rison resolved to give up his profession and join the army raised for the defence of the Ohio frontier. His guardian, Mr. Morris, attempted to dissuade him from his purpose, but his resolution was not to be shaken, and on communicating with General Washington, that distinguished man cordially approved of the patriotic determination of the son of his deceased friend and associate.

At the age of nineteen, Harrison received from President Washington the commission of ensign in a regiment of artillery, and joined his corps. at Fort Washington, on the Ohio, in 1791. A reinforcement was ordered to march for Fort Hamilton, on the Miami, a task which it required no ordinary degree of courage to accomplish, as they had to pass through forests infested by hordes of the hostile tribes, and Harrison was chosen to the command of the body of men forming the escort. The dexterity and skill which he displayed in the prosecution of this arduous duty, gained for him the approbation of his commanding officer, General St. Clair. He rapidly gained the entire confidence of his officers, and in 1792 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant.

During the following year Harrison joined the new army under the command of General Anthony Wayne, an officer whose intrepidity and daring impetuosity, accompanied at the same time with consummate skill, during the war of the revolution, obtained for him the title of "Mad Anthony." It was a period, indeed, worthy of such a man, for the repeated successes and incursions of the savage enemy had not only infused among the people generally, but even throughout the army itself, such terror and dread of these merciless foes, as greatly to paralyze their energies, and to render the duties of the commander extremely arduous and difficult. The instructions, indeed, which were forwarded by Congress to General Wayne, contained the following ominous expression: "Another defeat would prove inexpressibly ruinous to the reputation of the government;" and consequently, in such a critical juncture, every available facility was rendered him. On the 25th of May, 1792, he repaired to Pittsburg, which was selected as the place of rendezvous. The newly-organized army consisted of a major-general, four brigadier-generals, with their respective staffs, the commissioned officers, and over five thousand rank and file; which was designated," the legion of the United States." Although this collective force had the effect of partially restor ing the spirit and energy of the soldiers, they continued to desert in considerable numbers. To remedy this evil, General Wayne applied himself at all intervals of leisure, to the disciplining of his troops, with unremitting assiduity. Thus it must be obvious, that the early military career of Harrison had but few attractions for those who were not, like him, actuated solely by the true spirit of generous patriotism.

Finding all amicable negotiations with the Indians unavailing, no alternative was left to General Wayne but to adopt the most rigid and decisive

measures; accordingly we find him breaking up his winter quarters, about the end of April, 1793, and transporting his army in boats down the Ohio to Fort Washington, an outpost situated upon the site now occupied by the city of Cincinnati. Having at length received instructions from the secretary of war to commence active operations, he left Fort Washington in October, 1793, and advanced with his army along the southwestern branch of the Miami, where he took up his position, and erected fortifications. To this post he gave the name of Greenville, and here the army went into winter quarters. General Wayne sent a detachment to take possession of the ground on which General St. Clair and his army had been defeated by the Indians two years before. Harrison volunteered for the service, and was accepted by the commander.

The battle-ground was taken possession of by the troops, and a fortification erected, to which the name of Fort Recovery was given. The bones of the soldiers slain on the fatal 4th of November, 1791, were collected, and interred with military honors. The artillery lost on that occasion were recovered; and on the return of the troops from the expedition, the name of Lieutenant Harrison, among others, was mentioned by General Wayne, in his general order of thanks to the officers and men for their gallant conduct on the occasion.

On the 30th of June, 1794, a fierce attack was made by large numbers of the Indians, upon the newly-constructed works at Fort Recovery; they were, however, repeatedly repulsed, and the arrival of a body of militia from Kentucky enabled General Wayne to force them to retreat with great loss.

Being reinforced by a body of mounted volunteers from Kentucky. General Wayne advanced seventy miles to Grand Glaize, in the very heart of the Indian territory. Here he erected a fort which he called Defiance, at the confluence of the Maumee and Au Glaize rivers.

Agreeably with his instructions, General Wayne renewed his overtures of peace, which again being rejected by the Indians, he prepared to bring them to a decisive settlement. In the heroic engagement or battle of the Maumee rapids, which ensued, on the 20th of August, 1794, the consummate skill of the general, as well as the valor of his troops, were alike resplendent with the important consequences which resulted from the action. In the official account of this battle, we also find the name of Lieutenant Harrison complimented by the commander-in-chief as his "faithful and gallant aid-de-camp," in having "rendered the most essential service by communicating his orders in every direction, and for his conduct and bravery, in exciting the troops to press for victory." The Indians now. proposed to capitulate with General Wayne, and the result was, a treaty of peace was concluded, by which the United States obtained cessions of considerable tracts of land, as well as secured tranquillity to the border settlements. The news of Wayne's victory had a favorable effect upon

our pending negotiations in London, and was supposed to have enabled the American special minister, Mr. Jay, to secure the assent of Lord Grenville to the surrender to the United States of all the forts held and occupied by the British in the northwest, within the jurisdiction of our government. Thus undisputed possession of the territory northwest of the Ohio was obtained, and emigration to that country received a new and favorable impulse.

Not long after the close of this campaign, Harrison was promoted to the rank of captain; and as an additional proof of the confidence reposed in his discretion and ability, by General Wayne, he was placed in command of Fort Washington. While at this place (where Cincinnati now stands), being now about twenty-one years of age, he married the daughter of John Cleves Symmes, the founder of the Miami settlements. "She has been," says Mr. Hall in his memoir," the faithful companion of this distinguished patriot during the various perils and vicissitudes of his eventful life, and still lives to witness the maturity of his fame, and the honors paid him by a grateful country."

He continued in the army till the close of the year 1797, when, soon after the death of General Wayne, as peace had been ratified with the Indians, and the opportunity to serve his country in the field appeared to exist no longer, he resigned his commission. Scarcely had this event transpired, than he was appointed, by President Adams, secretary and ex officio lieutenant-governor of the northwestern territory. While in this station, in October, 1799, he was elected, by the legislature of that territory, their first delegate to Congress. He was at this time about twentysix years of age, and took his seat in the house of representatives, at the first session of the sixth Congress, in 1799. Previous to proceeding to the seat of government, he resigned his office of secretary of the territory. In 1798, the northwestern territory contained five thousand white male inhabitants, and was admitted as a matter of right to the second grade of government, provided for in the ordinance of 1787. At that time great unanimity prevailed in the territory on political questions; though the states were rent, and almost torn asunder, by party strife. The election of the elder Adams had met with general approbation among the people of the territory, and resolutions had been passed at popular meetings to sustain his administration, against the encroachments of France. An address was adopted by the legislature of 1799, to John Adams, president of the United States, approving of his administration. But few individuals were to be found who then advocated the election of Mr. Jefferson against Mr. Adams. Harrison having early imbibed democratic opinions, was one of the few who preferred Jefferson. His election as delegate to Congress was not effected by a party vote; the same legislature which adopted the address to Mr. Adams with only five dissenting votes, elected Harrison by eleven votes, against ten for Arthur St. Clair, Jr.