-chief of the
army.]

Major General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory north-west
of the Ohio, was appointed Commander-in-chief of the forces to be
employed in the meditated expedition. This gentleman had served
through the war of the revolution with reputation, though it had never
been his fortune to distinguish himself. The evacuation of Ticonderoga
had indeed, at one time, subjected him to much public censure; but it
was found, upon inquiry, to be unmerited. Other motives, in addition
to the persuasion of his fitness for the service, conduced to his
appointment. With the sword, the olive branch was still to be
tendered; and it was thought adviseable to place them in the same
hands. The governor, having been made officially the negotiator with
the tribes inhabiting the territories over which he presided, being a
military man, acquainted with the country into which the war was to be
carried, possessing considerable influence with the inhabitants of the
frontiers, and being so placed as to superintend the preparations for
the expedition advantageously, seemed to have claims to the station
which were not to be overlooked. It was also a consideration of some
importance, that the high rank he had held in the American army, would
obviate those difficulties in filling the inferior grades with men of
experience, which might certainly be expected, should a person who had
acted in a less elevated station, be selected for the chief command.

[Illustration: Tomb of Mary, Mother of Washington

_This is the original monument as it appeared before the present
granite obelisk was erected over the grave of George Washington's
mother in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was in Fredericksburg that she
made her home during her declining years, and it was on the Kenmore
estate of her daughter, Elizabeth, and son-in-law, Fielding Lewis,
that she was buried, September, 1789, having survived her husband,
Augustine Washington, forty-six years._]

[Sidenote: The president makes a tour through the southern states.]

After making the necessary arrangements for recruiting the army, the
President prepared to make his long contemplated tour through the
southern states.[53] In passing through them, he was received
universally with the same marks of affectionate attachment, which he
had experienced in the northern and central parts of the union. To the
sensibilities which these demonstrations of the regard and esteem of
good men could not f