Clair's defeat is
one of the gloomiest in the history of the West. Harmar's
disaster was dwarfed; not since Braddock and his regulars were
cut to pieces by an unseen foe on the road to Fort Duquesne had
the redskins inflicted upon their hereditary enemy a blow of such
proportions. It was with a heavy heart that the Governor
dispatched a messenger to Philadelphia with the news. Congress
ordered an investigation; and in view of the unhappy general's
high character and his courageous, though blundering, conduct
during the late campaign, he was exonerated. He retained the
governorship, but prudently resigned his military command.
The situation was now desperate. Everywhere the forests resounded
with the exultant cries of the victors, while the British from
Detroit and other posts actively encouraged the belief not only
that they would furnish all necessary aid but that England
herself was about to declare war on the United States. Eventually
a British force from Detroit actually invaded the disputed
country and built a stockade (Fort Miami) near the site of the
present city of Toledo, with a view to giving the redskins
convincing evidence of the seriousness of the Great White
Father's intentions.
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