“For some time after the disaster, St. Clair was universally censured. After a thorough investigation, a committee of Congress, with Mr. Giles of Virginia as chairman, found that the campaign had been conducted with skill and personal bravery. The committee concluded that the defeat was caused chiefly by the lack of discipline in the militia and by the negligence of those whose duty it was to procure and forward the provisions and military stores necessary for the expedition. “Secretary of War Henry Knox addressed a letter to Congress complaining that an injustice had been done him by the committee. The report was then reconsidered by the same committee. After hearing the statements and explanations of the Secretary and after reconsidering the whole matter, they reaffirmed their first report.” From one part of the country to the other, this defeat caused one loud and merciless outcry of abuse and detestation of St. Clair. Many a general with far less bravery and military skill has, when successful, been applauded by the unthinking multitude with vehement acclamations. The following excerpt from the narrative of St. Clair’s campaign shows that he deserved a better fate. “During the engagement, Generals St. Clair and Butler were continually going up and down the lines; as one general went up one side, the other one went down the opposite side. St. Clair was so severely afflicted with the gout that he was unable to mount or dismount a horse without assistance. His own four horses had been turned out to feed overnight, but they had been brought in before the battle. St. Clair first attempted to ride a young horse, but the animal was so frightened by the firing that it could not be mounted. He had just moved the horse to where he could have some advantage from the slope of the ground when the horse was shot through the head. The boy holding it was wounded in the arm. A second horse was brought and harnessed; but as St. Clair was about to mount, the animal and the servant who held it were killed. The General then ordered the third horse to be prepared and brought to him at the left of the front line, which was then warmly engaged. The man and horse were never heard of afterward, and it is supposed that they were killed. General St. Clair’s fourth horse was killed under the Count de Malartie, one of his aides, whose horse had died on the march. [Illustration: _the horse was shot through the head_]