Acting under instructions, St. Clair proceeded to organize his army. At the close of April, 1791, he was at Pittsburgh where troops and munitions of war were being collected. On the fifteenth of May he reached Fort Washington. The expedition was expected to start before the first of August, but mismanagement in the quartermaster’s department and other hindrances prevented the departure for many weeks. From Fort Washington the troops advanced only six miles to Ludlow’s Station. The army of 2,300, exclusive of the militia, remained there until September 17, when it moved forward and built Fort Hamilton on the Great Miami River. From there the army marched forty-four miles farther and built Fort Jefferson. On the twenty-fourth of October the toilsome march through the wilderness began. We copy below from the NOTES ON THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTH-WESTERN TERRITORY by Judge Jacob Burnet. “During this time 300 militiamen deserted and returned to their homes. The supplies for the army were still in the rear, and General St. Clair was afraid that the deserters might seize them for their own use. He decided very reluctantly to send the first regiment back for the dual purpose of bringing up the provisions and, if possible, of overtaking and arresting some of the deserters. “After that arrangement had been made, the army resumed its march; and on the third of November, it arrived at a creek flowing toward the southwest. This stream was thought to be the St. Mary’s River, one of the principal branches of the Maumee River; but it was afterward ascertained to be a branch of the Wabash River. Since it was late in the afternoon and the men were fatigued by the laborious march, they encamped on a commanding piece of ground by the creek. “General St. Clair intended to occupy that position until the first regiment arrived with the provisions. According to a plan he had made with Major Ferguson, he intended to begin work on a fort the next day; but he was not permitted to do so. Half an hour before sunrise on the fourth of November, just after the men had been dismissed from parade, the Indians attacked the militiamen posted at the front. By rushing back into camp with the Indians close upon their heels, they threw the army into disorder from which it could not recover. In a short time the Indians were checked by the fire of the first line, but they immediately concentrated a very heavy fire on that line; and in a few minutes they extended their fire to the second line.