Fort Recovery

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This article is about the fort in Ohio. For other uses, see Fort Recovery (disambiguation).

Fort Recovery was a United States Army fort begun in late 1793 and completed in March 1794 under orders by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. It is located in the present-day village of Fort Recovery, Ohio on the Wabash River within two miles of the boundary with Indiana.

Wayne purposely chose as the location for his new fort the spot where Arthur St. Clair had been defeated in 1791 by a Native American confederacy under Miami Chief Michikinikwa (Little Turtle) and Shawnee Chief Weyapiersenwah. That humiliating battle, called the Battle of the Wabash, ended St Clair's military career and prompted the United States Congress to undertake a full investigation of the loss. Wayne hoped to demonstrate that the United States Army could recover from this crushing defeat and emerge victorious in what is now termed the Northwest Indian War or "Little Turtle's War."

Fort Recovery was a reference point used to define the boundary line established in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795, following Wayne's victory in the Battle of Fallen Timbers. In 1800, it was used as a reference point in defining the initial boundaries of the Indiana Territory when that was first set off from the original Northwest Territory. When Ohio was admitted as a state in 1803, the boundaries had been adjusted and Fort Recovery was not mentioned as a reference point for the boundaries of the state.

In 1891, the battlesites were excavated, and the remains of some 1200 people were buried in a memorial park downtown. In 1910, President William Howard Taft gave Fort Recovery $25,000 to build a monument. Today that monument is a historical landmark.

The town of Fort Recovery has kept its historical roots to this day. Along with Monument Park, visitors can enjoy touring a replica of Wayne's fort, a museum of Indian artifacts, and the original opera house built in 1891.