d fifty wounded.

The field of action was visited by General James Wilkinson about the
first of February, 1792. An officer who was present relates the
following: "The scene was truly melancholy. In my opinion those
unfortunate men who fell into the enemy's hands, with life, were used
with the greatest torture--having their limbs torn off; and the women
had been treated with the most indecent cruelty, having stakes, as thick
as a person's arm, drove through their bodies." In December, 1793,
General Wayne, having arrived at Greenville, Ohio, sent forward a
detachment to the spot of the great defeat. "They arrived on the ground,
on Christmas day, and pitched their tents at night; they had to scrape
the bones together and carry them out to make their beds. The next day
holes were dug, and the bones remaining above ground were buried; six
hundred skulls being found among them."

The whole nation was terribly shocked by the news of the defeat. The
bordermen of Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky were immediately
exposed to a renewal of Indian attacks and the government seemed
powerless. St. Clair came in for severe censure, more severe in fact,
than was justly warranted. The sending back of Hamtramck's regiment, the
unfortified condition of the camp on the night before the attack, the
posting of the militia in advance of the main army, and the utter lack
of scouts and runners, were all bad enough, but on the other hand, the
delay and confusion in the quartermaster's department, the dereliction
of the contractors, and the want of discipline among the militia and the
levies, were all matters of extenuation. To win was hopeless. To
unjustly denounce an old and worthy veteran of the Revolution, who acted
with so much manly courage on the field of battle, ill becomes an
American. A committee of Congress completely exonerated him.

The administration itself and the department of war, were sharply
criticized. But the representatives of the people themselves were more
to blame than the government. Thousands had deprecated the attempt of
the President to protect the frontiers and to sustain the arm of the
western generals. The mean and niggardly support accorded the
commander-in-chief, was largely instrumental in bringing about the
lamentable result. The jealous and parsimonious states of the east, had
regarded only their own selfish ends, to the utter exclusion of the
national interest.

CHAPTER XIV

WAYNE AND FALLEN TIMB