September of 1790 saw the defeat of an American army at the hands of an Indian alliance in Ohio. Setting their own villages ablaze and luring the unprepaired invasion force deep into their domain, the Miami Confederacy was able to score a significant victory in the war to preserve indigenous control over Indiana and Ohio. Reeling from the routing of his army, President Washington resolved to send a second force into Indian territory and rid himself of this bothersome alliance. The president appointed General Arthur St. Clair as commander of an even larger invasion force and ordered him to establish a firm American presence in the lands of Little Turtle’s confederacy. St. Clair, like his predecessor, was about to find out that this would be no easy undertaking.
As governor of the Northwestern Territories, the area that included Ohio and parts of Indiana, St. Clair was experienced with Indian warfare and prepared his army to strike deep into the heart of their territory. By the fall of 1791, St. Clair had organized 2000 troops and trained them for heavy combat with the warriors of the Miami Confederacy. Overconfident in the strength of his numbers, the general and his army set out from Ft. Washington and along the way established supply lines in the form of fortifications. Poorly equipped and dissatisfied with the sluggish nature in which they were paid, nearly a third of St. Clair’s army deserted. Nonetheless, the tenacious general and his remaining force of 1300 troops advanced on the villages of the confederacy. Once again, the Indians had burned their own towns and fled into the woods. This gave St. Clair a false sense of security and he moved on to the Wabash River and prepared to attack what he thought was Little Turtle’s supply line. On November 3, 1791, St. Clair’s army took up an offensive position on the high ground of the river. Below the Americans were several small Miami towns where many members of the alliance had gathered after abandoning their homes. The moment was right, the enemy would never know what hit them.
In a daring pre-dawn raid, Little Turtle’s army ambushed the unprepared American force. Hugging the ground and sneaking up as the Americans slept, the Indian force was able to move into position without difficulty. As a stunned St. Clair ordered a bayonet counterattack, the Indians retreated into the surrounding countryside. St. Clair gave the order for his troops to pursue and as they gave chase they were ambushed by a second wave of Indians that had been carefully ensconced in the cover provided by the verge. St. Clair lost 600 soldiers plus dozens of camp followers (wives and civilians who had accompanied the force), and was barely able to order the retreat. Twice the Miami Confederacy was able to engage the Americans and twice they had carried the day. Little Turtle was in the ascendancy and his alliance now had the credibility to claim hegemony over the territory it had fought for, provided that the Americans accepted this victory.
To Little Turtle, his army was not a conquering alliance designed to establish a war-like state intent on raising the ire of the Americans, but to defensive mechanism meant to protect native lands. To President Washington, however, the existence of such an organized and obviously effective fighting force posed a serious threat to the expansionist aims of the United States. The president was determined not to lose this first test of his new nation’s resolve and immediately set to work on a third offensive.
