year 1782, the settlements only suffered from the
accustomed desultory warfare of the savages. No numerous collection of
Indians had crossed their border,--no powerful army of warriors,
threatening destruction to the forts, those asylums of their safety,
had appeared among them.--But the scene was soon to change.

In August, there was a grand council convened at Chilicothe, in which
the Wyandots, the Shawanees, the Mingoes, the Tawas, Pottowatomies, and
various other tribes were represented.[2] Girty and McKee--disgraces
to human nature--aided in their deliberations. The surrender of
Cornwallis, which had been studiously kept secret from the Indians,
was now known to them, and the war between Great Britain and the
United States, seemed to them to be verging to a close.--Should a
peace ensue, they feared that the concentrated strength of Virginia,
would bear down upon them and crush them at once. In anticipation of
this state of things, they had met to deliberate, what course it best
became them to pursue. Girty addressed the council. He reminded them
of the gradual encroachments of the whites;--of the beauty of Kentucky
and its value to them as a hunting ground.--He pointed out to them the
necessity of greater efforts to regain possession of that country, and
warned them that if they did not combine their strength to change the
present state of things, the whites would soon leave them no hunting
grounds; and they would consequently, have no means of procuring rum
to cheer their hearts, or blankets to warm their bodies. His advice
was well received and they determined to continue the war.[3]

When the council was adjourned, the warriors proceeded to execute its
determinations. Two armies, the one of six hundred, and the other
three hundred and fifty men, prepared to march, each to it assigned
station--The larger was destined to operate against Kentucky, while
the smaller, was to press upon North Western Virginia; and each was
abundantly supplied with the munitions of war.[4] Towards the last of
August the warriors who were to act in Kentucky, appeared before
Bryant's station, south of Licking river, and placed themselves under
covert during night,[5] and in advantageous [257] situations for
firing upon the station, so soon as its doors should be thrown open.

There were at that time but few inhabitants occupying that station.
William Bryant, its founder, and one in whose judgment, skill and
courage, many confidently r