Life of Tecumseh, and of His Brother the Prophet - With a Historical Sketch of the Shawanoe Indians by Benjamin Drake
page 37 of 274 (13%)
page 37 of 274 (13%)
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skilful and brave. The victorious party, if either could be so called,
had as little to boast of as the vanquished. It was alike creditable to the Anglo-Saxon and the aboriginal arms. After the Indians had recrossed the Ohio, they marched to the valley of the Scioto, and encamped on the east side of that stream, about eight miles north of where Chillicothe now stands. Here a council was held to decide upon their future movements. Cornstalk, although true to the interests of the Shawanoes, was the friend of peace, and had been opposed to making the attack on the troops of general Lewis. Being overruled, he entered into the action determined to do his duty. He now rose in the council and demanded, "_What shall we do now? The Long Knives are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight them_?" No reply being made to his questions, he continued, "shall we kill all our women and children, and then fight until we are all killed ourselves?" The chiefs were still silent. Cornstalk turned round, and striking his tomahawk into the war-post standing in the midst of the council, said with his characteristic energy of manner, "_Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace_." In the meantime the earl of Dunmore, having procured boats at fort Pitt, descended the river to Wheeling, where the army halted for a few days, and then proceeded down the river in about one hundred canoes, a few keel boats and perogues, to the mouth of Hockhocking, and from thence over land, until the army had got within a few miles of the Shawanoe camp. Here the army halted, and made a breastwork of fallen trees, and entrenchments of such extent as to include about twelve acres of ground, with an enclosure in the centre containing about one acre. This was the citadel, which contained the markees of the earl and his superior officers.[A] Before the army of Dunmore had reached this |
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