, 1891-10-23

Northwestern territory, an affair which
has its parallel somewhat in Braddock''
disaster thirty-six years before, in which
engagement Colonel George Washington,
as Braddock's chief aid, saved the com.
mand from humiliation after the repulse
and death of his chief
President Washington in taking leave
of St. Clair, as the latter was about to start
out on that Ill starred expedition, addressed
his old military associate with solemn
earnestness:
You nave your instructions from the
secretary of war. | had a strict eye on
them, and will add but one word-Beware
of a surprised You know how the Indians
fight. / repeat it-Beware of a surprisel'
No wonder that when the new reached
him-through an officer who had been dis
patched to the president from the frontier,
and who arrived on horseback at the ex-
ecutive mansion in Philadelphia toward
the close of IA wintry December day-no
wonder / say that the father of his coun-
try became terribly excited, and striking
his clenched fists against his forehead in a
paroxysm of anguish, exclaimed:
Its all over. st. Clair d~efeated-rout-
ed; the officers nearly all killed-the men
by wholesale-that brave army cut to
pieces-the rout completed too shocking to
think of-and a surprise in the bargainl'
In view of the reverses which had be-
fallen the American arms the year before
in their encounter with these same fierce
tribes on the Miami and Wabash, especial
ly the command of General Harmer, one
Of the last measures adopted by Con
gress in 1891 was to increase the national
forces to a suitable degree of power, and
to place in the hands of President Wash
inRton more ample means for the protec-
ton of the frontier, as the Indians on the
northwest side of the Ohio river continued
their hostilities. A new expedition, in
consequence, was projected, and General
st. Clair, then governor of the territory
west of the Ohio, was appointed com
mander OF the forces to be employed.
Washington had been deeply chagrined
and panied by the Notifying disasters to
General Harmer's expedition to the WA
bash, resulting from indian ambuscades,
hence his earnest warning to st. Clair to
guard against surprises.
st. Clair was an officer possessing the
prestige of veteran service and great
bravery and skill in previous wars. a
native Of Edinburgh, in Scotland, he served
under Wolfe in Canada; was "A colonel,
briEadier general and major general sue
cessively in the Revolutionary war. and
took part in the battles of Trenton, Prince.
ton and Yorktown and other engage.
htLb was III Goiliiiitid ab IiAhhfAi
roga when that famous fortress was neces-
sarily surrendered to BurgoyDe's over
whelmingly superior force. He was a
member of the executive council Of Penn
sylvania in 1888; was elected to congress
three years afterwards; was its president
in 1877, and upon the erection of the
Northwestern territory into a government,
in l7Ss, was appointed its governor, which
Office he held till 1902, when Ohio was nd
mitted as a state into the Union.
Under such a tried leader the troops be
gan active operations in the enemy's
try, and the entire nation, not less than its
illustrious head, awaited the outcome with
deep anxiety, not unmingled with bright
hopes of a speedy suppression Of the frontier
troubles
The battle was fought Nov. 4, while the
main body of st. Clair's army was en-.
camped in two lines on rising ground, some
fifteen miles south of the Miami village
on one Of the tributaries Of the Wabash,
and the militia upon a high fiat on the
other side Of the stream. The Indians
were led by Michikiniqua, or Little Tur-
tle," a noted, able chief. The fight lasted
nearly three hours, >and was one of the
fiercest known in military annals The
history of this notable affair is us follows,