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.

CHAPTER VI.

Situation of affairs on the Frontier.-General Wayne appointed to the command.—Gallant engagement of Major Adair with the Indians.—Commissioners appointed to treat with the North-western tribes.-Their instructions. Their negotiations.-Improper interference of British officers and agents. Failure of the negotiation.

THE campaigns of Harmar and St. Clair, and the intermediate expeditions of Scott and Wilkinson, inflamed the rage and malice of the savages to the highest pitch; and prompted them to fill the country with marauding parties, whose depredations and cruelties were most distressing.

At that period the public service rendered it necessary to keep up a constant communication between Fort Washington, the head-quarters of the army, and the advanced posts, for the purpose of conveying supplies, or intelligence; sometimes by small parties, and often by single individuals, who were necessarily exposed to the attacks of those wandering savages.

While the army was on the frontier, the main body of the Indians were in its vicinity, watching its movements, and seeking opportunities to harass and annoy it; yet at the same time, they had parties incessantly lurking about the villages and stations, and watching the roads and paths, leading from one post and station to another. The attacks of those parties were frequent and extremely annoying, and were attended with serious losses, both of life and property. They were, however, always repelled with spirit, and most frequently with success. On some occasions, the assailants suffered severely, and had cause to regret their temerity.

Such being the state of affairs on the frontier, President Washington selected Anthony Wayne, of Revolutionary memory, to take command of the army; and for that purpose, in April, 1792, he was nominated and appointed a Major General. Being aware of some of the causes of the failure of the campaigns, under Harmar and St. Clair, and particularly that those officers had been ordered by the War Department, to advance prematurely into the Indian country, he accepted the appointment, with an express stipulation, that he should not be required to march into the wilderness, till the army was full, and so far disciplined as to justify him in assuming the responsibility, to which such a movement would subject him.

The misfortunes of those who preceded him, were known. He had investigated their causes, and ascertained that they were occasioned, principally, by a want of discipline, and a want of the material, necessary for an army. He had seen two of his Revolutionary associates censured, the one for a total defeat; and the other for heavy losses, under circumstances, which neither skill, nor bravery, could have prevented.

With these lessons before him, he determined to avoid the rock, on which they had made shipwreck, and therefore accepted the appointment, on the condition before stated. A few days after this appointment, James Wilkinson, then a Lieutenant Colonel in the army, was promoted to the rank of a Brigadier, and became the second officer in command. This organization having been made, measures were immediately commenced, to recruit the army, and perfect the arrangements necessary for the approaching campaign.

While these measures were in progress, information was received at the War Department, that on the 6th of November, 1792, a detachment of mounted Kentucky volunteers, encamped in the immediate vicinity of Fort St. Clair, twenty-six miles south of Greenville, near where