FIVE DAYS AT TOLEDO. 259 



he reached Swan Creek, now in the centre of the 

 town. 



This battle is one of the most dramatic in the records 

 of Indian warfare. It was at a time when the Wa- 

 bash and Miami tribes had refused to accept any over- 

 tures from the Americans, and when tliey were de- 

 termined to fight out their cause with the- help of the 

 British. 



Knowing that pacific measures were then super- 

 fluous, and that the matter must be decided by war, 

 Wayne at the head of a splendid support, marched to 

 the Maumee, erected Fort Defiance at the junction of 

 the Au Glaize, and then proceeded to a point where 

 he knew the forces of the enemy were concentrated. 

 Tlie place was in every way favorable to the party in 

 possession — the river on the left, heavy thickets on 

 the right, and in front natural breastworks formed by 

 fallen timbers, the result of a tornado. Into this trap 

 it was necessary to march in order to meet the foe. 

 Wayne's simple plan of attack w^as this: to rouse 

 tiie savages from their lair with an irresistible bayonet 

 charge, ''and when up, to deliver a close and well* 

 directed fire on their backs." 



The result was a victory for the Americans. The 

 Indians and their white allies, completely routed, made 

 a precipitous retreat, leaving the battle-field covered 

 witli their dead. Hotly pursued, their cornfields 

 and wigwams destroyed on the way, they were finally 

 ready to acknowledge that peace was better than 

 war. So ended the great battle of the Maumee, 

 one of the most fatal in its efi^ect upon the destiny of 

 the red race. 



It was after this, when actual contest was over, and 



