OF Henry Bouquet's Expedition AGAINST THE OHIO INDIANS, IN 1764. By William Smith WITH PREFACE BY FRANCIS PARKMAN, AND A TRANSLATION OF DUMAS' BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF GENERAL BOUQUET. CINCINNATI, O. 1868. Incorrectly ascribed to Thomas Hulchins PUBLISHERS' NOTICE. N offering to our patrons the Account of General Bou IN quet's Expedition against the Ohio Indians in 1764, as the first of the reprints of the OHIO VALLEY HISTORICAL SERIES, we may premise that we have been urged thereto by the rarity of the volume and its intrinsic value as an authentic and reliable narrative of one of the earliest British military expeditions into the Territory North-West of the Ohio River. This work was published at Philadelphia in 1765, reprinted at London the following year; and an edition in French, by C. G. F. DUMAS, was issued at Amsterdam in 1769. Mr. FRANCIS PARKMAN has kindly furnished us with a few prefatory words. The proper introduction, how however, to this work, and indeed to all the fragmentary accounts of the later struggles of the white and Indian races in the Central West, is his "History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac," of which this expedition was one of the results. We can not too earnestly recommend its perusal to our readers. His wonderfully clear and exact knowledge of Indian character, and its faithful portrayal in his introductory chapters, together with his minute accounts of their tribal divisions, their internal differences, their modes of warfare, the nature of their governments, and his general review of the "situation," can not fail to be of great service in attaining an intelligent understanding of the story of the Indian wars in the West, and the trials and hardships of the sturdy pioneers, whose bloody struggles and anxious labors laid the foundation of the present prosperity of this region. Mr. PARKMAN has also translated for us M. DUMAS' biographical sketch of GENERAL BOUQUET prefixed to the French edition. We regret that we are, at present, unable to give a more detailed history of his transactions in this country, the most active and interesting period of his life, concerning which M. DUMAS' sketch is very meagre, passing over in silence his important services as one of the commanders of the Royal American Corps, his connection with the former expedition against Fort Du quesne, |