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 to Fort Jefferson, frontier post of the upper Miami Valley, built in 1791 and located in Fort Jefferson, Darke County, Ohio. The photograph was taken ca. 1940. Fort Jefferson was built about six miles south of Greenville, Ohio, on the order of General Arthur St. Clair in October 1791. The purpose of the fort was to serve as a supply garrison for St. Clair's campaign against the area’s American Indian population, hence its original name of Fort Deposit. In November 1791, St. Clair attacked the area's tribes, but under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors from nine different American Indian tribes easily defeated St. Clair and his troops. This loss, which was one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, came to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." During the battle, well over half of St. Clair’s 1,400 men were killed or wounded. After the battle, St. Clair’s men fled to Fort Jefferson, but found little in the way of supplies and quickly moved south to Fort Washington. Later, Fort Jefferson was used during the campaign of General Anthony Wayne before being abandoned in 1796. The location is now the site of the Fort Jefferson Memorial Park, one of the Ohio History Connection's network of historic sites. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00334
Subjects: Forts & fortifications; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Northwest Territory--History; American Indians--Warfare; Fort Jefferson
Places: Fort Jefferson (Ohio); Darke County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption on reverse reads: "Indian Trail Marker (Silhouette). Central Pky. and Sycamore Str." This photograph shows a plaque with the silhouette of soldiers and a covered wagon on top, held between two concrete pillars. It used to stand somewhere near the intersections of Reading Road, Central Parkway and Sycamore Street, in Cincinnati. Inscription reads: "Approximately at this point two Ohio military trails branched. Reading Road follows the marches of Bowman, Clark, Harmar, Harrison, Clay and Shelby, 1779 - 1812. Central Parkway follows the route of St. Clair and Wayne, 1791 - 1793." A historical marker, erected under the Ohio Revolutionary Memorial Commission's plan, stands at Central Parkway and Sycamore where the two Ohio trails branched. Reading Road following the marches of Bowman, Clark, Harmar, Harrison, Clay and Shelby; and Central Parkway folloing the route of St. Clair and Mad Anthony Wayne - brave names in those days of pioneer drumbeat and marching soldiers and frontiersmen in buckskin. The Daughters of the American Revolution placed at the Central Parkway and Ludlow Avenue intersection a bronze tablet in memory of Major General Arthur St. Clair, who was an officer in the Revolutionary War, first governor of the Northwest Territory, and the man who gave Cincinnati its name. Major General Arthur St. Clair left Fort Washington, in present day Cincinnati, on September 17, 1791, following the aforementioned trail north, in order to build a fort at the head of the Maumee River. An large group of Indians led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket, as well as army deserters and prisoners, left Kekionga in Indiana, heading south. The Indians had been receiving information about the army's movements from warrior scouts and deserters, and a large group led by Little Turtle and Blue Jacket headed south to intercept St. Clair's army. A battle ensued near what is now Fort Recovery in which most of St. Clair's officers were killed, causing him to lose his post and his reputation.General Anthony Wayne returned in 3 years with properly trained, well-equipped army, and defeated the Indians at Fallen Timbers near Toledo. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B09F10_021_1
Subjects: Historical markers--Ohio--Cincinnati; Indian trails--Ohio; Central Parkway Area (Cincinnati, Ohio); Memorials--Ohio; Wayne, Anthony, 1745-1796; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Caption reads: "A bronze placque set on standards beside the Memorial Building on High Street, Hamilton, Ohio. Photo by Federal Writers' Photographer, May 5, 1937." Inscription on plaque reads: "Fort Hamilton. Built by General St. Clair in 1791, on his campaign against the Indians. It was enlarged in 1792 and used by General Wayne in 1793, on his march to Fallen Timbers." Arthur St. Clair, a general in the United States Army, ordered the construction of Fort Hamilton in September 1791. The fort was the first of many built north from Cincinnati in Native American territory. Fort Hamilton served as a supply depot for American expeditions against natives living along the Great Miami River, the Auglaize River, and the Maumee River during the early 1790s. Fort Hamilton consisted of a four-sided, square stockade. Each wall was approximately fifty yards in length. There were four diamond-shaped projections called bastions sticking out from the stockade's walls. Upon the fort's completion in early October, 1791, St. Clair left a small group of soldiers and two cannons to garrison it. He proceeded northward forty-five miles, where he constructed Fort Jefferson. In early November, St. Clair's men marched northward. On November 4, 1791, Native Americans won a major victory against the American army in a battle that came to be known as St. Clair's Defeat. Fort Hamilton continued to serve as an important garrison as white Americans and Native Americans struggled for control of western Ohio. Modern-day Hamilton, Ohio, is located on the site of Fort Hamilton. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B09F10_042_1
Subjects: United States. Army. Fort Hamilton; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Front photo caption reads: "Tomlinson, Waverly, O. 'The Lake White City.'" Back caption reads: "Main & Mulberry Sts. Chillicothe, O. Headquarter of Gen. Arthur St. Clair." Historical marker on photograph reads: "Gen. Arthur St. Clair, first governor of the N. W. Territory had his headquarters here 1800-1802." Arthur St. Clair was a political and military leader in the Ohio country in the years of the American Revolution and the new nation. He was the first governor of the Northwest Territory. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F02_021_1
Subjects: St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Memorials--Ohio; Ross County (Ohio)--History; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Chillicothe (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows a monument at Fort Jefferson in Greenville, Ohio. Fort Jefferson was built about six miles south of Greenville, Ohio, on the order of General Arthur St. Clair in October 1791. The purpose of the fort was to serve as a supply garrison for St. Clair's campaign against the area’s American Indian population, hence its original name of Fort Deposit. In November 1791, St. Clair attacked the area's tribes, but under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors from nine different American Indian tribes easily defeated St. Clair and his troops. This loss, which was one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, came to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." During the battle, well over half of St. Clair’s 1,400 men were killed or wounded. After the battle, St. Clair’s men fled to Fort Jefferson, but found little in the way of supplies and quickly moved south to Fort Washington. Later, Fort Jefferson was used during the campaign of General Anthony Wayne before being abandoned in 1796. The location is now the site of the Fort Jefferson Memorial Park, one of the Ohio History Connection's network of historic sites. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06440
Subjects: Forts & fortifications; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Northwest Territory--History; American Indians--Warfare; Fort Jefferson
Places: Greenville (Ohio); Darke County (Ohio)
 

Description: This image shows the plaque at the Fort Jefferson monument in Greenville, Ohio. Fort Jefferson was built about six miles south of Greenville, Ohio, on the order of General Arthur St. Clair in October 1791. The purpose of the fort was to serve as a supply garrison for St. Clair's campaign against the area’s American Indian population, hence its original name of Fort Deposit. In November 1791, St. Clair attacked the area's tribes, but under the leadership of Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle), a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors from nine different American Indian tribes easily defeated St. Clair and his troops. This loss, which was one of the worst defeats of the American military at the hands of the American Indians, came to be known as "St. Clair’s Defeat." During the battle, well over half of St. Clair’s 1,400 men were killed or wounded. After the battle, St. Clair’s men fled to Fort Jefferson, but found little in the way of supplies and quickly moved south to Fort Washington. Later, Fort Jefferson was used during the campaign of General Anthony Wayne before being abandoned in 1796. The location is now the site of the Fort Jefferson Memorial Park, one of the Ohio History Connection's network of historic sites. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06441
Subjects: Forts & fortifications; St. Clair, Arthur, 1734-1818; Northwest Territory--History; American Indians--Warfare; Fort Jefferson
Places: Greenville (Ohio); Darke 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)
 

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)