f the Fourth
Regiment arrived at Vincennes by way of the Wabash. They were under the
immediate command of Colonel James Miller, of "I'll try, Sir," fame in
the War of 1812. The Governor and Colonel Boyd had already traveled
overland on horseback from Louisville. The sight which greeted the eyes
of the old French residents on the morning of the twentieth, was a novel
one. The American infantry of that period wore a uniform consisting of
"blue, brass-buttoned tail-coats, skin-tight pantaloons, and 'stove-pipe
hats,' with red, white and blue cockades." One pictures them marching in
the brown October woods, their bayonets gleaming in the sunshine, and
their bugles awakening strange echoes from headland and bluff. The
regiment, though small, was made up of a formidable array of men. While
not disciplined in Indian warfare, the rank and file were composed of
brave, resolute soldiers, and such officers as Captains W. C. Baen,
Josiah Snelling, Robert C. Barton, Return B. Brown, George W. Prescott
and Joel Cook, were of the best of that time. The gallant Baen was on
his last march, and his bones were destined to repose in a savage
wilderness.

A military conference was now held, participated in by Governor
Harrison, Colonel Boyd, and two judges of the supreme court, Benjamin
Parke and Waller Taylor, both of whom were officers in the local
militia. It was determined to ascend the river with a respectable force,
which would not only defy attack, but impress the tribesmen, if
possible, with a due respect for the power and authority of the United
States. The Prophet, though not a warrior, was known, as Harrison says,
to be, "daring, presumptuous and rash." He was now reinforced by a
considerable body of Winnebago warriors, and the Potawatomi of the
prairies and the Illinois were coming to his support. A small expedition
would not only excite contempt, but might lead to a disaster.

Accordingly, on the morning of the twenty-sixth of September, an army of
about one thousand men, including one hundred and forty dragoons and
sixty mounted riflemen, commenced its march to the upper end of the New
Purchase. The cavalry had been sent forward two days before to the
settlement of Busseron, where forage for the horses could more easily be
procured. Just before the departure of the army, a deputation of
warriors arrived from the Prophet's Town, led by a war chief of the
hostile Kickapoos. He expressed his astonishment at seeing such warlike