210 The Winning of the West 



The only chance of the American militia was to 

 crush their enemies before reinforcements arrived, 

 yet they lay supine and idle all day long, save for an 

 occasional harmless skirmish. Crawford's general- 

 ship was as poor as the soldiership of his men. 



In the afternoon the Indians were joined by one 

 hundred and forty Shawnees. At sight of this ac- 

 cession of strength the dispirited militia gave up all 

 thought of anything but flight, though they were still 

 equal in numbers to their foes. That night they be- 

 gan a hurried and disorderly retreat. The Shaw- 

 nees and Delawares attacked them in the darkness, 

 causing some loss and great confusion, and a few 

 of the troops got into the marsh. Many thus be- 

 came scattered, and next morning there were only 

 about three hundred men left together in a body. 

 Crawford himself was among the missing, so Wil- 

 liamson took command, and hastily continued the 

 retreat. The savages did not make a very hot pur- 

 suit; nevertheless, in the afternoon of that day a 

 small number of Indians and Detroit rangers over- 

 took the Americans. They were all mounted. A 

 slight skirmish followed, and the Americans lost 

 eleven men, but repulsed their pursuers. 23 After 

 this they suffered little molestation, and reached 

 Mingo Bottom on the I3th of the month. 24 



Many of the stragglers came in afterward. In 



23 Who were probably at this point much fewer in number 

 than the Americans; Batterfield says the reverse, but his ac- 

 count is untrustworthy on these maiters. 



24 As Butterfield shows, Heckewelder's account of Craw- 

 ford's whole expedition is a piece of sheer romancing. 



