he ensured his raw militia and young recruitsArcturus Publishing, London, 2008, p.76).from the embryonic U.S. Army, got the best of training to fight either an Indian War or a pitched battle in theThe division was especially profound on the frontier. Many woods, the best of equipment, and adequate rations soinhabitants had close ties to Britain through birth and that America was able to succor and hold on to the business dealings or had become very close to the majority then-turbulent Northwest, and end that second part ofof the Indian tribes. The tribes, fearing colonial expansion our first Civil War. and encroachment in their lands beyond the Appalachian Mountains, and believing the promises of British authorities This is a history largely forgotten by our history booksthat they would prevent the colonists from seizing their (with the recent exception of acclaimed historian Davidlands, chose to side with the British. On the frontier, things McCullough\'s The Pioneers). Theodore Roosevelt wrotewere especially blurred, with Americans initially siding with about these same battles and victories in his three-volumethe Revolutionary cause, then abruptly switching sides and The Winning of the West. This is the story of how we almostexpressing loyalty to the king.General "Mad" Anthony Wayne lost - but won - our original Old West, the Northwest.Any history of the struggle of the Old West should begin THE LOYALISTS AND THE TRIBES (DELAWARE,with the anger and resentment of those Americans living It is the story of the British, refusing to abide by the TreatySHAWNEE, MIAMI, WYANDOT) on the frontier that chose to remain loyal to Great Britain, of Paris (1783) and in violation of that treaty holding on toThe American Revolution was not just a war foughtserving the king and fighting against Americans who were American land from Niagara to Detroit for almost 15 yearsbetween the colonists and the British; it was also ourtheir relatives or close friends. A prime example would be after Yorktown. It is a war that America came very closefirst Civil War, with families and friends pitted againstthe experience of frontiersman Simon Kenton and his friend to losing, and if we had, there might not be an Americaeach other. It is estimated that out of two million whiteSimon Girty. Girty would turn renegade and in doing so, today, or an America limited to the 13 original colonies andadult males living in the 13 colonies at the time of theset the frontier settlements aflame in his murderous Indian perhaps three or four other territories and states acquiredRevolution, 400,000 remained loyal to the British King forraids. Kenton was also a very close friend of Daniel Boone\'s. after the Revolutionary War. A truncated America, all ofvarious reasons. For every five Daniel Boones there was atLike Boone, he embraced the Revolutionary cause and was its lands east of the Mississippi - and perhaps east of theleast one Simon Girty. For every five George Washingtonsclose to Girty, having both served in the same Kentucky Appalachians as well. there was at least one Roger Hale Sheaffe. militia brigade sent out to remove Indian tribes, notably the Mingo and the Shawnee, who were fighting alongside It was a war where a stingy Congress refused to provideRoger Sheaffe? Never heard of him, right? Well, unless youthe British. Girty was kidnapped by Indians as a child and funds for even a skeletal National Army until disaster on theare from Canada, or familiar with the War of 1812, youhad learned to love and respect their ways. He was horrified frontier forced its hand. wouldn\'t have. Sheaffe was born in Boston, into a familywhen his fellow militiamen opened fire on elderly Indians torn apart by the advent of the American Revolution.and children, killing several, including a little boy. A And a war where the "Father of our Country," so wise inSent to school in England, Sheaffe came home to find hisdisgusted Girty and his fellow Tory friends Matthew Elliott many things, repeated the same, almost fatal mistake hefamily divided by the Revolution. He chose British Armyand Alexander McKee, deserted to British service. Kenyon made during the Revolutionary War by hiring formerservice while his sister married Robert Livingston, onewas unaware of Girty\'s treachery and remained loyal to the British officers whose degree of competence was mixed,of the first founding fathers. After Yorktown, Sheaffe wasRevolutionary cause.44 November 2020'