Harmar's Defeat

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Harmar's Defeat was a battle of the Northwest Indian War. It took place on October 21, 1790 near the Ohio and Indiana border. It is also known as The Battle of the Pumpkin Fields, because the steam from the scalped skulls reminded the Indians of squash steaming in the autumn air. During the battle, a large force of Indians defeated several hundred miltiamen and 60 regulars commanded by Josiah Harmar.

[edit] Background to the battle

In 1789, President George Washington wrote to Northwest Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair and asked him to determine if the Wabash and Illinois Indians were inclined for war or peace with the United States. St. Clair was led to believed the tribes wanted war, and called for a militia force to be assembled at Fort Washington and Vincennes. As a smaller army led by Jean François Hamtramck marched north from Vincennes, General Harmar left Fort Washington with 320 regulars and 1,133 militiamen.^[1] St. Clair wrote to Fort Detroit to assure the British that the expedition was only against Indian tribes, and expressed his confidence that the British would not interfere.^[2]

Harmar set forth on September 30 1790. No time was allowed to train the militia, since when winter arrived the pack horses would lose their forage and go hungry.^[3] Miami villages near Kekionga were reached on October 17. Some had been destroyed by departing Miami, while others were plundered by the Americans. On the 19th, Colonel John Hardin was dispatched with a force of about 200 men to reconnoiter the Indian coalition, led by Miami war chief Little Turtle, and attack the village of Chief Le Gris.^[4] The force was itself attacked and defeated; 20 regulars and 40 miltiamen died.^[5] On the night of October 21, Colonel Hardin and Major John P. Wyllys returned with a force of 300 militia and 60 regulars. The Indians fled, and the militia pursued and became scattered. This left the regulars alone and outnumbered. They were attacked, and Major Wyllys and 50 regulars were killed, as were over 100 of the scattered militia.

With such high casualties from these skirmishes, General Harmar determined that he could no longer mount an offensive. The approaching winter further threatened his command, as militia deserted and horses starved. The force reached Fort Washington November 3 1790.^[6]

[edit] Importance

The defeat encouraged the Indians in the Northwest Territory to resist the United States. A similar force would be led the next year by Governor St. Clair, and would end in the worst defeat by American Indians the United States Army would ever receive. A court martial in 1791 cleared Harmar of any wrong-doing during the campaign which ended at Harmar's Defeat.^[7][8]

[edit] References

1. ^ Barnhart, pg 283
2. ^ Barnhart, pp 284-285, fn.21
3. ^ Barnhart, 283
4. ^ Carter, 94
5. ^ Barnhart, 284
6. ^ Barnhart, 284
7. ^ Johnson, Jeffery L. (October 2004). "Saving Private Boon: Joseph Boone at "Harmar's Defeat"". Compass. The Boon Society. 
8. ^ Harmar's Defeat. Ohio Historical Society. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.

• 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.

• Johnson, Jeffery L. (October 2004). Saving Private Boon: Joseph Boone at "Harmar's Defeat". Compass. The Boon Society. Retrieved on 2006-12-29.