American Northwest Indian wars
The American Northwest Indian Wars were a series of conflicts that arose in the late 18th century as Native American tribes sought to resist American encroachment on their lands following the American Revolution. The wars were significantly fueled by the desire of the United States to expand its territory, particularly north of the Ohio River, in line with treaties that had been largely ignored.
Key figures in these conflicts included Miami chief Little Turtle and Shawnee chief Blue Jacket, who led a coalition of tribes, including the Wyandot, Delaware, and Ottawa, among others. This confederacy emerged in response to American militia raids and successfully defended their territories against multiple military campaigns, notably achieving a major victory at the Battle of the Wabash in 1791. However, by 1794, following a military campaign led by General Anthony Wayne, the confederacy was ultimately defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
The aftermath of the wars saw a lasting impact on Native American unity and relations with the British, whom many tribes felt had betrayed them. The conflicts highlighted the complexities of American expansion and the resistance of Indigenous peoples, illustrating a critical chapter in the history of native-settler relations in North America.
On this Page
American Northwest Indian wars
At issue: Control of the Old Northwest of the United States
Date: 1786–1794
Location: Indiana and Ohio
Combatants: U.S. troops vs. Native Americans
Principal commanders:Native American, Miami chief Little Turtle (1752–1812), Shawnee chief Blue Jacket; United States, Brigadier General Josiah Harmer (1753–1813), Major General Arthur St. Clair (1736–1818), Major General Anthony Wayne (1745–1796)
Principal battles: Kekionga, Wabash, Fallen Timbers
Result: Native American victories followed by decisive defeat
Background
After the American Revolution, most Native Americans and Canadians sought to stop American settlement north of the Ohio River in accordance with the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768. Canadian authorities retained their forts inside United States territory at Niagara, Detroit, and Mackinac, and their Indian department agents supported resistance to the Americans. The United States was unable to use treaties to reduce indigenous control over this vast area.
Action
The war began in 1786 with Kentucky militia raids into the Wabash and Maumee River valleys that had the unintended consequences of unifying rather than subduing the Native Americans. The Algonquin-speaking peoples of the Old Northwest united under the leadership of Miami and Shawnee chiefs Little Turtle and Blue Jacket. The Indians concentrated their multitribal villages along the Maumee and upper Wabash valleys and began raiding white settlements along the Ohio River. By 1790, under Little Turtle’s nominal leadership, the most formidable Indian confederacy in the history of the United States included the Miami, Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Mingo, Sac, Fox, and Potawatomi with ties to the militant Cherokee and Creek in the South.
Urged on by men such as British Indian Agents Alexander McKee and Matthew Elliott and supported with British arms and ammunition, the Maumee-Wabash Confederacy prepared to meet an American expedition of regulars and militia headed by Brigadier General Josiah Harmar against the largest Miami settlement at Kekionga (later Fort Wayne, Indiana) in 1790. Two well-executed counterattacks led by Little Turtle repulsed the Americans and enhanced the confederacy’s reputation throughout the region. The next fall, Major General Arthur St. Clair led a second, ill-equipped and ill-trained American force that Little Turtle’s forces routed at the Battle of the Wabash (later Fort Recovery, Ohio), on November 4, 1791. More than 700 Americans died in what was probably the most decisive defeat ever suffered by U.S. Army forces at the hands of Native Americans.
The confederacy reached its peak in 1792, but it disintegrated slowly when intertribal rivalries and the lack of logistical support for the Indians of the upper lakes caused many to remain at home. Little Turtle suspected, correctly, that the British would not support the confederacy militarily. A military advance led by Major General Anthony Wayne in 1794 ended with a U.S. victory at Fallen Timbers and terminated the confederacy.
Aftermath
The conflict united Americans against the British, whom they blamed for inciting the Native Americans. Their betrayal at British hands divided the Indians, who never again would unify as effectively as they had under Little Turtle.
Bibliography
Carter, Harvey Lewis. The Life and Times of Little Turtle: First Sagamore of the Wabash. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1987.
Dowd, Gregory Evans. A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745–1815. Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.
Kohn, Richard H. Eagle and Sword: The Federalists and the Creation of the Military Establishment in America, 1783–1802. New York: Free Press, 1975.
Nelson, Larry L. A Man of Distinction Among Them: Alexander McKee and British-Indian Affairs Along the Ohio Country Frontier, 1754–1799. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1999.