tantly started for the field." Captain Frederick Geiger raised a
company, and Captain Peter Funk, who was in command of a company of
militia cavalry, at once hastened to Governor Charles Scott of Kentucky,
to obtain permission to raise a company of mounted riflemen. In a few
days his men were enrolled and early in September joined the forces of
Colonel Joseph Bartholomew on their march to Vincennes.

On the third of September, the regular troops of the Fourth United
States Regiment of infantry, under Colonel John Parke Boyd, arrived in
keel boats at the Falls of the Ohio. The Governor was there to meet
them. Boyd was a soldier of fortune and one of the most striking
military adventurers of that day. A short sketch of him as given by
Benson J. Lossing is as follows: "John Parke Boyd was born in
Newburyport, Massachusetts, December 21, 1764. His father was from
Scotland, and his mother was a descendant of Tristam Coffin, the first
of that family who emigrated to America. He entered the army in 1786, as
ensign in the Second Regiment. With a spirit of adventure, he went to
India in 1789, having first touched the Isle of France. In a letter to
his father from Madras, in June, 1790, he says: 'Having procured
recommendatory letters to the British consul residing at the court of
his highness, the Nizam, I proceeded to his capital, Hyberabad, 450
miles from Madras. On my arrival, I was presented to his highness in
form by the British consul. My reception was as favorable as my most
sanguine wishes had anticipated. After the usual ceremony was over, he
presented me with the command of two kansolars of infantry, each of
which consists of 500 men.' His commission and pay were in accordance
with his command. He describes the army of the Nizam, which had taken
the field against Tippoo Sultan. It consisted of 150,000 infantry,
60,000 cavalry, and 500 elephants, each elephant supporting a 'castle'
containing a nabob and servants. He remained in India several years in a
sort of guerrilla service, and obtained much favor. He was in Paris
early in 1808 and at home in the autumn of that year, when he was
appointed (October 2) Colonel of the Fourth Regiment of the U. S. Army."
This tall, handsome and courteous officer, who had fought with the
hordes of India on the other side of the world, was shortly to encounter
the eagle-feathered chiefs of the Winnebagoes on the banks of the
Wabash.

On the night of the 19th of September the regulars o