St. Clair's Defeat - Background

Background

The 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War (a war in which American Indian tribes were overwhelmingly allied with the British and were treated as defeated powers, following the American victory over the British), recognized United States sovereignty of all the land east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes. The Indian tribes in the Old Northwest, however, were not parties to this treaty and many of them, especially leaders such as Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, refused to recognize American claims to the area northwest of the Ohio River. During the mid and late 1780s, white settlers in Kentucky and travelers on and north of the river suffered approximately 1,500 deaths during the ongoing hostilities, in which white settlers often retaliated against Indians. As a result of the continual violence, President Washington and his Secretary of War, Henry Knox, decided to use military force to crush the Miami.

A force of 1,453 men (320 regulars from the First American Regiment and 1,133 militia) under Brigadier General Josiah Harmar marched northwards from Fort Washington on the Ohio River at 10:00 a.m. on October 7, 1790. On October 22, near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana, Harmar committed only 400 of his men under Col. John Hardin to attack an Indian force of some 1,100 warriors. When a courier informed Harmar (rumored to be drunk) of the size of the enemy force, out of fear he refused to come to Hardin's aid. Had he supported Colonel Hardin with the other 800-900 men, the Indian force might have been defeated. Instead, Harmar formed his portion of the Army into a hollow defensive square and did not move. Hardin, expecting reinforcements, put up a fight for over three hours, then fell back to the main army's encampment and Harmar ordered a retreat back to Ft. Washington. (See main article: Hardin's Defeat).

At least 129 of Hardin's soldiers (14 officers, 115 enlisted) were killed in action and another 94 wounded, for a total of 223 casualties. Estimates of total Indian casualties, killed and wounded, range from 120 to 150. President George Washington then ordered General Arthur St. Clair, who served both as governor of the Northwest Territory and as a major general in the Army, to mount a more vigorous effort by Summer 1791. Congress agreed to raise a second regiment of Regular soldiers for six months, but it later reduced soldiers' pay. The demoralized First Regiment was soon reduced to 299 soldiers, while the new Second Regiment was only able to recruit half of their authorized soldiers. St. Clair was forced to augment his Army with Kentucky militia as well as five battalions of six-month levies.