St. Clair and Wayne 403 



For several days the army marched slowly for 

 ward. The regular officers had endless difficulty 

 with the pack horsemen, who allowed their charges 

 to stray or be stolen, and they strove to instruct the 

 militia in the rudiments of their duties on the 

 march, in camp, and in battle. A fortnight's halt 

 ing progress through the wilderness brought the 

 army to a small branch of the Miami of the Lakes. 

 Here a horse patrol captured a Maumee Indian, 

 who informed his captors that the Indians knew of 

 their approach and were leaving their towns. On 

 hearing this an effort was made to hurry forward; 

 but when the army reached the Miami towns, on 

 October I7th, they had been deserted. They stood 

 at the junction of two branches of the Miami, the St. 

 Mary and the St. Joseph, about one hundred and sev 

 enty miles from Fort Washington. The troops had 

 marched about ten miles a day. The towns con 

 sisted of a couple of hundred wigwams, with some 

 good log huts; and there were gardens, orchards, 

 and immense fields of corn. All these the soldiers 

 destroyed, and the militia loaded themselves with 

 plunder. 



On the 1 8th Colonel Trotter was ordered out with 

 three hundred men to spend a couple of days explor 

 ing the country, and finding out where the Indians 

 were. After marching a few miles, they came across 

 two Indians. Both were killed by the advanced 

 horsemen. All four of the field officers of the 

 militia two colonels and two majors joined hel 

 ter-skelter in the chase, leaving their troops for half 



