94 The Winning of the West 



his superiors should allow him to use the weapon 

 he had tempered. 



In May, '93, he brought his army down the Ohio 

 to Fort Washington, and near it established a camp 

 which he christened Hobson's Choice. Here he was 

 forced to wait the results of the fruitless negotia- 

 tions carried on by the United States Peace Com- 

 missioners, and it was not until about the ist of 

 October that he was given permission to begin the 

 campaign. Even when he was allowed to move his 

 army forward he was fettered by injunctions not 

 to run any risks and of course a really good fight- 

 ing general ought to be prepared to run risks. The 

 Secretary of War wrote him that above all things 

 he was to remember to hazard nothing, for a defeat 

 would be fraught with ruinous consequences to the 

 country. Wayne knew very well that if such was 

 the temper of the country and the Government, it 

 behooved him to be cautious, and he answered that, 

 though he would at once advance toward the Indian 

 towns, to threaten the tribes, he would not run the 

 least unnecessary risk. Accordingly he shifted his 

 army to a place some eighty miles north of Cin- 

 cinnati, where he encamped for the winter, building 

 a place of strength which he named Greeneville in 

 honor of his old comrade in arms, General Greene. 

 He sent forward a strong detachment of his troops 

 to the site of St. Clair's defeat, where they built a 

 post which was named Fort Recovery. The dis- 

 cipline of the army steadily improved, though now 

 and then a soldier deserted, usually fleeing to Ken- 



