Cutright, see p. 137,
_note_.--R. G. T.

[213] CHAPTER XIII.

Early in June 1780, every necessary preparation having been previously
made, the Indian and Canadian forces destined to invade Kentucky,
moved from their place of rendezvous, to fulfil the objects of the
expedition. In their general plan of the campaign, Louisville was the
point against which operations were first to be directed. The hero of
Kaskaskias and St. Vincent had been for some time stationed there,
with a small body of troops, to intercept the passage of war parties
into the interior, and the force thus placed under his command, having
been considerably augmented by the arrival of one hundred and fifty
Virginia soldiers under Colonel Slaughter, that place had assumed the
appearance of a regular fortification, capable of withstanding a
severe shock;[1] while detachments from it gave promise of security to
the settlements remote from the river, as well by detecting and
checking every attempt at invasion, as by acting offensively against
the main Indian towns, from which hostile parties would sally,
spreading desolation along their path. The reduction of this
establishment, would at once give wider scope to savage hostilities
and gratify the wounded pride of the Canadians. Stung by the boldness
and success of Colonel Clarke's adventure, and fearing the effect
which it might have on their Indian allies, they seemed determined to
achieve a victory over him, and strike a retributive blow against the
position which he then held.

[214] It is highly probable however, that the reputation which, the
gallant exploits of Colonel Clarke had acquired for him, induced some
doubts, in the minds of the commanding officers, of the ultimate
success of a movement against that post.[2] They changed their
destination; and when their army arrived in their boats at the Ohio,
instead of floating with its rapid current to the point proposed, they
chose to stem the stream; and availing themselves of an uncommon swell
of the waters, ascended the river Licking to its forks, where they
landed their men and munitions of war.[3]

Not far from the place of debarkation, there was a station,[4] reared
under the superintendence of Captain Ruddle, and occupied by several
families and many adventurers. Thither Colonel Byrd, with his combined
army of Canadians and Indians then amounting to one thousand men,
directed his march; and arriving before it on the 22d of June