Arthur St . Clair Arthur St . Clair ( – August 31 , 1818 ) was an American soldier and politician . Born in Scotland , he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania , where he held local office . During the American Revolutionary War , he rose to the rank of major general in the Continental Army , but lost his command after a controversial retreat . Early life and career . St . Clair was born in Thurso , Caithness , Scotland . Little is known of his early life . Early biographers estimated his year of birth as 1734 , but subsequent historians uncovered a birth date of March 23 , 1736 , which in the modern calendar system means that he was born in 1737 . His parents , unknown to early biographers , were probably William Sinclair , a merchant , and Elizabeth Balfour . He reportedly attended the University of Edinburgh before being apprenticed to the renowned physician William Hunter . Seven Years War . In 1757 , St . Clair purchased a commission in the British Army , Royal American Regiment , and came to America with Admiral Edward Boscawen ' s fleet for the French and Indian War . He served under General Jeffrey Amherst at the capture of Louisburg , Nova Scotia on July 26 , 1758 . On April 17 , 1759 , he received a lieutenant ' s commission and was assigned under the command of General James Wolfe , under whom he served at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham which resulted in the capture Quebec City . Settler in America . On April 16 , 1762 , he resigned his commission , and , in 1764 , he settled in Ligonier Valley , Pennsylvania , where he purchased land and erected mills . He was the largest landowner in Western Pennsylvania . In 1770 , St . Clair became a justice of the court , of quarter sessions and of common pleas , a member of the proprietary council , a justice , recorder , and clerk of the orphans ' court , and prothonotary of Bedford and Westmoreland counties . In 1774 , the colony of Virginia took claim of the area around Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania , and some residents of Western Pennsylvania took up arms to eject them . St . Clair issued an order for the arrest of the officer leading the Virginia troops . Lord Dunmore ' s War eventually settled the boundary dispute . Revolutionary War . By the mid - 1770s , St . Clair considered himself more of an American than a British subject . In January 1776 , he accepted a commission in the Continental Army as a colonel of the 3rd Pennsylvania Regiment . He first saw service in the later days of the Quebec invasion , where he saw action in the Battle of Trois - Rivières . He was appointed a brigadier general in August 1776 , and was sent by Gen . George Washington to help organize the New Jersey militia . He took part in Washington ' s crossing of the Delaware River on the night of December 25 – 26 , 1776 , before the Battle of Trenton on the morning of December 26 . Many biographers credit St . Clair with the strategy that led to Washington ' s capture of Princeton , New Jersey on January 3 , 1777 . St . Clair was promoted to major general in February 1777 . In April 1777 , St . Clair was sent to defend Fort Ticonderoga . His small garrison could not resist British General John Burgoyne ' s larger force in the Saratoga Campaign . St . Clair was forced to retreat at the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga on July 5 , 1777 . He withdrew his forces and played no further part in the campaign . In 1778 he was court - martial ed for the loss of Ticonderoga . The court exonerated him and he returned to duty , although he was no longer given any battlefield commands . He still saw action , however , as an aide - de - camp to General Washington , who retained a high opinion of him . St . Clair was at Yorktown when Lord Cornwallis surrendered his army . President of Congress . St . Clair was a member of the Pennsylvania Council of Censors in 1783 , and was elected a delegate to the Confederation Congress , serving from November 2 , 1785 , until November 28 , 1787 . Chaos ruled the day in early 1787 with Shays ' Rebellion in full force and the states refusing to settle land disputes or contribute to the now six year - old federal government . On February 2 , 1787 , the delegates finally gathered into a quorum and elected St . Clair to a one - year term as President of the Continental Congress . Congress enacted its most important piece of legislation , the Northwest Ordinance , during St . Clair ' s tenure as president . Time was running out for the Confederation Congress , however : during St . Clair ' s presidency , the Philadelphia Convention was drafting a new United States Constitution , which would abolish the old Congress . Northwest Territory . Under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 , which created the Northwest Territory , General St . Clair was appointed governor of what is now Ohio , Indiana , Illinois , Michigan , along with parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota . He named Cincinnati , Ohio , after the Society of the Cincinnati , and it was there that he established his home . When the territory was divided in 1800 , he served as governor of the Ohio Territory . As Governor , he formulated Maxwell ' s Code ( named after its printer , William Maxwell ) , the first written laws of the territory . He also sought to end Native American claims to Ohio land and clear the way for white settlement . In 1789 , he succeeded in getting certain Indians to sign the Treaty of Fort Harmar , but many native leaders had not been invited to participate in the negotiations , or had refused to do so . Rather than settling the Indian ' s claims , the treaty provoked them to further resistance in what is sometimes known as the " Northwest Indian War " ( or " Little Turtle ' s War " ) . Mutual hostilities led to a campaign by General Josiah Harmar , whose 1 , 500 militiamen were defeated by the Indians in October 1790 . In March 1791 , St . Clair succeeded Harmar as commander of the United States Army and was commissioned as a major general . He personally led a punitive expedition involving two Regular Army regiments and some militia . This force advanced to the location of Indian settlements near the headwaters of the Wabash River , but on November 4 they were routed in battle by a tribal confederation led by Miami Chief Little Turtle and Shawnee chief Blue Jacket . More than 600 soldiers and scores of women and children were killed in the battle , which has since borne the name " St . Clair ' s Defeat " , also known as the " Battle of the Wabash " , the " Columbia Massacre , " or the " Battle of a Thousand Slain " . It remains the greatest defeat of an US Army by Native Americans in history , with about 623 American soldiers killed in action and about 50 Native American killed . Although an investigation exonerated him , St . Clair resigned his army commission in March 1792 at the request of President Washington , but continued to serve as Governor of the Northwest Territory . A Federalist , St . Clair hoped to see two states made of the Ohio Territory in order to increase Federalist power in Congress . However , he was resented by Ohio Democratic - Republicans for what were perceived as his partisanship , high - handededness and arrogance in office . In 1802 , his opposition to plans for Ohio statehood led President Thomas Jefferson to remove him from office as territorial governor . He thus played no part in the organizing of the state of Ohio in 1803 . The first Ohio Constitution provided for a weak governor and a strong legislature , in part due to a reaction to St . Clair ' s method of governance . Family life . St . Clair met Phoebe Bayard , a member of one of the most prominent families in Boston , and they were married in 1760 . Miss Bayard ' s mother ' s maiden name was Bowdoin and she was the sister of James Bowdoin , colonial governor of Massachusetts . Death and legacy . General St . Clair died in Greensburg , Pennsylvania on August 31 , 1818 in his eighties . He died in poverty as his vast wealth had been dissipated by generous gifts and loans , and by business reverses , but , mainly by the refusal of Congress to reimburse him for money that he had loaned during the Revolution and while governor of the Northwest Territory . He lived with his daughter Louisa St . Clair Robb and her family on the ridge between Ligonier and Greensburg . St . Clair ' s remains are buried under a Masonic monument in St . Clair Park in downtown Greensburg . His wife Phoebe died shortly after and is buried beside him . A portion of The Hermitage , St . Clair ' s home in Youngstown , Pennsylvania was later moved to Ligonier , Pennsylvania , where it is now preserved , along with St . Clair artifacts and memorabilia at the Fort Ligonier Museum . An American Civil War steamer was named USS " St . Clair " . Places named in honor of Arthur St . Clair include : In Pennsylvania : In Ohio : Other States :