Penny For Your Thoughts By: Nancy Whitaker
I was talking to my friend, Denny, the other night about History and he asked me. “Have you ever heard of the battle of St. Clair?” “It was fought in Ohio and very close to Mercer County.” (Now, Denny and I like to challenge each other on history trivia and let me say this, “Denny can tell you almost everything about the wars we have been engaged in.) (Shhhh, don’t tell him I said that he can beat me at trivia.)
I replied, “No. But, I have heard of Custers last stand.”
“Nope, nope, he said. “Google it.” So I did. Even though I studied Ohio History in school, I guess I did not focus too much on one of the biggest Indian battles of all times fought pretty close to here.
I have heard and read many stories about General Custer and his battle with the Sioux that cost him his life, but never read much on Mr. St. Clair’s bloody battle. St. Clair’s defeat, which also is called the Battle of the Wabash, was the greatest defeat of an American army by a confederation of American Indians in our country’s history. Yet it never gets mentioned. The story to me is fascinating.
In case you are a history buff, in 1791 a group of soldiers and their followers left another post in Pennsylvania to go fight a group of Indians. The troops were led by Arthur St. Clair, who had also fought in the Revolutionary War.
The Army, marched along the western edge of Ohio into what is now Mercer County (Fort Recovery). The Governor of the Northwest Territory, Major General Arthur St. Clair, a veteran general of the American Revolution, commanded an Army of militia which included six-month volunteers and regulars. They had hoped for a force of 4,000, but only could muster 2,000 able bodies. To increase his firepower, St. Clair had an assortment of eight medium- and- light field artillery pieces.
But the campaign was delayed and the soldiers got restless. One reason was that St. Clair had a bout with the gout and is was so painful, he could not get up on his horse.
The soldiers that had enlisted for 6 months were getting tired of waiting around and when the group did begin their march, they could only travel a few miles through the dense wilderness. So, many soldiers just left and some just got plain tired and deserted.
On the evening of Nov. 3, the Army made their encampment alongside the Wabash River (located in present day Ohio) deep in enemy territory on about 7 acres of wilderness. Can you imagine what all the soldiers had in their encampment? Well, whatever it was, they were not prepared for the large force of Indians they encountered the next fateful day. The men were tired, cold, hungry and was looking forward to some sleep.
Major Butler second in command, observed some natives milling around outside their camp, but after observing them, thought they would surely attack in the morning and not that evening. St. Clair had went to bed and Butler forgot to inform him about the approaching morning attack.
Who were all the tribes in the battle?There were various tribes all fighting together such as, Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot and Miami. Leading the Miami warriors was Little Turtle. whom they say was the greatest military leader and he was never defeated in a battle. This day was no different.
The dreary morning of Nov. 4, 1791 was a cold rainy day and occasionally snow flakes would float across the ground. Some one played the Reveilee to wake people up around day light and here came the Indians ready to fight, defend and claim their land.
The soldiers watching the artillery got killed right off the bat and approximately 300 more fled for their lives. After two hours St. Clair ordered a retreat with the Americans casualty rate, among the soldiers, was 97.4 percent, including 632 of 920 killed (69%) and 264 wounded. Nearly all of the 200 camp followers were slaughtered, for a total of 832 Americans killed. Approximately one-quarter of the entire U.S. Army had been wiped out. There were more American soldiers lost at this battle than the Sioux killed at the Battle of Little Big Horn. Indian casualties were about 61, with at least 21 killed.
One interesting fact is that the Indians did not chase the deserters, but chose to plunder in that encampment. I wonder what they found?
Another interesting bit of information was that St. Clair had his horse shot from underneath him 2 times during the battle. After the smoke cleared, the soldiers fled for their lives. When President George Washington heard of the disaster, he replaced Arthur St. Claire as commander.
It is hard to imagine the history that has taken place right here in Ohio and close to us. There was even a song written about Commander St. Clair. You will have to “Google” it, learn the words and the tune. If you do, I’ll give you a Penny for Your Thoughts.
