Fallen Timbers, Battle of

The Battle of Fallen Timbers (August 20, 1794), fought in northwestern Ohio, was the last major battle of the U.S. military campaign against the Northwestern Native American Confederacy known as the Northwest Indian War of 1785–95. General Anthony Wayne commanded the U.S. forces in a decisive defeat of the Native American forces under the leadership of Shawnee Chief Blue Jacket. The U.S. victory was key to ending Native American resistance in the area, resulting in Native American land cessions under the 1795 Treaty of Fort Greenville. The defeat and subsequent treaty paved the way for Euro-American settlement and development in the region.

The U.S. military had been fighting the Northwest Indian War since 1785. The British had ceded the area to the United States in the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution, although the British still maintained forts in the area. Euro-Americans had begun settling in the Northwest Territory, sparking conflict with the Native American tribes living in the region. U.S. forces were in the region to protect settlers against the predations of the Northwestern Native American Confederacy, consisting of members of the Shawnee, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, Delaware, Iroquios, Wyandot, and Potawatomie tribes, among others.

President George Washington had appointed General Anthony Wayne, widely known by the nickname “Mad” Anthony Wayne, as commander of the U.S. Army of the Northwest in 1792. Wayne took command after previous commanders General Josiah Harmar and General Arthur St. Clair had failed to end the Native American resistance. General Wayne, hoping to avoid the mistakes of previous regional commanders, ensured that his troops were well-supplied, drilled, and disciplined. He utilized pre-existing forts, such as Fort Washington and Fort Jefferson, and constructed several new forts, including Fort Greenville, Fort Recovery, and Fort Defiance.

General Wayne and his men arrived in the Northwest Territory in May 1793 and entered northwestern Ohio by 1794, moving toward the Maumee River area. Meanwhile, Native American warriors had been gathering along the Maumee River, near British-controlled Fort Miamis in present-day Ohio. In the summer of 1794, Wayne answered a Native American raid on a supply train with his own raids on Native American villages and crops.

General Wayne commanded a force of approximately 2,000 U.S. soldiers aided by approximately 1,000 militia and cavalry troops from Kentucky under the command of Major General Charles Scott. Blue Jacket led a combined Native American force of approximately 1,500 to 2,000 [Page 856]warriors. Blue Jacket had assumed full control of the Confederacy when Miami Chief Little Turtle, who had shared the duties, resigned his position in the belief that peace was the best option. Chief Black Wolf and Chief Ottawa were among the other prominent military leaders of the Native American forces.

The Battle of Fallen Timbers occurred on August 20, 1794. The Native Americans took positions behind the fallen trees that littered the area, giving it the name Fallen Timbers. Wayne's men attacked, resulting in hand-to-hand combat. Wayne's men were reinforced by the accompanying cavalry forces, which attacked from the rear. Blue Jacket's forces were outnumbered, and the expected support of their British allies from the British forts remaining within the Northwest Territory never materialized. The Native Americans were forced to break their position and retreat from the battlefield after only several hours of fighting.

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