The army trudged slowly through the deep woods and across the wet prairies, cutting out its own road, and making but five or six miles a day.  It was in a wilderness which abounded with game; both deer and bear frequently ran into the very camps; and venison was a common food. [Footnote:  Bradley MSS.  The journal and letters of Captain Daniel Bradley; shown me by the courtesy of his descendants, Mr. Daniel B. Bradley of Southport, Conn., and Mr. Arthur W. Bradley of Cincinnati, Ohio.] On October 13th a halt was made to build another little fort, christened in honor of Jefferson.  There were further delays, caused by the wretched management of the commissariat department, and the march was not resumed until the 24th, the numerous sick being left in Fort Jefferson.  Then the army once more stumbled northward through the wilderness.  The regulars, though mostly raw recruits, had been reduced to some kind of discipline; but the six months’ levies were almost worse than the militia. [Footnote:  Denny, October 29, 1791, etc.] Owing to the long delays, and to the fact that they had been enlisted at various times, their terms of service were expiring day by day; and they wished to go home, and tried to, while the militia deserted in squads and bands.  Those that remained were very disorderly.  Two who attempted to desert were hung; and another, who shot a comrade, was hung also; but even this severity in punishment failed to stop the demoralization.

    St. Clair a Broken-down Man and His Subordinates

With such soldiers there would have been grave risk of disaster under any commander; but St. Clair’s leadership made the risk a certainty.  There was Indian sign, old and new, all through woods; and the scouts and stragglers occasionally interchanged shots with small parties of braves, and now and then lost a man, killed or captured.  It was, therefore, certain that the savages knew every movement of the army, which, as it slowly neared the Miami towns, was putting itself within easy striking range of the most formidable Indian confederacy in the Northwest.  The density of the forest was such that only the utmost watchfulness could prevent the foe from approaching within arm’s length unperceived.  It behooved St. Clair to be on his guard, and he had been warned by Washington, who had never forgotten the scenes of Braddock’s defeat, of the danger of a surprise.  But St. Clair was broken down by the worry and by continued sickness; time and again it was doubtful whether he could so much as stay with the army.  The second in command, Major-General Richard Butler, was also sick most of the time; and, like St. Clair, he possessed none of the qualities of leadership save courage.  The whole burden fell on the Adjutant-General, Colonel Winthrop Sargent, an old Revolutionary officer; without him the expedition would probably have failed in ignominy even before the Indians were reached, and he showed not only cool courage but ability of a good order; yet in the actual arrangements for battle he was, of course, unable to remedy the blunders of his superiors.