Bayonets in the Wilderness: Anthony Wayne’s Legion in the Old Northwest by Alan D. Gaff (review)

disappointinglack of understanding regarding French colonial/ Creole society and culture as well as those of the motherland that gave them birth. For instance,in her discussion of the French background of Pierre LaClade Liguest (26), the founder of St. Louis and progenitor of the city' s Chouteau clan, Christman fails to note the acrimonious eighteenthcentury French social divide between the noblesse de robe newer nobility conferred by office, often purchased) and the noblesse d'* Le ( older nobility conferred by military rank or deed).She consequently ignores the fact that it was highly unusual for a noblesses de robe child like LaCIOde to pursue a 7 military career. Moreover, the work is written in expository style with minimal interpretation reserved for the conclusion. Finally,the author' s prolix narrative frequently rambles and Christman inserts a largely irrelevant discussion of the various Chouteau positions on slavery. Before Lewis and Clark is,therefore,a work that promises much,but delivers less than anticipated. Carl A. Brasseaux University of Louisiana at Lafayette Alan D. Gaff. Bayonets in tbe Wilderness: Anthony Wayne' s Legion in tbe Old Nortbwest . Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2004. 419 pp. ISBN: 0806135859 cloth), $ 39.95. fter writing or editing several books about the Union Army' s " Iron"Brigade, Alan D. Gaff turns his attention in his latest work, Bayonets in the Wilderness,to another army: " Mad" Anthony Wayne's " Legion of the United States." Gaff has written not just a history of the battle at Fallen Timbers fought by these soldiers in 1794;his is the story of the entire life of the Legion from its inception in Philadelphia in 1792 to the ratification of the Treaty of Greeneville in December 1795. Through his extensive use of correspondence, newspaper articles, orderly books, journals and other material,Gaff describes in great detail the challenges surmounted by Wayne and his troops. Gaff's reliance upon virtually everything written by members of Wayne's legion ( xiii) provides insight into the life of the Legion outside of the headquarters tent. Enlisted men, officers, and even civilians recount the difficulties involved in recruiting, training, marching, and supplying the Legion throughout the course of its campaign. Some of the stories Gaff uses to provide a fuller picture of the men involved in this campaign tend toward the fanciful, but these are few and do not detract from the overall quality of the work. Gaff' s otherwise excellent narrative is weakened by his portrayal of the Legion' s Indian opponents, and,oddly,by his own respect for Anthony Wayne. Due to an admitted paucity of native primary sources , Gaff cannot tell the Indian version of events. Thus the voice that is heard is that of the whites and jt is their negative opinions and stereotypes of their native opponents that dominate the narrative. Unfortunately, Gaff utilizes the whites' language and imagery even when not quoting them. With a few exceptions, the Indians appear in this work as the stock " vicious savage"character,capable only of brutality and cruelty. They are described as " blood thirsty"and " butchers" ( 7), and their army as a " ravenous multitude." ( 242) Following the defeat of St. Clair' s army,Gaff notes that whooping with laughter,grinning warriors swiftly SPRING 2005 111 ' h ' 79 BOOK REVIEWS scalped those corpses that had thus far escaped were valid. The complex humanity of the Legion' s ritual mutilation." ( 7) When a truce was called leaders makes it all the more remarkable that it did between the Legion and the Indians, Gaff writes accomplish what it was created to do. Gaff could that the " Indians did not take long to violate the still assert that this was " one of the most stupendous truce" ( 189)intimating that such behavior was undertakings in all U.S. history." ( xiv) not unexpected. He gives very little consideration to the reasons behind the Indians' violent actions; Mark Gooding nowhere does he contemplate the validity of the Purdue University Indians'actions from their own perspective as they defended their homes against an invading cultural and military force. In the course of his research, Gaff developed Thomas Hallock. From tbe Fallen Tree: a high regard for Wayne, whom he asserts " must Frontier Narratives, Environmental...