he savages were generally repaid by similar
acts of kindness on the part of the whites; who, on several occasions,
marched with large armies into their very midst, destroyed their crops
and stores, and burnt their towns. An expedition of this kind was
prosecuted by General Clark, in August of the year preceding the events
we have detailed, of which mention has been previously made. He had
under his command one thousand men, mostly from Kentucky, and marched
direct upon old Chillicothe, which the Indians deserted and burnt on
his approach. He next moved upon the Piqua towns, on Mad river, where
a desperate engagement ensued between the whites and Indians, in which
the former proved victorious. Having secured what plunder they could,
together with the horses, the Kentuckians destroyed the town, and cut
down some two hundred acres of standing corn. They then returned to
Chillicothe on their homeward route, where they destroyed other large
fields of produce, supposed in all to amount to something like five
hundred acres.

We have mentioned this expedition for the purpose of showing why the
year which opens our story, 1781, was less disastrous to the frontier
settlers than the preceding ones--the Indians being too busily occupied
in repairing the damage done them, and in hunting to support their
families, to have much thought for the war-path, or time to follow it;
consequently the year in question, as regards Kentucky, may be said to
have passed away in a comparatively quiet manner, with no events more
worthy of note than those we have laid before the reader.

But if the vengeance of the savage slumbered for the time being, it was
only like some pent up fire, burning in secret, until opportunity should
present for it to burst forth in a manner most appalling, carrying
destruction and terror throughout its course; and in consequence of
this, the year 1782 was destined to be one most signally marked by
bloody deeds in the annals of Kentucky. The winter of '81 and '82
passed quietly away; but early in the ensuing spring hostilities were
again renewed, with a zeal which showed that neither faction had
forgotten old grudges during the intervening quietude. Girty did all
that lay in his power to stir up the vindictive feelings of the Indians,
and was aided in his laudable endeavors by one or two others[18] who
wore the uniform of British officers. It was the design of the renegade
to raise a grand army from the union of the Six