e on
October the 4th.

The Army Begins its March.

The army trudged slowly through the deep woods and across the wet
prairies, cutting out its own road, and making but five or six miles a
day. It was in a wilderness which abounded with game; both deer and bear
frequently ran into the very camps; and venison was a common food.
[Footnote: Bradley MSS. The journal and letters of Captain Daniel
Bradley; shown me by the courtesy of his descendants, Mr. Daniel B.
Bradley of Southport, Conn., and Mr. Arthur W. Bradley of Cincinnati,
Ohio.] On October 13th a halt was made to build another little fort,
christened in honor of Jefferson. There were further delays, caused by
the wretched management of the commissariat department, and the march
was not resumed until the 24th, the numerous sick being left in Fort
Jefferson. Then the army once more stumbled northward through the
wilderness. The regulars, though mostly raw recruits, had been reduced
to some kind of discipline; but the six months' levies were almost worse
than the militia. [Footnote: Denny, October 29, 1791, etc.] Owing to the
long delays, and to the fact that they had been enlisted at various
times, their terms of service were expiring day by day; and they wished
to go home, and tried to, while the militia deserted in squads and
bands. Those that remained were very disorderly. Two who attempted to
desert were hung; and another, who shot a comrade, was hung also; but
even this severity in punishment failed to stop the demoralization.

St. Clair a Broken-down Man and His Subordinates

With such soldiers there would have been grave risk of disaster under
any commander; but St. Clair's leadership made the risk a certainty.
There was Indian sign, old and new, all through woods; and the scouts
and stragglers occasionally interchanged shots with small parties of
braves, and now and then lost a man, killed or captured. It was,
therefore, certain that the savages knew every movement of the army,
which, as it slowly neared the Miami towns, was putting itself within
easy striking range of the most formidable Indian confederacy in the
Northwest. The density of the forest was such that only the utmost
watchfulness could prevent the foe from approaching within arm's length
unperceived. It behooved St. Clair to be on his guard, and he had been
warned by Washington, who had never forgotten the scenes of Braddock's
defeat, of the danger of a surprise. But St. Clair was brok