suit
through five towns on the Miami River, Old Chilicothe, Pecaway, New
Chilicothe, Will's Towns, and Chilicothe--burnt them all to ashes,
entirely destroyed their corn, and other fruits, and everywhere spread
a scene of desolation in the country. In this expedition we took seven
prisoners and five scalps, with the loss of only four men, two of whom
were accidentally killed by our own army.

This campaign in some measure damped the spirits of the Indians, and
made them sensible of our superiority. Their connections were dissolved,
their armies scattered, and a future invasion put entirely out of their
power; yet they continued to practice mischief secretly upon the
inhabitants, in the exposed parts of the country.

In October following, a party made an incursion into that district
called the Crab Orchard; and one of them, being advanced some distance
before the others, boldly entered the house of a poor defenseless
family, in which was only a negro man, a woman, and her children,
terrified with the apprehensions of immediate death. The savage,
perceiving their defenseless condition, without offering violence to the
family, attempted to capture the negro, who happily proved an over-match
for him, threw him on the ground, and in the struggle, the mother of the
children drew an axe from a corner of the cottage, and cut his head off,
while her little daughter shut the door. The savages instantly appeared,
and applied their tomahawks to the door. An old rusty gun-barrel,
without a lock, lay in a corner, which the mother put through a small
crevice, and the savages, perceiving it, fled. In the meantime, the
alarm spread through the neighborhood; the armed men collected
immediately, and pursued the ravagers into the wilderness. Thus
Providence, by the means of this negro, saved the whole of the poor
family from destruction. From that time until the happy return of peace
between the United States and Great Britain, the Indians did us no
mischief. Finding the great king beyond the water disappointed in his
expectations, and conscious of the importance of the Long Knife, and
their own wretchedness, some of the nations immediately desired peace;
to which, at present [1784], they seem universally disposed, and are
sending ambassadors to General Clarke, at the Falls of the Ohio, with
the minutes of their councils.

To conclude, I can now say that I have verified the saying of an old
Indian who signed Colonel Henderson's deed. Ta