Major General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the territory north-west of the Ohio, was appointed Commander-in-chief of the forces to be employed in the meditated expedition. This gentleman had served through the war of the revolution with reputation, though it had never been his fortune to distinguish himself. The evacuation of Ticonderoga had indeed, at one time, subjected him to much public censure; but it was found, upon inquiry, to be unmerited. Other motives, in addition to the persuasion of his fitness for the service, conduced to his appointment. With the sword, the olive branch was still to be tendered; and it was thought adviseable to place them in the same hands. The governor, having been made officially the negotiator with the tribes inhabiting the territories over which he presided, being a military man, acquainted with the country into which the war was to be carried, possessing considerable influence with the inhabitants of the frontiers, and being so placed as to superintend the preparations for the expedition advantageously, seemed to have claims to the station which were not to be overlooked. It was also a consideration of some importance, that the high rank he had held in the American army, would obviate those difficulties in filling the inferior grades with men of experience, which might certainly be expected, should a person who had acted in a less elevated station, be selected for the chief command. [Illustration: Tomb of Mary, Mother of Washington _This is the original monument as it appeared before the present granite obelisk was erected over the grave of George Washington's mother in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was in Fredericksburg that she made her home during her declining years, and it was on the Kenmore estate of her daughter, Elizabeth, and son-in-law, Fielding Lewis, that she was buried, September, 1789, having survived her husband, Augustine Washington, forty-six years._] [Sidenote: The president makes a tour through the southern states.]