The Battle of Kekionga

by Tom Castaldi

 The Battle of Kekionga in October 1790 was the first battle fought by the United States Army after the War for Independence. The campaign had been ordered by President Washington against the Miami settlement of Kekionga, the center of Indian resistance to U.S. migration across the Ohio River.

     The U.S. campaign against Kekionga began in early October when General Josiah Harmar, a veteran of the Revolutionary Way, led his main force of 1,453 regular and militia soldiers up the Great Miami River valley north of Fort Washington (later, Cincinnati). A diversionary force under Major John Hamtramck had marched on the Vincennes area to draw the main concentration of Miami Indians and their allies, the Delawares and Shawnees, away from Kekionga, but the maneuver failed.

 On October 15, the vanguard of the U.S. forces reached Kekionga and found that the Miami had burned and abandoned their town. On October 17, Harmar’s main force reached the Indian town, but patrols failed to discover the Miami warriors. Two days later, on hearing reports of a gathering of Indian forces, Harmar sent about three hundred men under Colonel John Hardin (of the Kentucky militia) north of Kekionga to the Eel River region to search for the Indian warriors. On October 19, Hardin’s forces suffered a stinging defeat near present-day Heller’s Corners in an ambush led by the Miami war chief Meshekinnoquah (Little Turtle). Nearly all the U.S. Army regular soldiers were killed and the Kentucky militia fled. One regular officer, Captain John Armstrong, managed to survive by hiding all night in a swamp, listening to the Miami victory celebrations nearby. General Harmar completed the destruction of the area villages on October 20 and retreated from Kekionga on the 21st to a camp located nine miles to the south, near present-day Hessen Cassel.

    Learning that the Miami warriors had returned to Kekionga, General Harmar sent an attacking force back to the Indian town on the morning of October 22. Two companies of U.S. forces, under the command of Colonel John Hardin, took position along the west bank of the St. Joseph river. Three companies, under the overall command of regular army major John Wyllys, advanced across the ford of the Maumee River, hoping to entrap the Indians in Kekionga itself. The Miami warriors challenged the crossing, killing several men as they waded the ankle-deep Maumee River. In the corn fields and flood plain outside Kekionga, the main United States forces were destroyed and Major Wyllys and the cavalry commander, Major Fontaine, were killed by Little Turtle’s warriors who held the high ground to the north. By the end of the battle at midday, 183 United States soldiers had been killed, and about the same number of Indians had been slain. The Miami Confederacy had held its town, and General Harmar’s main force retreated to Fort Washington.

Originally published in Fort Wayne Magazine, “Along the Heritage Trail with Tom Castaldi” –September October 2004, No 7, p. 70

 

Fighting It Out Along the Wabash--Part One

by Harry Tunnell

According to Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, the Wabash River is the state’s most famous river.  It rises in Ohio and flows for 30 miles or so before it becomes an Indiana river, running about 450 miles through the state to the Ohio River and border with Illinois.  Known for its scenic beauty, the river inspired On the Banks of the Wabash, the state song of Indiana.  What is less known about the river is the martial side to its history.  During the early years of the American Republic, United States and Indian armies spent decades fighting it out along the Wabash.  Two of the most noteworthy battles near the Wabash River occurred in 1791 and 1811.  The fight in 1791 was one of the greatest failures of American arms.  The 1811 battle, in contrast, was an important victory.

General Josiah Harmar led an American army on campaign against a Miami-Shawnee Indian Confederacy led by Little Turtle (Miami) and Blue Jacket (Shawnee) in 1790.  Harmar’s force was defeated by the Indians in a series of engagements near present-day Churubusco and Fort Wayne, IN.  In response, General Arthur St. Clair was ordered by President Washington to lead a punitive expedition against the confederacy.  The army was organized at Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati, OH) during March 1791.  Originally intending to conduct a summer campaign, St. Clair and the army were delayed due to a variety of organizational problems.  The army, composed of more than 1,400 regulars and militia, departed in October, plagued by poor training, inadequate logistics, and dreadful discipline.  The army moved north toward the large Indian towns in northeastern Indiana—the destruction of which was their objective.

By November, the army had dwindled to less than 1,000 personnel due to desertion and other problems.  On the evening of November 3, 1791, the American army encamped on high ground near the banks of the Wabash River (present-day Fort Recovery, OH), but failed to establish adequate defensive works.  During the early morning hours of November 4, 1791, the encampment was attacked and overrun by an Indian army.  According to William Wells, a participant in the battle, the Indians scalped and tomahawked until they could no longer raise their arms—the American army suffered 632 killed and 264 wounded.  Indian casualties were comparatively light, with 66 killed and 9 wounded.  The battle, known as St. Clair’s Defeat, is the worst thrashing of American arms in the 100-year history of the Indian wars.  (By comparison, 263 Americans were killed at Custer’s last stand.)  What remained of St. Clair’s command eventually struggled back to Fort Washington.  Rather than being subdued as President Washington wished, the Indian Confederacy was emboldened.  It would take another American army, led by General Anthony Wayne, to defeat the Miami-Shawnee Confederacy in August 1794 at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.