The savage force, in this fatal engagement, was led by a Mississago
chief, who had been trained to war under the British, during the
revolution. So superior was his knowledge of tactics, that the Indian
chiefs, though extremely jealous of him, yielded the entire command to
him; and he arranged and fought the battle with great combination of
military skill. Their force amounted to four thousand; and they stated
the Americans killed, at six hundred and twenty, and their own at
sixty-five; but it was undoubtedly much greater. They took seven pieces
of cannon and two hundred oxen, and many horses. The chief, at the close
of the battle, bade the Indians forbear the pursuit of the Americans, as
he said they had killed enough.
General Scott, with one thousand mounted volunteers from Kentucky, soon
after marched against a party of the victors, at St. Clair's fatal
field. He found the Indians rioting in their plunder, riding the oxen in
the glee of triumph, and acting as if the whole body was intoxicated.
General Scott immediately attacked them. The contest was short but
decisive. The Indians had two hundred killed on the spot. The cannon and
military stores remaining, were retaken, and the savages completely
routed. The loss of the Kentuckians was inconsiderable.
The reputation of the government was now committed in the fortunes of
the war. Three additional regiments were directed to be raised. On the
motion in congress for raising these regiments, there was an animated,
and even a bitter debate.
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