A great many young Canadians, and in particular many that were born of Indian women, fought on the side of the Indians in this action, a circumstance which confirmed the people of the States in the opinion they had previously formed, that the Indians were encouraged and abetted in their attacks upon them by the British. I can safely affirm, however, from having conversed with many of these young men who fought against St. Clair, that it was with the utmost secrecy they left their homes to join the Indians, fearful lest the government should censure their conduct; and that in espousing the quarrel of the Indians, they were actuated by a desire to assist a people whom they conceived to be injured, more than by an unextinguished spirit of resentment against men, whom they had formerly viewed in the light of rebels.
As the revenge of the Indians was completely glutted by this victory over St. Clair, it is not improbable, but that if pains had been taken immediately to negociate a peace with them, it might have been obtained on easy terms; and had the boundary line then determinately agreed upon been faithfully observed afterwards by the people of the States, there is great reason to imagine that the peace would have been a permanent one. As this, however, was a questionable measure, and the general opinion was, that a peace could be made on better terms if preceded by a victory on the part of the States, it was determined to raise another army. Liberal supplies for that purpose were granted by congress, and three thousand men were soon collected together.
Great pains were taken to enlist for this new army men from Kentucky, and other parts of the frontiers, who had been accustomed to the Indian mode of fighting; and a sufficient number of rifle-men from the frontier were collected, to form a very large regiment. The command of the new army was given to the late General Wayne. Upon being appointed to it, his first care was to introduce strict discipline amongst his troops; he afterwards kept the army in motion on the frontier, but he did not attempt to penetrate far into the Indian country, nor to take any offensive measures against the enemy for some time. This delay the General conceived would be attended with two great advantages; first, it would serve to banish from the minds of his men all recollection of the defeat of the late army; and secondly, it would afford him an opportunity of training perfectly to the Indian mode of fighting such of his men as were ignorant of it; for he saw no hopes of success but in fighting the Indians in their own way.
INDIAN WARFARE.
When the men were sufficiently trained he advanced, but it was with the utmost caution. He seldom proceeded farther than twelve miles in one day; the march was always ended by noon, and the afternoon was regularly employed in throwing up strong intrenchments round the camp, in order to secure the army from any sudden attack; and the spot that had been thus fortified on one day was never totally abandoned until a new encampment had been made on the ensuing one. Moreover, strong posts were established at the distance of forty miles, or thereabouts, from each other, in which guards were left, in order to ensure a safe retreat to the army in case it should not be successful. As he advanced, General Wayne sent detachments of his army to destroy all the Indian villages that were near him, and on these occasions the deepest stratagems were made use of. In some instances his men threw off their clothes, and by painting their bodies, disguised themselves so as to resemble Indians in every respect, then approaching as friends, they committed dreadful havoc. Skirmishes also frequently took place, on the march, with the Indians who hovered round the army. These terminated with various success, but mostly in favour of the Americans; as in their conduct, the knowledge and discipline of regular troops were combined with all the cunning and stratagem of their antagonists.
All this time the Indians kept retreating, as they had done formerly before St. Clair; and without being able to bring on a decisive engagement, General Wayne proceeded even to the Miami of the Lakes, so called in contra-distinction to another River Miami, which empties itself into the Ohio. Here it was that that curious correspondence in respect to Fort Miami took place, the substance of which was related in most of the English and American prints, and by which General Wayne exposed himself to the censure of many of his countrymen, and General, then Colonel Campbell, who commanded in the fort, gained the public thanks of the traders in London.
INDIAN WARFARE.
The Miami Fort, situated on the river of the same name, was built by the English in the year 1793, at which time there was some reason to imagine that the disputes existing between Great Britain and the United States would not have been quite so amicably settled, perhaps, as they have been; at least that doubtless must have been the opinion of government, otherwise they would not have given orders for the construction of a fort within the boundary line of the United States, a circumstance which could not fail to excite the indignation of the people thereof. General Wayne, it would appear, had received no positive orders from his government to make himself master of it: could he have gained possession of it, however, by a coup-de-main, without incurring any loss, he thought that it could not but have been deemed an acceptable piece of service by the public, from whom he should have received unbounded applause. Vanity was his ruling passion, and actuated by it on this occasion, he resolved to try what he could do to obtain possession of the fort. Colonel Campbell, however, by his spirited and manly answer to the summons that was sent him, to surrender the fort on account of its being situated within the boundary line of the States, soon convinced the American general that he was not to be shaken by his remonstrances or intimidated by his menaces, and that his two hundred men, who composed the garrison, had sufficient resolution to resist the attacks of his army of three thousand, whenever he thought proper to march against the fort. The main division of the American army, at this time, lay at the distance of about four miles from the fort; a small detachment from it, however, was concealed in the woods at a very little distance from the fort, to be ready at the call of General Wayne, who, strange to tell, when he found he was not likely to get possession of it in consequence of the summons he sent, was so imprudent, and departed so much from the dignity of the general and the character of the soldier, as to ride up to the fort, and to use the most gross and illiberal language to the British soldiers on duty in it. His object in doing so was, I should suppose, to provoke the garrison to fire upon him, in which case he would have had a pretext for storming the fort.
Owing to the great prudence, however, of Colonel Campbell, who had issued the strictest orders to his men and officers to remain silent, notwithistanding any insults that were offered to them, and not to attempt to fire, unless indeed an actual attack were made on the place, Wayne’s plan was frustrated, much bloodshed certainly saved, and a second war between Great Britain and America perhaps averted.
General Wayne gained no great personal honour by his conduct on this occasion; but the circumstance of his having appeared before the British fort in the manner he did operated strongly in his favour in respect to his proceedings against the Indians. These people had been taught to believe by the young Canadians that were amongst them, that if any part of the American army appeared before the fort, it would certainly be fired upon; for they had no idea that the Americans would have come in sight of it without taking offensive measures, in which case resistance would certainly have been made. When, therefore, it was heard that General Wayne had not been fired upon, the Indians complained grievously of their having been deceived, and were greatly disheartened on finding that they were to receive no assistance from the British. Their native courage, however, did not altogether forsake them; they resolved speedily to make a stand, and accordingly having chosen their ground, awaited the arrival of General Wayne, who followed them closely.