es of Congress had been an
act to augment the military establishments, and to place in the hands
of the executive more ample means for the protection of the frontiers.
A new expedition against the belligerent tribes had, in consequence,
been projected. General St. Clair, actually governor of the territory
west of the Ohio, was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces to be
employed.

Washington had been deeply chagrined by the mortifying disasters of
General Harmer's expedition to the Wabash, resulting from Indian
ambushes. In taking leave of his old military comrade, St. Clair, he
wished him success and honor, but gave him a solemn warning. "You have
your instructions from the Secretary of War. I had a strict eye to
them, and will add but one word--Beware of a surprise! You know how
the Indians fight. I repeat it--_beware of a surprise!_" With these
warning words sounding in his ear, St. Clair departed.

CHAPTER LXXII.
TOUR SOUTHWARD.--DEFEAT OF ST. CLAIR.--DISSENSIONS IN THE CABINET.

In the month of March, Washington set out on a tour through the
Southern States; travelling with one set of horses and making
occasional halts. The route projected, and of which he had marked off
the halting places, was by Fredericksburg, Richmond, Wilmington (N.
C.), and Charleston to Savannah; thence to Augusta, Columbia, and the
interior towns of North Carolina and Virginia comprising a journey of
eighteen hundred and eighty-seven miles; all which he accomplished
without any interruption from sickness, bad weather, or any untoward
accident.

He returned to Philadelphia on the 6th of July, much pleased with his
tour. It had enabled him, he said, to see, with his own eyes, the
situation of the country, and to learn more accurately the disposition
of the people, than he could have done from any verbal information. He
had looked around him, in fact, with a paternal eye, been cheered as
usual by continual demonstrations of a nation's love, and his heart
had warmed with the reflection how much of this national happiness had
been won by his own patriotic exertions.

A few weeks of autumn were passed by Washington at Mount Vernon, with
his family in rural enjoyment, and in instructing a new agent, Mr.
Robert Lewis, in the management of his estate; his nephew, Major
George A. Washington, who ordinarily attended to his landed concerns
being absent among the mountains in quest of health.

The second Congress assembled at Philad