s, while so sparse was the population near the
mouth of the Ohio that the communication between northern and southern
Indians was unchecked. Carlyle was regarded as the extreme eastern
boundary of settlements to the westward; a fort on Muddy River, near where
the old Fort Massac trace crossed the stream, was considered as one of the
most exposed situations; and Fort La Motte, on a creek of the same name
above Vincennes, was a far northern point. The exposed outside was some
hundreds of miles long, and the interior and north were occupied by ten
times as many hostile savages as there were whites in the country, the
savages being given counsel and ammunition by the British garrisons on the
north.(255) Under conditions then existing, aid from the United States
could be expected only in the event of dire necessity. Stout frontiersmen
were almost ready to seek refuge in flight, but no general exodus took
place, although in February, 1812, Governor Edwards wrote to the Secretary
of War: "The alarms and apprehensions of the people are becoming so
universal, that really I should not be surprised if we should, in three
months, lose more than one-half of our present population. In places, in
my opinion, entirely out of danger, many are removing. In other parts,
large settlements are about to be totally deserted. Even in my own
neighborhood, several families have removed, and others are preparing to
do so in a week or two. A few days past, a gentleman of respectability
arrived here from Kentucky, and he informed me that he saw on the road, in
one day, upwards of twenty wagons conveying families out of this
Territory. Every effort to check the prevalence of such terror seems to be
ineffectual, and although much of it is unreasonably indulged, yet it is
very certain the Territory will very shortly be in considerable danger.
Its physical force is very inconsiderable, and is growing weaker, while it
presents numerous points of attack."(256)

To the first feeling of fear succeeded a determination to hold the ground.
Before the middle of 1812, Governor Edwards had established Fort Russell,
a few miles northwest of the present Edwardsville, bringing to this place,
which was to be his headquarters, the cannon which Louis XIV. had had
placed in Fort Chartres;(257) and two volunteer companies had been raised,
and had "ranged to a great distance--principally between the Illinois and
the Kaskaskia rivers, and sometimes between the Kaskaskia and