the fight twenty-two white men were killed and thirty
wounded. The Indians had suffered much greater loss. The
warriors rallied, however, and kept up an incessant fire
against the fort until a heavy fog fell and night closed
in. Then with flaring torches they sought their dead.
This made them an easy mark for the soldiers, who fired
on them from the fort. When daylight appeared eight or
ten more bodies were found lying near the walls.

In July the American army was reinforced by two thousand
Kentucky volunteers under Major-General Scott, and Wayne
was now ready to strike. He manoeuvred as though he
intended to attack the Miami villages to the south, but,
suddenly changing his course, he marched his troops
northward, straight into the Indian settlements on the
Au Glaize. At the mouth of this river, where it enters
the Maumee, he built Fort Defiance.

The Indians had followed Wayne's march down the Au Glaize,
hovering on the flanks of his army, and they were now
mustered some two thousand strong on the Maumee river.
From Fort Defiance Wayne sent them a final offer of peace; but,
without waiting for an answer, he marched his forces down
the Maumee and encamped at the foot of the rapids, about
fifteen miles from the site of the present city of Toledo.

The war chiefs of the Miami, Potawatomi, Delaware, Shawnee,
Chippewa, Ottawa, and Seneca tribes held a great council
to consider the proposal of peace sent them by the general
of the Long Knives. Little Turtle of the Miamis advised
peace. 'We have beaten the enemy twice,' said he. 'We
cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us.
The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps.
The day and night are alike to him, and he has been ever
marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness
of our young men. We have never been able to surprise him.
Think well of it,' he cautioned; 'there is something that
whispers to me it were well to listen to his offers of peace.'

Profound silence followed this speech. Then rose Blue
Jacket, the Shawnee, who commanded the entire Indian
forces. Blue Jacket strongly favoured battle; and his
counsel prevailed. The chiefs decided on war. A plan of
action was quickly formed. The Indian forces were to be
drawn up in three detachments within supporting distance
of each other behind the Fallen Timbers. This was a place
some distance up the river from Wayne's encampment, where
the forest had been levelled by a hurrica