The Battle of Fallen Timbers (20 August 1794) was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between the Northwestern Confederacy and United States for control of the Northwest Territory. The battle took place amid trees toppled by a tornado near the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio at the site of the present-day city of Maumee, Ohio.
Major General Anthony Wayne's Legion of the United States, supported by General Charles Scott's Kentucky militia, were victorious against a combined Native American force of Shawnee under Blue Jacket, Ottawas under Egushawa, and many others. The battle was brief, lasting little more than one hour, but it scattered the confederated Native American forces.
The U.S. victory ended major hostilities in the region. The following Treaty of Greenville and Jay Treaty forced Native American displacement from most of modern-day Ohio, opening it to White American settlement, along with withdrawal of the British presence from the southern Great Lakes region of the United States.
Prelude
In the 1783 Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolutionary War, Great Britain ceded rights to the region northwest of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes. Despite the treaty, which ceded the Northwest Territory to the United States, the British maintained a military presence in their forts there and continued policies that supported the Native Americans to slow American expansion. With the encroachment of European-American settlers west of the Appalachians after the War, a Huron-led confederacy formed in 1785 to resist the usurpation of Indian lands, declaring that lands north and west of the Ohio River were Indian territory. The young United States formally organized the region in the Land Ordinance of 1785 and negotiated treaties allowing settlement, but the Western Confederacy of Native American nations were not party to these treaties and refused to acknowledge them. Violence erupted in the area between Native Americans and U.S. settlers in the region and in Kentucky.
In George Washington's first term as President of the United States, the U.S. launched two major campaigns to subdue the Western Confederacy and protect American colonizers from Indian attacks. The Harmar campaign in 1790 resulted in a significant victory for the confederacy and a U.S. retreat to Fort Washington. In May 1791, Lieutenant Colonel James Wilkinson launched what he thought was a clever raid at the Battle of Kenapacomaqua, Wilkinson killed nine Wea and Miami, and captured 34 Miami as prisoners, including a daughter of Miami war chief Little Turtle. Many of the confederation leaders were considering terms of peace to present to the United States, but when they received news of Wilkinson's raid, they readied for war. Wilkinson's raid thus had the opposite effect, uniting the tribes against St. Clair. In 1791, a follow-up campaign was led by territorial governor Arthur St. Clair, which was decimated by combined native forces.
Following this devastating defeat, the area was now open to attacks from the British and their allied native tribes in the west. The U.S. quickly appointed envoys to negotiate peace with the Confederacy. Meanwhile, President Washington commissioned Major General "Mad" Anthony Wayne to recruit and train a more effective and larger force. If peace negotiations failed, Wayne was to bring U.S. sovereignty to the new borders. Wayne commanded about 2,000 men, with Kentuckian settler Joseph Bartholomew and allied Choctaw and Chickasaw men serving as his scouts. In the spring of 1793, Wayne moved the Legion from Pennsylvania downriver to Fort Washington, at a camp Wayne named Hobson's Choice because they had no other options.
When Wayne received news that a grand council of the confederacy had not reached a peace agreement with U.S. negotiators, he moved his army north into Indian held territory. In November, the Legion built a new fort north of Fort Jefferson, which Wayne named Fort Greeneville. The Legion wintered here, but Wayne dispatched a detachment of about 300 men on December 23rd to quickly build Fort Recovery on the site of St. Clair's defeat and recover the cannons lost there in 1791. In response, the British built Fort Miami to block Wayne's advance and to protect Fort Lernoult in Detroit. In January 1794, Wayne reported to Knox that eight companies and a detachment of artillery under Major Henry Burbeck had claimed St. Clair's battleground and had already built a small fort. By June, Fort Recovery had been reinforced, and the Legion had recovered four copper cannons (two six-pound and two three-pound), two copper howitzers, and one iron carronade. The fort was attacked that month, and although the Legion suffered heavy casualties, they maintained control of the fort, and the battle exposed divisions within the confederacy.
Before departing Fort Recovery, Wayne sent a final offer of peace with two captured prisoners to the leaders of the confederation at Roche de Bout. The confederacy leaders debated among themselves. Little Turtle declared Wayne as a "the Chief who never sleeps," and recommended that the confederation should negotiate peace with Wayne. Blue Jacket mocked Little Turtle as a traitor and convinced the others that Wayne would be defeated, just as Harmar and St. Clair had been. Little Turtle then relinquished leadership to Blue Jacket, stating that he would be only a follower. The perceived cracks in the united confederacy concerned the British, who sent reinforcements to Fort Miami on the Maumee River.
Wayne departed Fort Recovery on 17 August and pushed north, buttressed by about 1,000 mounted Kentucky militia under General Charles Scott. Native American scouts noted that the Legion only marched until early afternoon, then stopped to build a fortified encampment, making attack on camps less practical than in previous US campaigns. The Legion constructed Fort Adams and Fort Defiance, so named from a declaration by Charles Scott that "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils of hell to take it." Finally, as the Legion approached Fort Miami, Wayne stopped to build Fort Deposit as a baggage camp so that the Legion could go into battle as light infantry.
Battle
Captain William Wells, Little Turtle's son-in-law and the commander of Wayne's intelligence company, was wounded along with some of his spies after they were identified spying in a Native American camp the night of 11 August. The Choctaw and Chickasaw scouts left the Legion at Fort Defiance after seeing how sick Wayne had become on the campaign. Wayne therefore ordered Captain George Shrim, commander of the Legion's ranger detachment, to lead a party of mounted scouts. On 18 August, Native American forces captured one of the scouts, William May, from whom they learned that Wayne intended to attack on the 19th, unless he stopped to build a supply depot, in which case he would attack on the 20th. Alexander McKee urged the confederacy to choose a suitable battlefield, since they knew the date of the attack. Suspecting that Wayne would march along the Maumee River, Blue Jacket took a defensive position not far from present-day Toledo, Ohio, where a stand of trees (the "fallen timbers") had been blown down by a storm. The tangled debris stretched for nearly a mile, and the heavy brush created a natural abatis which would protect the confederate warriors. The Native American forces, numbering about 1,500, comprised Blue Jacket's Shawnees, Delawares led by Buckongahelas, Miamis led by Little Turtle, Wyandots led by Tarhe and Roundhead, Ojibwas, Odawa led by Egushawa, Potawatomi led by Little Otter, Mingos, a small detachment of Mohawks, and a company of Canadian militiamen dressed as Native Americans under Lieutenant-colonel William Caldwell. After taking their positions starting on 17–18 August, the Native forces fasted in preparation for battle.
Brigadier General Wilkinson urged Wayne to attack with haste before the native forces could assemble, but Wayne opted to fortify Fort Deposit. On the 19th, Wayne sent a battalion of mounted scouts under Major William Price to reconnoiter the area. They encountered a number of confederate positions, but no shots were fired. At the end of that day, a confederate council was held, and it was determined that as Wayne might prepare for battle for several days, their warriors would be given permission to eat the next morning.
The Legion advanced early the next morning, 20 August, while the Native Americans were on their 3rd day of fasting. Due to morning rains, many warriors in the confederacy assumed there would be no battle, and retired to Fort Miami to break their fast. Suspecting contact, Wayne ordered the Legion to march in compacted columns, and distributed the dragoons and artillery in the center of the column so that they could respond to an attack from any direction. A battalion of mounted Kentucky militia led the column, and had difficulty with the terrain. The lead scouts were only about 100 yards into the center of the chosen battlefield when the Odawas and Potawatomis under Little Otter and Egushawa fired their first volley, scattering the militia. Behind the militia were two companies of infantry from the 4th Sub-Legion under Captain John Cook, and he directed their initial volley at the Kentuckians, whom he considered to be fleeing the battle. Soon, however, Cook's detachment fled the scene as advancing warriors initiated hand-to-hand fighting.
The fleeing U.S. forces ran towards the left wing of the Legion's column, where Lieutenant-colonel Jean François Hamtramck commanded the 2nd and 4th sub-legions. They broke through Captain Howell Lewis' company, which fell back without firing a shot. Hamtramck, meanwhile, formed his wing into two ranks to halt the pursuing warriors, many of whom were armed with only tomahawks and knives, and General Wilkinson formed the 1st and 3rd sub-legions into one extended line covering 800 yards of the right wing. Wayne rushed to the sound of the muskets, and quickly deployed two light infantry companies from the center ahead of each wing, to halt any confederate advances until the lines could be properly formed. Artillery was brought to the front and blasted the Native American line with grapeshot. Blue Jacket's well-organized ambush was now in disarray, as the center elements had rushed forward while the wings had remained in position. When asked for orders by his aide-de-camp, Lieutenant William Henry Harrison, Wayne responded "Charge the damned rascals with the bayonet!"
Captain Robert Campbell charged first, leading his company of dragoons across 60–100 yards with sabres drawn. Nearly a dozen of the dragoons were shot in the attack, and Captain Campbell was killed. Wilkinson's dismounted infantry made a slow advance to support the dragoons, and the Odawas and Potawatomis ran and fled back to their positions. The pursuit was so lightly challenged that Wilkinson feared they were being led into a trap, and he paused to await instructions from Wayne.
Meanwhile, Hamtramck advanced at trail arms and encountered the Wyandots, Lenape, and Canadians. A heavy exchange of fire ensued, and the confederate forces attempted to flank the 4th sub-legion. Instead, a brigade of Kentucky militia under Brigadier General Robert Todd moved quickly through the swamp and flanked the Canadians. The 4th sub-legion pursued with fixed bayonets. The confederated forces retreated from their original positions, and were unable to effectively re-form in the rough terrain.
Wilkinson eventually resumed a cautious advance along the ridge high above the Maumee River. On route to Fort Miami, the Native forces had to cross a ravine. The Odawa and Potawatomi attempted to regroup here. Egushawa was in command, but was wounded when he was shot through the eye. Little Otter was severely wounded, and was thrown on the back of a white horse and evacuated so he could not be captured by the Legion. Another Odawa chief, Turkey Foot, stood atop a large rock and urged the warriors to make their stand, but he was shot in the chest and died almost instantly. According to Alexander McKee, the loss of so many confederate leaders made the Native American losses seem greater than they actually were, and many warriors fled to Fort Miami.
Beyond the ravine, the landscape was much more open, allowing the Legion to advance more quickly and giving dragoons a frightening advantage over dismounted warriors. McKee, Matthew Elliot, and Simon Girty tried to rally the retreating forces one last time, but they were largely ignored. The retreat became a disorganized rout, except for the rear guard protection provided by the Canadians and Wyandots.