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JOHNSON'S REPORT.

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obtaining their living by it, and if their profits from this source failed, no remittances could be made to Europe.

There was but one mode of acting, Johnson pointed out: to conquer Indian prejudices by generous treatment. It was the only plan to assure quiet, and the posts, convoys, traders and frontier settlers were at all times in their power. In each case they would be surprised and killed, before help could be brought. The last campaign had taught the Indians their power. "They saw themselves able to effect what was looked by many of our prejudiced Politicians here as utterly impossible, notwithstanding all my remonstrances founded on many years' experience," were Johnson's emphatic words.

He dwelt on the necessity of cultivating the favour of the Indians, and he considered that the outposts should be limited, and only those of the first rank retained. He pithily added that retaining "posts two or three hundred miles distant did not make us masters of a foot of ground between them; instead of awing the Indians they were awed by them.” The proceedings of the Indian congress were brought to a close; but it was considered advisable for Bradstreet's force to remain, until the majority of those who had taken part in it had separated. It was only on the 6th of August that Bradstreet marched away with his force. Before his departure he heard from Gladwin that the Hurons of Sandusky and Pontiac's tribe of Miamis had sent in prisoners and had asked for peace. The Pottawatamies had followed their example. Gladwin however looked upon the proceeding with suspicion, as only a repetition of what had previously taken place.

Bradstreet having erected a fort at the entrance of lake Erie for the security of vessels navigating it, embarked on the 8th of August. He was here joined by 250 friendly Indians, 100 of them arriving from Canada.

On the 12th of August he arrived at Presqu'île, and here commenced the series of unfortunate mistakes committed by him in the campaign. He was waited upon by ten Indians, who represented themselves as having been sent as deputies

G

by the Shawanees and Delawares of the plains of the Sioto to sue for peace. They assured Bradstreet that all their parties who had acted with hostility on the Pennsylvanian frontier had been withdrawn, and that a treaty of peace could be made. It was not in Bradstreet's power to conclude any treaty; his duty was to act similarly as Gladwin had done, to grant a truce; to engage to cease from hostility; and to refer the matter to the commander of the forces. Bradstreet was too far removed from the scene of operations to form an opinion of the truth or falsehood of the representations made to him, and every consideration suggested his communicating with Bouquet before taking any steps towards so important an arrangement.

Instead of this course, which good sense and ordinary prudence should under any circumstances have exacted, he entered into a preliminary treaty with these men, recognizing them as deputies of the Delawares and Shawanees, by which he undertook in no way to attack the tribes within twenty-five days, and he further engaged to meet them at Sandusky to conclude the treaty, at which time they should deliver up the prisoners they possessed.

Bradstreet had himself selected three hundred Indians to accompany him; they included one hundred Caughnawagas and other Canadian tribes. On the appearance of the so-called Shawanee deputies, they were opposed to the latter being received, being satisfied that they were not what they represented themselves to be; but Bradstreet would not listen to them. The officers were equally against the negotiation. We have Johnson's authority for the statement, that those impostors, as he terms them, desired to know "if he was coming upon peace or war, for the latter was as agreeable to them as the former."* Bradstreet replied that he was glad that they were peacefully disposed, for such was his own feeling, and he proceeded to make the unwarrantable concessions which affected disadvantageously, not only the spirit of the Indians, but the men of his detachment. An exercise of * N.Y. Doc., VII., p. 687.

1764]

BRADSTREET'S WANT OF JUDGMENT.

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authority of this character was in opposition to the instructions given to Bradstreet, and was at variance with the plan of the campaign. The latitude allowed him did not justify him in departing from the general tenor of his orders; and to whatever extent this latitude might be construed, the power of making peace, even under circumstances justifying the proceeding, had not been included. The limit of modification to the plan of campaign was, at the most, to grant a truce, subject to the approval of the commander-inchief, leaving to the latter the responsibility of laying down the conditions on which peace would be accepted. What made Bradstreet's conduct the more reprehensible was that he was junior to Bouquet, who had been long engaged on the frontier, and only the previous year had won the brilliant victory of Edge hill. Bradstreet himself was inexperienced in this western warfare. Bouquet, on the other hand, had been actively engaged in such duties from the time of Forbes' advance upon Pittsburg. Bradstreet knew little of Indian life around the lakes, and this ignorance was partially the cause of his blundering misconduct. The Shawanee chiefs who waited upon him were without credentials, and were unsupplied with the wampum belts indispensable in every negotiation, having only one small belt of no significance. In all accounts of the Indian treaties, without exception, after every accepted condition, the significant words "a belt" appear. Bradstreet could not but have known the ruthless hostility of the Shawanees and Delawares, in murdering settlers and committing depredations. They were the cause of his presence on lake Erie with the troops he was commanding. The most careful consideration should have been given to any deputation, professing to represent the tribes which had failed to appear at Niagara at the general conference. Moreover, in this case their true character was undefined; they might have been a band of wandering Indians on an expedition to murder and rob, as for any other purpose.

Bradstreet fell into the trap; he not only accepted the negotiation as genuine, but he engaged to grant peace on the

conditions submitted. Having himself disobeyed his orders, Bradstreet adopted the extraordinary course of writing to Bouquet that it was unnecessary for him to proceed in his expedition, submission having been made by the tribes that Bouquet was preparing to attack. What made this act of folly the more striking was that Bradstreet, being junior to Bouquet, had to receive orders from his senior officer, not to give them. Bradstreet also wrote to Gage, informing him of the step he had taken, claiming credit for his diplomacy.

His conduct caused the greater displeasure, as there was little difficulty in estimating the true character of the concessions he had granted. The design, Gage wrote to Halifax, was to ward off the blow threatened by the approach of the troops, and, while amusing Bradstreet with offers of peace on lake Erie, the tribes with which Bradstreet was negotiating were committing murders on the borders of Pennsylvania, in one case murdering several children, inmates of a schoolhouse, with their teacher. Gage resolved that the troops should steadily pursue their first policy, and wrote sternly to Bradstreet, annulling and disavowing the peace he had made.

Bouquet received at fort Loudoun the letter from Bradstreet informing him of what had been done at Presqu'île. He forwarded it to governor Penn of Pennsylvania, expressing the desire that the peace should not be confirmed; no satisfaction had been insisted upon, and he trusted that he would not be a witness to a transaction* which would fix an indelible stain upon the nation. For his part, he would take no notice of the intended peace; he would proceed on his own expedition, and treat as enemies all the Shawanees and Delawares, until he received orders to the contrary. He wrote in the same strain to Gage, telling him that the terms were such as to fill him with astonishment. He spoke of the perfidies and murders still practised; the parties, even on the 22nd instant, had killed six men and taken away four children, and he related the slaughter of a schoolmaster and some children in a school-room. He dwelt upon the disgraceful conditions. * Fort Loudoun, 27th August, 1764. [Can. Arch., A., 7, p. 67.]

1764]

THE TREATY UNRATIFIED.

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which had been accorded. Personally such a treaty was an affront to himself, having been made by a junior officer without reference of the matter to him. On the contrary, Bradstreet had taken upon himself to assure the Indians, that he would prevent the column of Bouquet acting against their villages. The news had caused the greatest indignation throughout the community, and especially in the force. On all sides, the strongest reprobation was expressed at Bradstreet's conduct For his part, he could not be reconciled to any peace if the villains remained unpunished.

Bouquet wrote to Bradstreet from fort Bedford with studied self-control, disapproving the peace, and saying that the final conclusion of it should be postponed. He explained that he himself was going forward on his expedition, and trusted that Bradstreet would be at Sandusky, prepared to attack the Ohio tribes at the same time. The news seriously interfered with the formation of Bouquet's forces. On the report reaching the eastern part of Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvanian volunteers declined coming forward.

On hearing of Gage's refusal to ratify the treaty, Bouquet again wrote to Bradstreet, that no terms would be granted to the tribes unless they delivered up the promoters of the war to be put to death, and they would then be permitted to send deputies to discuss the terms of peace. In case of refusal, Bouquet would immediately attack them. The general had renewed his orders that he should do so in concert with Bradstreet; accordingly he would cross the Ohio on the 1st of October and march to the Muskingum, and he requested Bradstreet to begin his attack in that direction, to divide the attention and forces of the enemy. He asked that one hundred Indians might be sent him, with some white men ; or if that could not be done, one hundred Canadians to act as rangers. In the meantime, Bouquet kept it perfectly secret that the peace was repudiated by Gage. He allowed it to be generally believed that the terms were accepted; he thus brought his convoys up without interference, and in sending to Bradstreet a notification of the general's determination,