the cowardly conduct of the militia, who took to their heels on the first fire.

These movements took place while the army remained on the site of the burnt villages. After they had progressed one day on their homeward march, Major Wyllys was sent back with four hundred chosen men, under an expectation, that many of the Indians would have returned to examine the ruins of their villages, who might be taken by surprise and cut to pieces. On this occasion also, the militia fled in disorder, and Major Wyllys, a very brave, experienced officer, with most of the regular troops under his command, were killed.

The army then proceeded by slow and easy marches to Fort Washington. The Indians pursued them, but such was the vigilance of the General, that they were unable to annoy, or injure the troops, during the march. As soon as they arrived at Fort Washington, the militia were disbanded, and dismissed, and the General repaired to the seat of government, where he resigned the command, and obtained a Court of Inquiry.

In justice to the character of General Harmar, reference should be had to the official report of the Court of Inquiry. It will be found in that document, that the officers, and others who were examined, unitedly declared, that the militia were very badly equipped-that they were destitute of camp-kettles and axes-that their arms, generally, were very bad, out of repair, and almost useless; and that muskets had been brought, without locks, under an expectation that they could be repaired in camp.

It will also be found, that many of the men were unfit for service, and scarcely able to bear arms, being old and infirm; that they were not of that class of active woodsmen, usually found in the frontier counties; that a great number of them were substitutes, unused to fire-arms; that some, particularly from Pennsylvania, were so awkward, that they could not take off a gun-lock, oil it, and put it on

again, or put in a flint so as to answer its purpose, without assistance; that the pack-horse men were ignorant of their duty, inactive, and insolent; that there was a spirit of insubordination among the militia, which rendered it impossible to inflict punishment, without danger of a revolt.

It will also be found, that the officers concurred in declaring, that the organization of the army was judicious, and that the heavy loss sustained on the expedition, should be ascribed to the ignorance, imbecility, insubordination, and want of equipment of the militia, and not to any defect of capacity, or bravery, in the General commanding, or in the officers who served under him.

Although the termination of the expedition of 1790 has been spoken of as a defeat, it is believed, that when the facts are correctly and impartially considered, it will be found worthy of a more honorable name. The movement was got up in haste. The troops, with the exception of three hundred and twenty, rank and file, were undisciplined, insubordinate, and badly equipped militia. They were called together for the purpose of punishing the Indians of the Miami villages; and it was distinctly understood, that when they had done so, the purpose of the movement would be accomplished. It was not expected that the troops were to hold possession of the villages, but having destroyed them, and the property they contained, they were to return to Fort Washington, and be disbanded.

If that object was fully and literally accomplished, as the fact most certainly was, it cannot be said, in truth, that the campaign was a failure, or the result of it a defeat. It was stated in official reports to the War Department, that the towns were taken, and thoroughly destroyed, without the loss of a single American soldier. Those places of rendezvous, where British traders resorted, to poison the minds of the Indians, and excite them to hostility against the Americans, were broken up. The returns also show, that

three hundred houses and wigwams were burnt, twenty thousand bushels of corn, in the ear, collected and destroyed; and that not a vestige of destructible improvement or useful property was spared.

These being the facts, the Commander-in-chief announced in general orders, that the army had completely accomplished the object for which it was ordered, to wit: a total destruction of the Miami towns, together with the vast amount of property found in them, and in the vicinity; and that they were about to commence their march, and return to Fort Washington. At that time, the great object of the campaign was literally accomplished, and nothing was heard but the notes of commendation. An important victory had been achieved, and if the army had then returned, they and their commander would have been hailed as victors and crowned with glory.

But subsequent efforts to inflict further injury on the enemy, proved disastrous, by the bad conduct of the militia, of which neither the cause, nor the consequences ought to be charged to the account of the General, whose movements, it was admitted, were judiciously planned; and, as far as the officers and the federal troops were concerned, prudently and bravely conducted.

From the returns of Lieutenant Denny, the adjutant of the army, the loss of the enemy was set down at from a hundred, to a hundred and twenty, and the loss of the American troops at one hundred and eighty. The most that can be said, justly, is, that the complete accomplishment of the important objects of the expedition, was attended with a greater loss than might have been expected.

Among the killed were Major Wyllys and Lieutenant Frothingham, of the federal troops; and Major Fontain, Captains Thorp, Scott, and McMurtree; Lieutenants Clark and Rogers; Ensigns Sweet, Bridges, and Thielkeld, of the militia.

This expedition was followed by vigorous efforts on the part of the savages, to harass and break up the American settlements; in which they must have succeeded, but for the total destruction of their property and provisions, just at the approach of winter.

CHAPTER V.

The early adventurers to the Miami Purchase.-Stations erected.-Attacked by the Indians.-Communications of President Washington to Congress.Statement showing the weakness of the Ohio Company's settlement.-Gen. Scott's expedition against the Wabash Indians.-Its celerity and success.Col. Wilkinson's expedition against the same tribes.-Conducted with skill and success.-Organization of Gen. St. Clair's army.-Encamped at Ludlow's Station. Its number.-The campaign. The cause of the defeat.Court of Inquiry.-The General acquitted of all censure.

A LARGE number of the original adventurers to the Miami Purchase, had exhausted their means by paying for their land, and removing their families to the country. Others were wholly destitute of property, and came out as volunteers, under the expectation of obtaining, gratuitously, such small tracts of land, as might be forfeited by the purchasers, under Judge Symmes, for not making the improvements required by the conditions stipulated in the terms of sale and settlement of Miami lands, published by the Judge, in 1787; which will be more fully explained in a subsequent chapter. The class of adventurers first named, was comparatively numerous, and had come out under an expectation of taking immediate possession of their lands, and of commencing the cultivation of them for subsistence. Their situation, therefore, was distressing. To go out into the wilderness to till the soil, appeared to be certain death; to remain in the settlements threatened them with starvation. The best provided of the Pioneers found it difficult to obtain subsistence; and, of course, the class now spoken of, were not far from total destitution. They depended on game, fish, and such products of the earth as could be raised