40 The Winning of the West 



of the Oconee and north of the Cumberland, and 

 were fed from States much more populous. The 

 advance was stronger, the resistance more desper- 

 ate; naturally the open break occurred where the 

 strain was most intense. 



There was fierce border warfare in the South. 

 In the North there were regular campaigns carried 

 on, and pitched battles fought, between Federal 

 armies as large as those commanded by Washing- 

 ton at Trenton or Greene at Eutaw Springs, and 

 bodies of Indian warriors more numerous than had 

 ever yet appeared on any single field. 



The newly created Government of the United 

 States was very reluctant to make formal war on 

 the Northwestern Indians. Not only were Presi- 

 dent Washington and the National Congress hon- 

 orably desirous of peace, but they were hampered 

 for funds, and dreaded any extra expense. Never- 

 theless they were forced into war. Throughout the 

 years 1789 and 1790 an increasing volume of ap- 

 peals for help came from the frontier countries. The 

 governor of the Northwestern Territory, the briga- 

 dier-general of the troops on the Ohio, the members 

 of the Kentucky Convention, and all the county lieu- 

 tenants of Kentucky, the lieutenants of the frontier 

 counties of Virginia proper, the representatives 

 from the counties, the field officers of the different 

 districts, the General Assembly of Virginia, all sent 

 bitter complaints and long catalogues of injuries to 

 the President, the Secretary of War, and the two 

 Houses of Congress; complaints which were re- 



