On this day, August 20, 1794, an American Indian Alliance and the United States Army, led by General Anthony Wayne, came together at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near present-day Toledo, Ohio. The Battle of Timbers was the last major conflict of the Northwest Territory Indian War between American Indians and the United States. At the battle General Anthony Wayne (1745-96) led U.S. troops to victory over a confederation of Indian warriors whose leaders included Chief Blue Jacket of the Shawnees and Chief Little Turtle of the Miamis. The Treaty of Greenville, signed the following year, opened up much of present-day Ohio to settlers.
President George Washington appointed Major General Anthony Wayne as the commander of the United States Army in the Northwest Territory. Wayne was instructed to reorganize the mostly state-based militia force into a more professional army known as the Legion of the United States. Ostensibly the Legion’s mission was to pacify the American Indian tribes in the Northwest in order to bring to an end the widespread frontier violence and if possible produce a negotiated peace. Wayne’s predecessors, Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair, both suffered significant defeats against American Indian tribes in the Ohio Country, and Washington hoped that Wayne’s aggressive tactics would prove to be more successful. In May 1793, Wayne arrived with additional troops to supplement the Army of the Northwest, and positioned his army at Fort Washington, near present-day Cincinnati. Wayne repeatedly drilled his troops, hoping to avoid the horrific defeats that befell Harmar and St. Clair.
Thirty-three of Wayne’s men were killed and roughly one hundred wounded, while the American Indian Alliance lost approximately twice that number. Blue Jacket's (Shawnee) followers retreated to Fort Miami, hoping the British would provide them with protection and assistance against Wayne's army, however the British refused to let them into the fort. Wayne followed the warriors to the fort. Upon his arrival, Wayne ordered the British to evacuate the Northwest Territory, but the British commander refused, and Wayne decided to withdraw to Fort Greene Ville.
For the next year, Wayne stayed at Fort Greene Ville working to negotiate a treaty with Tribal leaders. The Tribal negotiators and leaders realized they were at a serious disadvantage with the settlers, especially because of Britain's refusal to support them. On August 3, 1795, representatives from the Myaamia, Wyandotte, Shawnee, Lenape, Ottawa, Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Kickapoo, Kaskaskias, Eel River, and Weas signed the Treaty of Greeneville. In signing the treaty, these tribes agreed to move to the northwestern part of what is now the State of Ohio. Championed as a treaty of friendship between American settlers and American Indian tribes the treaty did not subdue tension between American Indians and settlers, and Tribal leaders continued to fight to regain their lost land. Bloodshed dominated the region for the next twenty years as settlers and American Indians struggled for control. In the early 19th century, thousands of American Indian peoples from the Ohio Country and the Great Lakes region joined Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa at Prophetstown, Indiana, where they were building a new Indian Alliance as a united force to stop the sale of Indian land.
The Fallen Timbers Battlefield Memorial Park is a National Historic Landmark and one of the historic sites co-managed by the Ohio History Connection and local officials. Located near the Maumee River, the park includes monuments honoring the warriors and soldiers who perished during the battle - including Major General Anthony Wayne, his soldiers, the American Indian leaders, and many warriors.
