196 BRADSTREET'S ARMY ON THE LAKES. [1764, Sept. 



first time, a communication from General Gage, 

 respecting the preliminary treaty, concluded several 

 weeks before. Gage condemned his conduct in 

 severe terms, and ordered him to break the engage- 

 ments he had made, and advance at once upon the 

 enemy, choosing for his first objects of attack the 

 Indians living upon the plains of the Scioto. The 

 fury of Bradstreet was great on receiving this mes- 

 sage ; and it was not diminished when the jour- 

 nal of Captain Morris was placed in his hands, 

 fully proving how signally he had been duped. 

 He was in no temper to obey the orders of the 

 commander-in-chief; and, to justify himself for 

 his inaction, he alleged the impossibility of reach- 

 ing the Scioto plains at that advanced season. Two 

 routes thither were open to his choice, one by 

 the E-iver Sandusky, and the other by Cayahoga 

 Creek. The water in the Sandusky was sunk low 

 with the drought, and the" carrying-place at the 

 head of Cayahoga Creek was a few miles longer 

 than had been represented ; yet the army were 

 ready for the attempt, and these difficulties could 

 not have deterred a vigorous commander. Under 

 cover of such excuses, Bradstreet remained idle at 

 Sandusky for several da}s, while sickness and dis- 

 content were rife in his camp. The soldiers com- 

 plained of his capricious, peremptory temper, his 

 harshness to his troops, and the unaccountable 

 tenderness with which he treated the Sandusky 

 Indians, some of whom had not yet made their 

 submission ; while he enraged his Iroquois allies by 

 his frequent rebukes and curses. 



