The losses in Col. Crawford's command during the afternoon were five killed and twenty-three wounded, as reported by the aide-de-camp, Rose, to Gen. Irvine One of the killed was Capt. Ogle, and among the officers wounded were Maj. Brinton, Capt. Ross, Capt. Munn, Lieut. Ashley, and Ensign McMasters.

The losses of the Indians were never ascertained. Though doubtless greater than those of the whites, they were probably not very heary, because the savage combatants were to a great extent hidden from view by the tall grass which grew everywhere in the openings. A number of Indian scalps were taken by Crawford's men, but no prisoners were captured on either side. The British captain, Caldwell, was wounded in both legs, and was carried back to Lower Sandusky in the night succeeding the battle. Upon this the command of the British force that was on the way seems to have passed to his lieutenant, John Turney, as a report of their subsequent operations in the campaign was made by him to De Peyster, the commandant at Detroit.

At the close of the conflict of the 4th of June the advantage seemed to be with the white men, for the foe had retired from their front and they still kept possession of the grove, (2) from which the red demons had tried persistently but in vain for more than four hours to dislodge them. The officers and men of Col. Crawford's command were in good spirits, and the commander himself felt confident of ultimate victory, for his volunteers had behaved admirably, exhibiting remarkable steadiness and bravery during the trying scenes of the afternoon. But the Indians were by no means dispirited, for they had suffered no

(1) Butterfield relates the following incident concerning Francis Dunlevy, one of the volunteers in the expedition, whose home at that time was on Chartiers Creek, in what is now Peters township, Washington County, viz.:" Francis Dunlevy, who belonged to Captain Craig Ritchie's company, had during the light been engaged with an Indian of huge proportions. The latter, as evening approached, crept carefully and cautiously towards Dunlevy through the top of a tree lately blown down, which was full of leaves, when getting near enough as he supposed he throw his tomakawk, but missed his aim and then escaped. This Indian was afterwards recognized by Dunlevy as he believed in 'Big Captain Johnny,' who, in the war of 1812, was with the friendly Shawanese at Wapakoneta."

(2) "The battle of Sandusky was fought in and around the grove since well known as 'Battle Island,' In what is now Crane township, Wyandot County, three miles north and half a mile east of the court-house in Upper Sandusky. The spot has always been readily identified by reason of the scars upon the trunks of the trees, made by the hatchets of the Indians in getting out the bullets after the action. But the 'lsland' may now be said to have disappeared. Cultivated fields mark the site where the contest took place. Occasionally an interesting relic in turned up by the plow-share. to be preserved by the curious as a memento of the battle."- Butterfield.

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actual defeat, and they knew that their numbers would soon be augmented by the Shawanese and other war parties who were already on their way to join them, as was also the British detachment which had been sent from Detroit.(3) The night bivouac of the Wyandots was made on the plains to the north of the battle-field, and that of the Delawares at about the same distance south. Far to the front of the Indian camps, lines of fires were kept burning through the night to prevent a surprise, and the same precautionary measure was taken by Col. Crawford. Outlying scouts from both forces watched each other with sleepless vigilance through the hours of darkness, and frontiersmen and savages slept on their arms,

It was the wish of Col. Crawford to make a vigorous attack on the Indians at daylight on the morning of the 5th, but he was prevented from doing so by the fact that the care of his sick(4) and wounded was very embarrassing, requiring the services of a number of men, and so reducing the strength of his fighting force. It was determined, however, to make the best preparations possible under the circumstances, and to attack with every available man in the following night. The Indians had commenced firing early in the morning, and their fire was answered by the whites; but it was merely a skirmish at long range and in no sense a battle. It was kept up during the greater part of the day, but little harm was done, only four of Crawford's men being wounded, and none killed. Col. Crawford, as we have seen, was not prepared for a close conflict, but he, as well as his officers and men, felt confident of their ability to defeat the enemy when the proper time should come, attributing the apparent unwillingness of the Indians to come to close quarters to their having been badly crippled in the fight of the 4th. But the fact was that the savages were content with making a show of fight sufficient to hold their white enemies at bay while waiting for the arrival of their reinforcements, which they knew were approaching and near at hand.

The day wore on. The red warriors kept up their desultory firing, and the white skirmishers replied, while their comrades were busily and confidently

(3) The British force from Detroit, including Butler's Rangers, had arrived on the evening of the 4th at a point only six miles north of the battle-ground, and there encamped for the night. The Indians knew of this, and as they had also begun to receive reinforcements by small parties of Shawanese, they know that they had only to hold Crawford's force at bay until all their succors should arrive, when victory would be certain. Col. Crawford was entirely ignorant of the proximity of any body of white troops, though he had no doubt that Indian reinforcements were on their way. Had he known all the facts his feeling of confidence must have been changed to the most gloomy forebodings of' disaster

(4) A considerable number of his men had been made sick by the great fatigue and excessive heat of the previous day, and by the very bad water which they had been compelled to drink, the only water which could be found In the vicinity of the battleground being a stagnant pool which had formed under the roots of a tree which had been blown over, Maj. Rose, in his report to Gen. Irvine, said, "We were so much encumbered with our wounded and sick that the whole day was spent In their care and in preparing for a general attack the next night''

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making preparations for the intended night assault; but it was a delusive and fatal confidence. Suddenly, at a little past noon, an excited scout brought word to Col. Crawford that a body of white horsemen were approaching from the north. This was most alarming intelligence, but it was true. The British detachment from Detroit-Butler's Rangers-had arrived, and were then forming a junction with the Wyandot forces.(1) But this was not all. Almost simultaneously with the arrival of the British horsemen, a large body of Shawanese warriors appeared in the south, in full view from Col. Crawford's position, and joined the Delawares.

In this state of affairs the idea of an attack on the Indian camp could no longer be entertained. The commandant at once called a council of war of his officers to determine on the course to be pursued in this dire emergency. Their deliberations were very short, and the decision unanimously rendered was to retreat towards the Ohio. In pursuance of this decision, preparations for the movement were at once commenced. The dead had already been buried, and fires were now built over them to prevent their discovery and desecration by the savages. Most of the wounded were able to ride, but for the few who were not, stretchers were prepared. These and other necessary preparations were completed before dark, and the volunteers were ready to move at the word of command. Meanwhile, war parties had been hourly arriving to reinforce the Indian forces, which had now become so overwhelming in numbers that any offensive attempt against them would have been madness.

As soon as the late twilight of June had deepened into darkness all scouts and outposts were called in, the column was formed in four divisions, each under command of one of the field-majors, as on the outward march,(2) and the retreat was commenced, the command of Maj. John McClelland leading, and Col. Crawford riding at the head of all. Usually in a retreat the post of honor, as of danger, is that of the rear-guard, but in this case the head of the column was as much or more exposed than the rear, as the line of march lay between the positions held by the Delawares and Shawanese. That the advance was here considered to be the post of danger is shown by the fact that orders were given to carry the badly wounded in the rear.

The Indians had discovered the movement almost as soon as the preparations for it commenced, and hardly had the head of the column begun to move when it was fiercely attacked by the Delawares and Shawanese. The volunteers pushed on, fighting as they went, but they suffered severely, and soon after Maj. McClelland was wounded, and, falling from his horse, was left behind to the tender mercies of the savages. The division, however, fought its way clear

(1) Reported by the British lieutenant, Turney, at one hundred and forty warriors.

(2) Excepting that of Maj. Brinton, who was wounded. His division was now commanded by Brigade-Maj. Daniel Leet.

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of the Indians, who did not then follow up the pursuit, probably for the reason that they felt doubtful as to the actual intent of the movement, thinking it might prove to be but a feint, covering the real design of a general assault; so, fearful of some unknown stratagem or trap, they remained within supporting distance of the Wyandots and Rangers, and by failing to pursue probably lost the opportunity of routing, perhaps annihilating, the head division.

When the advance-guard received the attack of the Delawares and Shawanese, the other three divisions, which, although not wholly demoralized, were undoubtedly to some extent panic-stricken, most unaccountably abandoned McClelland's command, and in disregard of the orders to follow the advance in a solid column, moved rapidly off on a line diverging to the right from the prescribed route. They had not proceeded far, however, before some of the companies became entangled in the mazes of a swamp, in which several of the horses were lost. During the delay caused by this mishap the rear battalion was attacked by the Indians, and a few of the men were wounded, but the enemy did not push his advantage, and the divisions pushed on as rapidly as possible, and deflecting to the left beyond the swamp, and striking the trail by which they came on the outward march, came about daybreak to the deserted Indian village on the Sandusky, where they found the men of McClelland's division, who had reached there an hour or two earlier, disorganized, panic-stricken, and leaderless, for Maj. McClelland had been left for dead on the field, as before narrated; and during the hurried march, or more properly the flight, from the scene of the fight to the abandoned village, the commander, Col. Crawford, had disappeared, and no one was able to give any information concerning him, whether he had been wounded, killed, captured, or lost in the woods. John Slover, the guide, and Dr. Knight, the surgeon, were also missing. These facts, when known by the men, greatly increased their uneasiness and demoralization.

At this point (the deserted Wyandot village), Maj. Williamson, as Col. Crawford's second in command, assumed the leadership of the forces, and after a brief halt the entire command, now numbering something more than three hundred and fifty men, continued the retreat over the route by which they had come on the outward march.(3) The new commander, never

(3) Soon after leaving the deserted village they passed a sugar camp which the Indians had used the preceding spring. Butterfield relates that, in passing this place, " Isaac Vance, one of the volunteers from Washington County, espied a brass kettle that had been used by the Indians in this camp to boil sap in, and which had apparently been left in the bush through an inadvertence. This kettle, in the eyes of a backwoodsman, was a prize of too much value to be left in the enemy's country; so, dismounting and seizing a bowlder, he soon had the utensil flattened, ready for transportation. It was then securely fastened to his saddle, and notwithstanding the stirring scenes through which the finder soon after passed, was transported all the way to the home of the borderer."

Isaac Vance lived in the township of Somerset, Washington County, as did also his father, John Vance.

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doubting that the Indians could, pursue him in force, hurried on his men with all possible speed, keeping out the most wary and trusty scouts on his rear and flanks. The command passed the mouth of the Little Sandusky without seeing any signs of an enemy, but while passing through the Plains, at about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the scouts discovered far in their rear a pursuing party, apparently composed of both Indians and white men. They were afterwards found to be Wyandots and British Rangers, all mounted. It was now the purpose of Maj. Williamson to cross the Plain country and reach the shelter of the timber before being overtaken by the pursuers; and the latter were equally determined, if possible, to possess themselves of the woods in advance of the Americans. The race was an eager and exciting one on both sides, but, as Maj. Williamson found that the Indians were gaining on him so rapidly that he would be compelled to stand for battle before reaching the timber. Maj. Rose, in his report of these operations to Gen. Irvine, said, " Though it was our business studiously to avoid engaging on the Plains, on account of the enemy's superiority in light cavalry, yet they pressed our rear so hard that we concluded on a general and vigorous attack, whilst our light-horse (1) secured the entrance of the woods."

The place where Maj. Williamson found himself compelled to stand at bay before the pursuing horde of Wyandots and British Rangers, in the early afternoon of the 6th of June, was near the creek called Olentangy, (2) a tributary of the Scioto, near the eastern edge of the Plains, where the column of Col. Crawford had first debouched from the shades of the forest into the open country on the morning of the 3d, when moving towards the Wyandot town, which they found deserted. But the aspect of affairs was materially changed since that time. Then they were advancing in high spirits and confident of victory over the savages; now, in headlong flight before the same barbarous foe, they were turning in sheer desperation to fight for their lives.

The battle-line of the borderers faced to the west, and in its rear, holding the edge of the woods, and ready to act as a reserve corps in case of emergency, was the company of light-horsemen. The pursuing force, close upon them, attacked unhesitatingly and with fierce energy, first striking the front, then quickly extending their battle-line around the left flank to the rear of Williamson's force, which was thus compelled to meet the savage assault in three directions. But the panic and demoralization of the volunteers had entirely disappeared, (3) and they met

(1) Referring to one of the companies, which Col. Crawford had selected and equipped for special duty as skirmishers and scouts.

(2) This battle of Olentangy was fought on a plain about five miles southeast of Bucyrus, Ohio.

(3) Before the fight Maj. Williamson addressed his men, telling them that the only possible chance they had of escaping death and probably torture was to stand solidly together and fight with the determination never to yield ; that if they should break and endeavor to save them-

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each successive onslaught with such cool bravery and steadiness, and fought with such desperation, that at the end of an hour from the commencement of the battle the enemy withdrew discomfited, and apparently, with heavy loss. Perhaps the, sudden cessation of their firing was in some degree due to the fact that just then a furious thunder storm , which had for some time been threatening burst upon the combatants. The men wore drenched and chilled to the bone, while much of their ammunition was rendered useless by the rain. This, however, operated quite as unfavorably to the Indians as to the whites.

As soon as the savages and Rangers withdrew, Maj. Williamson, without a moment's delay, caused the dead to be buried and the wounded (4) cared for, and then the retreat was resumed. Capt. Biggs' company, which seems to have always held the post of danger, leading the advance in the outward march, now formed the rear guard. though its ranks were reduced to nine men and all its officers were missing. It was afterwards relieved, however, and from that time each of the companies in turn took position to guard the rear of the retreating column.

When Williamson commenced his retreat from the battlefield, the enemy, who had in the mean time scattered over the Plains, soon concentrated and renewed the pursuit, firing rapidly but at long range. Soon, however, they began to press the rear more closely, throwing the volunteers into some disorder, which must have grown into a panic but for the coolness and intrepidity of the commander and Maj. Rose. These officers were unceasing in their efforts, constantly moving along the line entreating the volunteers to keep solidly together and preserve unbroken the order of march, and warning them that if any should leave the column and attempt to escape singly or in squads they would certainly lose their scalps. Finally they became steady, and the order of march was preserved unbroken during the remainder of the day. The Indians kept up the pursuit, and occasionally attacked with much vigor, though, as Williamson's force was now moving through the timbered country, the savages no longer held the relative advantage which they had possessed in fighting on the Plains.

The volunteers bivouacked that night (June 6th) on the Sandusky River, about six miles from the battle-field of the afternoon; the enemy's force camped about a mile farther to the rear. Unusual

selves by flight there would be but faint hope that any of them would ever again see their homes. The aide-de-camp, Maj. Rose, rode along the line, cheering the men by his own coolness and apparent confidence. " Stand to your ranks," he cried, in clear. ringing tones, and with his slightly foreign accent; "take steady aim, fire low, and waste not a single shot! Be steady, steady, for all our lives depend upon it!" These admonitions from their officers, and the evident hopelessness of escape by flight, caused them to stand firm resolved to fight to the last, with no thought of surrender.

(4) The loss of the volunteers in this fight was three killed and eight wounded, that of the enemy was not known, but must have been much greater.

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precautions were taken by Maj. Williamson to guard against a surprise during the night, and at the first streakings of dawn on the 7th the men fell in to resume the march; but hardly had the column been formed when the Indians came up and opened fire upon the rear. A lively skirmish followed, in which two of the men fell into the hands of the savages, but no disorder ensued. The retreat was continued steadily and in good order, and, much to Maj. Williamson's surprise, the Indians suddenly abandoned the pursuit. The last shot from the savages was fired at a point near the present town of Crestline. From there the column moved rapidly on in good order and without molestation, reaching the Muskingum on the 10th, crossing that stream between the ruined Moravian villages of Schoenbrunn and Gnadenhutten, and on the 13th reaching the Mingo Bottom, where they found some of the missing, who had arrived ahead of the column. They crossed the Ohio on the same day and camped for the night on the Virginia side of the river. On the 14th they were disbanded, and returned to their homes after an absence of a little less than four weeks. Maj. Williamson was indefatigable in his attention to the wounded and his efforts to alleviate their suffering. On their arrival on the east bank of the Ohio he took care that every wounded man able to ride should be furnished with a horse and an escort to take him to his home; while those who were too badly hurt to endure that method of removal were by his orders carried on litters to the nearest settlements, where they were nursed and cared for. Through all the trying scenes of the campaign Williamson proved himself a brave, efficient, humane, and prudent officer.'

(1) On the day when the retreating forces recrossed the Ohio (June 13th), Williamson made an official report of the retreat from Battle Island (not of the entire campaign) to Gen. Irvine, as follows:

"I take this opportunity to make you acquainted with our retreat from Sandusky Plains, June 6th. We were reduced to the necessity of making a forced march through the enemy's lines in the night, much in disorder; but the main body marched round the Shawanese camp, and were lucky enough to escape their fire. They marched the whole night, and the next morning were reinforced by some companies, of which I cannot give a particular account, an they were so irregular and so confused. . . . I must acknowledge myself ever obliged to Maj. Rose for his assistance, both in the field of action and in the camp, His character in our camp is estimable, and his bravery cannot be outdone. Our country must ever be obliged to Gen. Irvine for his favor done on the late expedition. Maj. Rose will give you a particular account of our retreat. I hope your honor will do us the favor to call the officers together and consider the distress of our brave men in this expedition, and the distresses of our country in general. Our dependence is entirely upon you, and we are ready and willing to obey your commands when called upon."

Another and more minute report of the operations was made by Lieut. (otherwise called major) Ross to Gen. Irvine, who transmitted the two reports to Gen. Washington, with the following letter written by himself, and dated June 16th, viz.:

"The inclosed letters-one from Col. Williamson, second in command, and the other from Lieut Rose, my aide-de-camp-contain all the particulars of this transaction which have yet come to my knowledge. I am of opinion had they reached the Plains in seven days (instead of ten), which might have been done, especially as they were chiefly mounted, they would have succeeded. They should also have pushed the advantage evidently gained at the commencement of the action. They failed

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The fearful news of the disaster which had befallen the Sandusky expedition reached the settlements two days before the retreating force under Maj. Williamson arrived at Mingo Bottom. Col. James Marshel had it as early as the 11th of June, by a letter from a fugitive who had left the main body five days before. He (Marshel) at once communicated the intelligence to Gen. Irvine. "This moment," he said, "came to hand the inclosed letter, by which you will learn the unhappy fate of our little Army. What the consequences may be God only knows. I would fondly hope that matters are not quite so bad as they are represented." And he added, " I shall be as expeditious as possible in raising a party of men to secure the retreat across the river should the pursuit be continued so far." The same news which Marshel received came also to Dorsey Pentecost, who immediately rode to the Ohio to meet the retreating volunteers. There be found the main body under Williamson, but there was little of comfort in the tale they brought. On his return home he wrote the president of the Council as follows:

"WASHINGTON COUNTY, June 17th, 1782.

DR. SIR,-By a person who is now here on his way to the head of Elk, I have Just time to tell you that on the 25th of last month 478, some say 488 men, mounted on Horses, set out under the Command of Col. Crawford for St. Duskie (Sandusky); they were discovered at the Muskingum, and from there, all the way out, Spies was kept on them; the St. Duskie people collected the Shawanese & The Light dragoons from the British posts between St. Duskie and the post at De Trouit, they attacked our people in the plains of St. Duskie, near the St. Duskie River, on Tuesday was a. week last. The battle continued two days, the first day was very close and hot work, the second day was at long shot only. On the night of the 2d day our people retreated, & the Indians broke in on them in the retreat & routed them; however, about two Hundred stuck together & brought off all the wounded except three, which was left on the ground. The next. day the Indians attacked our people in the rear, but. was repulsed with Considerable Loss on their side; they then pursued their retreat with Success & unmolested to the Ohio. I met the men at the Mingo Bottom. last Wednesday, about thirty-five miles from my House, & Collected the Information I send you.

"There is about 20 wounded (few dangerous) and about half that Number killed; there is a good many missing, amongst which is Col. Crawford, and a number of other valuable men, but as the Scattered party's

in another point which they had my advice and, indeed, positive orders. for, viz., to make the last day's march as long as possible and attack the town in the night. But they halted in the evening within nine miles, and fired their rifles at seven in the morning before they marched. These people now seem convinced that they cannot perform as much by themselves as they some time since thought they could; perhaps It Is right that they should put more dependence on regular troops I am sorry I have not more to afford them assistance."

(2) Pa. Arch., 1781-83, p. 556.

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are Coming in daily I have Hopes of them. As the people was much confused when I met them, I could not get that Information requisite ; what little I got was from Maj. Ross [Rose], Aid De Campt to Gen. Irwin [Irvine], & who went Aid to Crawford, & I hope the General will give you a particular account, as he will receive it from the Major. I am told that the Indians were much superior to our people and that in the engagement they Suffered greatly, and that Col. Crawford Strongly recommended to return before they got to the Town, alleging that our people were too weak, as the Indians had Early Intelligence of their Coming, but was overruled By the rest of the Officers . . . ...

Having seen how Maj. Williamson with the main body of the troops reached and crossed the Ohio River, let us return to trace the adventures and misfortunes of the brave Col. Crawford, his faithful friend Dr. Knight, and others who had become separated from the column and were struggling on through the wilderness, with dangers surrounding them on every side, in their endeavors to escape from the savages.

When the volunteers commenced their retreat from the battlefield of the 4th and 5th of June, at about nine o'clock in the evening of the last-mentioned day, Col. Crawford rode at the bead of the leading division (McClelland's). A very short time afterwards they were attacked by the Delawares and Shawanese, and (as has already been mentioned) the rear divisions left their positions in the line of march and moved away to the right, leaving the front division to extricate itself from its perilous situation. They left in such haste that no little disorder ensued, in which some of the sick and wounded were left behind, though it is believed that all but two were finally saved from the enemy. While the Indian attack on the advance division was in progress, Col. Crawford became anxious concerning his son John, his nephew, William Crawford, and his son-in-law, William Harrison, and rode back to find them or assure himself of their safety, but in this he was unsuccessful. While engaged in the search he was joined by the surgeon, Dr. Knight, whom he requested to remain with and assist him. With this request the doctor readily complied. He thought the missing men were in the front, but as the colonel assured him they were not, the two remained behind a considerable time after the last of the troops had passed on, the commander in the meanwhile expressing himself in terms of indignation at the conduct of the three battalions in disobeying his orders by leaving the line of march and pressing on in their semi-panic, forgetting the care of the sick and wounded, and regardless of everything but their own safety.

After the last of the troops had passed on, and when Crawford and the surgeon found it useless to remain longer, they followed as nearly as they could in the track of the larger column, which, however, by this time was a considerable distance away and lost to view in the darkness. Proceeding rather slowly on (for the colonels horse had become jaded and nearly worn out by the fatigues of the day), they were soon after overtaken by two stragglers who came up from the rear. one of them being an old man and the other a Stripling. Neither of these had seen or knew anything about the two young Crawfords and Harrison.

The colonel and his three companions had not proceeded far when the sound of fire-arms was heard in front of them and not very far away. It was from the attack which the savages made on the rear of the retreating column at the time when a part of it became entangled in the swamp, as has been mentioned. The noise of tile firing before them caused Crawford's party to turn their course in a more northerly direction, on which they continued for two or three miles, when, believing that they were clear of the enemy, they turned at nearly a right angle, now facing nearly east, and moving in single file, Indian fashion. At about midnight they reached and crossed the Sandusky River. Near that stream they lost the old man, who had lagged behind, and was probably killed by Indians.

From the Sandusky they continued in an easterly direction, but when morning came they turned more southerly. Early in the day the horses ridden by Col. Crawford and the boy gave out entirely and were left behind. Early in the afternoon they were joined by Capt. Biggs and Lieut. Ashley, the latter mounted on Biggs' horse, and suffering from the wounds received in the battle of the 4th. The captain had bravely and generously stood by the wounded lieutenant, and was now marching on foot by his side, resolved to save him if possible, even at the risk of his own life. And a fearful and fatal risk it proved to be.

At almost precisely the time when Biggs and Ashley were found by Col. Crawford's party (about two o'clock P. M. on the 6th of June), the main body of volunteers, under Williamson, were facing to the rear, forming line of battle to meet the attack of the pursuing Indians, as has already been noticed. The distance from the field where the battle was raging to the place where the party of fugitives were at that time was about six miles in a northwest direction. After being joined by Biggs and Ashley, the colonel and his companions moved on slowly (being encumbered by the care of the wounded officer) for about an hour, when their flight was interrupted by the same thunderstorm that burst over the battle-field of Olentangy at the close of the conflict. Being now drenched with the rain, and wearied by their eighteen hours' flight, the commander thought it best to halt, and accordingly they made their night bivouac here, (1) amid the most cheerless surroundings, wet, shivering, and in

(1). The place where they encamped that night is about two miles north of Bucyrus, Ohio.

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constant dread of being discovered by prowling savages.

Early in the morning of the 7th the party pushed on in nearly the same southeasterly direction, recrossing the Sandusky River. An hour or two after their start they came to a place where a deer had been killed. The best part of the carcass had been cut off and wrapped in the skin of the animal, as if the owner had intended to return and carry it away. This they took possession of and carried with them, as also a tomahawk which lay on the ground near by. A mile or so farther on they saw smoke rising through the trees. Leaving the wounded officer behind, in charge of the boy, the others advanced cautiously towards the fire. They found no person there, but they judged, from the indications, that some of the volunteers had been there, and had left the place only a short time before. Lieut. Ashley was then brought up, and they proceeded to roast the venison which they had captured. As they were about finishing their meal a white man was seen near by, who, on being called to, came up very cautiously, and was recognized by Col. Crawford as one of his own men. He said he was the slayer of the deer, and that he had been frightened away from the carcass by the approach of the colonel and his companions. Food was given him, and after eating he moved on with the party.

About the middle of the afternoon they struck the route of the army's outward march, at a bend in the Sandusky, less than two miles distant from the place where Williamson's force had bivouacked the night before, and where, in the morning of the same day, the pursuing Indians had made their last attack on the retreating column. They were still nearer to the camping-place occupied by the Indians during the previous night, and it is difficult to understand how the practiced eye of Col. Crawford could have failed to discover the proximity of Indians, but it is certain that such was the case, for when Dr. Knight and Capt. Biggs advised him to avoid following the trace, for fear of encountering the enemy, he replied with confidence that there was little danger of it, for the savages would not follow the retreating column after it reached the timbered country, but would abandon the pursuit as soon as they reached the eastern verge of the Plains.

From the point where they struck the trail at the bend of the river, then, they moved on over the route which had been passed by the troops in their outward march. Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight, both on foot, led the way; Capt. Biggs (now riding the doctor's horse) followed some fifteen or twenty rods behind, and in the rear marched the boy and the killer of the deer, both dismounted. In this manner they proceeded along the south side of the river until they came very near the place where Williamson had made his camp of the previous evening. It does not appear that they had yet detected the proximity of an enemy, or that they were using more than ordinary precaution as they traveled. Suddenly, directly in front of Crawford and Knight, and not more than fifty feet from them, three Indians started up in full view. Crawford stood his ground, not attempting to gain cover, but the surgeon instantly took to a tree and raised his piece to fire, but desisted from doing so at the peremptory command of the colonel. Immediately afterwards, however, Capt. Biggs saw the savage; and fired, but without effect. One of the Indians came up to Crawford and took him by the hand, while another in like manner advanced and took the hand of the surgeon, at the same time calling him " doctor," for they had previously been acquainted with each other at Fort Pitt.

The Indians told Crawford to order Biggs and Ashley, with the two other men in the rear, to come up and surrender, otherwise they would go and kill them. The colonel complied, calling out to them to advance, but this was disregarded, and all four of them escaped, though Biggs and Ashley were afterwards taken and killed by the savages.

It was a party of the Delawares who captured Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight, and they immediately took their captives to the camp of their chief, Wingenund. The time this occurred was in the afternoon of the 7th of June (Friday), only five days after the army had passed by the same place in its outward march in the highest spirits, and with the brave Crawford riding at its head, happily unconscious of the awful doom which awaited him.

Crawford and Knight remained at the camp of the Delawares for three days. During their stay there (in the evening of Sunday, the 9th) a party of outlying scouts came in, bringing the scalps of Lieut. Ashley and Capt. Biggs, as also the horses which had been ridden by those unfortunate officers. Besides Crawford and Knight, there were nine other white prisoners at the Delaware camp, all half-starved and guarded with the utmost vigilance by the seventeen warriors who composed the war party at the camp. Several of these savages were personally known to Crawford and Knight.

On the morning of the 10th the camp was broken up, and the warriors set out with their prisoners for the Sandusky towns. All of them except Crawford were taken to the old town at Upper Sandusky; but the colonel was taken by a different route to the headquarters of Pomoacan, the great sachem of the Wyandots. There were two reasons for his being sent to that village, one of them being to have him guide his captors over the route by which be and Knight had come, so that they might possibly find the horses which had been left behind, and the other reason being to allow the colonel to see Simon Girty, who was known to be at the Half-King's town. Girty was an old acquaintance of Crawford's, as has been seen, and the latter had a faint hope that by a personal interview with the renegade he might be induced to

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use his influence with the Indians to save the prisoner's life, or at least to save him from the torture by fire. The hope was a vain and delusive one, as the event proved, but the doomed man in his extremity clung to it as drowning men catch at straws. His savage custodians well knew that he would gain nothing by the interview with Girty, but they granted his request, apparently for the demoniac satisfaction of witnessing the despair and agony of his certain disappointment.

The prisoners bound for the old town arrived there the same evening. Later in the night Crawford and his guards reached Pomoacan's village, where he had :he desired interview with Girty, during which he offered the wretch one thousand dollars to interfere and save his life. Girty promised to do what he could, though he had not the slightest intention of keeping his word. He also told the colonel that his nephew, William Crawford, and his son-in-law, William Harrison, had been captured by Shawanese scouts, but that the chiefs of that tribe had decided to spare their lives, the latter portion of his statement being false, as he well knew. But the story, with the promise to intercede in his behalf, had the effect to allay for the time the colonel's worst fears.

On the following morning (June 11th) Crawford was informed that he must go to the old town, to join the other prisoners, so that all could be marched in a body to the village to the Half-King. Under this order he was taken to the upper village, where he arrived about the middle of the forenoon, and there found the main body of the white prisoners, including Dr. Knight, and the Delaware chiefs, Pipe and Wingenund who had come there at an earlier hour in the morning. Here the hopes which had been raised in Crawford's mind by the promise of Girty were suddenly extinguished when Wingenund approached him and painted his face black. The hypocritical chief, (1) while he was performing the ominous operation, professed to be extremely glad to see the colonel, and assured him that he was to be adopted as an Indian ; but Crawford was not deceived by this dissimulation, for he well knew that when the Indians painted the face of a prisoner black it meant but one thing, that the person so marked had been doomed to death.

All the other prisoners, including Dr. Knight, had previously been painted black by the implacable Delaware, Capt. Pipe.

A little later in the day the whole party of prisoners, under their Indian guards, moved out from the old town and took the trail down the river. Col. Crawford and Dr. Knight (who were regarded by the Indians as their principal prizes) were marched some distance in the rear of the others, and were kept in charge by no less personages than the chiefs Win-

(1) The reacherous Wingenund was well acquainted with Col. Crawford, had always professed great friendship for him, and had more than once been entertained by the colonel at his house on tile Youghiogheny. Capt. Pipe was also acquainted with Crawford.

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genund and Pipe. They had not proceeded far from the village before they passed the corpse of one of the prisoners who preceded them. A little farther on they saw another, then another and another, four in all, killed by their guards only a few minutes before, and all bearing the bloody marks made by the scalping-knife.

They had supposed that their destination was the town of the Wyandot sachem, Pomoacan, but their hearts sank within them(2) when, at the Big Springs, on the present site of Upper Sandusky, the Indians left the trail leading to the Wyandot headquarters and took that leading to the villages of the Delawares. On this trail they proceeded in a northwesterly course until they reached Little Tymochtee Creek, where Crawford and Knight, with their guards, overtook the other surviving prisoners, only five in number. Here several squaws and young Indians were met, and all the prisoners were halted and made to sit on the ground. The object of this movement became apparent when, a few minutes later, the five prisoners were set upon by the squaws and boys, who tomahawked and scalped them all. One of these five was John McKinley, of Washington County, whose scalped head they cut off and rolled about on the ground. The Indian boys took the warm and bloody scalps and repeatedly dashed them into the faces of Crawford and Knight, who had also been seated on the ground a short distance away from, but in full view of, the butchery.

Of the prisoners who had set out from the old town only Crawford and Knight now remained. The March was resumed on the trail to Pipe's town, the two prisoners being now separated and made to walk a hundred yards or more apart. On their way they were met by Simon Girty on horseback and accompanied by several Indians. Girty spoke to Crawford and also to Knight, heaping upon the latter the vilest epithets and abuse. As the party moved on they were met by many Indians, all of whom maltreated the prisoners, striking them with clubs and beating them with their fists. About the middle of the afternoon the party with their dejected captives arrived at a piece of bottom-land on the east bank of Ty-

(2) The Wyandots had advanced much farther on the road towards civilization than had the Delawares or Shawanese, and not only had they long before that time, wholly abandoned the practice of burning their prisoners, but they discountenanced the horrid custom among the other tribes. The prisoners, knowing this, had consequently regarded it as a sign in their favor that they were to be taken to the home of the Wyandot sachem but when they found that they had been deceived, and that their real destination was the towns of the cruel Delawares, they knew too well that mercy was not to be expected. The fact was that Pipe and Wingenund, being fully determined to inflict the fire torture on Crawford and Knight, had recourse to stratagem and deceit to obtain from the Half-King, Pomoacan, his consent to the commission of the barbarity, for, as the Wyandots were more powerful than they, and in fact masters of that section of the Indian country, they dared not do the. dreadful deed without the consent of the Wyandot sagamore, and that consent they knew could never be obtained if their request was accompanied by a straight forward statement of their real intentions.

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mochtee Creek, where a halt was made, and it became at once apparent that with this halt, the journeying of one at least of the prisoners was ended. Crawford and Knight were still separated, and were not again allowed to hold any conversation together. Knight was in charge of a peculiarly villanous-looking Indian named Tutelu, who had been made his special guard, and who was to take him on the following day to the Shawanese towns, which had been decided on as the place where he was to be put to death.

The spot where the party halted on the banks of the Tymochtee was the place where Col. Crawford was to die. It had been fully and finally decided by the chiefs that he should suffer death by the torture of fire, and as all the barbarous preparations had been made there was but little delay before the commencement of the infernal orgie. The fatal stake had already been set, and fires of hickory sticks were burning in a circle around it. About forty Indian men and twice that number of squaws arid young Indians were waiting to take part in the torturing of the unfortunate prisoners.

Immediately on his arrival the colonel was stripped naked and made to sit on the ground, with his hands firmly bound together and tied behind him Then the yelling, screeching crowd fell upon him and beat him without mercy until be was exhausted and covered with blood. When they had tired of this the victim was dragged to the centre of the fiery circle preparatory to the last act in the hellish drama. A rope had previously been tied around the stake near its foot. and now the other end of it was made fast to the cord with which his wrists were bound together. The rope was some six or eight feet in length, allowing him to pass two or three times around the stake. He could also sit or lie down at will.

The infamous Simon Girty was present, and remained there during all the dreadful proceedings which followed. When Crawford was led to the stake he called out to the renegade who stood among the foremost in the ring of savage spectators , asking him if they had determined to burn him to death, and upon Girty's unfeeling reply in the affirmative he replied that if so he would try to endure it with patience and die like a soldier arid Christian. Then the vindictive Capt. Pipe addressed the savages with violent gesticulations, and at the close of his speech the assembled barbarians applauded with wild delight, whilst some of the crowd rushed in upon the prisoner and cut off both of his ears. (2)

(1) The spot where Col. Crawford met his horrible death is on a piece of slightly rising ground in the creek bottom, as above mentioned a short distance northeast of the village of Crawfordsville, Wyandot Co., Ohio.

(2) This Statement is made in the narrative of Dr. Knight, who, after witnessing the dreadful scenes of Col. Crawford's murder, made his escape (an will be mentioned in succeeding pages) and wrote an account of the events of the expedition. That narrative and the report of Maj. Rose, the aide-de-camp, furnish the facts on which this and other reliable accounts of Crawford's campaign are based.

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As a prelude to the still more terrible tortures that were to follow, the Indians closed in on the miserable man and fired charges of powder into his unprotected body. More than fifty times was this repeated, and the pain thus inflicted could scarcely have been less than that produced by the flames. After this satanic procedure was concluded the fires (which up to this time had been burning but slowly) were replenished with fresh fuel, and as the heat grew more intense, and the sufferings of the victim became more and more excruciating, the joy and shouting of the red devils rose higher and higher.

Burning at the stake is universally regarded as among the most terrible tortures that human cruelty can inflict But the Delaware chiefs had prepared for the brave Crawford an agony more intense and protracted than that of the licking flames, they roasted him alive! The fires were placed at a distance of some fifteen feet from the stake and within that dreadful circle for three and a half hours he suffered an almost inconceivable physical torment, which death would have terminated in one-tenth part the time if the fagots had been piled close around him.

As the fires burned down the Indians seized burning brands arid threw them at the victim, until all the space which his tether allowed him was thickly strewn with coals and burning embers, on which his naked feet must tread as he constantly moved around the stake and back in the delirium of his pain. To intensify and prolong the torture the savages applied every means that their infernal ingenuity could suggest, and which to describe or even to think of fills the mind with sickening horror.

To Simon Girty, who was in prominent view among the savage throng, Crawford called out in the extremity of his agony, begging the wretch to end his misery by sending a. ball through his heart. To this appeal Girty replied, sneeringly, that he had no gun, at the same time uttering a brutal laugh of derision and pleasure at the hideous spectacle. If, as tradition has it he had once been repelled in his attempted addresses to the colonel's beautiful daughter, Sally Crawford, he was now enjoying the satisfaction of a terrible revenge on her miserable father, for the indignity.

Through it all, the brave man bore up with as much fortitude as is possible to weak human nature, frequently praying to his Heavenly Father for the mercy which was denied him on earth. Towards the last, being evidently exhausted, he ceased to move around the stake and lay down, face downwards, upon the ground. The fires being now well burned down, the savages rushed in on him, beat him with the glowing brands, heaped coals upon his body, and scalped him.

(3) It has been stated in some accounts of the death of Col. Crawford that the British captain, Matthew Elliott, was also present during the dreadful scenes of the torture. It may have been so, but the statement has never been fully substantiated, and there are serious doubts of its authenticity.

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Once more he arose, bloody, blinded, and crisped, and tottered once or twice around the stake, then fell to rise no more. Again the barbarians applied burning brands, and heaped live coals on his scalped head, but he was fast becoming insensible to pain, his end was near, and after a few more vain attempts by the savages to inflict further torments, death came to the rescue and the spirit of William Crawford was free.

It was on the 11th of June, at about four o'clock in afternoon, that the torture commenced. The end came just as the sun was sinking behind the tops of the trees that bordered the bottom-lands of the Tymochtee. Then the savages heaped the brands together on the charred and swollen body and burned it to a cinder, dancing around the spot for hours, yelling and whooping in a wild frenzy of demoniac exultation.

It will be recollected that Dr. Knight was brought from the Indian old town to the place of torture on the Tymochtee with Col. Crawford, though the two were kept apart and not allowed to converse together. The doctor remained a horrified spectator of the burning of his superior officer until near the time of his death. On his arrival at the place Knight was fallen upon by the Indians and cruelly beaten. While Crawford was in the midst of his greatest suffering Simon Girty came to where Knight was sitting and told him that he too must prepare for the same ordeal, and he need have no hope of escaping death by torture though he would not suffer at the same place, but would be removed to the Shawanese towns to be burned. Soon after an Indian came to him and struck him repeatedly in the face with the bloody scalp which had just been torn from Crawford's head. Towards the end of the diabolical scene, but while Crawford was yet living, Knight was taken away and marched to Capt. Pipe's house, some three-fourths of a mile distant, where he remained during the night, securely bound, and closely guarded by the Indian Tutelu, who had him in his especial charge.

In the morning (June 12th) his guard unbound him, and having again painted him with black, started out on horseback, driving Knight before him on foot, bound for the Shawanese towns, where the doctor was to suffer the torture. Passing by the spot where Crawford had suffered on the previous day, they saw all that remained of the colonel, a few burned bones, when the Indian told his horrified prisoner that this was his " big captain." They moved on towards the southwest, on the trail to the Shawanese town of Wapatomica, nearly forty miles away.

Knight had not wholly abandoned the hope of escaping the torture, though his case looked wellnigh hopeless. He carried as cheerful a countenance as he could, concealed from his guard his knowledge of the import of the black paint on his face, and conversed with him as well as he could, pretending that he expected to be adopted into the Shawanese tribe on arrival at their destination. Tutelu asked him if he knew how to build a wigwam, and Knight assured him that be was excellent at that business. All this pleased the Indian, and to some extent threw him off his guard. The journey of the first day was about twenty-five miles. At the night camp Tutelu again bound his captive, and watched him closely through the night , so that the doctor, although he tried hard to free himself. did not succeed.

At daybreak Tutelu rose, stretched his limbs, unbound his Captive, and renewed the renewed the fire, but did not immediately prepare to resume the Journey. They had been greatly tormented by gnats during the night, and the doctor asked him if he should make a smudge in their rear to drive the pests away. Tutelu told him to do so, whereupon Knight took two sticks (one of them about a foot and a half in length, which was the largest he could find), And holding them carried it behind the Indian as if to start the smudge, but as soon as he had got the right position suddenly turned and dealt the savage a blow over the head with all his strength. partially stunning him and knocking him forward head first into the fire. His hands were badly burned, but he immediately recovered himself, rose, and ran away, uttering a hideous yell.(1) The doctor seized the Indian's gun and followed him, determined to kill him: but in his eagerness he broke or disarranged the lock of the piece, so that he could not fire. This being the case he followed only a short distance, and then returned to the place where they had passed the night.

Here the surgeon lost no time in making preparations for a desperate attempt to effect his escape from the Indian country. He possessed himself of Tutelu's ammunition, his blanket, and an extra pair of moccasins, and without delay commenced his long journey, taking a course about east by north. All day he traveled without molestation or notable incident, and at night had emerged from the timbered country and entered the Plains, where h made his lonely bivouac. But he was too uneasy and anxious to remain long, and so after two or three hours' rest resumed his way, and traveling all night, guided by the stars, had crossed the open country and entered the forest to the east before daylight appeared. During this day (June 14th) he struck the track of the troops on their outward march, but having already received a severe lesson on the danger of following this he avoided it and took a north course, which he kept during the rest of the day. That night he camped in the forest and slept undisturbed.

The next morning he shaped his course due east and moved on with greatly lightened spirits but ex-

(1) Tutelu fled to the village of the Delawares, and was seen an his arrival by John Slover, who was then a captive there. He (Tutelu) reported the loss of his prisoner, with whom he said he had a hard battle, and had given the doctor fearful and probable fatal knife-wounds in the back and stomach, although (as he said) Knight was a man of immense, proportions and physical power. Slover told the Delawares that this was false, and that the doctor was a weak, puny man, whereat the Indians ridiculed Tutelu without mercy.

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ceedingly weak from lack of food. He could shout, no game, for his utmost endeavors failed to put the lock of his gun into working condition, and finding at last that it was useless to make further attempts, and that the piece proved be only an encumbrance to him, he threw it away. He caught a small turtle, and occasionally succeeded in taking young birds, all of which he ate raw. In this way, and by making use of nourishing roots and herbs, he succeeded in sustaining life through all the weary days of his journey to civilization. As he traveled eastward he found heavier timber, and saw everywhere great quantities of game, which was very tantalizing, as he could not kill or catch any, although nearly famished.

For twenty days from the time of his escape from his guard Tutelu, Dr. Knight traveled on through the wilderness, unmolested by savages, but suffering terribly of hunger and cold for he had not the means of making a fire, and on the evening of July 3d struck the Ohio River about five miles below the mouth of Beaver. On the 5th he arrived safely at Fort Pitt,(1) where he remained as surgeon of the Seventh Virginia Regiment until after the declaration of peace.

John Slover one of the guides of the expedition, was one of those who were captured by the Indians and condemned to the torture, but almost miraculously escaped. On the evening of the 5th of June, when the forces of Col. Crawford commenced their retreat from Battle Island, and the combined Delawares and Shawanese attacked the advanced battalion under Maj. McClelland, it will be recollected that the three other divisions precipitately abandoned the line of march and moved away on a route diverging to the west, and that soon afterwards the head of the column marched by mistake into a bog or swamp, where a number of the volunteers lost their horses by reason of their becoming mired in the soft muddy soil. Among those who were thus dismounted were the guide, Slover, James Paull (afterwards sheriff of Fayette County), and five others, who then kept together in a party and attempted to make their escape through the woods. They traveled on in safety until the 8th, when, at about nine o'clock in the forenoon, they fell into an ambuscade of Shawanese Indians, who had followed their trail from the Plains. The savages

(1) In a letter from Gen. Irvine to President Moore, dated Fort Pitt, July 5, 1782, he says, "This moment Doctor Knight has arrived, the surgeon sent with the volunteers to Sandusky ; he was several days in the hands of the Indians, but fortunately made his escape from his keeper, who was conducting him to another settlement to be bound [burned]. He brings the disagreeable account that Col. Crawford and all the rest (about twelve, to the doctor's knowledge) who fell into his [their] hands were burned to death in a most shocking manner; the unfortunate colonel in particular was upwards of four hours burning, The reason they assign for this uncommon barbarity is retaliation for the Moravian affair. The doctor adds that he understood those people had laid aside their religious principles and have gone to war; that be saw two of them bring in scalps who he formerly knew."- Penn. Archiver, 1781-83, p. 576.

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fired on them, and two of the men fell. Paull ran for his life and made his escape, but Slover and two other men were taken prisoners and conducted back to the Shawanese towns on Mad River, which they reached on the 11th of June. On their arrival they were received by an Indian crowd such as always collected on such an occasion, and were made to "ran the gauntlet" between two files of squaws and boys for a distance of some three hundred yards to the councilhouse. One of the men had been painted black (though why the Indians had thus discriminated against this man does not appear), and he was made a special target for the abuse and blows of the barbarous gang. He reached the door of the councilhouse barely alive, but was then pulled back and beaten and mangled to death, his body cut in pieces, and these stuck on poles about the village.

Slover and the other man ran the gauntlet without fatal or very serious injury, but the latter was sent away the same evening to another village, and no more was heard of him. As to Slover, he was kept at the village for two weeks, during which time councils were held daily and war-dances every night, to all of which he was invited and most of which be attended.(2) The Indians also assigned to him a squaw as a companion, with whom he lived in comparative freedom during his stay at the village.(3) Finally a council was held, at which it was decided that he should be put to death by torture.

The next day "about forty warriors, accompanied by George Girty, an adopted Delaware, a brother of Simon and James Girty, (4) came early in the morning round the house where Slover was. He was sitting before the door. The squaw gave him up. They put a rope around his neck, tied his arms behind his back, stripped him naked, and blacked him in the usual manner. Girty, as soon as he was tied, cursed him, telling him he would met what he had many years deserved. Slover was led to a town about five miles away, to which a messenger had been dispatched to desire them to prepare to receive them. Arriving at the town, he was beaten with clubs and the pipe-ends of their tomahawks, and was kept for some time tied to a tree before a house-door. In the mean time the inhabitants set out for another town about two miles distant, where Slover was to be burnt, and where he arrived about three o'clock in the afternoon. They were now at Mac-a-chack, not far from the present site of West Liberty, in Logan County. Here there was

(2) Having previously lived much among the Indians, Slover was well acquainted with their language, and spoke it, particularly the Miami and Shawanese dialects, with great fluency.

(3) "There was one council at which Slover was not present. The warriors had sent for him as usual, but the squaw with whom he lived would not suffer him to go, but hid him under a large quantity of skins. It may have been done that Slover might not hear the determination she feared would be arrived at, to burn him."- Butterfield.

(4) James and George Girty, as well as Capt. Matthew Elliott, of the British service, were present at the Shawanese town, and took part in the Indian councils before mentioned.

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A council-house also, as at Wapatomica, (1) but only a part of it was covered. In the part without a roof was a post about sixteen feet in height. Around this, at a distance of about four feet, were three piles of wood about three feet high. Slover was brought to the post, his arms again tied behind him, and the thong or cord with which they were bound was fastened to it. A rope was also put about his neck and tied to the post about four feet above his head. While they were tying him the wood was kindled and began to flame. Just then the wind began to blow, and in a very short time the rain fell violently. The fire. which by this time had begun to blaze considerably, was instantly extinguished. The rain lasted about a quarter of an hour."'

The savages were amazed at this result, and perhaps regarded it as an interposition of the Great Spirit on behalf of the prisoner. They finally decided to allow him to remain alive until morning, when, as they said, they would recommence the torture, and devote the whole day to it. He was then unbound, and made to sit on the ground, where he was beaten, kicked, and otherwise maltreated by the Indians, who continued dancing round him and yelling till nearly midnight. Three guards were then detailed to watch him during the rest of the night; he was again bound and taken to a house, where a rope was fastened about his neck and tied to a beam of the house. His guards kept awake taunting him about the torture he was to endure until towards morning, when two of them fell asleep, and not long afterwards the other followed their example. Soon they were all asleep, and when he was entirely sure that they were so Slover commenced attempts to unbind himself. He had comparatively little difficulty in slipping the cords from one of his wrists, which left him at liberty to work at the rope around his neck. This he found much more securely tied, and he began to despair of loosening it, as the daylight had begun to appear and the Indians would soon be on the alert. At last, however, he succeeded in untying the knots, and rose from his painful position, free, but still in the greatest danger of discovery.

Stepping softly over the sleeping warriors, he quickly left the house, and ran through the village into a corn-field. Near by he saw several Indian horses grazing, and having with no little difficulty caught one of these, using the rope with which he had been bound as a halter, he mounted and rode away, first slowly, then more rapidly, and finally with all the speed of which the animal was capable. No alarm had yet been given in the village, and he had therefore reason to believe that the Indians were still ignorant of his escape.

Slover forced the horse to his utmost speed for a long time, but gradually his pace slackened and grew

(1) The Indian village to which he had first been taken.

(2) Butterfield's " Expedition against Sandusky."

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slower and slower until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when, finding it important to urge him beyond a walking gait, he dismounted from the animal, and pushed on foot. He walked the distant hallooing of Indians he in following him that he was pursued, but he pursing every precaution to cover his trail as he proceeded. No Indians appeared, and he traveled on without a moment's stop until ten o'clock at night, when, being very sick and vomiting, he halted to rest for two hours. At midnight the moon rose, and he proceeded on, striking a trail, which he kept till daylight, and then, as a measure of precaution, left it, and struck through the woods along a ridge at a right angle from his previous course. This he continued for about fifteen miles, and then changed to what he judged to be his true course. From this point he met with no specially notable adventure. On the third day he reached the Muskingum, on the next he reached and crossed the Stillwater, and in the evening of the fifth day of his flight he camped within five miles of Wheeling. Up to this time he had not closed his eyes in sleep since he left his cabin and squaw companion at Wapatomica. Early on the following morning he came to the Ohio River opposite the island at Wheeling, and seeing a man on the other side, called to him, and finally induced him to come across and take him over in his canoe, though at first he was very suspicious and unwilling to cross to the west shore. On the 10th of July Slover reached Fort Pitt.

As the volunteers who marched with Col. Crawford to Sandusky were during the campaign regularly in the service under the orders of the general commanding the Western Department, there were of course muster-rolls of the several companies showing the names of all their members; but no such rolls are now known to be in existence. In the absence of these and of any unofficial list of those who composed the force under Crawford, very few names are now known of Washington County men who marched with the expedition to Sandusky. A few, known as residents of this county, have been incidentally mentioned in the preceding narrative of the campaign, and the names of some others (but not many) have been gathered from different sources. Among them are those of John Canon, of Canonsburg, David Steele, of Peters township, Isaac Cox, James and Hugh Workman, of Amwell township, and William Huston, of Washington, all of whom returned from Sandusky in safety. In one account it is stated that William Huston never returned; but this is proved to be incorrect by in affidavit which is found, made by William Huston before Justice Samuel Shannon in 1798. John Campbell, William Nimmons, and William Johnson volunteered from this county, and marched with the expeditionary forces from the Mingo Bottom to the Sandusky Plains, but did not come back

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with the fugitives from the scene of disaster, and were never again heard of in the settlements. The names of these men, as volunteers from Washington County, were given by William Darby, whose statement has been published by De Hass. Butterfield,(1) and other writers upon the subject of Crawford's ill-starred enterprise.

The names of a few others who enrolled themselves with the volunteers who marched from Washington County in the memorable campaign of 1782 against the Wyandot towns are found in the minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, referring to awards made some years afterwards in reimbursement for losses sustained by various persons in that campaign. Such of the entries in those minutes as have reference to residents of Washington County are given below (names of such as are known to have been residents of Westmoreland being omitted), viz.:

"In Council.

"PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 7, 1785.

"The comptroller-general's reports upon the following accounts against the State for losses sustained, etc., upon the Indian expedition of 1782. under the direction of Colonel William Crawford, were read and approved, viz.:

" . . . Twelve pounds to James Alexander; six pounds four shillings and five pence to Noble Graham: six pounds to Samuel Dualls; thirteen pounds to John Dean ; seven shillings and sixpence to Samuel

(1) Butterfield, in his "Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky," quotes Darby's account, as follows:

"From the fort [the stockade inclosing the house of Jacob Wolfe, in what is now Buffalo township, Washington County] my parents removed to Catfish [Washington], and spent the residue of 1782, and to April, 1783, on the farm of Alexander Reynolds, recently owned by Dr. F. J. Lemoyne. on this farm we were living when . . . the militia army were defeated under Colonel William Crawford . . . James and Hugh Workman were both in that expedition, and I fancy I see the two women now when James Reynolds came running to my mother, exclaiming, 'Jamy Workman is killed:" James Workman, who was a married man was not killed, but returned to his family and lived many years afterwards. A. like report came in regard to Hugh and happily proved untrue, to the great joy of his betrothed wife, Peggy Bryson, living then with her brother-in-law, Thomas Nichol. John Campbell, of Pigeon Creek, was killed in the action."Butterfield then proceeds:

"The brothers Workman were in the same company when the army on its outward march left Mingo Bottom; but when Crawford selected his company of light-horse, Hugh joined it, leaving his brother James in the ranks of the mounted infantry. James was twenty-five and Hugh twenty three years of age when they joined the Sandusky expedition. The former applied for a pension fifty years after, and was successful. Both were then living (1833) in Amwell township, Washington County." James Workman was one of those who became separated from the main body of Crawford's forces in the night of June 5, 1782, and while he and another man in the same condition were making their way through the woods in their attempt to escape, they met Nicholas Dawson, of Westmoreland County (one of the volunteers), who had mistaken his course and was heading towards Sandusky, thus running directly into danger instead of escaping from it. They tried to convince him that he was wrong, but he obstinately insisted that he was not. Finding it impossible to persuade him to change his course, they at last told him that as he would certainly be taken by the Indians if he kept on, and as it was better for him to die by the hands of white men than to be tortured by savages, they were determined to shoot him then and there unless he consented. to turn his course and go with them. This was an unanswerable argument, and Dawson finally yielded to it, though with a very bad grace. He changed his route, joined company with the two men, and so succeeded in making his escape, and arrived in safety at his home beyond the Monongahela.

(2) The greater part of those named are known to have been inhabitants of the county of Washington. It is not unlikely that some are included who were not such, but they are certainly very few.

(Top of the Second Column)

Cane; seven pounds to Richard Clark; . . . fifteen Pounds to Louis Heming ... and sixteen pounds to Joseph Barker.

"January 10, 1795, . . . thirteen pounds to James Woods; eight Pounds ten shillings to Jacob Van Kirk; thirty pounds to James Nicholl; . . . four pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence to Joseph Perish; . . . sixteen pounds to Jacob South; ten pounds to Jacob Schwartz . . . . five pounds sixteen shillings and three pence to John Lucas; ... five pounds to Alexander McDonald: ... four pounds ten shillings to Robert Jackson; fifteen Pounds to William Case; fifteen pounds to Aaron Rollins; eleven pounds to Lewis Duvall; three pounds eight shillings to Charles Burdin; . . . six, pounds ten shillings to Dennis Stevens.

"March 2, 1785.-Accounts approved of Craig Ritchie and Andrew Munro. for horses lost on the Sandusky expedition. Of the aforesaid Craig Ritchie, four rations due from the 20th of May to the 20th of June, 14 1782.

" August 30, 1785-The comptroller-general's report upon the accounts of William Shearer, of the county of Washington, for a horse lost on the Sandusky expedition, was read and approved.

"September 15, 1785.- Upon the account of James Scott, for a horse, blanket, etc-, lost on the Sandusky expedition.

"September 21. 1785.- Of Peter Peterson, for rations due on the Sandusky expedition. Of Henry Taylor, for thirty days' rations furnished John Blean upon the aforesaid expedition. Note.-All the (3) three persons above named are inhabitants of Washington County.

" December 31, 1785- Of Richard Graham, for a horse lost on the Sandusky expedition.

"April 19, 1786- Of Hugh Sprouls of the county of Washington, for A horse lost in the Sandusky expedition.

"Of Joseph Brown, of said county, for rations furnished to the militia employed on the said expedition. Of Thomas Brown, of said county, for rations furnished an aforesaid.

" December 8, 1789. -Of George Tompoh, for his provisions, while employed as a militiaman on the frontiers of Washington County, and for a blanket, a pack-saddle, and two bags lost on the (said) expedition under Colonel Crawford, in 1782, amounting to two pounds seven shillings and sixpence.

"Of John Hill, for a saddle, blanket, two bags, and a wallet or pack lost on the said expedition, amounting to four pounds two shillings and sixpence.

"Of Robert Taylor, for thirty days' provisions due him while employed on said expedition, amounting to one pound two and sixpence. Of Richard Hopkins, for a horse lost on the said expedition, amounting to four pounds.

"Of John Turvey, for thirty days' provisions due to him while employed on said expedition, amounting to one pound two shillings and sixpence.

"December 17, 1789.- Of Robert Walker, Jr., of Washington County, for provisions furnished by him for the Sandusky expedition, under Colonel Crawford, in the year 1782, amounting to one pound two shillings and sixpence.

"February 18, 1790.- Of Alexander Lashley, for a horse which was taken into public service and lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indians, under Colonel Crawford, in the year 1782, valued at twelve pounds, and allowed.

"August 18, 1790.- Of Moses Cook, for a horse which was lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indians, in 1782, amounting to fifteen pounds.

"September 6, 1790 - Of the estate of James Guffee, for a horse which was lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indiana, in 1782, amounting o fourteen pounds."