Hardin's Defeat
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| Hardin's Defeat | |||||||
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| Part of Northwest Indian War | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Western Confederacy | United States | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Little Turtle | John Hardin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,050 warriors | 540 regulars and militia | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 120-150 killed or wounded | 129 killed 94 wounded |
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Hardin's Defeat was a battle in the Ohio Country on October 19, 1790, between the United States Army and two tribes of Indians. It was part of General Josiah Harmar's campaign in the Northwest Indian War.
Contents |
[edit] Prelude to battle
President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox ordered General Harmar to launch a campaign into the Shawnee and Miami Indian country in retaliation for the killing of over 1,500 civilians in Kentucky, along the Ohio River, and at the few settlements north of the Ohio from the mid to late 1780s. The primary objective of the campaign was the destruction of the large, main Miami village of Kekionga (present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana), where the St. Joseph and St. Marys Rivers join to create the Maumee River.
The campaign was launched from Fort Washington (Cincinnati) in the southwestern Ohio Territory. At 10:00 a.m., on October 7, 1790, General Harmar began the march north, along the Great Miami River, with 320 regular U.S. Army troops and 1,133 volunteer militia, for a total of 1,453 men. Also deployed were three 6-pounder wheel-mounted, horse drawn cannon. By October 14, Harmar's force had marched to within 25 miles of Kekionga (Fort Wayne). At that point, Kentuckians serving as scouts for the army captured a Shawnee. After some intense interrogation (and possible torture), the Indian informed Harmar that the Miami and Shawnee were gathering at Kekionga, preparing for his army's advance. Before dawn on October 15, a detachment of 600 men under Col. John Hardin was dispatched north on a 25-mile forced march to "surprise" the Indians at Kekionga. When Colonel Hardin's detachment arrived, they found the village abandoned and burned it, and camped south of the destroyed town.
[edit] Hardin's 1st Defeat
On October 19, Colonel Hardin was given command of a scouting party consisting of 180 militia, a troop of cavalry under Major James Fontaine, and 30 regulars under Captain Armstrong. The party came within a few miles of Kekionga, where they encountered an Indian on horseback, who fled along a minor trail leading away from the village. Hardin ordered his company to pursue, but sent Major Fontaine's cavalry back to bring up a company that had been left behind. The Indian was a decoy, and led Hardin into a swampy lowland by the Eel River, where he could neither pursue nor easily retreat. Here, Little Turtle attacked from three sides. The militia fled, warning Major Fontaine's reinforcements to turn around.
The regulars stood their ground with about 9 militia, but only 8 of the 30 regulars survived. Captain Armstrong hid in the marsh and escaped with his life. He blamed Hardin and the militia for the defeat, and claimed that only about 100 Indians had been involved. This was the approximate number of warriors available from Kekionga and Le Gris' Village.[1]
[edit] Hardin's 2nd Defeat
On October 20, General Harmar arrived at the camp and immediately sent out a detachment of 300 men under Ensign Phillip Hartshorn northward to reconnoiter the Indian force's trail. Eight miles above Kekionga, Hartshorn was ambushed by a large war party, which killed him and 19 of his men. Instead of advancing immediately to attack the Indian force, Harmar pulled back, several miles south of the village, not even permitting a burial detail to bury their twenty dead. Morale by now had plummeted, and the men were enraged at the cowardice of their commander. Hardin then demanded that he be allowed to take 400 men and attack the Indian force, or at the very least, bury their fallen comrades.
At dawn on October 22, Colonel Hardin, with 300 militia and 60 regulars under Major John P. Wyllys, reached Kekionga to find a force of approximately 1,050 warriors encamped there. Hardin immediately sent a dispatch to Harmar requesting reinforcements. When the courier told Harmar (who was rumored to have been drunk) about the size of the enemy force, he became visibly shaken and ordered his 800-900 remaining men into a hollow defensive square and refused to come to Hardin's aid, leaving him alone to face an enemy more than twice his number. Colonel Hardin, expecting reinforcements at any time, formed his troops into a line just under 3/4 of a mile long and waited for the Indian attack that he knew was coming. He did not have long to wait. Soon the Shawnee and Miami force was attacking Hardin from three sides. Still holding out for reinforcements from Harmar, Hardin's men put up a valiant defense, holding the Indians at bay for over three hours before finally falling back to join the rest of the army. 180 men were killed- including Major Wyllys and 50 of the regulars- or wounded.[2]
The army forces reported 129 men killed in action (14 officers and 115 enlisted men) and 94 wounded. Estimates of Indian casualties range from 120 to 150 total. The campaign came to be known as Harmar's Defeat.
[edit] References
- Barnhart, John D. and Riker, Dorothy L. Indiana to 1816. The Colonial Period. ©1971, Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 0-87195-109-6
- Carter, Harvey Lewis. The Life and Times of Little Turtle: First Sagamore of the Wabash. ©1987, Urbana: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 0-252-01318-2.
