. He found the villages on both banks of the St. Joseph
deserted by the foe. The English and French traders had fled from the
main Indian town on what is now known as the Lakeside shore of the St.
Joseph, and had carried away most of their valuables. John Kinzie and
Antoine Laselle were among the refugees. The savages had burned the
houses in their main village to prevent their occupation by the
Americans, and had buried vast quantities of corn and vegetables in
Indian caches. One hundred and eighty-five houses of the Delawares,
Shawnees and Miamis, were still left standing in the neighboring
villages. All of these were destroyed by the torch after Harmar's
arrival.

On Sunday the seventeenth, the main army crossed the Maumee river from
the south and encamped on the point of land formed by the junction of
the St. Joseph and the Maumee. It was a beautiful spot covered by the
Indian corn fields and gardens. The Kentucky militia in parties of
thirty and forty, throwing aside all discipline, wandered about in
search of plunder. The Indians were wary. They lurked in the woods and
thickets, biding the time when they might destroy the army in detail.
Major McMullen now discovered the tracks of women and children in a
pathway leading to the northwest. Harmar resolved to locate the Indian
encampment and bring the savages to battle. On the morning of the
eighteenth, Colonel Trotter was given the command of three hundred men,
equipped with three days' provisions, and ordered to scour the country.
The detachment after pursuing and killing two Indian horsemen, marched
in various directions until nightfall, and returned to camp. Colonel
Hardin was now given command of the expedition for the two remaining
days.

An event now took place that at once exhibited both the wily strategy of
the Little Turtle as a military leader, and the blundering bravado of
Colonel John Hardin. On the morning of the nineteenth, Hardin moved
forward over the Indian trail leading to the northwest. At a distance of
some five or six miles from the main army, the detachment came upon an
abandoned Indian camp. Here a halt was made, probably to examine the
ground, when Hardin hurriedly ordered another advance, thinking he was
close on the heels of fleeing red men. In the confusion attending this
second movement, Captain Faulkner's company was left in the rear. Hardin
now proceeded about three miles, and had routed two Indians out of the
thicket, when he suddenl