The Battle of Fallen Timbers: An historical perspective

Dr. G. Michael Pratt, Heidelberg College professor of anthropology, delivered the keynote address for the bicentennial commemoration of the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August, 1994. The ceremony took place at the Fallen Timbers State Memorial, along the banks of the Maumee River. The following article is the text of Pratt's speech.

At this moment two hundred years ago, the Battle of Fallen Timbers was over. Two miles from here General Anthony Wayne and the Legion of the United States still stood in their battle formation. Four miles away the British garrison at Fort Miamis, now located in Maumee, awaited Wayne's next move. Beyond the Fort, the retreating Indian warriors congregated at the Mouth of Swan Creek, near Toledo's middlegrounds. At this moment two hundred years ago, all of them were just beginning to assess what we, two centuries later, are here to recognize and commemorate - the significance of the Fallen Timbers Campaign.

Two hundred years ago the United States, a Confederation of Indian tribes and Great Britain all sought control of the land known as the Northwest Territory, a vast area north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi rivers. For the young United States, the control of this area was vital to its survival. The addition of the Northwest Territory would permit the US. to grow beyond its original thirteen colonies. Monies gained through the sale of this land would pay the Revolutionary War debts that threatened to bankrupt the national government. For the United States there was also an issue of military credibility. During the previous four years, the U.S. army had been severely beaten twice by the Ohio Indian tribes and the army was ridiculed at home and abroad. In 1794 its newly reorganized army prepared to face the Ohio tribes for the last time. If the campaign ended in defeat, the U.S. would reconsider proposals for an Indian Buffer State in the lands north of the Ohio River.

For Great Britain, the loss of the Northwest Territory meant a loss of fur trade profits and a further reduction of her empire. The English had left their Indian allies out in the cold by the treaty that ended the American Revolution and secretly feared that angry Indians might turn on the Canadian frontier. Great Britain voiced support for continued war and hoped to regain control of the Northwest Territory following an Indian victory. In the spring of 1794, the British built Fort Miamis in a show of strength and solidarity with their Indian allies, but no one knew if these British actions were more than just a show.

For the Indian peoples of the area, there was only one issue. They faced the loss of their lands and their lives in the continuation of a long and bloody war between themselves and the frontier settlers. It was a war that had been fought almost constantly for fifty years and by three generations. It was a war fueled by hatred and intolerance of cultural and racial differences. It was a war in which no quarter was expected or given by either side.

Because the issues were vital to all concerned, the outcome of this battle was destined to be significant. Fallen Timbers was not an event that burst on the scene suddenly, leaving an indelible memory. It was not like the explosion of Challenger. Rather, a significant outcome was anticipated, but none could be certain of what that outcome would be. Fallen Timbers was like the Apollo moon landing. Many of the participants realized they would be a part of history, and therefore recorded the events leading to the Battle and its aftermath. These accounts tell us of the course of the Battle of Fallen Timbers.

About 8 am. the one hundred-fifty mounted Kentucky volunteers that were leading Wayne's army downstream bumped into the center of an ambush line of about 1,100 Indian warriors and 100 British volunteers. Overwhelmed by a heavy fire the Kentuckians fled towards the main army some 500 yards behind. They were pursued by 300-400 warriors who, anticipating a quick victory, gave up their prepared positions and rushed forward. A front guard of army regulars was also overwhelmed, but the Indian attack stalled when it encountered a skirmish line of several hundred Light Infantry and riflemen that were covering the deployment of the main body of the Legion infantry.

Here, in a jumble of trees felled by a tornado, the warriors and the Legion skirmishers traded gunfire for fifteen to twenty minutes while the main army completed its battle line and then opened fire with its light cannon. Once in position, the Legion battle line charged into the fallen timber, supported by its Dragoons and some militia. The 400 or so warriors who had become thinly dispersed across a broad front were overwhelmed by over 1,000 infantry and cavalry. In this instant the tide of battle was reversed. Driven back to their original position, the retreating warriors created disorganization and panic among the Indians who had remained behind. Only on the extreme right of the battlefield, out near Monclova Road, was there an organized attempt to defeat the Legion's charge. Here 100 Wyandots led by Chief Tarhe, 100 British militia and some Odawas retreated slowly and fired rapidly into the left side of the advancing army. Here, Lt. Henry Towles, whose descendants are here today and Little Otter, an Odawa Chief who is also represented here today, met their deaths. Outnumbered and driven from the battlefield, the warriors fled downstream past Fort Miamis whose silent cannon loudly proclaimed that the British had once again failed their Indian allies. The Battle of Fallen Timbers was over. At this hour, 200 years ago everyone was wondering where the events of the day would lead.

Two hundred years later the United States stretches across an entire continent and is the richest and most powerful nation in the world. Much of the size, population and wealth of our country developed from the resources and industrial might of the territory that was won here two centuries ago. In the Battle of Fallen Timbers, the United States won Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan. For two hundred years, Canada has been overshadowed by that same population and industrial power that developed in areas that were once under the control of British Canada. For two hundred years the descendants of the warriors who fought here have been viewed as a beaten and captive people by the majority of Americans. They have been moved from reservation to reservation in response to the desires of their conquerors. Only recently have the voices of these original Americans again been heard in their homeland. Viewed from the perspective of history, the Fallen Timbers Campaign was a turning point in the development, not only of the United States, but of all of North America.

Because of the significance of its outcome, the Battle of Fallen Timbers passed into legend and now, two centuries later, the events loom larger than life. For the U.S. army it is the final scene from the movie Rocky -- almost knocked out twice, but refusing to yield, the legend says, the army rose from the mat and marched into glory under Mad Anthony Wayne. But in reality, General Wayne was ill, he was ambushed, and his orders went unheeded. Captain MisCampbell, just before he was killed, said of the battle, "all is confusion." The Indians of the legend are described as savages blocking the course of civilization, but in reality, the dead they left on the Fallen Timbers battlefield were scalped and mutilated by the civilized Americans. The British role in the battle is usually ignored, but the British participants were all volunteers; they were some of the last to retreat and their unit suffered a greater percentage of death than either Wayne's Legion or the Indian Confederacy. The final irony of the legend is Chief Turkeyfoot. The legendary Indian leader is the only individual from either side to have his own monument, Turkeyfoot Rock. Today, Turkeyfoot appears to be a total fiction.

Viewed from the perspective of history, the Battle of Fallen Timbers, like all other battles, was a messy and a desperate affair. Like all other battles, it was a gamble among political leaders that was wagered with human lives.

For those who lives were bet, this battle, like all battles, had personal significance. On August 20, 1794 Sergeant Eli Edmonson of the 4th Sub-Legion laid his life on the line. Eli Edmonson fought for nearly two hours until he was struck down by a bullet near the end of the battle. Too badly wounded to move, Eli Edmonson lay on the field, alone and suffering, for two days and two nights. During that time General Wayne gave no orders to search for the wounded or to bury the dead. On August 22, Eli Edmonson died just minutes before his body was found by the first burial detail. Like all of the individual Indian warriors and all of the British militia who were killed here and like at least 13 of his fellow Legionnaries, Sergeant Eli Edmonson was buried in an unmarked grave and his name appears on no monument.

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