Rufus Putnam Ingenuity Ousts British from Boston

Rufus Putnam is considered the founder of Marietta, Ohio. He had a distinguished Revolutionary War record. His specialty was fortifications. In early March, 1776, George Washington was planning a campaign to force the British army out of Boston. Rather than a risky frontal assault, he and his staff decided upon secretly fortifying Dorchester Heights with heavy artillery. Control of those hills with would give Americans effective command of the city. Rufus Putnam was a key player in this early Revolutionary War action.

The armaments1 brought from Fort Ticonderoga were ready. Bombardments at other locations were planned to distract the British. Nearly 5,000 recently recruited and enthusiastic patriots were eager for action. There was only one problem: the cold. The ground was too frozen to build trenches, earthen walls, and timber structures needed to defend the positions once occupied.

One night Putnam, then serving as an engineer building fortifications, was invited to dine at headquarters. George Washington asked him to stay afterward. He spoke passionately about the importance of fortifying Dorchester Heights. He was anxious to start the campaign but frustrated that frozen ground was holding things up. Rufus recalled, “the General (Washington) directed me to consider the subject and if I could think of any way in which it could be done, to make report to him immediately”

Rufus Putnam was the right person for this situation. He had mastered several trades by the time he was twenty years old. He was curious and relentless in solving problems. He started back to his own quarters, his mind racing. A cold wind whipped around him, an annoying reminder of the urgent situation. He passed the quarters of General Heath. Putnam recalls vividly that “(divine) providence” prompted him to stop and visit Heath. He had no reason to do so. Heath welcomed him. Putnam noticed a large book on military fortifications sitting on a table. He coaxed a reluctant Heath into lending it to him.

The next day he perused the book. His eyes fell upon an illustration of a chandelier. It was not the light fixture of today. “What is that?, he wondered, “….it is something I never heard of before.” The next page explained how it was used. That would work!  It was a low tech solution: tightly wrapped bundles of sticks (fascines) were placed in wooden frames (chandeliers). No digging required. It would stop small arms fire and grape shot. They could be quickly assembled, transported, and mounted on the hill. He consulted with his staff, then reported to Washington who approved it. Immediately they started building the structures.

At 7:00 pm on March 4, 1776, 4,000 Continental Army troops stealthily hauled armaments, the frames, and bundled sticks up the hill in hundreds of horse and oxen carts. Thunderous cannon fire from other locations distracted the British - and terrified Boston residents. A full moon helped the patriots;  a light fog hindered British visibility. Bales of hay piled along the route stifled noise.  By 4 a.m., the operation was complete.

Image of American forces on Dorchester Heights, standing behind Putnam’s chandelier frames 

and bundled sticks

At daylight, British sentries were shocked to see the plainly visible artillery placements. British General Howe reportedly said: “The rebels have done more in one night than my whole army would have done in a month.” Days later, the British evacuated Boston and never returned. It was a major victory for the patriots, enabled by the quick thinking Rufus Putnam. Washington had tried to recruit him as Chief Engineer, though Putnam declined, believing he lacked the qualifications for the job. A decade later, Rufus Putnam started planning a new settlement in the Ohio Valley at Marietta.

Ironic fortune of war: Fort Ticonderoga, where the Dorchester Heights armaments came from, was retaken a year later with an identical strategy and outcome: The British forces hauled cannons up a nearby mountain and aimed them at the fort. Like the British at Dorchester, the Americans realized their plight and abandoned the fort. 

1 Henry Knox conceived and executed an expedition to recover armaments captured from the British from Fort Ticonderoga, then bring them to Boston to fortify the Dorchester Heights. He reached the fort on December 5, 1775 and departed with 8 brass mortars, 6 iron mortars, one howitzer, 13 brass cannon, 30 iron cannon, a barrel of flints, and 2,300 pounds of lead. Transporting this huge assemblage required 42 sleds, 80 teams of oxen. They had to navigate rivers, wait for ample snow and ice coverage, and drag them over the hill country of western Massachusetts. But they persevered. One historian called it the greatest logistical feat of the entire war.

Sources:

“March 4, 1776, Fortification of Dorchester Heights,” massmoments.org

Baker, David B., “Rufus Putnam the Early Years,” Early Marietta local history blog

Brooks, Noah, Henry Knox, Soldier of the Revolution

Buell, Rowena, Memoirs of Rufus Putnam

Fortification of Dorchester Heights, Wikipedia

“Fort Ticonderoga (1775),” battlefields.org

French, Allen, The Siege of Boston 

Frothingham, Richard, History of the Siege of Boston etc.

Shallot, Todd, Structures in the Stream, Water, Science, and the Rise of the U. S. Army

The Writings of George Washington, Vol 3, 1775-76

John Miller and George Morgan White Eyes: Two men without a country

John Miller was bound and left in camp by a Delaware Indian war party. The Delaware, with George Morgan White Eyes (“George”), were headed for Waterford to attack settlers at Fort Frye in March of 1791. John knew he had to escape and warn his friends at Waterford. He had lived with them in the summer of 1790, using his hunting skills to supply wild game for the fledgling settlement. 

Miller was a “Stockbridge Indian” from Massachusetts who had come to Marietta in 1788 with General James Mitchell Varnum. He had lived most of his life among white people and was less attached to his native heritage. John and George were friends at Princeton University in the 1780’s. A chance meeting between the two in 1790 at Fort Harmar rekindled their friendship. George hired John as a guide and hunter. But after several months with him and his Delaware tribe at Sandusky, John longed to rejoin his friends at Waterford.

The war party headed to southeast Ohio from Sandusky. John Miller tagged along so he could return to the area, knowing he’d have to find a way out. They camped near present day Duncan Falls on the Muskingum River. It became clear they planned to attack soon. John had to think fast: how could he stay behind without raising suspicion? He deliberately cut his foot while chopping wood, pretending it was accidental. They left him in camp but tied him up, uncertain of his intentions. 

Fort Frye, located just below present day Beverly, Ohio, was named for Lt. Joseph Frye who designed the structure which was erected after the massacre at Big Bottom in January, 1791. It was triangular, not a typical design for frontier blockhouse forts. Image from Samuel Hildreth’s Pioneer History.

John watched and listened after the Delaware war party left camp on that cold March morning. A few birds chirped in the mist; deer wandered through the camp. Otherwise it was still. Were they gone? Yes. He struggled to free himself. His mind was racing. How could he get to Waterford before the war party attacked? He watched the Muskingum River flow by, swollen by heavy rains. That was it! He would have to take his chances floating down the dangerously swift water.  By late afternoon he was free. He scrambled to retrieve logs and grapevine to build a raft. At dusk he set off, his foot throbbing. Darkness enveloped him; now he was at the mercy of the river. 

George Morgan White Eyes was the son of Delaware chief White Eyes. Early in the Revolutionary War, White Eyes had led efforts by the Delaware to build better relations with the Americans. George Morgan, Indian agent and advocate, helped arrange a treaty between the Delaware and Americans. The Delaware offered the Americans access across tribal lands and its “best and most expert warriors” in support of U.S. troops. The US pledged basic necessities (food and supplies), protection for non combatant Delaware people, and a territorial guarantee with potential future statehood. 

It was fleeting vision of an idealistic future: Indians and whites living in peace with each other. But it wasn’t to be. The Delaware honored its promises; the United States did not. And Chief White Eyes was murdered in late 1778 while guiding U.S. Troops, severely straining the relationship. George was 8 years old at the time, facing an uncertain future. 

At daybreak, John Miller was chilled through from a night on the water. He panicked as he spotted a camp fire. It was the war party. He jerked as rifle fire echoed in the hills. Fortunately, they were hunting and not firing at him. He clung prostrate to the raft, heart pounding, but skimmed past without being seen. 

He landed just above Fort Frye and cautiously approached the fort. He was dressed like an Indian but spoke good English and named people in the fort who knew him. They let him in - at gun point. Some didn’t believe his warning and thought he was a spy for the Indians. Fortunately the commander, Captain William Gray, did believe him. John gave him full details of the Indians’ plan. The settlers at Fort Frye went on full alert, working feverishly to secure the fort. Indians did finally attack after a few days and were repulsed. Miller’s warning saved many lives. 

John Miller was now in a difficult spot - like a man without a country. The Delaware Indians would torture and kill him if caught. And some of the white settlers distrusted him. He was dismayed by his predicament - and afraid. How could he be distrusted by the Indians and whites when he had friends in both groups? Yet so it was. John Miller fled to Marietta and returned to New England. His experiment at living in the Ohio Country was over.

George White Eyes’ life was also in cultural limbo. He and two other chiefs’ sons had been sent to Princeton, New Jersey in 1779 to be educated as a conciliatory gesture by Americans for his father White Eyes’ murder. The boys lived there under the guidance of George Morgan, George Morgan White Eyes namesake.

George Morgan’s Prospect Farm, ca 1797 where George Morgan White Eyes was housed. It was adjacent to College of New Jersey, as Princeton University was known at the time. From slavery.Princeton.edu.

George was overwhelmed at being thrust into an entirely new culture. He missed his father. Gone were the familiar people, landscape, and Delaware Indian customs. Yet he excelled in his classes at a private school, and then at The College of New Jersey. By his senior year, though, he had become disillusioned. And his mentor George Morgan was moving west to Missouri. He recommended to Congress that young George’s education be continued at Yale but received no response.  In August 1789, George Morgan White Eyes wrote to George Washington, “I am very sorry that the Education you have given & views you must have had when you took me into your Possession, & the Friendship which my father had for the United States (which I suppose is the chief Cause) are not sufficient Inducements, to your further providing for me.” With ambivalent feelings, George returned in 1789 to his native Delaware Indians in Ohio.

Now he too was like a man without a country, restless, uncertain of his place. White culture was unsettling to him, and after a ten year absence, reentry into his former Delaware culture would be a challenge. He had missed years of indoctrination and training - in fighting, scouting, and survival skills. And would he be accepted by Indians who barely knew him or his father?

George apparently fit in with his tribe. He took a wife, described as very young with long dark hair. Sadly, his life devolved into random aimless wandering, with her and some of his Delaware companions. One historical note says that George inherited some assets from his father White Eyes but “….squandered his (inheritance) in debauchery.” Another historian described their daily routine as “hunting by day and drinking by night.” We get a glimpse into his life through two fascinating encounters with George White Eyes by prominent Ohioans. 

Thomas Ewing, later a Lancaster attorney and U. S. Senator, had a chance meeting with him in 1796. Ewing was 6 years old, fishing on the Muskingum River with his father and older brother. Suddenly an Indian with a rifle appeared on a large rock and motioned them to shore. They complied, fearful on the Indian’s intentions. Fortunately, he only need help dragging a deer he had shot to the river.  They loaded it into the canoe and proceeded with some trepidation to the Indians’ camp. One of the group was George White Eyes. 

There was a feast of venison and ceremonial pipe smoking. Ewing’s father remembered that George had several of his school books in camp, including a “well thumbed” book of Eschylus Greek tragedies which he “took pride in exhibiting.” Ewing remembered the wife as “beautiful - dressed in a black silk robe…ornamented with silver brooches.” The next morning young Thomas recalled having fun playing with other Indian boys and learning how to more expertly gig fish.

Ephraim Cutler, prominent early settler and civic leader, was active in a work party that recovered salt from deposits near present day Chandlersville in southern Muskingum County. Salt was a valuable and scarce resource at the time. Groups from different settlements worked on a schedule. Indians often visited the site. 

One night in 1796 there was a memorable episode involving George Morgan White Eyes. He, his wife, and a Stockbridge Indian named Old Tom were drinking. George and Old Tom started arguing; Tom struck George with the blunt end of a tomahawk and fled. His wife came running into the salt camp and begged for help. Cutler and others found George unconscious and barely breathing. They brought him to the salt works. Soon a large number of Indians gathered. Several squaws went to work. They built a fire, heated a large flat rock, poured water over the rock, and directed the steam vapor around George’s face and head. This went on for several hours. The next day he was awake, alert though probably hung over, and left with the hunting party.

Two years later George Morgan White Eyes was dead. He drunkenly threatened a young man who fatally shot him. George had never found peace, trapped in a no man’s land between his native heritage, white culture, and alcoholism. We have no record about John Miller’s life after he left Ohio. As an Indian living in white man’s society, he too was out of place in the Ohio Country. Such were the conflicts that many Native Americans experienced in the early years.