On the first of April, 1790, Hay departed for Detroit, “much regretted by every one in the village”.[107] Less than seven months later Miamitown lay in ashes, ravaged by an American army which left 183 of its men dead in the vicinity. There is nothing in Hay’s journal to indicate that the French, English, or Indian occupants of the villages anticipated the blow which was to be dealt them by Harmar’s army, although they were fully aware of the movements which preceded the coming of Harmar. “John Thompson [a prisoner] ... informed me their was great talk of raising men to come against the Ind’s”, wrote Hay on March 24, 1790. “However”, he continued, “General St. Clair who is now at the Big Miami [Cincinnati] with two boat loads of goods, means to call the Indians together at a Council at Post Vincennes—But if the Indians do not come to a settlement with them, they mean to fight them.”[107] This and other councils were held. St. Clair, governor of the newly created Northwest Territory, following Washington’s instructions, offered peace to the Indians. Antoine Gamelin, a merchant from Vincennes favorably known by the Indians, was sent with the Governor’s overtures to the hostile Indians. The tribes along the Wabash would give Gamelin no answer until he conferred with those at Miamitown. Here, the Indians, as well as the traders, assembled to hear Gamelin’s speech. Their reply was evasive and unsatisfactory, while their true attitude was revealed by the burning of an American prisoner only three days after Gamelin’s departure.[108] War was now inevitable, and during the five years of bloody conflict that followed, Miamitown was the principal goal of the American forces. As early as 1784, Washington had confided in his future Secretary of War, Henry Knox, that the establishment of a strong post at Miamitown was desirable for the welfare of the new nation in the West.[109] The following year, Washington wrote to Richard Henry Lee for the benefit of the Continental Congress, advocating a strong western policy. In his letter Washington said: Would it not be worthy of the wisdom and the attention of congress to have the western waters well explored, the navigation of them fully ascertained, and accurately laid down, ... at least as far westerly as the Miamis running into the Ohio [the Great Miami] and Lake Erie [the Maumee] ... for I cannot forbear observing that the Miami village points to an important post for the Union.[110]