The War in the Northwest 209 



lake Indians. 21 The British and Indians united 

 certainly did not much exceed three hundred men; 

 but they were hourly expecting reinforcements, and 

 decided to give battle. They were posted in a grove 

 of trees, from which they were driven by the first 

 charge of the Americans. A hot skirmish ensued, 

 in which, in spite of Crawford's superiority in force, 

 and of the exceptionally favorable nature of the 

 country, he failed to gain any marked advantage. 

 His troops, containing so large a leaven of the mur- 

 derers of the Moravians, certainly showed small 

 fighting capacity when matched against armed men 

 who could defend themselves. After the first few 

 minutes neither side gained nor lost ground. 



Of the Americans five were killed and nineteen 

 wounded in all twenty-four. Of their opponents 

 the rangers lost two men killed and three wounded, 

 Caldwell being one of the latter; and the Indians 

 four killed and eight wounded in all seventeen. 22 



That night Crawford's men slept by their watch- 

 fires in the grove, their foes camping round about 

 in the open prairie. Next morning the British and 

 Indians were not inclined to renew the attack; they 

 wished to wait until their numbers were increased. 



21 Do. Official report of Lt. John Turney of the rangers, 

 June 7, 1782. 



22 Do. Probably some of this loss occurred on the following 

 day. I rely on Butterfield for the American loss, 'as he quotes 

 Irvine's official report, etc. He of course wrote without 

 knowledge of the British reports ; and his account of the In- 

 dian losses and numbers is all wrong. He fails signally in 

 his effort to prove that the Americans behaved bravely. 



