Louisiana and Aaron Burr 383 



officers. Wilkinson frequently wrote to Knox giv- 

 ing his estimate of the various officers, and evidently 

 Knox thought very well of him. Wilkinson spoke 

 well of Sargent; but most of the other officers, 

 whom he mentions at all, he mentions with some 

 disfavor, and he tells at great length of the squab- 

 bles among them, his narrative being diversified at 

 times by an account of some other incident such as 

 "a most lawless outrage" by "a party of the sol- 

 diery on the person of a civil magistrate in the vil- 

 lage of Cincinnati." Knox gives his views as to 

 promotions in a letter to Washington, which shows 

 that he evidently felt a good deal of difficulty in get- 

 ting men whom he deemed fit for high command, 

 or even for the command of a regiment. 



One of the worst quarrels was that of the Quar- 

 termaster, Hodgdon, first with Major Zeigler and 

 then with Captain Ford. The Major resigned, and 

 the Captain publicly insulted the Quartermaster and 

 threatened to horsewhip him. 



In one letter Caleb Swan, on March n, 1792, 

 advises Wilkinson that he had been to Kentucky 

 and had paid off the Kentucky militia who had 

 served under St. Clair. Wilkinson, in a letter of 

 March 13, expresses the utmost anxiety for the re- 

 tention of St. Clair in command. Among the nu- 

 merous men whom Wilkinson had complained of 

 was Harmar, who, he said, was not only addicted 

 to drink, but was also a bad disciplinarian. He 

 condemned the Quartermaster also, although less se- 

 verely than most of the other officers. 



