St. Clair and Wayne 381 



and each taking a tree trunk, and trying to slay an 

 individual enemy. They were too clumsy; they ut 

 terly lacked the wild-creature qualities proper to the 

 men of the wilderness, the men who inherited wolf- 

 cunning and panther-stealth from countless genera 

 tions, who bought bare life itself only at the price of 

 never-ceasing watchfulness, craft, and ferocity. 



The regulars were certainly not ideal troops with 

 which to oppose such foes; but they were the best 

 attainable at that time. They possessed traits which 

 were lacking in even the best of the frontier militia; 

 and most of the militia fell far short of the best. 

 When properly trained the regulars could be trusted 

 to persevere through a campaign; whereas the mi 

 litia were sure to disband if kept out for any length 

 of time. Moreover, a regular army formed a weapon 

 with a temper tried and known; whereas a militia 

 force was the most brittle of swords which might 

 give one true stroke, or might fly into splinters at 

 the first slight blow. Regulars were the only troops 

 who could be trusted to wear out their foes in a suc 

 cession of weary and hard-fought campaigns. 



The best backwoods fighters, however, such men 

 as Kenton and Brady had in their scout companies, 

 were much superior to the regulars, and were able 

 to meet the Indians on at least equal terms. But 

 there were only a very few such men ; and they were 

 too impatient of discipline to be embodied in an 

 army. The bulk of the frontier militia consisted 

 of men who were better riflemen than the regulars 

 and often physically abler, but who were otherwise 



