In the mid-1790s the United States fought a major battle with the Native Americans on the frontier. Just what is the historical significance of the Battle of Fallen Timbers and how did it impact the westward expansion of the United States?
In the early days violence along the frontier was common as American settlers intruded into traditional Native American lands. Many powerful tribes existed in the Ohio River Valley, and after diplomacy failed, war was the path forwards.
After a string of defeats, the United States finally achieved its goal at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers, forever changing the region in the aftermath.
Battle of Fallen Timbers Background and Summary
The Battle of Fallen Timbers can be summarized as a United States victory in the final battle of the Northwest Indian War. Following the battle the Northwest Confederacy agreed to the Treaty of Greenville which temporarily ended hostilities in the region.
Leading up to the battle, the United States had been soundly defeated by the Northwest Confederacy in both 1790 and 1791, particularly in 1791.
Now known as St. Clair’s Defeat, the Confederacy annihilated American forces at the Battle of the Wabash inflicting nearly 1,000 casualties and giving the United States its worst-ever defeat at the hands of Native Americans.1
In the aftermath of the disaster, President Washington appointed known Indian fighter “Mad Anthony” Wayne as the new military leader on the frontier. Wayne spent the next two years drilling his troops to be familiar with Native American-style warfare, particularly guerrilla tactics and defending against ambushes.
By 1794 Wayne was ready to move, bringing nearly 4,500 men with him for the campaign. Wayne moved cautiously, building fortifications along the way including Fort Recovery and Fort Defiance, the latter of which he used as a staging ground for the final battle.1
After repulsing a Native American attack at Fort Recovery in July 1794, on August 20th the United States forces met the Confederacy’s forces amid a battleground littered with toppled trees from a tornado a few years earlier.
Wayne scored a decisive victory in a short battle that lasted just over one hour. The Americans greatly outnumbered the natives nearly three to one (~3,000 vs. ~1,300) and were able to rout the natives with a determined assault.
The US suffered ~30 killed and ~100 wounded and while total Native American casualties are not entirely known, it’s estimated that ~30-40 were killed in battle.2
In the aftermath of the battle, the Northwest Confederacy agreed to peace talks to end the conflict.
The Significance of the Battle of Fallen Timbers
The significance of the Battle of Fallen Timbers lies in how it directly led to the Treaty of Greenville, temporarily ended hostilities in the region, opened up new lands for settlers, and helped to preserve the Union.
At long last the United States had made progress in quelling the Native American threat on the highly-coveted fertile land in the Ohio River Valley. Settlers could now access the lands that some had received as rewards for service in the French and Indian War nearly three decades prior.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers would have a tremendous impact on the Northwest Territory and the future of America.
Led to Treaty of Greenville
One of the most significant aspects of the Battle of Fallen Timbers was how it directly led to the 1795 Treaty of Greenville.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers proved to be the final engagement of the Northwest Indian War. The defeat effectively split the hostile Native American nations in half from east to west.3
Furthermore, the natives found that their once-strong British allies had withdrawn support. Unknown to the natives, the British were in the middle of negotiating the 1794 Jay’s Treaty, which eventually saw the British evacuate all their forts in the Northwest Territory.
The aftermath of the battle saw the nations of the Northwest Confederacy split in thought. Should they agree to peace or choose to fight another day? Their losses at Fallen Timbers were not catastrophic, so continuing the fight was not out of the question.
Ultimately, strong leaders such as Little Turtle of the Miami and Blue Jacket of the Shawnee chose peace and agreed to meet General Wayne at Greenville.1
In the Treaty of Greenville, the Native American nations ceded over 25,000 sq. miles of land, primarily in Ohio, and other tracts of land in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. In exchange, the United States paid the nations ~$20,000 in goods and a ~$9,500 annual annuity in perpetuity.
The treaty displaced several Native American nations, forcing them to move west beyond the Greenville treaty line that ran through Ohio northeast to southwest.
Although the Native Americans gave up much, their leaders and people desired peace above all else.
Temporarily Ended Hostilities in the Region
Perhaps most important to the Native Americans, the treaty ended hostilities in the region, albeit only temporarily.
The native leaders and people were tired of the near-constant warfare over the prior several decades. The looting, pillaging, and burning of towns, villages, and crops left the nations impoverished and constantly fighting just for survival.
For some of the older leaders such as Chief Blue Jacket of the Shawnee and Little Turtle of the Miami, war was all they had known.
Some leaders traveled from as far away as Illinois and Michigan to be included in the peace negotiations. The Pottawattamies traveled from as far away as Lake Michigan and had little in the way of direct involvement in the war, yet they nonetheless sought peace and friendship.3
The desire for peace was so strong that allegedly no Native American chief or warrior that signed the Treaty of Greenville ever again struck up arms against the United States. Whether true or not, the Native American leaders certainly sought out peace for their people.4
Importantly, two figures that would feature prominently over the next several decades met at the Battle of Fallen Timbers: Tecumseh of the Shawnee and William Henry Harrison, future Governor of the Indiana Territory.
Tecumseh foresaw the temporary peace and argued against the treaty, knowing that the white settlers could not be stopped from eventually overrunning their lands and coveting more.
Tecumseh and his brother, The Prophet, spoke out against the treaty and refused to sign. Over the following decades, they gathered a large following—particularly of younger natives that did not participate in the wars of the prior decades—and forged a new Confederacy to combat the American settlers that continued to violate the treaty and grab native lands.1
Eventually Harrison would take the initiative, attacking and defeating Tecumseh’s Confederacy at the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe while Tecumseh himself was off attempting to recruit the Five Civilized Tribes in the south.
Although there was peace in the aftermath of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, it was not meant to last.
Opened up Land for Settlers
Another important effect of the Battle of Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greenville was how it opened up frontier land for American settlers.
Settlers had long been pouring into the frontier to settle and farm the fertile lands of the Ohio River Valley. However, as this land still belonged to Native Americans, the federal government had a difficult time protecting the settlers and the region was prone to violent conflict.
The Battle of Fallen Timbers and subsequent peace treaty helped to formally cede vast tracts of the Ohio River Valley to the United States. Nearly all of southern and eastern Ohio were included in the land cession that totaled over 25,000 sq. miles.
An important component of the treaty was how it allowed the Americans free passage through native country between their forts and new scattered parcels of land throughout the frontier. Native Americans also granted free passage to the United States through harbors and rivers along the Great Lakes.4
Free passage was a critical component to help the United States control trade and transportation routes along the frontier and ultimately help settle the lands more quickly. In the blink of an eye, the existing lands were nearly fully populated.
Simply put, there was no solution to the problem of American land hunger. When Thomas Jefferson took office, he immediately implemented policies to acquire as much native land through treaty as possible.5
Some leaders such as Secretary of War Henry Knox were concerned that if warfare was the means to destroy natives, that the United States would get lumped together with the atrocities that Spain committed against the Aztecs and Inca.5
Although the United States preferred peace through diplomacy, future wars were inevitable given the insatiable American desire for land.
Helped to Preserve the Union
A final reason behind the significance of the Battle of Fallen Timbers was how it ultimately helped to preserve the Union.
The 1790s were a tumultuous decade for the United States. The nation was beset with internal division and unrest highlighted by the Whiskey Rebellion, as well as prone to the whims of foreign powers.
Simultaneously the United States was too weak to enforce the 1783 Treaty of Paris and remove the British from their frontier forts, and also could not stop its former ally France from meddling in internal affairs.
On the frontier, the Battle of Fallen Timbers proved critical to help preserve the Union. Without secure land to expand westward, the viability of the United States as a nation was in question.
After devastating losses to the Northwest Confederacy in 1790-1791, the United States could not afford another loss on the frontier. Frontier states like Kentucky and Tennessee had already discussed possible secession to Spain should the United States prove unable to help protect the frontier and thus their economic interests.6
General Wayne’s own second-in-command, James Wilkinson, was working as a spy for the Spanish government, and continually attempted to undermine the Fallen Timbers campaign.6
If not for Wayne’s victory at Fallen Timbers, the British may not have signed Jay’s Treaty and abandoned their frontier forts. Should the United States have proved weak once again, the British could have continued their presence, covertly helping the Native Americans and using the Ohio River Valley as a way to thwart US expansion.6
The Battle of Fallen Timbers and subsequent Treaty of Greenville were critical towards the preservation and expansion of the Union.
Conclusion
To recap, the historical significance of the Battle of Fallen Timbers lies in how it:
- Led to the Treaty of Greenville
- Temporarily ended hostilities in the region
- Opened up new land for settlers
- Helped to preserve the Union
Although Native Americans hoped that Fallen Timbers would be the last battle and that the United States would respect the treaty’s new boundary line, it was not to be.
After an eight year period of peace, the United States signed nearly fifteen new treaties over the following six years with the Native Americans seizing more land in the Northwest Territory. Thomas Jefferson and William Henry Harrison played a prominent role in these negotiations, forcing the natives further and further west.
By the time of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, most of the Native Americans in the Northwest Territory had already been pushed beyond the Mississippi River.
Although the Native Americans lost much in the aftermath of the Battle of Fallen Timbers, their losses would compound over the subsequent decades.
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Sources
1) Abercrombie, Brent S. “IUPUI.” How America Remembers: Analysis of the Academic Interpretation and Public Memory of the Battle of Tippecanoe, 1 Jan. 1970, https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/2755
2) McGrane, R. C. “William Clark’s Journal of General Wayne’s Campaign.” The Mississippi Valley Historical Review, vol. 1, no. 3, 1914, pp. 418–44. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1897611.
3) Kent, Charles A., and A. M. “The Treaty of Greenville. August 3, 1795.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), vol. 10, no. 4, 1918, pp. 568–84. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40190685.
4) Grover, Frank E. “Indian Treaties Affecting Lands in the Present State of Illinois.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984), vol. 8, no. 3, 1915, pp. 379–419. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40193804.
5) Horsman, Reginald. “American Indian Policy in the Old Northwest, 1783-1812.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 1, 1961, pp. 35–53. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1922806.
6) Rusche, Timothy M. “Treachery Within The United States Army.” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies, vol. 65, no. 4, 1998, pp. 478–91. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/27774142.
