Colonel Sargeant, for their advice, as to what would be the proper course to be pursued, under existing circumstances. After discussing the subject, they reported it to be their unanimous opinion, that the troops could not be accommodated in the Fort; that they could not be supplied with provisions, at that place; and as it was known there were provisions on the road, at the distance of one, or two marches, it would be proper, without loss of time, to proceed and meet them. That advice was adopted, and the army put in motion again at 10 o'clock, and marched all night. On the succeeding day, they met a quantity of flour, and on the day after, a drove of cattle, which having been disposed of, as the wants of the troops required, the march was continued to Fort Washington.

The loss sustained by the country, from the fall of so many gallant officers and men, was most seriously regretted. General Butler and Major Ferguson, were spoken of with peculiar interest. The public feeling was, however, in some measure alleviated, by the fact, that those brave men, officers and privates, fell covered with honor, in defending the cause of their country.

The principal complaint made by the Commander-inchief was, that some of his orders, of great consequence, given to Colonel Oldham, over night, were not executed; and that some very material intelligence, communicated by Captain Hough, to General Butler, in the course of the night, before the action, was not imparted to him; and that he did not hear of it, till his arrival at Fort Washington.

It is important to the fame of the commanding General, that in consequence of the almost treasonable negligence of the agents of government, whose duty it was to furnish supplies, the army had been for many days on short allowance, and were so at the time of the battle. That fact had made it indispensably necessary, either to retreat, or send back the first regiment, which was the flower of the army, to bring up the provisions and military stores. The latter

alternative was chosen, and in the absence of that corps, the attack was made.

In regard to the negligence charged on the War Department, it is a well authenticated fact, that boxes and packages were so carelessly put up and marked, that during the action a box was opened marked "flints," which was found to contain gun-locks. Several mistakes of the same character were discovered, as for example, a keg of powder marked "for the infantry," was found to be damaged cannon powder, that could scarcely be ignited.

Under all these disadvantages, it was generally believed by candid intelligent men, that the commanding General was not justly liable to much censure, if any. With one exception, at the commencement of the action, the troops behaved with great bravery. They maintained their ground for three tedious hours, in one uninterrupted conflict with a superior force; nor did they attempt to leave the field, till it was covered with the bodies of their companions, nor until further efforts were unavailing, and a retreat was ordered.

The General, less anxious for himself than for others, was the last to leave the ground, after the retreat had been ordered. For some time after the disaster, he was universally censured; but when a thorough investigation had been made by a committee of Congress, of which Mr. Giles, of Virginia, was the chairman, it was found that the campaign had been conducted with skill and personal bravery; and that the defeat was chiefly owing to the want of discipline in the militia, and to the negligence of those whose duty it was to procure and forward the provisions and military stores, necessary for the expedition.

After the publication of that report, the Secretary of War, believing himself to be injured, addressed a letter to Congress, complaining that injustice had been done him by the committee; in consequence of which the report was recommitted to the same committee, who, after hearing the

statements and explanations of the Secretary, and reconsidering the whole matter, re-affirmed their first report.

In the course of the next season, an attempt was made to open a negotiation with the Indians, for the purpose of effecting a general peace; but without success. Colonel Hardin, and Major Trueman, who went on that embassy with a flag from Fort Washington, were barbarously murdered.

It is stated in a late publication, that those officers were sent out by General Wayne, in succession, with flags to the enemy, by whom they were assassinated; but it appears that they went from Fort Washington with the same. flag, on one and the same embassy, in the summer of 1792, while the garrison was commanded by General Wilkinson. General Wayne did not arrive at Cincinnati, till the close of the summer of 1793, and could not have had an agency in the arrangements for fitting out the mission.

The discrepancies which have appeared as to the time, manner, and circumstances, of that unfortunate embassy, are somewhat remarkable. In a former publication, the writer of this article fell into one of those mistakes, which was, however, soon after discovered and corrected.

The most material facts of the case are these. On the 3d of April, 1792, eight days before General Wayne was appointed to the command of the Western army, Major Trueman, being at the seat of government, was appointed by the President to negotiate a treaty with the Western Indians, and on the same day received his instructions from the Secretary of War, with an order to proceed to Fort Washington, and disclose to the commandant, Colonel Wilkinson, the object of his mission; who would concert with him the proper means to carry it into execution. On the arrival of Major Trueman at Fort Washington, Colonel Wilkinson, who had, in the interval, been promoted to the rank of a Brigadier General, saw proper to associate Colonel

Hardin with Major Trueman, and to send them both on the embassy.

They left the fort some time in June, with a servant and a guide, and proceeded on their way to the Indian towns. On the 3d of July following, Colonel Vigo arrived from Vincennes, with information brought to that place, by a Wea chief, that four men, who had gone to the Indian country, from an American fort, had been fired on by a party of Indians; that three of them were killed on the spot, and the fourth, who carried a flag, and had papers in his possession, was taken prisoner, but was killed on the next day. It was further stated, that the papers were taken by the Indians, to a white man who could read, and who informed them that one of the papers was a long, good talk, from a great chief; on which they expressed sorrow for what they had done.

As the embassy from Fort Washington, with a flag and a talk, had set out for the Indian country a short time before, no doubt was entertained of the fact, that those brave officers, Hardin and Trueman, with their attendants, one of whom was a son of Mr. A. Freeman, of Cincinnati, had been treacherously and barbarously murdered.

That conclusion was soon confirmed by some prisoners, who escaped from the Indians, and came into Fort Washington, with the same intelligence. Although the information thus received settled the fact, conclusively, that the American commissioners and their attendants had been cruelly murdered, yet various rumors were in circulation as to the manner in which the crime had been perpetrated.

It is highly probable that the report of the Wea chief was substantially correct. It was certainly more plausible than the foolish tale, recited by William May, in his deposition, taken by General Wayne, at Pittsburgh, that Major Trueman, in order to allay the fears of two Indians whom he fell in with, on his journey, permitted them to tie him,

his servant, and a lad who accompanied him, during the night; and as a matter of course, to murder them all before morning.

It seems to be a well authenticated fact, that after Colonel Hardin was selected to accompany Trueman, he expressed his conviction confidentially to a friend, Captain James Ferguson, of Cincinnati, that the Indians would violate the flag and assassinate him, assigning as a reason, that they had long feared and hated him.