page_title: Northwest Indian War
section_title: St. Clair's defeat
hierarchical_section_title: Northwest Indian War / Course of the war / St. Clair's defeat
caption_attribution_description: English: This painting accompanied Theodore Roosevelt's article on St. Clair's Defeat, featured in the February 1896 issue of 'Harper's New Monthly Magazine.'
context_page_description: The Northwest Indian War, also known as the Ohio War, Little Turtle's War, and by other names, was a war between the United States and the Western Confederacy, with support from the British, for control of the Northwest Territory. It followed centuries of conflict over this territory, first among Native American tribes, and then with the added shifting alliances among the tribes and the European powers of France and Great Britain, and their colonials. The United States Army considers it their first of the United States Indian Wars.
  Article 2 of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, used the Great Lakes as a border between British territory and that of the United States. Numerous Native American peoples inhabited this region, known to the United States as the Ohio Country and the Illinois Country. Despite the treaty, which ceded the Northwest Territory to the United States, the British kept forts there and continued policies that supported the Native Americans.
context_section_description: Washington ordered Major General Arthur St. Clair, who had been president of Congress when the Northwest Ordinance passed and was now serving as governor of the Northwest Territory, to mount a more vigorous effort by Summer 1791 and build a series of forts along the Maumee River. The hastily assembled expeditionary force had considerable troubles finding adequate supplies, receiving undamaged materials from Philadelphia, and finding skilled tradesmen. After assembling men and supplies, St. Clair was somewhat ready, but the troops had received little training.  Meanwhile, Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson led raids along the Wabash River, intending to create a distraction that would aid St. Clair's march north.  In the Battle of Kenapacomaqua, Wilkinson killed 9 Wea and Miami, and captured 34 Miami as prisoners, including a daughter of Miami war chief Little Turtle. Many of the confederation leaders were considering terms of peace to present to the United States, but when they received news of Wilkinson's raid, they readied for war.  Wilkinson's raid thus had the opposite effect, uniting the tribes against St. Clair instead of distracting them.
  Faced with a shortage of food and expiring levies, St. Clair's army of 1,486 and 200 camp followers finally departed Fort Washington in October 1791, by which time the confederation had time to prepare.  St. Clair stopped to erect Fort Jefferson as a supply depot, and continued North towards Kekionga, but the army and followers had dwindled to a combined mass of 1,120 by November.  At dawn on 4 November 1791, St. Clair's force was camped (near modern Fort Recovery, Ohio) with weak defenses set up on the perimeter.  A Native American force of about 2,000 warriors, led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, struck quickly. Surprising the Americans, they soon overran the poorly prepared perimeter. The barely trained recruits panicked and were slaughtered, along with many of their officers, who frantically tried to restore order and stop the rout. After 4 hours, St. Clair ordered an evacuation, abandoning the wounded. The small Fort Jefferson could not protect the retreating forces, and they were forced to continue all the way to Fort Washington for safety.  The U.S. casualty rate was 69%, based on the deaths of 632 of the 920 soldiers and officers, with 264 wounded. Nearly all of the 200 unarmed camp followers were killed, for a total of about 832 deaths—the highest United States losses in any of its battles with Native Americans.   St. Clair and his aide-de-camp were among the wounded.  With a casualty rate of 97%, St. Clair's Defeat remains one of the worst disasters in U.S. Army history.
  The American Indian coalition did not immediately follow up on their victory.  Instead, most returned to their villages to hunt before Winter set in.  Kekionga was short on supplies because of the war, so they moved most of the inhabitants to the Auglaize River.  This removed them from the target of repeated military campaigns, but as Thomas McKee argued, also put them closer to the trade and military support offered by the British at Detroit.  The various leaders agreed to a grand council the following year.
  The British conceived plans to re-negotiate control of the NorthWest Territory with the United States, but opted instead to curry favor with the young republic due to escalating tensions with France.  The US response was markedly different.  Within weeks of learning of the disaster, President Washington declared the US to be "involved in actual war!" and urged Congress to raise an army capable of conducting a successful offense against the Western Confederacy.  Congress responded by establishing the Legion of the United States and increasing military pay. It also passed the Militia Acts of 1792. Washington forced St. Clair to resign, replacing him with Major General Anthony Wayne.
caption: Illustration from Theodore Roosevelt's article on St. Clair's Defeat, featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February 1896.[37]
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