May 3d.—We swung our knapsacks and commenced our march for the falls of the Ohio;—The road was so very bad that we were obliged to keep pioneers in advance to clear it, which greatly retarded our march. We observed on our rout through Indiana, several houses piquetted in, where a number of families had collected, and formed little garrisons, to defend themselves against the Indians, who daily committed the most flagrant depredations upon the defenceless emigrant; we frequently saw men armed going to their fields to work, leaving their women and children to garrison their dwellings until their return in the evening.
May 11.—We arrived on the banks of the Ohio, and immediately crossed the river to Louisville, (Ken.) where great respect was manifested towards us.—Many of the citizens of this place had fought by our sides at the battle of Tippecanoe.
May 12—We proceeded on our march, and on the 16th reached the arsenal at Newport, and halted one day.
May 18—We crossed the Ohio river again at Newport to Cincinnati, where we were highly honored by the patriotic citizens of this beautiful and flourishing town.—A grand salute was fired from two field pieces while we were crossing the river.—We landed and formed on its bank and were escorted through the town by a fine looking Company of Artillery.—In one of the principal streets through which we passed, a triumphal arch was erected, ornamented with wreaths of evergreen, and the words "Heroes of Tippecanoe" were displayed in large characters over the arch. We marched a few miles from the town and encamped, where we were bountifully regaled by the generous inhabitants of the place.
May 19th—Proceeded on our march to Dayton, where we arrived about the first of June—Gen. Hull had left this place and gone on to Urbana with the army, forty miles further.
June 3d—Arrived at Urbana, and joined Gen. Hull's army composed of three Regiments of Ohio militia volunteers, commanded by Colonels M'Arthur, Cass and Findley. Here we were received with a repetition of the honors shewn us at Cincinnati, and obtained a short respite from our long and fatiguing march from Indiana; having come the distance of nearly four hundred miles, with but one day's rest.
June 13th.—Col. M'Arthur's regiment of militia left the encampment and proceeded on the march for Detroit, with orders to build block-houses at the distance of every twenty miles, and to cut a road for the march of the army.
June 15th.—The army followed on the route of Col. M'Arthur;—the weather was extremely wet, and the new road had become a perfect slough nearly the whole distance to the River Scioto, which contributed greatly to retard our progress,—having many waggons attached to the army, we were frequently obliged to halt and relieve them from the mire—We came up with M'Arthur's regiment at the Scioto, where they were just completing a large block-house. A militia sentinel was shot through the body while peaceably walking his post, by one of his comrades in the regiment, without any previous provocation being given by the deceased. His punishment was as singular as his crime. A Court Martial found him guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to have both ears cropped, and both cheeks branded with the letter M. which was immediately put in execution.
June 17th.—Col. M'Arthur's regiment again went forward;—on the 20th the army followed. An extensive swamp we had to pass through, called the Black Swamp, rendered it impossible to carry our baggage on waggons; it was therefore found necessary to transfer the flour to pack-horses, which was put up in bags for the purpose. Much rain having previously fallen, we had to wade for whole days through mud and water, tormented in the extreme both night and day by the stings of the innumerable musquetos and knats. The water we drank could only be obtained from holes made by the pioneers in advance, or from places where trees had been torn up by the roots.
It was thought that the Indians might cause us some trouble on our march through this forest, and a temporary breast-work of felled trees was erected each day on encamping—however, we received no annoyance from any enemy, during our march to the Miami rapids, where we arrived on the 29th, and found Col. M'Arthur encamped on a beautiful plain on the bank of the river. On the opposite shore, we were told, was the famous spot where, on the 20th Aug. 1794, Gen. Wayne gained an important victory over a body of about 2000 Indians.