Battle of the Wabash

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of the Wabash
partof=the Northwest Indian War


caption=Lithograph of Little Turtle, reputedly based upon a lost portrait by Gilbert Stuart, destroyed when the British burned Washington, D.C. in 1814. [Carter, "Life and Times", 62–3.]
date=November 4, 1791
place=near present-day Fort Recovery, Ohio
result=Overwhelming Native American victory
combatant1=Western Confederacy
combatant2=United States
commander1=Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, Buckongahelas
commander2=Arthur St. Clair, Richard ButlerKIA
strength1=1000
strength2=1000
casualties1=21 killed and 40 wounded
total: 61
casualties2=623 soldiers killed or captured
258 soldiers wounded
24 workers killed,
14 wounded
33 women killed
total:952

The Battle of the Wabash, also known as St. Clair's Defeat and the Battle of Wabash River, was fought on November 4, 1791, in the Northwest Territory between the United States and the Western Confederacy of American Indians, as part of the Northwest Indian War. It was a major Native American victory, and remains the greatest loss to Native American forces by the United States Army in history.

The American Indians were led by Little Turtle of the Miamis, Blue Jacket of the Shawnees, and Buckongahelas of the Delawares (Lenape), who led his 480 men to join the 700 warriors of Little Turtle and Blue Jacket. In comparison, the opposing force of about 1000 Americans were led by General Arthur St. Clair who had proved to be an able commander during the American Revolutionary War. However, the Indian confederacy eventually was victorious. The battle was the most severe defeat ever suffered by the United States at the hands of American Indians; indeed, in proportional terms of losses to strength it was the worst defeat that United States forces have ever suffered in battle. As a result, President George Washington forced St. Clair to resign his post, and Congress initiated its first investigation of the executive branch. Of the 1,000 troops that St. Clair led into battle, only 48 escaped unharmed.

Background

The Treaty of Paris of 1783, which ended the War of American Independence, 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 1500 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 pacify the region.

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 valiant 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 troops (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. George Washington then ordered 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 fund the expedition as well as to authorize the raising of an additional U.S. Army regiment for the purpose, bringing the total number of army regiments in existence to just two (the 1st and 2nd American Regiments). St. Clair augmented this force with Kentucky militia as well as five battalions of six-month levies.

The campaign

While Washington was adamant that St. Clair move north in the summer months, various logistics and supply problems greatly slowed his preparations in Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati, Ohio). The new recruits were poorly trained and disciplined, the food supplies substandard, and the horses, low in number, were of poor quality. The expedition thus failed to set out until October 1791. Building supply posts as it advanced, the army's objective was the town of Kekionga, the capital of the Miami tribe, near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana.

At it's peak, the army under St. Clair included 600 regulars, 800 six-month conscripts, and 600 militia, for a total of around 2,000 men. [Allison, 81] Desertion took it's toll, and when the force finally got underway, it had dwindled to aroun 1,486 total men, and some 200-250 camp followers (wives, children, laundresses, and prostitutes). Going was slow and discipline problems were severe; St. Clair, suffering from gout, had difficulty maintaining order, especially among the militia and the new levies. The force was constantly shadowed by Indians, and skirmishes occasionally erupted.

By the end of November 2, through desertion and illness, St. Clair's force had been whittled down to around 1,120, including the camp followers. He had 52 officers and 868 enlisted and militia present for duty on November 3. The force camped on an elevated meadow, but did not construct any defensive works, even though Indians had been seen in the forest. [Allison, 82]

Battle

At dawn on November 4, St. Clair's force was camped near the present-day location of Fort Recovery, Ohio, near the headwaters of the Wabash River. An Indian force consisting of around 1,000 warriors, led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, waited in the woods while the troops stacked their weapons and paraded to their morning meals. [Allison, 82] The natives then struck quickly and, surprising the Americans, soon overran their perimeter.

Little Turtle directed the first attack at the militia, who fled across a stream without their weapons. The regulars immediately broke their musket stacks, formed battle lines, and fired a volley into the Native Americans, forcing them back.] Allison, 83] Little Turtle responded by flanking the regulars and closing in on them. Meanwhile, St. Clair's artillery was stationed on a nearby bluff and was wheeling into position when the gun crews were killed by native marksmen. The cannons were finally spiked to keep them from being used by the American Indians against U.S. troops.

Colonel Drake ordered his battalion to fix bayonets and charge the main Native position. Turtle's forces gave way and retreated to the woods, only to encircle Drake's battalion and destroy it.] Allison, 84] The bayonet charge was tried numerous times with similar results. The Americans collapsed into disorder. St. Clair had three horses shot out from under him as he tried in vain to rally his troops, many of whom hid beneath wagons and behind trees despite goading from their commander (who at one point moved among them chanting "Cowards, cowards, cowards,") and from female camp followers, many of whom picked up weapons and joined the battle. [Allison, 84]

After three hours of fighting, St. Clair called together the remaining officers and- faced with total annihilation- decided to attempt one last bayonet charge to get through the Native line and escape. Supplies and wounded were left in camp. As before, Turtle's army allowed the bayonets to pass through, but this time the men ran for Fort Jefferson. [Allison, 85] They were pursued by Native Americans for about three miles before returning to loot the camp. Exact numbers of wounded are not known, but it has been reported that execution fires burned for several days afterward. [Allison, 85]

The casualty rate was the highest percentage ever suffered by a United States Army, and included St. Clair's second in command. Of the 52 officers engaged, 39 were killed and 7 wounded, around 88% of all officers became casualties. After two hours, St. Clair ordered a retreat, which quickly turned into a rout. "It was, in fact, a flight," St. Clair described a few days later in a letter to the Secretary of War. The American casualty rate, among the soldiers, was 97.4 percent, including 632 of 920 killed (69%), and 264 wounded. Nearly all of the 200 camp followers were slaughtered, for a total of 832 Americans killed. Approximately one-quarter of the entire standing United States Army had been wiped out. Only 24 of the 920 troops engaged came out of it unscathed. Indian casualties were about 61, with at least 21 killed.

The number of soldiers killed alone was more than three times the number the Sioux would kill 85 years later at Custer's last stand at the Little Big Horn. The next day the remnants of the force arrived at the nearest U.S. outpost, Fort Jefferson (then Fort Hamilton) and from there returned to Fort Washington.

[Casualty statistics from "That Dark and Bloody River", by Allan W. Eckert, Bantam Books, December 1995.]

Aftermath

St. Clair himself soon traveled to the national capital at Philadelphia to report on what had happened. Blaming the quartermaster as well as the War Department, the general asked for a court-martial in order to gain exoneration and planned to resign his commission after winning it. Washington, however, denied him the court-martial and forced St. Clair's immediate resignation.

The House of Representatives, meanwhile, began its own investigation into the disaster. This was the first investigation that Congress had ever undertaken, as well as the first investigation of the executive branch, and as part of the proceedings, the House committee in charge of the investigation sought certain documents from the War Department. Knox brought this matter to Washington's attention, and because of the major separation of powers issues involved, the president summoned a meeting of all of his department heads (Knox, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph). This was one of the first meetings of all of these officials together, and some scholars consider this occasion the beginning of the Cabinet.

At this and subsequent meetings, the president and his advisers established, in theory, the concept that the executive branch should refuse to hand over any papers or materials that the public good required them to keep secret, and that at any rate they not hand over any originals. This is the earliest appearance of the doctrine of executive privilege, which later became a major separation of powers issue in matters such as Aaron Burr's treason trial, Watergate, the Iran-Contra affair, and the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. In the end, though, Washington authorized the release of copies of the materials that the committee sought.

The final committee report sided largely with St. Clair, finding that Knox and other War Department officials had done a poor job of raising, equipping, and supplying St. Clair's expedition. Other than issuing these findings, however, neither the committee nor the House of representatives took any further steps, such as recommending impeachment.

In 1794, a new U.S. force under Major General "Mad Anthony" Wayne achieved what St. Clair had not when he decisively defeated the Indians of the Old Northwest at the Battle of Fallen Timbers

References

*
* Guthman, William H., "March to Massacre: A History of the First Seven Years of the United States Army". New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970. ISBN 0-07-025297-1.
* Sugden, John, "Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees". Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8032-4288-3.
* Sword, Wiley, "President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790-1795". Norman and London: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985. ISBN 0-8061-1864-4 (hardcover); ISBN 0-8061-2488-1 (paperback).
* Van Trees, Robert V. "Banks of the Wabash". ©1986, 1996. Van Trees Associates, Fairborn, Ohio. ISBN 0-9616-2823-5

External links

* [http://www.legionville.com/recovery.htm Officers killed at St. Clair's Defeat]
* [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0275958213 Wilbur Edel, "Kekionga!: The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S. Army"]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/jimmy/folkden-wp/?p=7057 "St. Clair's Defeat" folk song]