KENTUCKY IN THE NATION'S HISTORY



that two companies of Canadian militia, and two hundred
Indians, were quartered at Frenchtown on the River Rai-
sin, only thirty-eight miles away, and that the inhabitants
had sent an appeal for help, fearing a massacre by the
savage allies of the British.1 The troops demanded per-
mission to advance, and General Winchester gave his con-
sent. Five hundred and fifty Kentucky volunteers under
Colonel Lewis 2 were detailed for the expedition, and, a few
hours later, Colonel John Allen followed, with one hundred
and ten more. The two detachments spent the night
of January 17 at Presque Isle, and, early next morning,
marched upon Frenchtown. A large body of Indians
soon disputed their advance, but were quickly routed.
Frenchtown was attacked and taken, the assailants gal-
lantly supporting "the double character of the American
and the Kentuckian," as the commanding general declared
in his report of the battle.'
  This success would have done much to hearten the
army, had Winchester possessed the wisdom to reap the
full benefit of the victory. With a strong British garrison
at Maiden,4 only eighteen miles distant, with a fast frozen
lake forming an easy highway for them, and with Gen-
eral Harrison, and his wing of the army, too far away to
serve as reinforcements, it was the height of folly to at-
tempt to hold Frenchtown. And yet Winchester, upon
receiving the report of its capture, took two hundred and
fifty regulars, under the command of Colonel Wells, and
hastened forward, leaving General Payne, with three
  I Bartlett's "History of the United States," III, p. 64.
  2 Young's "Battle of the Thames," p. 17.
  3 Ibid., p. I8.
  4 About 2,000 British and Indians under Colonel Proctor were in camp at
Maiden. Babcock, p. 98.



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