Relations between Washington and St. Clair. 631

APPENDIX IV.

RELATIONS BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND ST. CLAIR. [See Vol. I., p. 158.]

In further explanation of Governor St. Clair's visit to New York, upon the occasion of the organization of the National Government, and the intimate relations between him and General Washington, the following extract is given from "Sketches of Debate in the First Senate of the United States, in 1789-90-91, by William Maclay, a Senator from Pennsylvania" (p. 22):

"Monday, 4th May. Went early to the post-office. As I came back, met General St. Clair. He seemed desirous of speaking with me. Said he had been to my lodgings, and asked me what I thought of the President's new arrangements. It was the first I had heard of them.

"The President is neither to entertain nor receive invitations. He is to have levee days on Tuesdays and Fridays, when only he is to be

seen.

"I told the General that General Washington stood on as difficult ground as he had ever done in his life. That to suffer himself to be run down, on the one hand, by a crowd of visitants, so as to engross his time, would never do, as it would render his doing business impracticable. But, on the other hand, for him to be seen only in public, on stated times, like an Eastern Lama, would be equally offensive. If he was not to be seen but in public, where nothing confidential could pass between him and any individual, business would, to all appearance, be done without him, and he could not escape the charge of favoritism; all court would be paid to the supposed favorite, weakness and insignificance would be considered as characteristics of the President, and he would not escape contempt; that it was not thus the General gained the universal plaudits of his admiring fellow-citizens. I reiterated these ideas in every shape and in every different light I could place them, for nearly half an hour that we walked in front of St. Paul's Church. The General said that he wished to collect men's sentiments, and the design was to communicate them to the General. I told him my late conduct in the Senate had been such as would render any opinion of mine very ungracious at court, and, perhaps, he had better never make mention of my name. Much more was said, but not worth committing to paper."

(1) Friend of St. Clair, Wilson and Judge Smith.

APPENDIX V.

EXAMINATION OF JOHN LEITH.

[See Vol. II, p. 10.]

The deponent saith that he was storekeeper for himself and company at Tuscarawas, where he had a quantity of goods and furs; that there was another store at the same place, kept by James Chambers, for Messieurs Hamilton and Greenough, where was also a considerable amount of goods and skins; that the whole property in both stores was about the value of one thousand pounds.

That on Tuesday, the 27th of September, seven of the Wyandot nation came to the store, about nine o'clock in the morning; the deponent and Chambers were together at his house, sitting by the fire; the Wyandots told the Delawares, a party of whom had been trading with him for some days, that there was war-that the hatchet was taken up; upon which, one of the Delawares came to him and bid him rise and go with him; the deponent went with him, when the Delaware told him that Chambers would be killed; he soon heard the stroke made at Chambers by one of the Wyandots; he was immediately tomahawked and drawn out before the house, where he was left; the deponent having been a prisoner with the Delawares for twelve years, and being adopted as a brother in that nation, was the reason, he supposes, why his life was spared; the Wyandots took the goods and furs, except the property of the deponent, and made two parcels of them; they gave one division to the Delawares, and took the other themselves. The deponent was carried to the Delaware towns, to a place called Coshurking, on the head-waters of the Big Miami; at the time of his arrival, there was a grand council of the Indians, at which were p ent the chiefs of the Delawares, Wyandots, Shawanese, Mingoes, Cherokees, Putawatimees, Kickapoes, and the Twigtees, with belts and speeches from the Quiatinons, Tawas, Chipeways, and the Fox nations. The council was held on the first of October, and lasted two days and nights; they held it three miles from the town; he could not learn the object of their meeting.

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The deponent further saith that he met with Captain Pipe at the council, and, as soon as the council was over, the deponent was leased from confinement; Captain Pipe and George Washington went with him to Pipe's residence, a Delaware town on the Sandusky River; they immediately went to work to collect the goods that were taken at Tuscarawas, and had collected a considerable quantity to be redelivered to the owners; they staid two nights at Pipe's town, when Pipe, George Washington, and the deponent went to the Wyandot towns,

where they were collecting the goods alŝo; that the chiefs of both nations seemed very averse to the outrage committed at Tuscarawas; the deponent verily believes that a considerable quantity of the goods will be returned; the deponent is of the opinion, from the frequent conversations he has had with the Indians, before and since the late affair at Tuscarawas, that the chiefs of the Delaware and Wyandot nations are for peace, but that the young men and bad characters of both nations can not be kept at peace; that Simon Girty and Captain Caldwell, of the British rangers, were lately at the Wyandot towns, and that he verily believes, from the information given him by a man well acquainted with these matters, that Girty and Caldwell were using their endeavors to prevent the Delawares and Wyandots from going to the treaty to be held at the mouth of the Big Miami.

The deponent further saith that, from every observation he could make, and from the general talk of the Indians, he is led to believe that they are, in general, averse to giving up their lands; he is certain it will be dangerous for the Continental surveyors to go on with their business, until some further treaty is made with the Shawanese, Mingoes, and Cherokees, who appear to be most averse to this business.

The deponent further saith that he was at the Lower Sandusky, when the articles of peace between Great Britain and America were made known to the Indians; that they were told that the hatchet was only laid down, but not buried; that the Half King of the Wyandots remarked that, if it was peace, it should be buried-that there were many of their foolish young men who would take it up, unless it was covered. And further saith not.1

Sworn to before me, at Fort McIntosh, this 17th day of October, 1785. JOHN DOUGHTY,

Major Comm'dt.

APPENDIX VI.

TESTIMONY OF CAPTAIN SLOUGH OF THE FIRST BATTALION OF LEVIES, COMMANDED BY MAJOR THOMAS BUTLER.

[See Vol. I., p. 174; Vol. II., p. 266.]

Captain Slough arrived at Fort Pitt about 12th of May, and left it in July, about the last of it. He was detached to Fort Franklin; arrived at Fort Washington the 1st of September; muskets good, but clothing for the company indifferent; the troops sometimes badly supplied with provisions on the march-not sufficient in quantity, though good in

(1) MS. Harmar Papers.

quality; as to flour, half a pound, and a pound and a half of beef; began to march early on the 3d of November, and marched till we arrived within about a mile and a half of the ground on which we did afterwards encamp. We remained there some time, and were ordered to march; we went on, and encamped near the bank of the St. Mary's, or a branch of it, as we supposed; our line, the left of the right wing, encamped about one hundred or one hundred and fifty yards from the bank of the river; dark before we got our tents pitched and fires kindled. While I was busily pitching my tent, Colonel Gibson came up with a raccoon in his hand, and told me if I would come to his tent he would show me how to dress a raccoon Indian fashion; I went to his tent and sat down, and we were shortly after joined by Captain Butler; he observed that he thought if a party was sent out they might have an opportunity of catching some of the rascals who might attempt to steal horses; I told him that I should like to command such a party; he sat some time, and then left us; Colonel Gibson, Doctor M'Croskey, and Lieutenant Kelso were present at this conversation; they were also present when Captain Butler, on his return, and Brigade-Major Morgan, came there. One of them asked me if I would take the command of such a party; I told him I would, provided they would give me good men; Captain Butler told me I should have volunteers, and desired me to get ready and go to General Butler's tent. Butler went to the right wing of the army-Gibson's regiment-and mentioned it, and twenty-three or twenty-four, almost all sergeants, joined me; in the meantime, I went to my tent to prepare, and then went to General Butler's tent, and found a number of men collected about the fire of the tent. General Butler asked me to walk into the tent, and ordered some wine. Mr. Denny, aide-de-camp to General St. Clair, was there also. General Butler then told me I ought to be very cautious in going out; either he or the brigade-major gave me the countersign; he directed me to call on ('olonel Oldham in my way out, and inform him where I was going. I called at Colonel Oldham's tent; he was lying down with his clothes on, who, after I informed him, requested me not to go, as he was sure my party would be cut off, for, says he, I expect the army will be attacked in the morning; I replied that, as I had received my orders, I must go. He then directed me to the officer who commanded his picket-guard, with whom I fixed on a watch-word, and desired him to communicate it to his sentinels, lest I might be fired upon in the dark. After passing the militia sentinels, I proceeded about a mile up the path, for I had been directed to go one, two, or three miles up the path, and, when I came to a convenient piece of ground, to dispose of the men in the best manner so as to intercept the Indians who came that way. About one mile from camp I halted, divided my men into two parties, about thirty or forty yards apart, on each side of the path, and ordered Lieutenant Cummings and Ensign M'Michael to take command of the party on the right of the path, and I took charge of the party to the left; ordered them all to lie close

down to the ground. We had not been long in this situation before six or seven Indians came along to my left, about fifteen yards from where I lay; we fired on them seven or eight guns, and, I believe, killed one; the Indians ran immediately. I ordered the men to load their pieces, and lie down without budging from the place. In about a quarter of an hour, a large party of Indians came along in the same direction, and about the same distance; after they had passed me, they stopped and coughed, and, I suppose, were trying to find me out; they then proceeded on towards camp; I thought they meant to waylay me. While I was in this situation, another party, nearly the same number, passed to the right of Cummings; Cummings then came up to me and asked me if I had seen that party, and he thought they were going to waylay us, saying it was a very large party, and that it would be prudent to return to camp. George Adams, who had gone out with us as my guide, came up by this time, and said he thought it would be prudent for us to return; and, as I found the men uneasy, I ordered them to fall into the path in Indian file and return to camp, and, if they were attacked, to defend themselves with the bayonet altogether, and not fire their pieces; every fifteen or twenty yards we heard something moving in the woods, on both sides of the path, but could not see what it was; we pushed on, and gained the militia camp as soon as possible. I halted my party near Colonel Oldham's tent, and went into it and awakened him, about, I believe, twelve o'clock. Adams was with me when I went out and returned, and heard the conversation. I told Colonel Oldham that I was of the same opinion with him that the camp would be attacked in the morning, for I had seen a number of Indians. I was just going to dress myself, says he, and go and inform the commander-in-chief about it; I will thank you to inform the general that I think the army will be attacked in the morning. I proceeded to camp, and, as soon as I had passed the campguard, dismissed the party and went to General Butler's tent; I saw nobody awake or up but the sentry, and then went to Colonel Gibson's tent as soon as possible; I awakened Colonel Gibson and Doctor M'Croskey, and told them of the discoveries I had made, and asked Colonel Gibson to go with me to General Butler; he said he was stripped, and would not; but as you received your orders from him, go and make your report to him. I then went to General Butler's tent, and, as I approached it, I saw him come out of the tent and stand by the fire; I went up to him, and took him some distance from the fire, not thinking it prudent the sentry should hear what I had seen; I also told him what Colonel Oldham had said, and that, if he thought proper, I would go and make the report to General St. Clair. He stood some time, and, after a pause, thanked me for my attention and vigilance, and said, as I must be fatigued, I had better go and lie down. I went from him, and lay down, and never awakened till the firing began on the militia camp; I had taken off none of my clothes, expecting what happened.