"Indians were not afraid of death": how the Battle of a Thousand was one of the worst defeats in the history of the American army

On November 4, 1791, there was a battle known as the Defeat of St. Clair, or the Battle of a Thousand Killed.

It is considered one of the largest defeats of the US Army in history.

Historians estimate the losses of Americans at about 90% of the total number of military personnel who participated in the battle on the side of the United States.

Northwest Indian War

In 1783, the US War of Independence ended. The victory of the American colonists over their former mother country was secured by the Versailles Peace Treaty. However, despite the formal end of hostilities, territorial disputes between the United States, Great Britain and local Indian peoples were not settled. The problem arose, in particular, because of the lands in the Great Lakes region that formally ceded to the United States, on which the American authorities later created a special administrative formation - the so-called Northwest Territory.

“The British were reluctant to leave their forts northwest of the Ohio River.

To complicate the negotiation process on the settlement of the disputed territories or even force the Americans to abandon them, the British encouraged Indian tribes to fight with American colonists, "historian and writer Alexei Stepkin said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, according to Yegor Lidovsky, Director General of the Latin American Cultural Center named after Hugo Chavez, the Indians were not satisfied with the very wording of the question that whites were dividing their lands.

The situation was aggravated by the fact that the US authorities, seeking to solve the acute economic problems of the newly created state, began to sell lands inhabited by Indians and actually not controlled by the United States to American settlers.

“The Indians, who were indigenous to these places, did not perceive what was happening.

To defend the right to continue to live on their land, they united into a confederation known in historical literature as the Western or Northwest.

It included Miami, Shawnee, Delaware, Potawatomi and other peoples, ”Lidovskaya explained.

As Vladimir Vasiliev, chief researcher at the Institute of the USA and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted in a conversation with RT, the authorities of the United States, seizing new territories, did not intend to reckon with the opinion of the Indians.

• War of Independence of the United States.

  Episodes

• © Wikimedia

“The development of the territories of North America was accompanied by the cleansing of indigenous peoples from them.

The land was perceived by the Indians not just as a living space, it had a sacred meaning for them.

But the Americans tried to show the Indians "who is the boss" and did not even raise the question of peaceful coexistence, "Vasiliev said.

These contradictions, according to experts, led to the beginning of the so-called Northwest Indian War, the chronological framework of which is rather arbitrary.

Some historians attribute to it all the clashes in the Great Lakes region from 1785 to 1815, others limit it to 1790-1795, when the key events that determined the fate of the Northwest Territory took place.

According to historians, the most prominent leader of the Northwest Indian Confederation was the leader of Miami, the Little Turtle.

Previously, he fought in the ranks of the British army against the Americans and was well versed in European military art.

Indian guerrilla actions in the second half of the 1780s cost the lives of approximately 1,500 American settlers.

• Little turtle

• © Wikimedia

In 1790, a punitive detachment of more than a thousand soldiers was sent against the Indians under the command of Brigadier General Josiah Harmar.

However, according to experts, Harmar acted rather ineptly and retreated, having suffered heavy losses.

Then the American authorities assigned Brigadier General Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory, to lead the military action against the Indians.

The Defeat of St. Clair

According to experts, St. Clair planned to assemble a detachment of about 4 thousand people against the Indians, but he managed to realize only half of the plan. Under his command were about 600 servicemen of the US regular army, which at the wrong time was very small, the same number of volunteer militiamen and about 800 militia recruits mobilized for six months. In addition, the army of St. Clair was followed by a number of civilian convoys: representatives of service personnel and soldiers' families.

In September 1791, St. Clair invaded Indian lands.

Due to the need to pave a road in the wild, his squad moved forward very slowly.

As historians note, intelligence at St. Clair was poorly organized and he led his troops forward almost blindly, while the Indians from the first days of the invasion were closely watching him.

In addition, the weather conditions were unfavorable for the Americans.

Lightly dressed soldiers did not tolerate rain and cold.

During the campaign, the period for which the militias were initially mobilized has expired.

Some of the conscripts left St. Clair's detachment and went home.

Some of the participants in the campaign simply deserted.

To stop the flight of the fighters and protect the supply routes, St. Clair had to divert some of the experienced soldiers from combat missions.

At the beginning of November, the number of the detachment accompanying St. Clair, according to various estimates, was 1.1-1.4 thousand people, including civilian ferrymen.

Of these, the military remained, according to historians, 868 soldiers and 52 officers.

The number of the Little Turtle's army at this time, on the contrary, was growing.

Several hundred Shawnee, Delaware, Potawatomi and other allies joined his detachment, numbering about 700 warriors.

As historians note, the Indians outnumbered the forces of St. Clair.

• Arthur St. Claire

• © Wikimedia

However, according to Vladimir Vasiliev, the Americans had a significant advantage in weapons, they even had artillery pieces.

But the Indians knew the area well and were much better motivated.

On November 3, St. Clair's detachment set up camp on the Wabash River.

The soldiers operating in the vanguard reported to the command that there were significant forces of Indians in the camp area, preparing for battle.

However, the officers did not even bother to wake St. Clair to tell him the news.

The next morning, November 4, 1791, the Indians surrounded the Americans and launched an attack led by the Little Turtle.

The American militias began to scatter.

Organized resistance to the Indian soldiers was mainly provided by the regular army.

Moreover, they could not fully use the guns.

The Indians destroyed the gunners first.

• The Defeat of St. Clair.

  Episode

• © www.army.mil

St. Clair personally commanded the remnants of his squadron.

After a three-hour battle, he realized the hopelessness of the situation and ordered to retreat.

According to Alexei Stepkin, the total losses of the American detachment amounted to over 900 people.

Including, were killed almost all the civilians accompanying the detachment of St. Clair.

“In just a day, the then-small US army was reduced by almost a quarter.

In relative terms, St. Clair's squad lost about 90% of its composition.

It is believed that, in percentage terms, these are the highest losses of the US Army in its entire history.

Safe and sound, according to some information, there were only 24 people, including St. Clair himself, "- said Stepkin.

• The Defeat of St. Clair.

  Battle plan

• © www.army.mil

As Vladimir Vasiliev noted, the main guarantee of the victory of the Indians over the detachment of St. Clair was the moral factor.

“The Indians used the advantage of fighting spirit.

They believed that some spiritual forces were behind them and were not afraid of death.

This determined their courage and desire to fight to the last, ”the expert noted.

According to Yegor Lidovsky, the scale of the defeat shocked the US leadership and pushed it to reform the armed forces.

At the same time, they decided not to punish St. Clair himself.

When Congress began investigating the events on the Wabash River, the executive refused to provide parliamentarians with materials about the campaign, citing national security concerns.

According to experts, this laid the foundation for the emergence in the United States of an institution known as executive privilege.

It implies the president's right not to provide Congress with materials that are state or military secrets.

• Greenville Treaty

• © digitalcollection.chicagohistory.org

As Alexei Stepkin noted, the victory over St. Clair gave the Indians only a temporary respite.

In 1794, the troops of the Indian Confederation were defeated, and in August 1795, the Americans forced the Indians to sign the Greenville Treaty, which transferred vast lands in the Great Lakes region to the United States.

“The defeat of St. Clair did not change the general course of events.

The Americans achieved a brutal revenge and continued their expansion until they seized all the Indian lands, ”summed up Vladimir Vasiliev.