A Bloody Crescent Moon
When the full weight of the Indian forces attacked St. Clair’s camp they did so in a crescent moon formation. The crescent formation has been used numerous times throughout history, usually by a force that is outgunned, but superior numerically, as it allows for the force to use its numbers. One of the more famous uses of the crescent moon was during the Zulu War of 1879 when the Zulu’s used a variation of the formation unsuccessfully at the Battle of Rourke’s Drift.
In the crescent formation, the warriors in the middle absorb the brunt of the attack and so are usually the best and bravest because any retreat would dissolve the entire formation. The warrior on the edges form the flanks that slowly move forward, eliminating resistance until they wrap around and form a semi-circle. At the Defeat of St. Clair, the middle of the Indian formation absorbed the most damage from the American regulars, just as planned, while the ends quickly wrapped around and encircled St. Clair and his men. The formation, simple yet effective, proved to be the final nail in St. Clair’s coffin. Little Turtle knew that although unconventional tactics may give him an advantage early in the battle, he would eventually have to engage the Americans in man to man combat. The prospect was daunting, but he knew that once the Kentucky militia and artillery units were eliminated and large portion of the regulars were pacified, then a final thrust against the survivors would be feasible. Little Turtle probably just gave a signal with his arms that told his men to line up in the crescent moon formation. The surviving Americans were stunned and no doubt terrified that their enemy was making one last effort to finish them off. The end was near.
Little Turtle and his warriors slowly moved forward, carefully and willfully taking the brunt of the American volleys in the middle of the formation. This is the stage in the battle where the Indians probably lost most of their warriors. The fighting was intense and was essentially man to man, hand to hand combat; muskets were fired at will and Indians charged indiscriminately with their tomahawks as soldiers fought back with knives, swords, and bayonets. The men on both sides fought bravely; the Americans fought to drive their foes back into the forest, while the Indians sought to hold their ground as the flanks came around. The fighting was intense and confusing, but as the fighting in the middle came to a standstill, the first of the warriors on either flank found themselves completely behind the American soldiers. Before the Americans were surrounded by the Indians, St. Clair ordered one more bayonet charge as he believed that was their only chance of survival. The Americans charged the Indian warriors, but once more the warriors simply broke formation and let the soldiers through where supporting warriors engaged them in one-on-one combat in the forest. The Americans survivors of the last bayonet charge kept running until they reached the nearest American outpost, Fort Jefferson, a few miles to the south. After three hours of fighting, General St. Clair looked around the camp and surveyed the situation: the Indians had encircled them and scores of dead and dying were littered everywhere. The smell of gunpowder mixed with blood wafted through the air and cries of agony could be heard – it was the sound and smell of defeat. General St. Clair ordered the general retreat, the battle was clearly lost.
The Retreat
The retreat back to Fort Washington was painful for those who could actually make the trip. The Americans were forced to leave all of their provisions and many of the wounded at the camp. The overall American casualty rate was around 95%, as 632 of the nearly 1,000 men who engaged in fighting were killed, while 264 were wounded. The battle’s casualty totals are taken from the total number of army regulars and Kentucky militiamen who actually fought in the battle, not the high number of Kentuckians that deserted the campaign after they left Fort Washington. Many soldiers had to help their comrades on the defeat march and a number died along the route. Once the troops arrived at Fort Washington, things only got worse for some as the soldiers with more serious injuries to their limbs were forced to undergo amputations. Because 1791was before the advent of most modern medicine technology, especially antibiotics, other soldiers died of long, lingering, and painful infections. Among the casualties were most of the officers – forty four were killed and twenty six were wounded – General Butler and Colonel Oldham being the two most prominent. The march back to Fort Washington was truly a walk of shame for St. Clair, but the general’s ordeal got progressively worse for him in the days and weeks following the defeat.
St. Clair knew that the campaign was a debacle, but he continued to argue that much of the results were beyond his control. He also argued, in a letter to a colleague, that the Kentuckians should take their fair share of the blame. He wrote:
Sir: I request the favour that you will make known to the militia, the regret I feel for the loss they have sustained in their late gallant commander, Liut. Col. Oldham, and other brave officers and soldiers. It is with pleasure I acknowledge the satisfaction received from the general orderly behaviour and the harmony and good understanding that prevailed between them and the other classes of troops which composed the army during the campaign. If some of them did desert the service of their country at a critical moment, it reflects a lustre upon those who were no to be influenced by the base example; but as that very desertion occasioned the absence of a considerable body of the troops at the time of the action, and may thereby have been the cause of the misfortunate that befell us, it will be the duty of every officer to use his utmost endeavours that they be brought to condign punishment agreeably to the laws of the country. While I wish the militia individually a safe return to their families and to their country and happiness, I cannot resist the giving them the further proof of my good will, by observing that in on case where I have seen militia employed, has there been that subordination and prompt obedience of orders, which are necessary to the success of military operations; and I recommend it to them, should they be again called into their country’s service, to endeavor to acquire the habits and to practise them with alacrity, as the only means under God, by which either personal honour, or public advantage can be obtained. (Bradford, 157)
Although St. Clair may have rightfully placed some of the blame on the Kentuckians for deserting, he for the most part absolved himself from responsibility. In fact, the exert perhaps best summarizes St. Clair’s attitude towards the campaign and why he lost the battle so handedly – he failed to recognize and deal with some of the most fundamental problems in his corps, which, combined with Little Turtle’s excellent leadership, proved to be the death knell of the campaign.
“How many dead warriors,” Little Turtle asked Blue Jacket. “Only four handfuls, with about a dozen handfuls injured,” replied Blue Jacket. Little Turtle surveyed the grizzly scene; he watched as his warriors dispatched wounded soldiers with tomahawk blows while others took scalps from the dead. He did not relish the death and violence, but he believed that maybe this victory would stop further American encroachment into the territory. There were so many wounded American soldiers that his warriors became tired from hitting them with their tomahawks so they decided dispose of them another way – execution fires.
Little Turtle ordered his warriors to drag all of the Americans – alive and dead – into a big pyre. A strong wind from the north carried the rancid smell of human flesh south and overtook St. Clair and his retreating men. They all knew what the smell was, but none of them said anything. There was no reason to say anything. As the fire grew and the last cries from the dying soldiers were extinguished, Little Turtle ordered his men to rifle through the supplies for booty. As his warriors scoured the camp looking for valuables, the Indian chief soon learned one of the reasons why he defeated his foe so easily because there was little there worth taking. A number of muskets were taken along with some small amounts of food and some personal mementos that fleeing soldiers dropped amounted to the total of the battlefield prizes. Little Turtle, Blue Jacket, and most of their warriors had acquired better booty from lightly protected American settlements, but the true prize was their victory over St. Cla
ir and the Americans. The Indians’ march back to the Glaize would be a much more peaceful and relaxing one than the Americans experienced on their trek back to Fort Washington.
The Effects of the Defeat of St. Clair
When General St. Clair and his forces were defeated on the banks of the Wabash River, great political and cultural reverberations were sent throughout the young United States. Upon hearing the news of the defeat, President Washington immediately forced St. Clair to resign his position. St. Clair’s defeat quickly became a political fiasco as the press and public quickly caught wind of the story and pressed Washington for answers. Washington responded in a decidedly reticent manner and eventually invoked what would become known as “executive privilege”, which has generally been used by American presidents in the midst of scandals, such as Richard Nixon and William Clinton in more recent decades. Washington’s use of executive privilege in regards to the Defeat of St. Clair is viewed by historians as precedent setting because latter presidents cited this case in justification of their positions. St. Clair’s defeat definitely had some immediate political effects in the U.S. government, but it also profoundly affected Indian culture in the Northwest Territory.
St. Clair’s defeat proved to be a temporary boon to the Northwest Indian Confederacy, both politically and culturally. About a year after St. Clair’s defeat, the Glaize community officially became the headquarters of the Confederacy. Little Turtle was made the leading warrior of the Confederation and the community reached a population of about 2,000 people. The Glaize became the focal point of Indian culture in the Northwest and the center of resistance to American settlement. Indians from all over the region who heard about the Defeat of St. Clair were drawn to the Glaize as they wanted to fight under the great warrior Little Turtle. In 1791 and ’92 the Indians of the Glaize probably felt fairly safe in their little community on the Maumee River as the closet whites were the allied British at Fort Miamis – the Americans were far to the south at Fort Washington and after their defeat on the Wabash River, would probably not be coming back anytime soon. But the boon was only temporary and if anything, placed the Northwest Indian Confederation into a false sense of complacency. Little did Little Turtle know that his victory over St. Clair set into motion a chain of events that would eventually lead to the end of the Glaize and essentially his career as a tribal leader.
St. Clair’s Defeat as a Catalyst for American Action
Perhaps the greatest result of St. Clair’s Defeat was that it served as a catalyst for American action against the Northwest Indian Confederation. After Little Turtle and his warriors inflicted the humiliating defeat on St. Clair, American opinion in favor of a full-scale invasion of the Northwest became popular. Both the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans – the first two American political parties – argued that the Indians in the Northwest Territory were a barrier to American expansion and that they should be driven out of the region by any means necessary. The Democratic-Republicans were particularly vocal in their ideas of western expansion as they believed that the United States should be populated by yeoman farmers in lands held by the Indians. With public opinion clearly in support of a larger campaign and both political parties openly in favor of the idea, President Washington put a plan into motion that ultimately opened the Northwest Territory for full-scale American settlement.
Citing the disastrous defeat of St. Clair as a reason for action, Washington appointed General Anthony Wayne (1745-1796) to lead an American campaign that would avenge the loss and eventually wrest control of the Northwest from the Indians. Wayne was quite successful in his campaign, although methodically brutal, as he lived up to the nickname “Mad Anthony.”
Wayne was Pennsylvanian born and a dyed in the wool patriot when the American Revolution began. Actually, Wayne earned his nickname during the American Revolution when he rose to the rank of Major General after several successful campaigns against the British. He became known for leading daring charges against numerically superior forces and for rarely retreating. It was during the American Revolution that Wayne got his first taste of fighting Indians on the frontier when he engaged Shawnee and other tribes in the south. Eventually, Wayne proved to be intelligent as he was brave when he sowed divisions between the British and some of their Indian allies during the war. For his efforts, Wayne was ultimately able to remove the Cree and Cherokee from the British alliance and convinced those two tribes to sign treaties with the Americans. The knowledge and skills he learned on the frontier fighting the Indians during the Revolution would prove to be invaluable less than twenty years later when he became the leading American commander in the Northwest Indian War. After the Revolution though, Wayne appears to have had no more desires for combat.
Wayne, like most of his colleagues, embarked on a career in politics and by the time of the Northwest Indian War he was in semi-retirement before Washington recalled him to lead the new campaign against the Indians. Ever the consummate patriot, Wayne accepted Washington’s appointment with no reservations and quickly prepared for his campaign against the Northwest Indian Confederation. In terms of military leadership, Wayne was everything that St. Clair was not: energetic, charismatic, well prepared, and not myopic. In fact, one of the first things Wayne did after assuming control of the campaign was to assemble the soldiers into a well-organized corps that he named the “Legion of the United States.” Wayne was also an ardent disciple military training and drilling along the European model. While the American Legion was being mustered at Fort Washington Wayne introduced a new, novel idea that is now a standard component in all branches of the American military – basic training. Wayne believed that every man in his corps should know the most basic ideas of military theory along with such tangibles as musket maintenance, field medicine, and proper marching. By knowing these things beforehand, Wayne argued that catastrophes like the Defeat of St. Clair could be avoided. The tradition of basic training that Wayne began during the Northwest Indian War has continued uninterrupted in all branches of the American military.
Wayne’s campaign began in earnest in 1793 when he led the Legion to the banks of the Wabash River, where General St. Clair was handed his momentous defeat, to build a fort. Most forts in the eighteenth century were fairly simple and not very big. Most forts of the time were comprised of a few buildings – a barracks, armory, and trading post were essentials with some extra space usually allotted for small private dwellings – and surrounded by a palisade wall. The palisade was almost universally built from local materials, usually logs, as cost and time were both issues to the soldiers that were building the forts. The site was clearly chosen for symbolic reasons, although it also gave Wayne a better staging area from which to launch his assault on the Glaize community and the heart of the Northwest Indian Confederacy. In March, 1794 the fort was finally completed and given the name Fort Recovery, which is what the nearest town is named today. Wayne was proud of the fort’s construction and he did not have to wait long to judge its functionality.
June 30, 1794 was a warm, humid morning at Fort Recovery. General Wayne watched Major William McMahon lead a supply column from the fort that was intended to travel to Fort Washington. Wayne’s countenance was that of a proud, dignified man; his prominent, straight nose and sculpted features made him stand out among other men despite the wrinkles of his age. Wayne was surprised that there had been no major Indian attack on the Legion, but that changed on June 30 when the supply column was attacked shortly after leaving the fort. Thirty two soldiers were killed and about as many were wounded as they limped back to Fort Recovery for safety. “Man the towers, ready the cannons,” shouted Wayne when he heard the news of the attack.
Blue Jacket surveyed the situation outside Fort Recovery. Although he had twice the men that he and Little Turtle had against St. Clair, he knew that Wayne was a more formidable enemy and that the fort would be difficult to breach. Accompanying Blue Jacket was a young Shawnee warrior named Tecumseh. Blue Jacket ordered Tecumseh to oversee the snipers
who were taking aim at the soldiers on the towers. “Give me the gun,” said Tecumseh to a warrior who needed target practice. Although muskets and gunpowder were technologies introduced to the Indians by the Europeans, many warriors quickly mastered the weapons. Indian warriors who became especially adept at firearms were placed in special sniper units that focused on killing American officers, as at the Defeat of St. Clair, or as in the attack at Fort Recovery, aimed at men on the walls. Tecumseh would rather use his tomahawk or knife to kill his enemy, but he knew that if he distinguished himself well with a firearm then he could possibly move up and one day lead the Northwest Indian Confederation. As the Indian snipers took out some Americans caught outside the fort and others on the walls, Blue Jacket and a couple of British “advisors” searched for the cannons St. Clair left behind.
“Are you sure the cannons are here mate?” asked a British advisor to Blue Jacket. “They were on the hill,” replied Blue Jacket. Although Blue Jacket was correct, St. Clair ordered the cannons made inoperable and buried after he saw that their shots were going above the Indians. The general also feared that they may fall into Indian hands, so he made what was probably the best and possibly only good decision, during the battle. Although most of the Americans stayed inside the fort during the siege, the Indians were only able to dedicate a few men to the search since they needed most to try to break through Fort Recovery’s walls and many of the warriors were either not at the Defeat of St. Clair, or if they were they had no idea where the cannons were located. For all the Indians knew the cannons could have been located within the walls of Fort Recovery. The Indians looked and dug for the cannons but they were unable to locate them, which made the siege of the Fort Recovery much more difficult.
True Crime Stories Volume 4: 12 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases (True Crime Anthology) Page 49