encountered, General Wayne determined to stay where he was, for the winter, and having seventy thousand rations on hand in October, with the prospect of one hundred and twenty thousand more, while the Indians were sure to be short of provisions, he proceeded to fortify his position; which he named Fort Greenville, and which was situated upon the spot now occupied by the town of that name. This being done on the twenty-third or twenty-fourth of December, a detachment was sent forward to take possession of the field of St. Clair's defeat. They arrived upon the spot upon Christmas day. "Six hundred skulls," says one present, "were gathered up and buried; when we went to lay down in our tents at night, we had to scrape the bones together and carry them out, to make our beds.* Here they built Fort Recovery, which was properly garrisoned and placed under the command of Capt. Alexander Gibson.

During the early months of 1794, Wayne was steadily engaged in preparing everything for a sure blow when the time came, and by means of Capt. Gibson and his various spies, kept himself informed of the plans and movements of the savages. All his information showed the faith in British assistance which still animated the doomed race of red men.

* American Pioneer. Western Annals.

CHAPTER XXIX.

GENERAL WAYNE'S BATTLE ON THE BANKS OF THE MAUMEE - POSITION OF THE AMERICAN AND INDIAN FORCES-THE VICTORY-NEW FORTS ERECTED-DESTRUCTION OF INDIAN DWELLINGS-THE INDIANS SUE FOR PEACE-THE TREATY OF GREENVILLE.

AT FORT RECOVERY, on the thirtieth of June, 1794, the advanced American post was assailed by Little Turtle, at the head of fifteen hundred warriors. Such was their answer to the messages of peace which the American government had sent among them-and, although repelled, the assailants rallied. and returned to the charge, and kept up the attack through the whole of the day. Among the Indians were a large number of British,* who were aiding them, and who, it would seem, expected to find the artillery captured from St. Clair on the fourth of the previous November; but, fortunately, the Americans had already discovered them, and they were now used in defending Fort Recovery.

On the twenty-sixth of July, Scott with some sixteen hundred mounted men from Kentucky, joined Wayne at Greenville, and on the twenty-eighth the whole legion moved forward. On the eighth of August, the army reached the Grand Glaize, near the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize, and at once proceeded to build Fort Defiance. While engaged upon this fort, Wayne received full information of the movements of the Indians, and the aid they were to receive from the volunteers of Detroit and elsewhere, and, after considering the situation of affairs, he determined to march forward and strike the blow at once. But, however, before taking this step, he sent a special

* General Wayne's Report. American State Papers.

† American Pioneer. Western Annals.

messenger to the hostile Indians, with the following last offer of peace:

To the Delawares, Shawanoes, Miamis and Wyandots, and to each and every of them, and to all other nations of Indians, northwest of the Ohio, whom it may concern:

I, Anthony Wayne, Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal army now at Grand Glaize, and commissioner plenipotentiary of the United States of America, for settling the terms upon which a permanent and lasting peace shall be made with each and every of the hostile tribes, or nations of Indians northwest of the Ohio, and of the said United States, actuated by the purest principles of humanity, and urged by pity for the errors into which bad and designing men have led you, from the head of my army, now in possession of your abandoned villages and settlements, do hereby once more extend the friendly hand of peace towards you, and invite each and every of the hostile tribes of Indians to appoint deputies to meet me and my army, without delay, between this place and Roche de Bout, in order to settle the preliminaries of a lasting peace, which may eventually and soon restore to you, the Delawares, Miamis, Shawanoes and all other tribes and nations lately settled at this place, and on the margins of the Miami and Auglaize rivers, your late grounds and possessions, and to preserve you and your distressed and hapless women and children from danger and famine, during the present fall and ensuing winter.

The arm of the United States is strong and powerful, but they love mercy and kindness more than war and desolation.

And to remove any doubts or apprehensions of danger to the persons of the deputies whom you may appoint to meet this army, I hereby pledge my sacred honor for their safety and return, and send Christopher Miller, an adopted Shawanoe, and a Shawanoe warrior, whom I took prisoner two days ago, as a flag, who will advance in their front to meet me.

Mr. Miller was taken prisoner by a party of my warriors, six moons since, and can testify to you the kindness which I have shown to your people, my prisoners, that is, five warriors and two women, who are now all safe and well at Greenville.

But, should this invitation be disregarded, and my flag, Mr. Miller, be detained or injured, I will immediately order all those prisoners to be put to death, without distinction, and some of them are known to belong to the first families of your nation.

Brothers: Be no longer deceived or led astray by the false promises and language of the bad white men at the foot of the Rapids; they have neither power nor inclination to protect you. No longer shut your eyes to your true interest and happiness, nor your ears to this overture of peace. But, in pity to your innocent women and children, come and prevent the further effusion of your blood; let them experience the kindness and friendship of the United States of America, and the invaluable blessings of peace and tranquility. ANTHONY WAYNE.

GRAND GLAIZE, August 13th, 1794.

But Wayne did not remain idle waiting for an answer, but moved on with his troops, and on the sixteenth of August he met his messengers returning with information that if the Americans would wait ten days the Indians would decide for peace or war. Wayne replied to this by marching rapidly forward.

After advancing forty-one miles from Grand Glaize, and being near the expected enemy, Wayne, on the eighteenth, halted his army and began the erection of Fort Deposit, which was intended as a protection to the baggage during the expected battle. On the same day five of Wayne's spies, among whom was May, the man who had been sent after Trueman, and who had pretended to desert to the Indians, rode into the very camp of the enemy; in attempting to retreat again, May's horse fell and he was taken. The following day, the day before the battle, he was tied to a tree and shot at as a target.

*

On the twentieth Wayne's forces moved down the north bank of the Maumee, the legion on its right, the flank covered by the Maumee; one brigade of mounted volunteers on the left, under Brigadier-General Todd, and the other in the rear under Brigadier-General Barbee. A select battalion of mounted volunteers moved in front of the legion, commanded by Major Price, who was directed to keep sufficiently advanced so as to give timely notice for the troops to form in case of action. Having advanced about five miles, Major Price's corps received a very severe fire from the enemy, who were secreted in the woods and high grass. After a short contest the advanced guard retreated. The legion was immediately formed into two lines in the midst of a close, thick woods, which extended for a considerable distance on either hand. The ground was covered with fallen timber, probably occasioned by a tornado, which rendered it impracticable for the cavalry to act with effect, and afforded the enemy a favorable opportunity for their peculiar mode of fighting.

The savages were formed into three lines, within supporting distance of each other, and extending nearly two miles at right angles with the river. Wayne soon discovered, from the

* American Pioneer-Western Annals.

weight of the fire and extent of the Indian lines, that the enemy were in full force in front, in possession of their favorite ground, and endeavoring to turn his left flank. He therefore gave orders for the second line to advance and support the first, and directed Major-General Scott to gain and turn the right flank of the savages with the whole of the mounted volunteers, by a circuitous route. At the same time the General ordered the front line to advance and charge with trailed arms and rouse the Indians from their coverts at the point of the bayonet, and when up to deliver a close and well directed fire on their backs, followed by a brisk charge, so as not to give them time to load again.

Wayne also ordered Captain Campbell, who commanded the legionary cavalry, to turn the left flank of the enemy next to the river. All these orders were obeyed with spirit and promptness. Such was the effect of the charge by the first line of infantry that the Indians and Canadian militia and volunteers were driven from their strongholds before the second line of the legion and the mounted volunteers could get up to participate in the action. The enemy was driven, in the course of one hour, more than two miles through the thick woods already mentioned, by less than one-half their number. From every account the Indians amounted to two thousand combatants. The troops actually engaged against them were short of nine hundred. This horde of savages, with their allies, abandoned themselves to flight, and dispersed with terror and dismay, leaving Wayne's victorious army in full and quiet possession of the field of battle.

In reporting the battle to the Secretary of War, Wayne says, "the bravery and conduct of every officer belonging to the army, from the Generals down to the ensigns, merit my highest approbation." The loss in killed and wounded was much heavier on the side of the enemy than in Wayne's army.* For a considerable distance the woods were strewn with the dead bodies of Indians and their white auxiliaries. The Americans

* The loss of the Americans in this action was thirty-three killed and one hundred wounded, including twenty-one officers, of whom only five were killed.-ED.