Siege of Fort Wayne - Siege

Siege

Morning 5 September, the siege began when Chief Winamac's forces attacked two soldiers returning from an outhouse. The Native Americans assaulted the fort from the east side and burned the homes of the surrounding village. The Indians constructed two wooden cannons and were able to trick the garrison into thinking they had artillery besieging the fort as well.

Captain Rhea was again drunk, and "took to his quarters, sick." The Indian Agent at Fort Wayne, Benjamin Stickney, was recovering from an illness, but took command of the fort with Lieutenants Daniel Curtis and Phillip Ostrander organizing the defense. Chief Winamac came to the gate again, that evening, and was admitted- unarmed- with thirteen of his men. As they talked, Winamac revealed a knife that he had hidden, and a fur trader, Antoine Bondie, jumped forward to save the life of Stickney. Winamac left the fort, and the Native American forces opened fire at about eight o'clock PM. Winamac's forces tried to set the fort on fire, and while the garrison- about 70 soldiers and some civilians- tried to keep the walls wet, they returned fire with muskets and howitzers. The battle lasted until three o'clock in the afternoon on 6 September, when the American Indian forces retired to a safe distance from the fort. The fighting resumed at nine o'clock that night.