Harmar Campaign - Prelude To Battle

Prelude To Battle

From 1784 to 1789, there was considerable violence between American settlers and the Shawnee and Miami Indians in Kentucky, along the Ohio River, and at the few settlements north of the Ohio, with some 1,500 settlers killed by the Indians. However, there was no general war.

In 1789, President George Washington wrote to the Governor of the Northwest Territory, Arthur St. Clair, and asked him to determine whether the Indians living along the Wabash River and Illinois River were inclined for war or peace with the United States. St. Clair decided the tribes wanted war, and called for militia forces to be assembled at Fort Washington (now Cincinnati, Ohio) and Vincennes, Indiana. President Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox ordered General Harmar to lead these forces on a punitive expedition into the Shawnee and Miami lands as retaliation for the killings noted above, and to deter the tribes from further attacks.

The primary objective of the campaign was the destruction of the large, main Miami village of Kekionga (present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana), where the St. Joseph and St. Mary's Rivers join to form the Maumee River. St. Clair and Harmar had also planned to build a fort there But when St. Clair presented his plan to Washington at New York in August 1790, the President decided that a fort would be too vulnerable and too expensive.

At this time, British forces still occupied Fort Detroit in violation of the Treaty of Paris (1783). St. Clair wrote to the British at Fort Detroit to assure them that the expedition was only against Indian tribes, and expressed his confidence that the British would not interfere.

General Harmar gathered 320 regulars of the First American Regiment and 1,133 militia from Kentucky and Pennsylvania, for a total of 1,453 men. The force also had three horse-drawn 6-pounder cannons. Few experienced frontiersmen took part in the campaign; many instead paid recent immigrants to take their place. Lt. Ebenezer Denny wrote that the militia "appear to be raw and unused to the gun or the woods." The troops were assembled in September, and the campaign had to be completed before winter set in. This was because the pack horses which carried the troops' supplies were fed by grazing, and would starve in winter. This meant there was no time to train the militia. The campaign was launched from Fort Washington on 7 October 1790.

General Harmar began the march north, along the Great Miami River. A smaller army led by Jean François Hamtramck marched north from Vincennes to distract the Wabash Indians. Hamtramck's force was delayed, and returned to Vincennes. By 14 October, Harmar's force had marched to within 25 miles (40 km) of Kekionga. On that day, Kentuckian scouts captured a Shawnee. After some intense interrogation (and possible torture), the Indian said that the Miami and Shawnee were gathering at Kekionga to meet Harmar's army.

Before dawn on 15 October, Harmar dispatched 600 men under Colonel John Hardin was north on a forced march to "surprise" the Indians at Kekionga. When Colonel Hardin's detachment reached Kekionga, they found the village abandoned, burned it, and camped south of the destroyed town.

Harmar reached other Miami villages near Kekionga on 17 October. The Miami had warning of the attack, and had evacuated their villages with as much food as they could carry. There were some British-affiliated traders amomg the Miami; they fled to Fort Detroit with their families and goods. All arms and ammunition were distributed to Miami warriors. The Miami were well informed of the size and movements of Harmar's force, and even of Harmar's inclination towards drunkenness. The Americans seized the food that was not carried away.