CHAPTER V 



THE WAR IN THE NORTHWEST, 1777-1778 



IN the fall of 1776 it became evident that a for- 

 midable Indian war was impending. At De- 

 troit great councils were held by all the Northwest- 

 ern tribes, to whom the Six Nations sent the white 

 belt of peace, that they might cease their feuds 

 and join against the Americans. The later coun- 

 cils were summoned by Henry Hamilton, the Brit- 

 ish Lieutenant-Governor of the Northwestern re- 

 gion, whose headquarters were at Detroit. He was 

 an ambitious,, energetic, unscrupulous man, of bold 

 character, who wielded great influence over the 

 Indians ; and the conduct of the war in the West, as 

 well as the entire management of frontier affairs, 

 was intrusted to him by the British Government. 1 

 He had been ordered to enlist the Indians on the 

 British side, and have them ready to act against the 

 Americans in the spring 2 ; and accordingly he gath- 

 ered the tribes together. He himself took part in 

 the war-talks, plying the Indians with presents and 

 fire-water no less than with speeches and promises. 

 The headmen of the different tribes, as they grew 



1 Haldimand MSS. Sir Guy Carleton to Hamilton, Sep- 

 tember 26, 1777. 



2 Do., Carleton to Hamilton, October 6, 1776. 



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