No sooner had the news of the disaster reached General Clark than he determined upon reprisals and immediately summoned Colonels Boone, Logan, and other officers, as well as Kenton and two or three more scouts, to a council at Fort Nelson. All agreed that a blow should be struck at the Indians before they could recover from the effects of the recent campaign. Their force, which had been drawn from several tribes, would be disbanded and scattered and, if surprised, their country would probably be found in a comparatively defenceless condition. The main object was to strike hard and quickly. General Clark issued an urgent call for volunteers and supplies and disseminated it throughout the country with all possible despatch. The response was instantaneous. One thousand mounted riflemen soon assembled at the two places of rendezvous, Bryan’s Station and the Falls of the Ohio. Those who could not come contributed generously to the equipment and supply of the expedition, which had an ample number of pack-horses, beeves, and spare mounts. The two divisions marched to the mouth of the Licking, where General Clark assumed the command. Desiring to move with all possible secrecy and speed, Clark declined to be burdened with the extensive supplies. He required each man to carry a liberal quantity of “jerk” and corn, and left the cattle and other material behind. Although game abounded at this time of the year, it was not deemed prudent to send out hunting parties, and the expedition felt the pinch of hunger before reaching Chillicothe, which was the first point of attack. Here they surprised the Indians so completely that when they entered the place, from which the inhabitants fled without offering resistance, the pots were upon the fires. The troops were very glad to fall to upon the meals that the squaws had been preparing for their men. Clark’s force spread desolation through the Indian country. Villages were razed to the ground and crops destroyed. Horses and cattle were driven off and the inhabitants dispersed in the forest. The blow paralyzed the redskins and made the greater impression as coming immediately after a decisive defeat of the whites. Nothing could have more effectually convinced them of the futility of waging war against the settlers. Their chiefs became disheartened and their confederacy was disbanded. At the same time, they lost the support of the British, which had constituted a very important element of their strength. Although small parties of Indians continued for years to attack families in exposed parts of the country, a formidable invasion of Kentucky was never attempted after the year 1783.