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::,< . GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE . v -^^ 
 
 GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE'S 
 EXPEDITION INTO THE INDIAN COUNTRY 
 
GENERAL ANTHONY WAYNE'S 
 EXPEDITION INTO THE INDIAN COUNTRY 
 
 Prepared by the staff of the 
 
 Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County 
 
 1953 
 
 
One of a historical series, this pamphlet is published under the di- 
 rection of the governing Boards of the Public Library of Fort Wayne and 
 Allen County. 
 
 BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE SCHOOL CITY OF FORT WAYNE 
 
 B. F. Geyer, President 
 Joseph E. Kramer, Secretary 
 W. Page Yarnelle, Treasurer 
 Willard Shambaugh 
 Mrs. Sadie Fulk Roehrs 
 
 PUBLIC LIBRARY BOARD FOR ALLEN COUNTY 
 
 The members of this Board include the members of the Board of 
 Trustees of the School City of Fort Wayne (with the same officers), together 
 with the following citizens chosen from Allen County outside the corporate 
 city of Fort Wayne: 
 
 James E. Graham 
 Arthur Niemeier 
 Mrs. Glenn Henderson 
 Mrs. Charles Reynolds 
 
By the Treaty of Paris in 1783 ending the Revolutionary War Great 
 Britain ceded to the United States the territory lying between The Alleghany 
 mountains and the Mississippi River. The British, however, continued to 
 nnaintain garrisons in strong forts within this area. Among the posts thus 
 garrisoned were Detroit, Presque Isle near Erie, and Fort Miamis near 
 Toledo. From these vantage points the British continued to influence the 
 Indians and incite them to attacks upon white settlers. Hundreds of fami- 
 lies of frontiersmen were slain and their homes plundered. 
 
 When General Washington assumed the Presidency in 1789 he dis- 
 patched General Harmar at the head of an expedition to pacify the maraud- 
 ing Indians. Little Turtle and his Indians bided their time. In a sneak attack 
 they utterly defeated the American forces near the Indian village of Kekionga 
 within the limits of the present city of Fort Wayne. In 1791 a second and 
 more powerful American force under General Arthur St. Clair was defeated 
 by Little Turtle's braves near the present town of Fort Recovery, Ohio. 
 This overwhelming defeat cost the little American arnny most of its soldiers 
 and nearly all of its officers. The frontier was then unguarded, and the 
 American Government for a time seemed impotent to protect its citizens 
 against the Indians and their British and Canadian allies. 
 
 In this dire emergency. President Washington chose General Anthony 
 Wayne to re-organize the American forces and to bring the Indians to terms. 
 
 Anthony Wayne, born in 1745, left his business as the leading American 
 tanner in 1775 to join the Pennsylvania line. He served through the American 
 Revolution with the rank of Brigadier-General and was our leading hand-to- 
 hand fighter. He was engaged in the battles of Trois Rivieres, Paoli, 
 
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Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and Green Springs ; was commandant 
 at Ticonderoga; led the surprise attack on Stony Point; was actively en- 
 gaged in the campaign of Yorktown; and commanded the American army 
 in the Georgia campaign against the Indians. He was wounded a number of 
 times in battle. Likewise he suffered as did more than 5, 000 other 
 Americans at Valley Forge. 
 
 General Wayne proceeded westward toward Pittsburgh in the spring 
 and summer of 1792. There he was commissioned to recruit and organize 
 an American army. Some twenty-three miles from Pittsburgh at Legion- 
 ville he drilled his forces and taught them the use of the sabre, pistol, 
 bayonet, and espontoon. On April 30, 1793, his army embarked down the 
 Ohio for Fort Washington, now Cincinnati, where they arrived on May 8, 
 1793. Outside that village of 1,100 persons he established headquarters at 
 a point which he called Hobson's Choice. 
 
 General Wayne continued to recruit additional forces and to drill his 
 men. By early fall the American forces seemed ready to meet the enemy, 
 and on October 7, 1793 General Wayne led his army northward into the 
 Indian country toward Kekionga. He rehabilitated the American forts pre- 
 viously established at Hainilton (Fort Hamilton) and at Eaton (Fort St. Clair) 
 and advanced to Fort Jefferson six miles south of Greenville, Ohio. Thence 
 he advanced as far northward as the present site of Greenville, on November 
 6, 1793. Wayne was now only a few miles from the site where St. Clair was 
 defeated two years previously. On December Z4, 1793, he began the build- 
 ing of a fort at that point which he called Fort Recovery. The Indians had 
 made many attempts to surprise and ambush Wayne's forces but always 
 
found them well-guarded and invincible. From this circumstance the Indians 
 referred to Wayne as "the chief who never sleeps". 
 
 Wayne left a strong garrison at Fort Recovery and then returned to 
 Fort Green. In the spring of 1794 overwhelming Indian forces under Little 
 Turtle, Buckongehelas, Blue Jacket, and others made a surprise attack on 
 Fort Recovery. They killed a number of Americans and stole several 
 horses. However, the fortifications held, and Fort Recovery remained in 
 American hands . After a great feast on horse meat the Indians retired, 
 and many of them returned to their homes at a distance. This for them was 
 a tactical defeat, for many warriors did not return to the conflict. 
 
 General Wayne now felt that he could safely advance into the Indian 
 country. On July 28 his army moved forward via Fort Recovery to the 
 junction of the Auglaize and Maumee Rivers. Arriving there on August 8, 
 1794, he erected fortifications which he called Fort Defiance. When this 
 redoubt was completed he was in a dominating position. One large Indian 
 force was located at Kekionga at the confluence of the St. Mary's and the 
 St. Joseph Rivers, just forty-eight miles southwest of him. Another large 
 force of Indians had assembled at Fort Miamis some 30 miles northeast 
 near Toledo. He spread false rumors of nis intentions and thus kept his 
 enemy divided. Because they were uncertain of his future movements they 
 did not aare to combine against him. There was, however, daily skirmish- 
 ing. The Indians were plainly seeking a weak point in Wayne's defense. 
 
 Turning eastward General Wayne swiftly moved toward Fort Miamis. 
 He stopped eight miles from Fort Defiance and erected a redoubt which he 
 named Fort Deposit. Tnis fort served as storage for military equipment. 
 
Thereafter the legion marched with lightened burdens, ready for instant 
 combat. On their route they reached a point near the present town of 
 Maumee, Ohio where a large part of the forest had been uprooted by a 
 storm. Here on August 20, 1794, the Indians attacked but were overwhelm- 
 ingly defeated. The engagement is known in history as the Battle of Fallen 
 Timbers. The Indians fled to Fort Miamis a few miles away expecting 
 succor from their British friends, but on their arrival the gates of the 
 fort were closed against them. This indicated to them that they had no 
 hope of substantial British aid at this time. For a week Wayne deployed 
 his forces near the British fort, but when no action occurred, he returned 
 to Fort Defiance. He spent two weeks strengthening the fortifications here, 
 and then, on September l4 he advanced toward Kekionga. After a three- 
 days' march he arrived at the capital of the Miami Indians but the inhabit- 
 ants had fled. Here he built a fort which was named for himself - Fort 
 Wayne, On October 22, 1794, to the accompaniment of the roll of drunns 
 anvi the discharge of fifteen cannon, the American soldiers marched into 
 the fort and the authority of the American Government was formally 
 established at the confluence of the Rivers. General Wayne left a strong 
 garrison here and returned with most of his forces to Greenville for the 
 winter. Thus lie completed the conquest of the northwest Territory and at 
 the same time destroyed the strong alliance between the Indians and the 
 British. 
 
 Anthony Wayne is the only leader who served in any of the opposing 
 armies of the Revolutionary War who enhanced his military reputation 
 after that war ended. 
 
Stockton, Catif. 
 
 as 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
 GENERArANTHONY WAYNE'V EXPEDITION INTO 
 
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