remarkable manner. In the list of those who
shared his fate, were the names of many other excellent officers who
had participated in all the toils, the dangers, and the glory, of that
long conflict which terminated in the independence of their country.
At the head of the list of wounded were Lieutenant Colonels Gibson and
Darke, Major Butler, and Adjutant General Sargent, all of whom were
veteran officers of great merit, who displayed their accustomed
bravery on this unfortunate day. General St. Clair, in his official
letter, observed: "the loss the public has sustained by the fall of so
many officers, particularly of General Butler and Major Ferguson, can
not be too much regretted; but it is a circumstance that will
alleviate the misfortune in some measure, that all of them fell most
gallantly doing their duty."

From the weight of the fire, and the circumstance of his being
attacked nearly at the same time in front and rear, General St. Clair
was of opinion that he was overpowered by numbers. The intelligence
afterwards collected would make the Indian force to consist of from
one thousand to fifteen hundred warriors. Of their loss, no estimate
could be made; the probability is, that it bore no proportion to that
sustained by the American army.

Nothing could be more unexpected than this severe disaster. The public
had confidently anticipated a successful campaign, and could not
believe, that the general who had been unfortunate, had not been
culpable.

{1792}

The Commander-in-chief requested with earnestness that a court martial
should sit on his conduct; but this request could not be granted,
because the army did not furnish a sufficient number of officers of a
grade to form a court for his trial on military principles. Late in
the session, a committee of the house of representatives was appointed
to inquire into the cause of the failure of the expedition, whose
report, in explicit terms, exculpated the Commander-in-chief. This
inquiry, however, was instituted rather for the purpose of
investigating the conduct of civil than of military officers; and was
not conducted by military men. More satisfactory testimony in favour
of St. Clair is furnished by the circumstance, that he still retained
the undiminished esteem and good opinion of the President.

The Indian war now assumed a still more serious aspect. There was
reason to fear that the hostile tribes would derive a great accession
of strength from the impre