The Battle at Horseshoe Bend

by Michael Aye

  “It’s the weather,” the farmer advised. “Happens every time.”

  Because of this, Moses and Jonah declined the offer of eggs at breakfast. They did have plenty of maple syrup, which Moses poured liberally over his cornbread. Coffee was offered only in the morning.

  On the second night, the farmer broke out a jug and passed it around. Their guests were somewhat surprised when the wife took a long pull from the jug before replacing the corncob. Jonah had seen women consume before but it was usually wine or sherry and in a glass. Times were tough, however, and niceties tended to go by the way. On the morning of the third day, the farmer asked why the men were taking the route back home that they were, when a much more southerly route would see them home faster.

  Smiling, Moses answered, “Jonah has a woman waiting for him in Sandwich, gonna make her his wife.” A look of horror came over the farmer and his wife.

  “What is it?” Jonah asked. “What’s the matter?”

  Pausing to collect his thoughts, the farmer replied. “After Harrison’s army pulled out, an Indian raiding party attacked Sandwich. They killed several people, men and women. They burned and pillaged the village, making off with food, guns, blankets and such. Before General Cass and his men could respond, they were gone.”

  “We have to go,” Jonah said as he stood up.

  “We can’t,” Moses replied placing his arm over his friend’s shoulder. “We wouldn’t last an hour out there. Besides, we don’t know that Anastasia has come to any harm.”

  “We don’t know she ain’t either,” a gloomy, worried Jonah mumbled.

  “I do know if she needs help we won’t be in any shape to offer it if we don’t wait till the weather clears.”

  “You are right as always, old friend.” Rising from the table, Jonah made his way to the room he was sharing with Moses.

  “I’m sorry,” the farmer said. “Maybe I should have kept the news to myself.”

  “He would have found out soon anyway,” Moses said trying to reassure the man he had not done wrong. “This way he’ll have a clear mind when we get to Sandwich and find out if any action needs to be taken or not. I do want to thank you both for the hospitality you’ve shown a pair of strangers.”

  “Only the Christian thing to do,” the woman said for the second time.

  The weather was cold but clear the next morning when Jonah and Moses rode out. Jonah had been very quiet and it surprised Moses when he leaned over and asked, “Did you leave an offering?”

  Smiling, Moses responded, “Yes, a most generous one.”

  Chapter Two

  I’m sorry, Jonah, we did the best we could. Guards were posted. I lost three good men to that raiding party. I can’t tell you how many times I had asked Anastasia to move closer to my headquarters, but she refused. She could have even stayed in the little cottage out back where you and Moses stayed. Again, she refused, preferring her own home.”

  Jonah, with Moses at his side, stood before General Cass, who was doing his best to explain the disappearance of Jonah’s lady. He was doing a poor job of it. He and Jonah had become friends, and now he felt he’d let his friend down. He’d been rehearsing his comments since the raid, since Anastasia went missing, knowing he’d have to face up to his friend. All the rehearsing had been wasted when you looked into the man’s cold stare knowing he held you accountable regardless of the excuses.

  “Well, you didn’t find a body, so that means she’s alive,” Moses volunteered, coming to the general’s aid and trying to soften the blow to Jonah.

  “That’s right,” Cass said, “we searched the trail the savages took for several miles, Jonah. We didn’t find any signs of d… of anything distressing.”

  Not trusting his emotions, Jonah turned and walked out of the general’s office. Moses paused, letting his friend get out of hearing and then spoke, “He’s taking it hard now, General, but when the shock has worn off and he’s had time to think on it, he’ll realize there was nothing you could have done. Anastasia should have accepted the cottage where she would have been protected. She didn’t and that’s that. Now, we’ll see if we can find her.”

  General Cass put down the cigar that he’d been smoking and held out his hand, “Thanks for understanding, Moses. The cottage is open if you’d like to stay there tonight.”

  “I’ll talk with Jonah about it, General, but I’m afraid the place will have too many bad memories. We’ll look around maybe, talk to some people and then be on the trail.”

  “We already…” Cass paused, and then started over. “Of course, you know we did that, but Jonah will feel the need to go over it again.”

  Moses nodded. “We could use a few supplies, sir, if any are to be had.”

  “By all means, I’ll speak to the sergeant. Safe travels, Moses, and I hope your search will be successful.”

  Outside the headquarters, Jonah stood by his horse, and leaned on his saddle. Rising up, he muttered, “Took you long enough.”

  “Humph,” Moses snorted. “Someone had to remember his manners. Mama Lee would be furious had she seen the way her boy acted.”

  “But he let the Indians take Anastasia,” Jonah flung back.

  “No… No, he didn’t. He offered his protection and she refused. Don’t forget Anastasia is a grown woman. She had to realize the danger she put herself in by refusing the general. These are hard and troubled times, Jonah. I know you’re hurting. We’ve been together too long for me not to feel some of your pain. But you can’t blame General Cass. Don’t forget he lost three of his soldier boys, one of whom was watching over Anastasia’s house. You don’t want to hear it, and I don’t like saying it, but its Anastasia’s fault she got taken. Now, it’s time to stop brooding and let’s see if we can find a trail.”

  Jonah mounted his horse and headed toward Anastasia’s house without speaking. Moses found the supply sergeant. General Cass had already ordered the sergeant to take care of the president’s man. A pack mule was provided, and the packs were loaded with bacon, salt, flour, coffee, a smoked ham, and a small sack of sugar.

  “I’d give you more,” the sergeant apologized, “but we are almost out of supplies ourselves.”

  In addition to the food, Moses packed extra powder and shot, extra pants, woolen socks, and tight-knitted wool shirts to wear beneath the buckskins they had to travel in. The sergeant also had fishing line, hooks, and two razor-sharp sheath knives. As Moses cinched up the pack he turned and found the sergeant had a few gifts for them.

  “Here’s a sack of tobacco and a jug. There’s also a bundle of cigars, but I’d rather you keep them in the saddle bags until you’re out-of-town.”

  Moses couldn’t help but smile. There was little doubt where the cigars had come from. The gesture from the sergeant was heartfelt.

  “We all liked the lady, Moses. She was something like a favorite to the men after Jonah run that spy through with his sword. She also smiled and spoke kindly to the men and even wrote a few letters for them that wanted to send one home. The men called her Ana, not Anastasia, just Ana. She seemed to like that. The men all took it hard when we found she was missing; not just the general, but every mother’s son in the outfit.”

  “Thank you, Sergeant,” Moses replied. He could sense the sergeant felt that maybe they were somehow responsible for Ana’s disappearance.

  “Good luck, and may the Lord be with you,” the sergeant spoke again, breaking the momentary silence.

  Moses tapped his hat and mounted his horse. Taking the pack mule’s lead rope, he rode off to find Jonah and begin the search.

  -

  For days, the two followed a cold trail, now and then coming up on someone who’d heard of a Shawnee raiding party with captive whites. “Nobody tried to stop them?” Jonah asked one man.

  “What’s a man and a half-grown boy gonna do to a raiding party, Mister? Are yedaft?” the man snorted.

  “My apologies, sir,” Jonah replied. “One of the captives is my fiancé.”

  “The
n I’m sorry, friend, I truly am for the both of you.”

  Crossing the Detroit River almost ended the search before it started. The ford below Sandwich was half frozen and bitter cold. It proved to be a treacherous undertaking for the men and animals alike. Ice formed on the animals’ coats and the men’s leggings by the time they left the water. Reaching the Michigan side, they quickly found a site previously used by Colonel Johnson’s regiment. While Jonah gathered wood and built a fire, Moses stripped the saddles and packs from the shivering animals and then dried them as best he could. A roaring blaze soon helped both the men and animals. As Jonah added frozen wood to the blaze, it hissed and little vapors of steam rose. A pot of coffee was soon boiling. The strong black liquid helped revive the men; standing next to the fire, they dried their boots, leggings and clothes.

  “We can’t cross any more rivers in this kind of weather,” Jonah said, surprising Moses. “Killing us and the animals is not going to bring Anastasia back.”

  Feeling the need to comfort his friend, Moses told Jonah what the sergeant had said about how the soldiers felt back at Sandwich and how they had taken to calling Anastasia Ana.

  “I like that,” Jonah responded. “My Ana. Is she lost forever, Moses…will I see her again?”

  Moses let the question hang in the air. He didn’t have an answer, no one did.

  After another cup of the black coffee, this time laced with a dab of brew from the jug, the men saddled up and moved on. Later that evening, tired and near frozen, with both the men and horses nearly played out, they decided to make camp at a deserted cabin. There was a large hole in the roof in one corner of the cabin, shutters were missing from the two open windows, and the door was sagging. They did have a solid wall that helped with the wind, and the space was big enough for the men and animals. The men kicked around and found a bucket that didn’t leak too badly. Jonah got a fire going in the corner where the hole in the roof would allow the smoke to rise up and out. Rats, birds, and other small animals had made their nests in the cabin so Jonah had plenty of starter to use to get the fire going. He also used some of the rotten wood from the roof to add to the starter. Whoever had used the cabin last had left a fair sized pile of wood in one corner. This too was mostly rotten, but it would do until they could get more. Moses entered with a dripping bucket. It was only a short distance to a fast running stream that had yet to freeze over. As Jonah was stripping the animals, Moses poured water in the coffee pot and then took the rest of the bucket over to water the horses and mules.

  “Better go get another bucket tonight.” Moses volunteered. “In case the stream is iced over tomorrow.”

  After hanging their saddle blankets over the windows and propping the sagging door closed, the little cabin warmed up. Finishing the last of the coffee and eating the last few crumbs of fried cornbread, a gift from the farmer outside of Sandwich, the men settled down.

  Reluctantly, Moses asked, “Which direction tomorrow?”

  Jonah didn’t answer for moment. Taking a final draw from one of their meager supply of cigars, he thought to himself for a moment. He had cut the cigars in half to share with Moses, so it was not much more than a nub when he tossed it into the fire. Finally, he answered, “South to Maguaga.”

  “The Wyandot village,” Moses said, raising his eyebrow skeptically.

  “They have supposedly become very peaceful according to Captain White back at Sandwich. After Tecumseh’s death, all the Indians have reportedly become very peaceful.”

  “Not all of them,” Moses quickly brought up. “Otherwise, we’d be back at Sandwich or headed home with Ana.”

  Chapter Three

  The Wyandot village was larger than either Moses or Jonah expected. Bravely, the two rode into the village. Because of the cold, most of the villagers were inside, out of the weather, but after a few shouts of alarm, Indians full of suspicions left the warmth of their dwellings to see what these strangers wanted. Moses, particularly, held their attention as none had ever seen a black man before. Several of the Indians could speak English, and Jonah asked to speak to the chief. They were told to follow a fierce looking brave.

  Entering one of the larger dwellings - a council house, Jonah decided, they found several men sitting around a small fire. Jonah and Moses were greeted, not warmly, but there was no outward display of hostility either. Jonah explained that the war was over for him and Moses. The Redcoats had been defeated, and he and Moses had fought against Tecumseh and had seen him fall. An honorable enemy, a fierce battle, but now the war was over. Having returned to Sandwich, they had discovered a raiding party, men without honor, had raided the settlement and taken his woman. He now searched for her. He looked about as he spoke and didn’t miss the look of resentment from several of the warriors when he’d called the raiding party men without honor.

  Jonah continued after pausing to look directly at each of the men. Directness and bravery was one thing they understood and respected, even in an enemy. “I have no wish to harm any of the braves,” Jonah explained. “But I will fight if I must to get my woman back.”

  The chief then stood, “There are words of steel in the white man’s tongue. We have heard of the dark one who fights alongside his white brother. It is good to meet you. We do not have the white women. The Shawnee have passed through and they have two white women. This has been many moons ago. They will sell the women if they can. If not, when they tire of them…” The sentence was left unfinished. When the Indians grew tired of the women, they’d either be killed or set free. There was no way of telling. “You are welcome to rest in our village,” the chief offered but Jonah declined, stating they still had daylight left to continue the search. Giving the chief a cigar, Jonah thanked him and they rode out.

  -

  In Browntown, several people had heard of a party of Shawnee with white women, but no one could actually say they’d seen them. At Frenchtown, it was different. It had been a hard ride from Browntown; snow had fallen constantly so that the trail and woods on each side were covered in a thick blanket of snow. It was almost sundown when the two stopped at a small tavern on the outskirts of Frenchtown. A teenage boy greeted the men as they rode up. He didn’t even ask if they were staying over, he just said, “Go on in and warm-up, I’ll care for the horses and mule.” All of the animals were looking gaunt. Travel had been hard on man and beast alike.

  As the men dismounted, Jonah caught the boy staring at Moses, who pretended not to notice. The tavern was pleasant. The gathering room was full of clamor and bustle as soldiers and volunteers released from their units headed home. It reminded Jonah of the tavern where he and Moses had met Captain Clay Gesslin and his men. A roaring fire made the room bright and warm. Finding a small spot in the corner, Moses and Jonah took a chair after removing their hats and coats. The owner made his way over carrying two tankards and set them on the table. He then took a poker, red-hot from the fireplace, and plunged it into the tankards of cider to mull it. As soon as he left, a woman brought over a large tray; on it was a pot of beans, a plate full of hot bread, and butter that looked like it was straight from the churn, a plate piled high with sliced ham, and a relish dish of onions and cucumbers. A bread pudding with a thick sweet cream was also put down. There was hardly room on the small table to put all of the dishes. When the tankards were empty, the proprietor offered the choice of more cider, small beer, or rum. Both men took the cider.

  As the evening grew, a few local folks who’d only stopped to eat cleared out. Moses and Jonah were amazed to see how quickly the floor was swept and straw filled bags were laid out for those not desiring to spend the extra for a private room. After the cold trail, Jonah was more than willing. A dark staircase with only a single wall candle to light the way up led to the four guest rooms that filled the top floor.

  A crowing rooster woke Jonah the next morning. He’d slept hard and now his bladder felt like it was about to bust. He was looking around the room for the chamber pot when Moses said, “Next to the chest, betwee
n the chest and the wall.” Jonah let out a sigh of relief and Moses couldn’t help but chuckle. Not an hour earlier he had been thinking of raising the window to relieve himself when by chance he’d noticed the chamber pot. Smelling the odor of fresh coffee, the men dressed quickly. Making their way down the narrow stairs, Jonah saw a large yellow cat lying next to the hearth.

  “Got him for a mouser,” the proprietor volunteered. “But my daughter’s spoiled him so much he ain’t worth killing.” His daughter glared at the man as she carried two steaming hot cups of coffee to a table by the window. Jonah and Moses followed her and took a seat.

  A militia captain opened the door and stepped inside. “Snow has stopped and the sun is out. Better day to travel,” he declared. As he looked around the room, he noticed Jonah and recognized him at once. “Jonah! It’s me, Captain Lucas.” Lucas had been on duty when Jonah and Moses first rode into General Harrison’s camp. “Headed home, are you?” the captain asked. Jonah nodded as he swallowed a sip of coffee that almost scalded his tongue. “I’ve been released, as well,” Lucas said. “Not much fighting left ’cept that little run-in with a bunch of Shawnee down at Fort Meigs.”

  Jonah was suddenly attentive, but the tavern owner was speaking. “Heard about that. A bunch of flatboat men ran into a group of Red Devils who had a couple of white women held captive. Well, a girl and a woman, was the way I heard it. The river men killed all the savages and one of the captives got shot. Heard she was taken to Fort Meigs. Don’t recall anybody saying if she made it or not.”

  “How long ago was this?” Jonah managed to ask.

  “It was three, maybe four weeks ago now. Why do you ask?”

  “One of those women is my fiancé,” Jonah managed to say.