Description: Fort Recovery, built in 1793-1794, was the site of Major General Arthur St. Clair's defeat by a large alliance of American Indians under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). Fort Recovery is in Mercer County, Ohio. The photograph was taken ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00380
Subjects: Forts & fortifications; Mercer County (Ohio); Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: Statue of a pioneer at the base of Fort Recovery Monument, Mercer County, Ohio. Fort Recovery, built in 1792, was the site of Major General Arthur St. Clair defeat by an Indian Confederacy under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00290
Subjects: Monuments; Ohio History--Military Ohio; Sculpture; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of a hand-drawn military map shows the encampment and disposition of forces during St. Clair's Defeat on November 4, 1791, near the future Fort Recovery, Ohio. St. Clair's Defeat is also known as the Battle of the Wabash and the Battle of Kekionga. The sketch shows the battle lines and location of battalions, artillery, the American Indian forces, and line of retreat. A handwritten caption reads: "The light I am in will not give me time fully to explain this plan of the action of the [indecipherable]." In November 1791, Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, led a U.S. military force against the Miami tribe in the area of the Wabash River in western Ohio, near several Miami villages. On the morning of November 4, under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors moved against the attacking forces. The American Indians engaged in the battle came primarily from nine different tribes, including the Wyandots, Seneca, Cherokee, Ojibwe, Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Delaware, and Miami. Many of the militiamen under St. Clair immediately fled as the American Indians surrounded their’ camp. After three hours of fighting, the remaining U.S. soldiers fought their way out and began a lengthy retreat. The survivors reached Fort Jefferson late that afternoon and evening. Facing limited quantities of food and supplies at Fort Jefferson, St. Clair ordered his forces to Fort Washington. Of the 1,400 men who served under St. Clair, 623 soldiers were killed and another 258 wounded. One of the survivors stated, "The ground was literally covered with the dead." The American Indians had soundly defeated St. Clair's army; this loss, one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, would come to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06996
Subjects: Military maps; Military encampments; Kekionga, Battle of, Ohio, 1791; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Little Turtle, 1747?-1812; Miami Indians; Fort Recovery (Ohio);
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: In late 1791, the Miami (Myaamia) Nation defeated General Arthur St. Clair's forces at this site along the Wabash River. Nearly three-quarters of St. Clair's men were killed or wounded in the attack. In late 1793, General Anthony Wayne sent a force to build a four-blockhouse post named Recovery at the site of St. Clair's defeat. It was completed in March of 1794 and on June 30 of that year, General Wayne's army defeated a large number of American Indian warriors. This set the stage for Wayne's final triumph at Fallen Timbers in August of 1794. Today, Fort Recovery State Memorial offers visitors a glimpse of the 1790s, featuring two reconstructed blockhouses with connecting stockades, a monument, and a museum. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F01_024
Subjects: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Forts & fortifications--1770-1800.
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows Fort Recovery, which stands on the spot where Fort St. Clair once stood.In December 1793, General Anthony Wayne ordered one United States artillery unit and eight infantry companies to the site of St. Clair's Defeat. The soldiers were to construct a fort on the former battlefield. Wayne intended to use this fort as a staging area for his assault against the region's American Indian tribes in the spring of 1794. He named the stockade Fort Recovery. Following the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794, most American Indians realized they had little chance in stopping white settlement of their lands. In August 1795, many of the area's tribes agreed to sign the Treaty of Greeneville. They gave up all claims to land south and east of a line that extended south from Lake Erie, along the Cuyahoga River, to the Tuscarawas River, and then to Fort Laurens. From Fort Laurens, the line ran west to Fort Loramie, then northwest to Fort Recovery, and then straight south to the Ohio River. Anthony Wayne had secured from the American Indians the majority of modern-day Ohio with the exception of the northwestern corner of the state. The city of Fort Recovery, Ohio, stands today on the site of the frontier fort. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06521
Subjects: American Indian history and society; Fort St. Clair (Ohio); American frontier
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: Two photographs document the reconstructed Fort Recovery in Mercer County. Fort Recovery was built on the site of General Arthur St. Clair's defeat in 1791. General "Mad" Anthony Wayne ordered the fort to be constructed in December 1793 to use as a staging area for his campaign against the regions American Indians who were defending their lands against encroaching white settlement. In spring 1794, a group made up of members of the Shawnee, Delaware, Ottawa, Miami, and Ojibwe Tribes attacked a supply wagon near the fort. Wayne's troops defeated the American Indians, setting the stage for a final victory against three months later at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3102_3737108_002
Subjects: Military Ohio; American Indians in Ohio; Forts & fortifications
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph of Fort Recovery Monument in Mercer County was taken in the 1960s. Fort Recovery Monument was dedicated on July 1, 1913, in honor of the soldiers who perished in the two battles at the site. President William Howard Taft signed the bill to create the monument in 1908. The Ohio Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) reconstructed two blockhouses with a connecting stockade on the site, which it operates along with the monument and museum. The photograph measures 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). Fort Recovery was built on the site of General Arthur St. Clair's defeat in 1791. General "Mad" Anthony Wayne ordered the fort to be constructed in December 1793 to use as a staging area for his campaign against the region's American Indians, who were defending their lands against encroaching white settlement. In spring 1794, a group made up of members of the Shawnee, Delaware, Ottawa, Miami, and Ojibwe Tribes attacked a supply wagon near the fort. Wayne's troops defeated the American Indians, setting the stage for a final victory against three months later at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3102_3737118_001
Subjects: Military Ohio; American Indians in Ohio; Arts and Entertainment; Monuments & memorials
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reconstructed block houses and stockade on the site of Fort Recovery, Mercer County, Ohio. The stockade was reconstructed in 1955 and 1956. The original fort was built in 1793-1794 by soldiers under the command of General Anthony Wayne on the site where soldiers under General Arthur St. Clair's command were defeated by a confederacy of American tribes under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). Wayne's forces succeeded in defending the fort and bringing an end to military conflict between the American Indian tribes and European settlers in the territory that became the state of Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01008
Subjects: Mercer County (Ohio); Ohio History--Military Ohio
Places: Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: This broadside, printed in 1791, commemorates the Columbian Tragedy, a reference to the Battle of the Wabash, also known as "St. Clair's Defeat." The battle occurred on November 4, 1791, near several Miami villages along the Wabash River in what is now Mercer County, Ohio. At daybreak that morning, a large alliance of American Indians, led by Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), surprised and overwhelmed an American army of about 1,600 men under Major General Arthur St. Clair, wounding or killing over half of the unprepared troops. The conflict is known as the greatest Indian victory over American military forces in the nation's history. 39 officers, whose names are listed on this broadside, were killed, along with over 900 soldiers. Also included on the broadside are engravings of Major General Richard Butler, who was killed in the battle, and a scene titled "Bloody Indian Battle Fought at Miami Village, Nov. 4, 1791," as well as a lengthy funeral elegy.. The location of the Columbian Tragedy is now the site of Fort Recovery State Memorial and the village of Fort Recovery. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS2500
Subjects: American Indians--Warfare; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Battlefields; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood; Little Turtle, 1747?-1812
Places: Fort Recovery (Ohio); Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: Monument on the site of Fort Recovery in Mercer County, Ohio, ca. 1955-1970. The monument was built in 1913. The fort was built in 1793-1794 by soldiers under the command of General Anthony Wayne on the site where soldiers under General Arthur St. Clair's command were defeated by a confederacy American Indian tribes. Wayne's forces succeeded in defending the fort and bringing an end to military conflict between the region's American Indian tribes and settlers in the territory that became the state of Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL01007
Subjects: Forts & fortifications; Monuments; Other--Ohio Historical Society
Places: Mercer County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a photograph of an illustration that was possibly considered for a chapter heading for the Ohio Guide project. It is similar to the block house at Fort Recovery. In late 1791, Miami Indians defeated General Arthur St. Clair's forces at this site along the Wabash River. Nearly three-quarters of St. Clair's men were killed or wounded in the Indian attack. In late 1793, General Anthony Wayne sent a force to build a four-blockhouse post named Recovery at the site of St. Clair's defeat. It was completed in March of 1794 and on June 30 of that year General Wayne's army defeated a huge Indian force. This set the stage for Wayne's final triumph at Fallen Timbers in August of 1794. Today Fort Recovery State Memorial offers visitors a glimpse of the 1790's, featuring two reconstructed blockhouses with connecting stockade, a monument, and a museum. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F01_042
Subjects: Books; Chapter heading; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Reverse reads "Darke Co., Greenville, O., March 25, 1938. Facsimile of Wayne's Treaty (also see #28 and #29) On August 20, 1794, an American army commanded by Anthony Wayne defeated a Native American force led by Blue Jacket of the Shawnee at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. With this victory, Indians living in the western portion of modern-day Ohio knew that they had to sue for peace. In January 1795, representatives from the various tribes met with Wayne at Fort Greene Ville. The Americans and natives spent the next eight months negotiating a treaty. It became known as the Treaty of Greeneville. On August 3, 1795, leaders of the Wyandot Indians, the Delaware Indians, the Shawnee Indians, the Ottawa Indians, the Miami Indians, the Eel River Indians, the Wea Indians, the Chippewa Indians, the Potawatomi Indians, the Kickapoo Indians, the Piankashaw Indians, and the Kaskaskia Indians formally signed the treaty. The natives agreed to relinquish all claims to land south and east of a boundary that began roughly at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. It ran southward to Fort Laurens and then turned westward to Fort Loramie and Fort Recovery. It then turned southward to the Ohio River. The Indians, however, could still hunt on the land that they ceded. The whites agreed to relinquish their claims to land north and west of the line, although the natives permitted the Americans to establish several trading posts in their territory. The United States also provided the Indians with $20,000 worth of goods for signing the treaty. The American government also agreed to give the natives $9,500 every year in goods. The Indians were to decide how the goods would be divided among them. Many Indians refused to honor the agreement. White settlers continued to move onto the contested land. Violence continued between these two peoples. Native American leaders like Tecumseh and the Prophet would emerge in the early 1800s to carry on the Indian struggle to regain their lost land. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B01F05_002_001
Subjects: Ohio Government; Military Ohio; American Indians in Ohio; Northwest Territory; Treaties; Treaty of Greenville
Places: Greenville (Ohio); Darke County (Ohio)