umee about two miles and had occupied the
Shawnee village of Chillicothe. On the twentieth, Harmar ordered the
burning and destruction of every house and wigwam in the town, and
censured the "shameful cowardly conduct of the militia who ran away, and
threw down their arms without firing scarcely a single gun." He was in a
fury, and was now determined to march back to Fort Washington, and on
the twenty-first of October the whole army moved back for a distance of
seven miles and encamped at a point south and east of the present site
of Fort Wayne.

Hardin was chagrined. He determined if possible to retrieve his own
credit and that of the Kentucky militia. In the night he approached
Harmar. He told the general that the Indians had probably returned to
their towns as soon as the army had left them. Now was the time for a
grand surprise. Harmar, after much importunity, gave his consent to a
second expedition. Late in the night, three hundred and forty picked
militiamen and sixty regulars started back for Kekionga. The detachment
marched in three columns, the federal troops in the center with Captain
Joseph Asheton, a brave officer and a good fighter at their head; the
militia were on both flanks. Major John P. Wyllys and Colonel Hardin
rode at the front.

The sun has risen, and the advance guards of the small army now ascend
the wooded heights overlooking the Maumee. Beyond lie the brown woods,
the meadows, and the Indian corn fields. A few savages appear, digging
here and there for hidden treasures of corn. All are seemingly unaware
of hostile approach. Wyllys now halts the regulars, with the militia in
the advance, and forms his plan of battle. Major Hall with his battalion
is to swing around the bend of the Maumee, cross the St. Marys and come
in on the western side of the Indian towns. There he is to wait for the
main attack. Major McMullen's battalion, Major Fontaine's cavalry and
Wyllys with his regulars are to cross the ford in front, encompass the
savages on the south, east and north, and drive them into the St.
Joseph. Hemmed in on all sides, exposed to a murderous crossfire, their
escape will be impossible. Strict orders are given that the troops are
on no account to separate, but the battalions are to support each other
as the circumstances may require.

What a terrible fate awaits the regulars. The Little Turtle had observed
that in Trotter's expedition on the morning of the eighteenth, the four
field officers