Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-12-23
From the WaShingtonian.

THE INDIAN WAR.-An Indian war, it
seems, then, is actually begun, and, in the We
ry first rencontre we have been victorious
The Prophet, with his host of warriors has
been defeated and his village has been burnt /!
All this is very well. But how dearly has
this victory been purchased And how many
brave men have fallen If this was victo-
ry, it was certainly most disastrous one
A few such victories would destroy Gov Har-
rison's whole force.
But how came it to he so disastrous -
They were taken by surprisc-and gov. Har-
rison says, " a little confusion ensued"-but
they soon formed, and Major Floyd fought
like julius Caesar" in his shirt tal.' This
circumstance tells the whole story. What in
the name of prudence and of common sense
had Major Floyd, or any other Major, or even
any other man in the whole army, at that time,
to do " in his shirt-tail ?''-At the moment,
when they were within gun-shot of the enc
rays camp Am enemy too, whose whole
strength lies in treachery and surprize !?
Nay, at the very moment when the Prophet
had proposed parley the next day Ia cir
cumstance, of all others, which ought to have
excited suspicion, and to have put them dou-
bly, on their guard and with the dreadful
example too of St. Clair's massacre full before
their eyes!
Under all these circumstances, how came
Major Floyd in his shirt. TAIL and the men
quietly sleeping in their tents, till the ceninels
were all picked off with bows and arrows,
and the troops were awakened to their duty
by the tomahawk and scalping knife, and the
horrid yells of u savage fee already in posses
sion of their camp?
1t was dreadful, and must have proceeded
from misplaced self confidence and secu-
rity that was fatal, if not objectionable. And
what have We gained The ground, which
an Indian never keeps-and the ashes of the
Prophets village, which some accounts init
mate to have been fired by himsclfs The
loss of poor Baen is more than it is all wsrth.
And do firmly believe that, with proper pru-
dence, the sam victory might have been won
without the loss of man. If Governor Har-
rison does not yet understand the Indian mode
of fighting, it is to be hoped he may profit
by experience.
Captain Bane Cor BEAM of this town, fought
bravely as no doubt did the rest. He re-
ceived balls in his body, three strokes of the
tomahawk in his face, and two on his neck.
He was alive at the last dates, but was not
expected to live long. He was brave, no.
BILE, generous soul, and deserved better fate.
But--alas
(" The haths Of glory lead bur to the grave"
An European prince, once fitted out
at vast expense, an expedition to burn Al
giers. When it appeared in the harbor, the
dey, like our prophet, proposed parley. He
shrewdly asked the commander, how much
the attempt would cost. "A sum was named.
Go, tell your master, (said the dey) that, for
half that sum, will burn Algiers myself"
The burning of an Indian village, after its
occupants have fed, with their tomahawks
and tin kettles, is-tas grunde chose The
Prophet would have done it himself, at any
time, for few kegs of whiskey.
x%s n-