The Gloomiest Battle in the American West's History

On October 4, 1781, Governor St. Clair led an army of untrained forces from Cincinnati northward.  St. Clair made no secret of his plans nor did he protect his men from ambushes.  They made their way slowly through the deep forests, chopping down their own path, making only five or six miles a day.  The weather was good, game was plentiful, but the men were not content and desertions were a daily occurrence.  The men only made $2 a month and most men had no taste for Indian warfare, so their commander's threats did little to maintain order.

In November,  the remaining 1400 men camped on the eastern banks of the Wabash River, 100 miles north of Cincinnati near the Indian border.  In the early hours of November 4th, masses of Indians surrounded the troops giving them little chance of victory.  St. Clair called for his men to save themselves as best as they could.  Half of St. Clair's men were killed, less than 500 survived without injury and the remainder retreated starving and disheartened. 

The battle was one of the gloomiest defeats in the history of the West.  St. Clair's character and courage allowed him to be exonerated, but he resigned his military command but retained the governorship.

The situation went from serious to desperate.  The British along with aiding the Indians, invaded the disputed country and built a stockade at Fort Miami near the present site of the city of Toledo.  The Americans were once again told that "the Ohio will remain the boundary line between us." 
The new western campaign needed a new commander.  Washington's first choice was "Light Horse Harry" Lee, but the final assignment went to one "Mad" Anthony Wayne.

Next time...Mad Anthony Wayne
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Today in Pioneer History:  "On March 14, 1814, Albert Einstein is born as the son of a Jewish electrical engineer in Ulm, Germany. Einstein's theories of relativity greatly altered man' view of the universe, and his work in energy helped modernize our lives.