Remembering a battle few know about

Ihave read so many stories over the years about Custer’s last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 that it makes my head spin.

But I have yet to read one story about St. Clair’s defeat, which took place in what is now Ohio. It made Custer’s battle look like a mere skirmish.

St. Clair’s defeat, which also is called the Battle of the Wabash, was the greatest defeat of an American army by a confederation of American Indians in our country’s history.

Yet it never gets a mention. I talked to my friend, Michael Bergman, an Ohio history expert who lives in Madison County, about the battle.

He said 1,400 soldiers left Cincinnati in 1791 to fight the hostile Indians in the Northwest Territory.

The troops were led by Arthur St. Clair, who had also fought in the Revolutionary War. The Army, which included many camp followers, marched along what now is the western edge of Ohio to what now is Mercer County. There, troops went into a large encampment that covered about 7 acres, Bergman said.

At daybreak Nov. 4, a large force of Indians, including Shawnee, Delaware, Wyandot and Miami, attacked the camp.

Bergman said Little Turtle, who led the Miami warriors, probably was the greatest Indian military leader in the Ohio Country.

“He was never defeated in battle,” he said.

The attack decimated the camp, killing 623 soldiers and many of the camp followers. coverage following the battle and how everybody was calling for revenge,” he said. “Custer’s defeat triggered the manner in which the Indians were removed from their lands and forced onto reservations.”

That battle, Bergman said, provided the political justification for the Indian wars out West. “Custer’s Last Stand shook the nation,” he said.

I wonder whether St. Clair’s defeat never gets mentioned today because it didn’t make all that much news at the time.