CONGRESS. V H 1 LA i)|L P H I A The Rtpartmti* read in the Hon ft of R.4~ prefintat'wte on ¥tttjilfty laj\. r (.omrniiuc u» enquire into the cauiVf of the .. Jl. Utiuic of iDc Uie**p«<iin©» under Major-General St. Clair, have piuLCtdt d lo c xamine all rtiic papers lot uiiked by ihr execu i.vc department iclaiivrly thereto, (uniliy papers and accounts turndhed byltic Tj Ccifu'"y"and War department*, with explana- Mi iib of the fame by the heads ps thole departments in perl'on, to he.ir the it (timwiy of witiltUVs upoil oarl., and written rcrna.-ks by Gcncial St. Clair, upon tlic t'afts cllablillied by the whole evi tlencr, nnd as the rcfult of their inquiries, make the following BM'ORT : Ttu-contiaft for the supplies of the army on the rout from fort Put, was made by Theodofiin Fowler, with the .Secretary of the Treafui y, and bears date the twenty-eighth day of Ottober, one thousand seven hundred and ninety, that at the fame time a bond in the penalty of one hundred tnoufjnd dollars, with Walter Livirigllon and John Cochran, lecuritits thereto, was entered into ior the due execution of the contrail. That oil the third day of January, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one, the conuaft was wholly transferred from the said Fowler to Wiiliam Duer, a copy of which transler was lodged in the office of the Secretaiy of the Treasury; that by letter from the Secietary ar War, beaiing date the twenty-fifth of February, one thousand seven bundled jiid ninety-one, addretled to William Duel, it appears that he was conlidered as the contra∨ that no corieipondcnce appeals to have taken place fubfcquently to that tn-.e between Theodoiius Fowler and either the treasury or wai depaitmcnts —that 011 the sixth day of March, one thouland seven hundred and ninety-one, a contrail was entered into by William Duer with the Secretary at War, tor supplying the troops with provisions until their airtval at Fort Pitt, and at Fort Pitt, a bond was at the fame time entered into by the said William Duer for the due execution of the said conuaft in the penalty of four thou sand dolltrs, without any fecuiity whatloever. That the ast making provision for the defence of the frontiers, received the signature of the Prefideiu of the Un ted Slates the t'niid of Maich, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-one— That General St. Clair was appointed commander in chief of ihe army deflincd for the expedition on the tourih day ot the fame month, and on the twenty-eighth left Philadelphia for Foit Pitt, at which place he arrived the fixtecr.th day of April, and from thence proceeded to Lexington, and from thence to Fort Wafli -.ngton, w here he ariived on the fifteenth day of May-Atthe time of the airival of the General at Fort Washington, the garrison there confided of levcnty-five non-commissioned officers and pri vates fit for duty—the garrison at Fort Harmar of forty-five—at Fort Steuben of sixty-one—at Fort Knox of eighty-three—and on the fifteenth day ot July, the whole of the firll United States regi ment, amounting to two hundred and ninety-nine non-commis sioned olßceis and privates, arrived at Fort Washington under or ders from the commander in chief. Gensral Butler was appoint ed the fccond in command in the month ot March, and immedi ately proceeded to make the uecelTary arrangements for the re eruitiii" service ; that he arrived in Baltimore in the slate of Ma iyland°the twentieth of April, and continued there till the thir tieth of the fame month ; that he ariived at Carlifli in the slate of Pennsylvania 011 the ninih of May, and at Fort Put on the twenty second of the month. It appears that 110 monies tor purchaling fupphes were furnlfhed at Carlisle, which was the place of ren dezvous, for the entitled foldierv, on the ninth of May ; and that Mr. Smith, agent for the contiaaor, was aduely engaged 111 fur mfhing fuppiies for the troops on credit. It appeais by letters from John Kean, another of the contrac tor's agents, that no monies had been received by him on the eighth of May ; and it appears that on the twenty-third of March, there was advanced to William Duer, upon the last mentioned contrail, fiotn the treasury, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars; that there was advanced upon the firft mentioned contrail, the sum of seventy thousand dollais, id the following to wit : March *2d 10,000 Dollars. April 7th April 25th >5.000 May 7th July 20th It appears (rom the correspondence of Geneial Butler to the Secretary at War, from the ninth ot May to the ninth of June, re peated complaints were made of fatal mismanagements and neg k£ts, in the quarter matter's and military stores department, par ticularly as to tents, knap-sacks, camp kettles, cartridge boxes, pack laddies, See. all of which articles were deficient in quantity, and bad in quality. The pack fadcles in particular were made in Philadelphia, which with the transportation, amounted to more than double the price at which they might have been procured at Fort Pitt, and were found upcu examination to be unfit for use ; —tne arms sent forward aDpear not to have been duly examined, and arrived at Fort Pitt extremely out of order, and many totally unfit lor use, which circumstance rendered repairs absolutely necelTary, and added to the delay of the troops at Fort Put. It appears that a great proportion of the powder supplied for the use of the army, was not of good quality, though an experi ment was made by Major Fcrgufon at Fort Put with a howitz, who reported in favor of the quality of the powder. On the ninth of June General Neville,another of the contra&or's agents, informed General Butler, that he had not at that time received iuy monies from the contractors, for the puTchafe of provtfions, &c. for the troops, and was obliged to supply them oa credit; that the country furnilhed provisions in abundance at a cheap rate, when money was had for the purchase. That (hortly alter this information was communicated to General Butler, at his requctt four hirndrcd dollars were advanced to General Neville by the quarter matter, for the purchase of provisions for the troops. The troops arrived at Fort Pitt in the following order, to wit: May 16th, Captain Slough, sixty-nine men. May iß:h, Captain Powers, seventy-eight men. May 19th, Captain Ciibbs, forty men : fame day, Captain Guthrie, twenty-three. May 25th, Captain Armstrong, seventy-six : fame day, Captain Kirkwood, sixty-seven. May 13th, Captain Snowden, one hundred and one. June 2d, Captain Sparks, eighty-three. June 3d, Captain Butler, fixtv-one : fame day, Captain Brook, eighty-two, : fame day, Captain Vanfwearingen, eighty-eight. June sth, Captain Pike, feventy-three;—Total, including offi cers and privates,eight hundred and forty-two; and left that plaee in the following order—Major Fergufon with Capi. Armstrong's company, about the firft of June. Captain Snowden, with the troops under his command, on the day of Major Gaither, •with about {?ve hundred men, 12th day of Jnly ; and on the 22d August the last of the troopsunder the command of Capt. Phelon, and General Builer with the Quartermaster-General, ou the 26th August. It appears that General Butler had orders from the department at war to protest the frontiers with the troops under his com mand, and that the delays in fending forward the troops from Fort Pitt arose partly from that circumOance, and partly from the temporary want of supplies of provilions and other neceflarits, and from the want of the necefTary boats for their tranfportaiion, which were not in readiness as soon as the troops were. It ap pears that General Butler adlcd with ability, aftivuv and zeal in bis command at Fort Pitt, and thai the delays of the troops cannot be imp" l "* to his want of judgement,- or l\»s i*ant "t exertion. The troops met with confiderablc difficulties and delays in go ingdpwM the river, from the low state of the water,-and arrived at Fort Washington in the following order— Capt. Muir.lorc; from North-Carolina, with about fifty men, on the d3y of Ma;.r Fcrgufon with Capj. Armstrong's company, on the day of Major Gaither, with the iroops under his command, on the day of Col. Datke, with the troops under hi com mand, on the day of and the Kentucky inilitia on the day'of The army confiding of about two thousand non-commiM ruled officers and privates, moved from Fort Washington l«y orders from the commander in chief to a place about five or lix miles from thence, called Ludlow's ft nion, where they continued till the seventeenth day of September, at which time the whole army amounted to about two thousand three hundred non-comrnifiion ed officers and privates fit for dutv—l hat the price of iation< at Fort Washington agreeably to contrail was 6 3-4 9 0l hs of a dol lar per ration, the price of rations at Ludlow'* station was 15 1-4 901 hs of a dollar per ration. That tbe inducement? of„the commander in chief to th-.s move ment, appear to have been to furnifh green forage for the horses and beef cattle of the ai my, to inftruft the soldiery infield cxer cife ami other neceflary difcipltne, -and to .deprive them of the mean* of intoxication which were very plentifully supplied at Fort Washington, and used to an cxccfiive debtee by the soldiery, to correct the eXceflive use of which the nioft rigid attention to discipline was found incompetent. Mr. Hodgdon was appointed quarter mafler general in the month of March, and continued at Philadelphia, until the 4th of June, he then proceeded to Fort Pitt, where he arrived the r .enth of the fame month—no fufficient causes have appeared to the committee to juftify this delay, and h'S presence with the army appears to have been efientialiy necellary previously to that time, the duties of the commander in chief were much increased in confequcrjce of the absence of the quarter mafler general and after a continued expettationof his arrival at Fort Washington, for more than fix weeks, the commander in chief gave him express orders by letter to repair to camp without delay. The receipt of the letter is acknowledged, but the orders con tained therein were neither answered nor obeyed, and his arrival at camp was not until the tenth of September. The commander in chief until that time in addition to the duties of his office, dif charaed those of the quarter master general, and the military stores furnifhed bv that department were so deficient from misman agement and ncgleti, that many things essential to the movements of the army were either wholly made or repaired at Fort Walh ington, and even the tools for the artificers to work with; the quarter-maftcr particularly informed the commander in chief that two complete travelling forges were sent forward, and upon ex amination both of them were found to be without anvils, many other things equally necefTary were either wholly omitted, or un fit for their intended use. There were fix hundred and feventy five ftatid of arms at Fort Washington the firftof June, and most of them totally out of repair. The commander in chief appears to have been correct and attentive in all his communications with the Secretary at war, and to have discharged the various duties which devolved upon him with ability, a&ivity and zeal. The army moved from Ludlow's Nation on the seventeenth day of September, and arrived at the place where Fort Hamilton is now ere&ed, on the day of they employed a bout fifteen daysbuiMing'that fort, and then proceeded in their march to the place where Fort Jefferfonis now erected, forty-four miles distant from Fort Hamilton, where they arrived on the day of O&ober, and commenced their inarch from ihat place on the 24th of the fame mon h—that the army at this time confided of about non-commissioned officers and privates sic tor du ty ; at this time the army had not more than three days supply of flour, and were sometimes at one fourth, and fomctimes at one hall allowance of that article, the deficiences of which allowance were made up by in crrafingthe quantity ot beef with which they were plentifully supplied. The army was delayed five or fix days on the march from Fort JcfFerfon,for the want of provisions, and the season was so far advanced that fufficient green forage for the horses could not be procured, from which circumstances ma ny of the horses were totally loft, and others rendered uofu for service.— The orders to the commander in chief to proceed with the ex pedition, wereexprels and unequivocal, so much so, as in the opinion of the commiitee to preclude the commander in chief from cxercifing any discretion relatively to that object. On the 31ft of O&ober about sixty of the Kentucky militia deserted in a body, and the firft regiment consisting of about three hundred effettive men was detached with a view to cover a con voy of provisions which was expe&ed and which it was supposed was in danger from the deserted militia, and to prevent further desertion—On the 3d of November—after detaching the firft re giment the army consisted of about fourteen hundred effeflive men, and on the morning of the 4th about a half an hour after sunrise, a general attack was commenced, and in a few minutes thereafter, neai ly the whole army was surrounded by the enemy, the aflion continued about four hours during which several char ges were made by part of the army, which caused the enemy to give way but produced no good effect. the attack was unexpected, the troops having been just difmilTcd from the morning parade, it commenced uoon the militia who were in advance of the main army, and who fled through the main army, without firing a gun, this circumstance threw the troops into some disorder which it appears they never completely recovered during the action, the fire of the army wasconftant but not well diretted,and it appears that a part ofthe troops behaved as well as could be expeftcd from their state of discipline, and the manner and suddenness of the at tack ; the commander in chief appears to have been cool and de liberate in the whole of the action, and the officers in general ac tive and intrepid—the whole order of march as far as the com mute are capable of expi effing an opinion, appears to have been judicious, and the ground for action well chosen ; the retreat was disorderly in the extreme, after it commenced no orders were obeyed if any were given, the men having loft all regard of dis cipline or controul; all the precautions appear to have been taken for the fafety and comfort of the wounded which the circumstan ces of the cafe would admit of. 20,000 10,000 The committee have had no competent evidence before them to ascertain the number of the enemy in action—there were various conjefhires as to the number, from different persons from five hundred the lowest, to one thonfand or twelve hundred the highest. Mr. Barton a witness examined by the committee con versed with a chief at Niagara who was in the ast ion, and was by him informed that the number of the enemy in action was one thousand and forty and that fix hundred more had convened, but were engaged in hunting, at the time of the action. He was also informed that the enemy had not collected in any considerable numbers'until a few days b.efore the action, this information appears to be corroborated bv some other circum stances fufficient to induce a belief of the fact in the com- mittee. The Contractors for supplies agreeably to the terms ofcon traft were to furnifli horses, &c. for the transportation of the supplies, in this condition of the contrast, there was a total failure, which compelled the commander in chief to direst be tween fix and seven hundred horses to be purchased by Israel Ludlow, one of the contractor's agents, to draw bills on Mr. Duer, the acting contractor for payment, which bills were 434 eudorfcd by the commander in chief, to the amount Gf about fevsntcen thotfand dollars, were protested by t!ie contractor, u id paid at the treasury ; the persons employed by the agent of the contractors to drive the borfes, appear toiiave been to tally unacquainted with that bufmefs, and from the want of bells, hopple-, and other nece(Taries of that kind, as well at froii other gross mismanagement, many of the horses were loft, and others rendered unfit for service ; —from which cau - e> there were no 4 : pack horses fuificient to transport thenecei fary quantity of flour from Fort-Washington for the use "of the army 011 their march, this circuinftauce retarded the exe cution of the expedition. The officers agreeaK'v to t'le term? of contract had an elec tion, of drawing the whole of the rations, to which their rank cntit'ed them, or of receiving the contract price of them i« cafli, the contractor's agents not being furnifhed with money for this purpose, gave rife to a general order, by which the of ficer was directed to receive a certificate flora the contrac tor's agent called a due bill, of one of which bill? the following is a copy " Dae Major H. Gaither one hundred and feveu t/-three complete rations on the route to Miami village as ap pears by Wilson's certificate." MATT. EARNEST, for V.M. D'JER. Fort-Walhington, Nov. 27th, 1790. This due bill ituied upon the officer's signing some acknow ledgement of fatisfaftion for his whole retained rations,which acknowledgment of fatisfaftion forms a voucher for fettle men tto the contractor, with the treasury department; and the officer is refufed payment for these due bills at the pay of fice. All casualties by which these evidences of debt become loft or destroyed, are the gain of the contractor and the loss oi* the officer. It is suggested by the Secretary of the Treasury, though not with positive certainty, that a fufficient sum will be found dne from the treasury to the contractors upon a final fettlemc-nt, to cover all these debts to the officers; the general order which had the operation before stated, continued in force a bout five or fix \veeks, and was abolished about the 19th of O&ober. The privates of the levies received but three dol lars pay each, from the time of their refpe&ive inlifhnents to the time of their refpe&ive discharges, and were a&ually dis charged without further pay or settlement; notes of were given them, fpecifying the time of their service, and bearing indorsations, that some advancements had been made to them in account, without stating the amount, the object of which is suggested to have been to prevent transfers, the in tended e*fe<st was not produced by the rneafure; the notes were fold for trifling confide rations, the real sums due on the notes were various, from ten to twenty-five dollars, and they were frequently fold for one dollar, or one gallon of whiskey; the monies for the pay of the levies did not leave Philadelphia till the 4th ofD?cember, nor arrive at Fort-Washington till the 3d of January, 1792, some time after the last inlifted le vies were known to be entitled to their discharges •* two rea sons have been afligned by the Secretary at War for this de lay of payment, the one, because there was no regular Pay master to the army, and the difficulties of transmitting mo nies at so great a distance to the army, in consequence of the want of such an officer ; the other, because it was supposed the army would be at that time at the Miami village, so far ad vanced in the wilderness, as not to admit of the practicability of discharging the levies, the total defeat of the not hav ing been previously counted upon. The cloathing for the levies appears to have been of a very inferior quality, particularly coats, hats, and lhoes, the last of which in many cases lasted not more than four days, and better cloathing was furniflied them upon their inliftments in to the regular service, which was for a tune countenanced by the commander in chief. Various modes appear to have been pursued by the officer: in inlifting the levies, which occasioned great uneasiness and some confuHon ; a considerable part of the Virginia battalion was so inlifted, that the terms of their inliftments appear to have expired the ift of November : the orders to the recruit ing ferjeants appear not to have been fufficiently explicit up on this point— vhether the terms of inliftment were to com mence at the time of inliftment, or at th£ arrival at a place of rendezvous. The militia appear to have been composed prir.- ciDally offubftitutes, and totally ungovernable, and regardless of military duty or subordination. It appears that the com mander in chief had it in contemplation to commence the ex pedition at least one month earlier than it was commenced, with the force he then had, which was not very different from the real force in a^ion; but was prevented for the want of the quarter-matter and contractor, and in consequence of the extreme deficiencies and derangements of the buiinefs ot tho-e departments, the person sent forward by the quarter-matter being totally incompetent for the business, and the contrac tor's agents not being fufficiently supplied with money to en able them to execute their duties. It appears to the committee, that in the wilderness "where vegetables are not to be had, and the duties ofthe soldier un commonly hard, the rations allowed by law, if completely sup plied, are infufficient. This circumstance, with others, pro duced discontent and desertion among the soldiers. It appears to the committee that there were appropriate for the use of the war department, for the year one seven hundred and ninety-one, the sum of fix hundred an ty-two thousand seven hundred and sixty-one dollars, and ix ty-one cents, and that there have been advanced b> t.ie tre fury to the war department, upon that appropriation, hundred and feventy-five thousand, nine hundred and lix 0 lars, and fifty-feven cents, to wit ; dollars cen s 1791 February advanced 15,000 March ' do. 46,002 20 April do. 100,106 May do. 8c,1 « 9 Jnne do. 55>3?7 44 July do. 39 August do. ! 4>554 59 September do. Ortober do. 8 ' November do. lo^ 1792 January do. 33*753 February do. 43>5 2 March do. '.741 ><> Amounting to To which add monies borrowed from the bank of North Ame rica on loan without interclt, 575,906 57 And that the treasury has always been in r " d,^ p t " at the requisite advances upon the request of the -.-ier, War. It does not appear to the committee in w j;/x, ur fed, and to what amount tbe'e advancements Jiave ® nor the accounts not having been yet fettled at t e .. at was it possible, from the nature of the cafe, t a ? infor this time, have received any conclude or fetisfaftory at. mation on that point. 419,3" 1 156,595 s<>
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