No intelligent student of history holds now that St. Clair should have been expected to hold Ticonderoga against Bur goyne's army or that his army was properly equipped and drilled to meet the Indians in 1791. In both of these battles the highest possible military skill was displayed on the part of the commander, yet even in our highly educated and con siderate -age, there are some who seemingly forget the great achievements of his military and civil life, and remember him largely in connection with his last battle, thus unjustly coupling his name with defeat. In this connection, in his sketch of St. Clair, Mr. Swank very aptly observes: "Generals cannot always win victories, as illustrated in the Battle of Waterloo. In our own country, Washington was compelled to surrender to the French and Indians at Great Meadows and he was repeatedly defeated during the Revolution. McDowell lost the first Bull Run battle, Burn side failed at Fredericksburg, Hooker at Chancellorsville, Sherman at Kenesaw Mountain, although these were all good soldiers. Grant met with signal defeat on the first day at Shiloh and also at Cold Harbor, while Lee lost the battle of Antietam and his star set at Gettysburg. St. Clair was not
defeated because of any lack of generalship or personal brav ery in himself." St. Clair was retained as Governor of the Territory until the beginning of Thomas Jefferson's administration, in all about fifteen years, and was removed by Jefferson in 1802. As we have said, he was an ardent Federalist and had un bounded admiration for the centralized power doctrine of Alexander Hamilton. Holding such views he was necessarily antagonistic to the tenets of Jefferson, whose policies were opposed to those of Hamilton. He had moreover advocated the re-election of John Adams, whose unpopular administra tion, favoring among other things the deservedly obnoxious alien and sedition laws, had elected Jefferson.
It may have been unfortunate that so pronounced a Federalist was appointed to this position for western people were largely Jeffersonian. The citizens of the Territory were anxious to form a state which could be brought about main ly through Jefferson's friends. Ohio came into the Union in 1802, and St. Clair was therefore its first and only Terri torial Governor.