Description: Reproduction of a portrait of Mishikinakwa, also known as Little Turtle, a war chief of the Miami Tribe, ca. 1790-1812. Little Turtle and Shawnee chief Tecumseh led the Miami and Shawnee people in their resistance against white settlers in the western part of Ohio. They successfully defeated United States soldiers led by Josiah Harmar in October 1790, and soldiers led by Arthur St. Clair in 1791. After an attack on Fort Recovery failed in 1794, Little Turtle recommended negotiation with the settlers while other chiefs wanted to continue fighting. The American Indians lost at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and in 1795 they signed the Treaty of Greenville, ceding most of the territory of Ohio to the settlers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02985
Subjects: Little Turtle, 1747?-1812; Miami Indians; American Indian history and society; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood;
Places: 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: This image shows a mounted plaque at Fort St. Clair in Eaton, Ohio. The plaque reads "Fort St. Clair. One mile west. Erected in 1791-92, by order of General James Wilkinson. Here on November 6, 1792, Maj. John Adair's Kentucky Volunteers were attacked by Little Turtle." Fort St Clair was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 16, 2010. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06453
Subjects: Fort St. Clair (Ohio); Little Turtle, 1747?-1812; Northwest Territory--History
Places: Eaton (Ohio); Preble County (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)