Fort Harrison, Indiana
Siege of Fort Harrison
Siege of Fort Harrison
----------------------

The siege of Fort Harrison was an engagement that lasted from September 4 to 12, 1812\. it was won by an outnumbered [United States](/wiki/United_States "United States") force garrisoned inside the fort against a combined [Native American](/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States "Native Americans in the United States") force near modern [Terre Haute, Indiana](/wiki/Terre_Haute%2C_Indiana "Terre Haute, Indiana"). It was the first American land victory during the [War of 1812](/wiki/War_of_1812 "War of 1812").

On September 3, 1812, a band of [Miami](/wiki/Miami_tribe "Miami tribe") arrived and warned Captain Taylor that they would soon be attacked by a large force of Native Americans.Allison, 182 That evening, shots were heard, but Taylor was hesitant to send out a scout party. He only had 50 men in his garrison, and sickness had reduced the number of effective soldiers to only 15\. In the morning, a party was dispatched and discovered the bodies of two white settlers, the Doyle brothers. The brothers were buried, and the party reported back to Fort Harrison.

Captain Taylor, with his 15 able soldiers and about 5 healthy settlers, made ready for the expected attack. Each of the 20 men was issued sixteen rounds to fire.Allison, 183 That day, September 4, a force of 600 [Potawatomi](/wiki/Potawatomi "Potawatomi") (under Chief Pa\-koi\-shee\-can),Allison, 185 [Wea](/wiki/Wea "Wea") (under War Chief [Stone Eater](/wiki/Stone_Eater "Stone Eater")), [Shawnee](/wiki/Shawnee "Shawnee"), [Kickapoo](/wiki/Kickapoo_people "Kickapoo people") and [Winnebago](/wiki/Ho-Chunk "Ho-Chunk") warriors approached Fort Harrison. A party of 40 men under command of Kickapoo Chief Namahtoha approached under a flag of truce and asked to parley with Taylor the next morning. Taylor agreed, and the Indian force retreated to camp for the night.

[thumb\|Illustration showing the Battle of Fort Harrison\|right](/wiki/File:Battle_of_Fort_Harrison.jpg "Battle of Fort Harrison.jpg")
That night, a warrior crawled up and set the blockhouse on fire. When the sentries opened fire on the arsonist, the 600\-strong Indian war party attacked the west side of the fort. Taylor ordered the fort's surgeon and a handful of defenders to control the fire. The blockhouse, which was attached to the barracks, had a store of whiskey, which soon ignited, and the fire raged out of control. Taylor admitted in his report that the situation looked hopeless, and two of his healthy men fled the fort.Allison, 184, 187\. One of the men later returned to the fort with a broken arm. The other was found dead. Warning the fort that "Taylor never surrenders!", the captain organized a [bucket brigade](/wiki/Bucket_brigade "Bucket brigade")Kaufmann, 160 to fight the fire before it destroyed the fort's picket walls. One woman, Julia Lambert, even lowered herself down into the fort's well to fill buckets more quickly.

The fire did serve one purpose, in that it illuminated the night, revealing the attackers. The fire left a  gap in the outer wall, which the garrison temporarily sealed with a  breastwork. The remaining few of the garrison returned the fire of the Indians so fiercely that they were able to hold off the attack. All remaining invalids were armed to maintain defense, while healthy men were put to work repairing the hole left in the fort's walls. The fort was repaired by daybreak of September 5\. The Indian force withdrew just beyond gun range and butchered area farm animals within sight of the fort. The garrison and settlers inside the fort, meanwhile, had lost most of their food in the fire, had only a few [bushels](/wiki/Bushel "Bushel") of corn, and faced starvation.Allison, 186

[thumb\|Indiana in 1812\|right](/wiki/File:Indiana_Territory_1812.gif "Indiana Territory 1812.gif")

News of the siege arrived in Vincennes as Colonel [William Russell](/wiki/William_Russell_%28Kentucky%29 "William Russell (Kentucky)") was passing through with a company of regular infantry and a company of [rangers](/wiki/United_States_Army_Rangers%23War_of_1812 "United States Army Rangers#War of 1812"), on their way to join [Ninian Edwards](/wiki/Ninian_Edwards "Ninian Edwards"), governor of [Illinois Territory](/wiki/Illinois_Territory "Illinois Territory").Derleth, 182 Colonel Russell's companies joined with the local militia and [7th Infantry Regiment](/wiki/7th_Infantry_Regiment_%28United_States%29 "7th Infantry Regiment (United States)") and marched to the relief of Fort Harrison. Over 1000 men arrived from Vincennes on September 12, and the Indian force departed. The next day, however, a supply train following Colonel Russell was attacked in what became known as the *Attack at the Narrows* in modern [Sullivan County, Indiana](/wiki/Sullivan_County%2C_Indiana "Sullivan County, Indiana").

### Attacks at the Narrows

Following the relief army to Fort Harrison was a party of thirteen soldiers under Lieutenant Fairbanks of the Seventh Infantry escorting a supply wagon loaded with flour and meat. On September 13, 1812, the supply wagon was ambushed by a [Potawatomi](/wiki/Potawatomi "Potawatomi") war party at a section of the trail known as The Narrows, an area near modern [Fairbanks, Indiana](/wiki/Fairbanks%2C_Indiana "Fairbanks, Indiana"), which has many ravines that serve as tributaries to Prairie Creek.Allison, 188 When the ambush was launched, the draft horses panicked and ran away with the wagon. Only two men – the wagoneer, John Black, and Private Edward Perdue – managed to escape back to Fort Knox alive, although Perdue was discharged due to the severe wounds he received.Allison, 189 Luckily for the two survivors, the Potawatomi gave chase to the runaway supply wagon. Eleven soldiers and all the provisions were lost to the United States,Dunn, 142 and several Potawatomi warriors had been killed or wounded.Allison, 190

A second column of two supply wagons and fifteen soldiers under Lieutenant Richardson set out from Vincennes two days after the first wagon, following the same trail, and unaware of the fate of the first. When the Potawatomi learned that a second supply train was approaching, they set up the same ambush. On September 15, after the initial attack, Richardson realized he was out\-manned, and ordered a retreat. The wagons were left behind to be plundered, which may have saved the lives of the retreating soldiers. Even so, seven men had been killed, and another had been badly wounded.

A battalion under Major McGary discovered the bodies a few days later, and proceeded to Fort Harrison to inform Colonel Russell of the attacks and – more importantly to the half\-starved survivors at Fort Harrison – the missing supply wagons.Allison, 191

The Potawatomi party left the Narrows, and attacked the house of a settler named Issac Hutson on September 16, in what became known as the *Lamotte Prairie Massacre*. Hutson was away, but his wife and four children were all killed.


How did the relief army to Fort Harrison impact the outcome of events?