92 The Winning of the West 



As soon as Wayne reached the Ohio, in June, 

 1792, he set about reorganizing the army. He had 

 as a nucleus- the remnant of St. Clair's beaten forces ; 

 and to this were speedily added hundreds of recruits 

 enlisted under new legislation by Congress, and 

 shipped to him as fast as the recruiting officers could 

 send them. The men were of precisely the same 

 general character as those who had failed so dis- 

 mally under St. Clair, and it was even more difficult 

 to turn them into good soldiers, for the repeated 

 disasters, crowned by the final crushing horror, had 

 unnerved them and made them feel that their task 

 was hopeless, and that they were foredoomed to 

 defeat. 22 The mortality among the officers had been 

 great, and the new officers, though full of zeal, 

 needed careful training. Among the men desertions 

 were very common ; and on the occasion of a sudden 

 alarm Wayne found that many of his sentries left 

 their posts and fled. 23 Only rigorous and long con- 

 tinued discipline and exercise under a commander 

 both stern and capable could turn such men into 

 soldiers fit for the work Wayne had before him. 

 He saw this at once, and realized that a premature 

 movement meant nothing but another defeat; and 

 he began by careful and patient labor to turn his 

 horde of raw recruits into a compact and efficient 

 army, which he might use with his customary en- 

 ergy and decision. When he took command of the 



M Bradley MSS. Letters and Journal of Captain Daniel 

 Bradley; see entry of May 7, 1793, etc. 



53 "Major General Anthony Wayne," by Charles J. Stille, 

 P- 323- 



