St. Clair and Wayne 101 



Miami towns. The Indians who watched his march 

 brought word to the British that his army went 

 twice as far in a day as St. Glair's, that he kept his 

 scouts well out and his troops always in open order 

 and ready for battle; that he exercised the greatest 

 precaution to avoid an ambush or surprise, and that 

 every night the camps of the different regiments 

 were surrounded by breastworks of fallen trees so 

 as to render a sudden assault hopeless. Wayne was 

 determined to avoid the fates of Braddock and St. 

 Clair. His "legion" of regular troops was over 

 two thousand strong. His discipline was very 

 severe, yet he kept the loyal affection of his men. 

 He had made the officers devote much of their time 

 to training the infantry in marksmanship and the 

 use of the bayonet and the cavalry in the use of 

 the sabre. He impressed upon the cavalry and in- 

 fantry alike that their safety lay in charging home 

 with the utmost resolution. By steady drill he had 

 turned his force, which was originally not of a 

 promising character, into as fine an army, for its 

 size, as a general could wish to command. 



The perfection of fighting capacity to which he 

 had brought his forces caused much talk among 

 the frontiersmen themselves. One of the contin- 

 gent of Tennessee militia wrote home in the highest 

 praise of the horsemanship and swordsmanship of 

 the cavalry, who galloped their horses at speed over 

 any ground, and leaped them over formidable ob- 

 stacles, and of the bayonet practice, and especially 

 of the marksmanship, of the infantry. He re- 



