The way some people fetishize the good old days one might be excused for thinking the US
never lost a battle and was always on the right side of history.
This week on Bad Thing in History . Well, you ll see.
If you had to guess what country was responsible for destroying
twenty five percent of the United States military, what would your answer be?
Perhaps you would think it was the Japanese in World War Two.
Or you might be tempted to pick the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.
In terms of numbers of people killed you would be on the right track. But none of
these were able to come close to destroying the United States military. That honor belongs to a
confederation of Native Americans that waged war during the Presidency of George Washington.
Today we are going to tell you how they did it. ------------------------------------
The Northwest Territory
In the eighteenth century the area south of the Great Lakes and north of the Ohio
River was known as the Northwest Territories. The land in this area
had been in dispute for at least two hundred years before the United States existed.
When Europeans arrived their conflicts inevitably came with them. The native population was forced
to pick sides whenever war broke out. And armed conflict happened all the time.
The reason for creating death and destruction was almost always economic in nature.
The natives participated mostly because of economic concerns. Usually,
they sided with their primary trading partners. From 1609 to 1701 the Iroquois nation fought for
control of the Northwest Territory. They were supported mostly by the British.
The Iroquois fought against tribes that were allied with France.
Eventually the Iroquois were successful and found themselves in control of the territory.
They also destroyed several confederations of native tribes along the way.
The conflict was called the Beaver War because it was fought primarily over hunting rights.
Before the 1600s Europeans acquired most of their furs from Russia and Scandinavia.
But North America offered a cheaper alternative. It also had plenty of beavers. Their coats
were so valuable it was worth waging war for nearly one hundred years.
This resulted in people hunting and killing beavers in great numbers. Natives
and Europeans were so thorough that beavers were almost eliminated from the territories.
This in turn caused ecological damage that lasted for centuries.
A little more than fifty years after the Beaver Wars ended the French and Indian Wars broke out.
The French and British disagreed on who had rights to the Northwest Territory.
So, they fought over it from 1754 to 1763. Eventually the British won.
After the war ended the British began offering land in the Northwest Territories to settlers.
This caused conflict with the natives. Eventually the British changed their
approach and signed a treaty. The treaty stated that the natives owned this land
and settlers were not allowed to live there. The British had problems enforcing the treaty.
Colonists mostly ignored its provisions. And the Revolutionary War would soon begin.
As conflict with the colonies became inevitable the British had to move their forces to the
east coast in preparation. This left the Northwest Territories undefended.
As colonists invaded the northwest territories, they brought death with them.
Massacres
One of the first and most troubling attacks on natives happened in 1774.
The Mingos were a group of native American tribes who moved to the Northwest Territory
in the mid-1700s. One of their leaders was named Logan. He maintained friendly
relations with settlers from Virginia and wasn t expecting violence in return.
Jacob Greathouse and Daniel Greathouse were brothers.
They were originally from Maryland, then moved to Virginia.
The brothers and their families had recently moved into territory occupied by the Mingos.
On April 30th Logan was away hunting. But his wife Mellana and brother
Taylaynee were left behind. Since relations were friendly,
it wasn t hard for the Greathouse brothers to convince Taylaynee and Mellana to join them.
The Mingo visitors were promised liquor and the chance to compete in some sporting events.
It appeared to be a friendly night of drinking and games, so the natives happily accepted.
When they arrived the Mingos were not given drinks. Instead, they were ambushed and killed
with muskets. And then the bodies were mutilated. One of the attendees was a pregnant woman.
Jacob Greathouse cut open her abdomen, removed the dead infant, and scalped it.
The Greathouse brothers never faced legal consequences for their actions.
But they didn t live for much longer at least. Daniel died of measles in 1775.
Jacob died in an ambush in 1777. As the Revolutionary War progressed,
the influence of the British in the Northwest Territories decreased. This allowed both settlers
and the US military to move into the region. It also brought more acts of unspeakable violence.
The Lenape tribes had migrated to the Ohio country in the late 1750s.
They were originally from the Delaware area. But a treaty forced them to move west.
These tribes were diverse. Some were Christian. Most were not. Some sided with the French,
and some sided with the British. But as with all native tribes eventually they came into
direct conflict with settlers. Eventually they were again forced to relocate.
The Lenape were forcibly moved to a village called Captive Town. While
there they began starving because of insufficient rations. In February 1782,
one hundred and fifty of the tribe were allowed to return to their old villages.
They were supposed to harvest crops that were left behind then return to Captive Town.
Instead of collecting food the group was ambushed and captured by a militia group from Pennsylvania.
The Lenape were accused of participating in raids in Pennsylvania,
which wasn t true. The militia had a council and voted to kill the captured natives.
Some of the militia refused to participate and left. But most remained.
When the Lenape heard of the vote, they asked for the evening to prepare for death.
The men were held in one building, and women and children were held in another. Throughout
the night songs and prayers could be heard as they prepared for what awaited the next day.
In the morning, the militia brought the Lenape to killing houses. One house was used for killing men
and another was used for killing women and children. The victims were tied with rope.
Then they were hit in the head with a mallet until stunned. Finally, they were scalped and,
in most cases, bled to death. If necessary, more knife wounds were inflicted to finish the job.
In total the militia killed 28 men, 29 women, and 39 children.
The Native American population that inhabited the Northwest Territories
knew that their survival was at stake. They didn t intend to give up without a fight.
St. Clair s Defeat
The British and the United States signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783.
This ended the Revolutionary War. And it allowed the United States to take
control of the Northwest Territory. The United States was also deeply in debt.
It planned to raise funds by selling lands in the Northwest Territory.
That meant the natives would have to leave. The tribes in these territories were not
included in treaty negotiations. And they intended to resist occupation.
The tribes formed an alliance known as the Western Confederacy of Native Americans.
The alliance consisted mostly of three tribes: the Miamis, the Shawnees, and the Lenape.
In the mid-1780s violence between Native Americans and settlers escalated.
At least one thousand five hundred settlers were killed during hostilities. Nobody knows
how many casualties the tribes suffered. Violence was bad for business. George
Washington was asked to do something about the troublesome natives. So, on October 7,
1790, the US military responded. A force of 1,453 men was sent to crush the native resistance.
The United States military suffered a crushing defeat. They lost over two hundred men and most of
their supplies. The Western Confederacy lost about one hundred and fifty warriors in the battle.
George Washington was not happy. He ordered General Arthur St.
Clair to take command and fix the problem. And it needed to be done by the summer of 1791.
Unfortunately, Congress didn t help. It reduced soldier pay which affected St. Clair
s ability to gather troops. He had to create a fighting force from whatever was available.
That was mostly militia. And it took longer than expected.
With around 2,000 troops under his command, St. Clair finally moved north in October 1791. He
planned to attack Miami territory, near what is Fort Wayne, Indiana today.
Problems started almost immediately. St. Clair suffered from gout which affected his ability
to lead effectively. As a result, there were discipline problems and a high rate of desertion.
By November, the force consisted of only 1,120 men.
The Western Confederacy s force kept growing during this time.
They were led by members from each tribe. Little Turtle led the Miamis.
Blue Jacket was in charge of the Shawnees. And Buckongahelas was the leader of the Lenape.
Together they controlled over one thousand warriors.
On the evening of November 3 St. Clair s forces were on a hill near present day Fort Recovery,
Ohio. As the United States soldiers slept the Western Confederacy
spent the night watching them and waiting. At dawn each day, the soldiers would stack
their weapons and go eat breakfast. The native army hiding nearby waited for them to do this.
Then the attack began. Little Turtle led the first attack.
He drove the militia across the river. They were unable to retrieve their weapons and fled.
The professional soldiers in the camp were better organized. They gathered their weapons
and started firing on the natives. Little Turtle reacted by retreating then
flanking the artillery. The gun crews who operated the artillery were unable to hold their positions.
They destroyed the artillery so that nobody else could use it then fled.
The remaining US forces kept trying to attack and were repeatedly pushed back. After three hours of
fighting St. Clair gathered his remaining forces. He knew that either they would escape or die.
The small group made a final push through the opposing army and broke through.
Those who were wounded or couldn t keep up were left behind.
Nobody knows for sure how many were killed. But the tribes of the Northwestern Confederacy
supposedly had execution fires raging for days after the battle ended.
The casualty rate was the highest ever suffered by a United States army unit.
Eighty-eight percent of the officers became casualties. Among the soldiers
the casualty rate was 97.4%. Well over a thousand people were killed and injured.
About one quarter of the United States military was destroyed in this battle.
Revenge
George Washington was furious when he heard of the defeat. He cursed St. Clair.
St. Clair arrived in Philadelphia in January 1792. He explained what happened to Washington. Mostly
everybody else was blamed for the failures. St. Clair asked for a court martial. He wanted
a public investigation into the matter to clear his name, after which he planned to resign.
Washington did not grant St. Clair s request. He asked the General to resign immediately.
The House of Representatives began their own investigation into the event.
Ultimately, they decided that St. Clair was right. Washington either didn t know or
didn t care that St. Clair was never given what he needed to succeed.
When the British heard about St. Clair s defeat they were thrilled.
They wanted to help the Northwest Confederacy and ensure it remained as a buffer between
the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, war broke out with France again.
The British needed to focus on issues closer to home. So, they signed a treaty with the United
States and abandoned the Northwest Territories. By the summer of 1794, the United States military
was in control of the region. The Northwest Confederacy signed a treaty to end hostilities.
After that the alliance collapsed. The tribes in the Northwest Territories were
unable to organize themselves again into a significant military force. Ultimately,
they lost most of their lands. ------------------
Popular culture greatly simplifies American history where Native Americans are concerned.
They are usually portrayed as helpless victims waiting to be crushed by European expansion. But
they were very capable and powerful people who did not give up when forced to fight for survival.
What do you think? Was the destruction of natives by settlers an inevitable event?
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