On the 8th of August, 1794, General Wayne reached the confluence of the Au Glaize and Miami of the Lakes, where were the principal Indian villages. Thirty miles from this place, the Indian force, amounting to nearly two thousand, was gathered close by the British fort. Notwithstanding Wayne’s precautions, the Indian leader was aware of his approach, and prepared for battle. An attempt at negotiation was once more made by the American officers, but it proved unsuccessful. The Indians were formed in three lines near the fort, within suitable distance of each other. The attack commenced, and they attempted to turn the left flank of the American army. Wayne’s disposition of his forces was happily so made as to counteract the plans of the enemy. The fight was severe, but the Indian forces were soon driven from their position, leaving to the Americans a complete victory. Seven nations are said to have been engaged in this action,--the Miamis, Wyandots, Potawatomies, Delawares, Shawanese, Chippewas, and Ottawas. Every Wyandot chief present was killed, and many others also fell. Little Turtle, it is said, was averse to fighting, believing that Wayne was a more vigilant officer than those with whom they had before contended. But Blue Jacket, a great warrior among the Shawanese, prevailed in the council, and the engagement we have described, with the consequent defeat, was the result. The whole Indian country, which was thickly peopled, was laid waste for twenty miles around. “The margins of the rivers,” says Wayne, in his despatches, “appeared like one continued village, and the fields of corn were immense.” Yet these were made a scene of desolation. The year after this, all hope of succour from the English being removed by Jay’s treaty, the Indians became desirous of peace, and terms were proposed and accepted on the 3d of August, 1795. [Illustration] FOOTNOTES: [12] For the particulars of Pontiac’s life, see “Lives of Famous American Indians.” [13] See “Lives of Famous American Indians.” WESTERN AND SOUTHERN INDIANS. The peace, noticed at the close of the last chapter, continued till near the opening of the last war with England. At that period, the famous Tecumseh entered upon his design of embodying the Western Indians in a grand effort to check the advance of the American settlements. A plan so extensive had never before been attempted by an Indian chief. His brother, the Prophet, in his sacred character, visited the distant tribes, even those beyond the Mississippi, and poured out his stirring eloquence upon the warriors as far as the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Had the confederacy been actually perfected, the history of events had been written in bloodier lines than those which portray the reality.