In the Current of the Revolution 175 



form, and to which the backwoodsmen themselves 

 were generally unequal, even though an overmatch 

 for their foes singly, because of their disregard of 

 discipline. 81 



So, with foray and reprisal, and fierce private 

 war, with all the border in a flame, the year 1781 

 came to an end. At its close there were in Kentucky 

 seven hundred and sixty able-bodied militia, fit for 

 an offensive campaign. 82 As this did not include 

 the troops at the Falls, nor the large shifting popu- 

 lation, nor the "fort soldiers," the weaker men, gray- 

 beards, and boys, who could handle a rifle behind a 

 stockade, it is probable that there were then some- 

 where between four and five thousand souls in Ken- 

 tucky. 



81 In the open plain the comparative prowess of these forest 

 Indians, of the backwoodsmen, and of trained regulars was 

 exactly the reverse of what it was in the woods. 



82 Letter of John Todd, October 21, 1781. Virginia State 

 Papers, II, 562. The troops at the Falls were in a very desti- 

 tute condition, with neither supplies nor money, and their 

 credit worn threadbare, able to get nothing from the sur- 

 rounding country (do., p. 313.) In Clark's absence the colo- 

 nel let his garrison be insulted by the townspeople, and so 

 brought the soldiers into contempt, while some of the demor- 

 alized officers tampered with the public stores. It was said 

 that much dissipation prevailed in the garrison, to which ac- 

 cusation Clark answered sarcastically: "However agreeable 

 such conduct might have been to their sentiments, I believe 

 they seldom had the means in their power, for they were 

 generally in a starving condition" (do., Vol. VIII, pp. 347 

 and 359). 



