Battle of Fallen Timbers

On the 27th of July in 1794, Wayne's army moved forward in the direction of the Maumee River.  News of Wayne's army traveled ahead of him and many of the tribes deserted their villages before Wayne got in the vicinity.  When Anthony reached the junction of the Maumee and Auglaize Rivers, they found only deserted huts and huge fields of corn which replenished their supplies.  They built Fort Defiance and from there sent out a final offer of peace to the hostile tribes. 

Wayne knew the British were still furnishing the Indians all the necessary aid, and wasn't surprised when the chiefs returned evasive answers in response to his peace offer.  He therefore moved his troops to the left bank of the Maumee, preceding downstream to Fort Maumee.  A few days later at Fallen Timbers, they found a tornado had ripped trees and ground up everywhere making a natural barrier.  Just five miles from the British post,  nature had given the Indians the perfect place to make their stand.

On the morning of August 20th, Wayne (who was so crippled by gout that he had to be lifted to his horse) led the assault on Fallen Timbers.  At first the Kentuckians were forced back, but the infantry was able to dislodge the Indians while the cavalry charged the left flank.  The whole battle lasted 45 minutes with only a third of Wayne's men even taking part.  The remaining Indians fled back to the British fort where the Redcoats failed to come to their aid or even open the gates to allow them protection.  Many Indians died right there outside the gates.

The Americans lost 33 men and 100 wounded.  The battle of Fallen Timbers, however, was the most decisive victory yet in the Northwest.  Warfare that had been building for 40 years ended in just 45 minutes. 

Next time...Destination Fort Wayne
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Today in Pioneer History: "On March 21, 1882, "Bronco Billy" Anderson is born in Little Rock, Arkansas. Gilbert M. Anderson, the first western movie star, starred in over 300 short films in the early days of the silent movies.

The War Coninues in the Old Northwest

While Spain was scheming in the lower Mississippi Valley, Britain was plotting in the Old Northwest.  The British still held the forts they had promised to relinquish to the United States at the end of the Revolutionary War.

Britain also encouraged the Iroquois Indian chief, Joseph Brant, to take measures against the US by not ceding any land to the Americans.  While Brant was doing that, Kentuckians were attacking Indians in the Ohio Valley, and the Indians were retaliating.

In 1790 General Josiah Harman's militia was defeated disastrously, losing 183 men.  The following year, General Arthur St. Clair, the first governor of the Northwest Territory, led the army into an ambush, suffering the loss of more than 900 men.

Then 1794 the Americans came back under General Anthony Wayne.  He revisted the defeated army and won the decisive battle at Fallen Timbers.  With 3000 troops, Wayne was able to attack an Indian force of some 2000 warriors who were supplied by the British.  Fort Miami, on the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio, had recently been built.

General Anthony Wayne was a prosperous tanner before the Revolutionary War, gained the name "Mad Anthony Wayne" during the Revolution because of his "dashing" behavior.   Washington called him out of retirement to lead the army in the Northwest. Ironically, in the Battle of Fallen Timbers, General Wayne was patient, waiting for just the right time to attack.


Leading the Indians was Blue Jacket, a powerful Shawnee noted for bravery in battle.  He was believed to be a white man who had been kidnapped by the Shawnee early in life.  With the Indians on the run from General Wayne, the British suddenly decided to close the gate of Fort Miami (claiming a policy of neutrality) and the fleeing Shawnee, who were supposed to be protected by the British, instead found themselves alone and defeated both in battle and morally.

The Treaty of Greenville in 1791 which ended the Battle of Fallen Timbers, was represented by Miami chief Little Turtle for the Indians.  Ceded to the Americans was most of the Ohio Territory.  In 1794 in Jay's Treaty, the British finally agreed to give the forts back (again!) in exchange for the payment of debts owned to British merchants .  They retained their trading rights with the Indians in the territory which was a bad mistake for the settlers living there.  (The government continued to care less about the "western settlers" and their struggles to make a life among
the Indians.)

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Today in Pioneer History: "On November 24, 1876, William Marcy “Boss” Tweed, leader of New York City’s corrupt Tammany Hall political organization during the 1860s and early 1870s, is delivered to authorities in New York City after his capture in Spain.