Little Turtle was born in 1752.
Immediately after the Revolutionary War settlers started
streaming into Kentucky, Tennessee and Ohio. More than 45,000
people moved into Ohio in the next 20 years. A coalition
of Native people attempted to maintain their hunting grounds
and raided settlements taking the lives of as many as 1,500
settlers. The new American government was upset about these
losses. Washington sent Gen. Josiah Harmer to present-day
Cincinnati with 1,500 troops. Harmon was soundly defeated
by the Native people in 1790.
Washington then sent General St.
Clair to try again. In 1771 he had 2,300 soldiers. He
sent some soldiers to build
a new fort. Some deserted. He camped with 1,400 men on
a dangerously exposed plateau. Little Turtle attacked.
“His force inflicted the worst defeat ever suffered by
the U.S.
Army at the hands of native Americans. St. Clair’s army
consisted of 1,300 soldiers. In the battle, 602 were
killed and about
300 wounded. The Indian force consisted of approximately
1,000 warriors. Only 66 Indians were killed in this battle!
It was the greatest defeat the Americans ever suffered
at the hands of the Indians. Even worst than the loss
suffered
at the Battle of Little Big Horn or Custer’s Last Stand. Custer
only lost about 210 men compared to St. Clair’s loss of
602 killed!” (Roebuck,
Doug. Meshekinoqual aka Little Turtle. 1/29/04 <http://users.anderson.edu/~roebuck
/Little_Turtle.html >.)
This period of time and series
of skirmishes became known as Little Turtle’s War. Washington
sent “Mad
Anthony” Wayne to take care of the “Indian problem.”
Wayne recruited 2,000 men who trained an entire year and
added
1,000 Kentucky sharpshooters. Wayne prepared to attack,
but in 1774 Fort Recovery was attacked by a band of Ottawa.
They
were repulsed by cannon fire. This was the first defeat
of the coalition. Little Turtle saw continuation of the
fight
as futile. He said, “We have beaten the enemy every
time; we cannot expect the same good fortune always to
attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never
sleeps.
In spite of the watchfulness of our braves, we have never
been able to surprise him. There is something that whispers
to me that it would be prudent to listen to offers of peace.”
He was stripped of being War Chief and Blue Jacket was
put
in his place. This resulted in the Battle of Fallen Timbers
and ultimately, the Greenville Treaty. Little Turtle died
in 1812 in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Resources
Michikinikwa (Little Turtle)
http://www.heidelberg.edu/FallenTimbers/FTbio-LittleTurtle.html
Little Turtle Ohio History Central
http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=240
