102 The Winning of the West 



marked that hunters were apt to undervalue the 

 soldiers as marksmen, but that Wayne's riflemen 

 were as good shots as any hunters he had ever seen 

 at any of the many matches he had attended in the 

 backwoods. 33 



Wayne showed his capacity as a commander by 

 the use he made of his spies or scouts. A few of 

 these were Chickasaw or Choctaw Indians; the rest, 

 twenty or thirty in number, were drawn from the 

 ranks of the wild white Indian-fighters, the men 

 who plied their trade of warfare and the chase right 

 on the hunting grounds of the hostile tribes. They 

 were far more dangerous to the Indians, and far 

 more useful to the army, than the like number of 

 regular soldiers or ordinary rangers. 



It was on these fierce backwoods riflemen that 

 Wayne chiefly relied for news of the Indians, and 

 they served him well. In small parties, or singly, 

 they threaded the forest scores of miles in advance 

 or to one side of the marching army, and kept close 

 watch on the Indians' movements. As skilful and 

 hardy as the red warriors, much better marksmen, 

 and even more daring, they took many scalps, har- 

 rying the hunting parties, and hanging on the 

 outskirts of the big* wigwam villages. They cap- 

 tured and brought in Indian after Indian; from 

 whom Wayne got valuable information. The use 

 of scouts, and the consequent knowledge gained by 

 the examination of Indian prisoners, emphasized 

 the difference between St. Clair and Wayne. 



33 "Knoxville Gazette," August 27, 1793. 



