St. Clair's defeat

Battle of the Wabash
Part of the Northwest Indian War
Illustration from Theodore Roosevelt's article on St. Clair's defeat, featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, February 1896.[1]
Date 4 November 1791 Location Near present-day Fort Recovery, Ohio 40°24′52″N 84°46′49″W / 40.41440°N 84.78022°W / 40.41440; -84.78022[2] Result Northwestern Confederacy victory
Belligerents
Northwestern Confederacy	United States
Commanders and leaders
Little Turtle Blue Jacket Buckongahelas	Arthur St. Clair Richard Butler † William Darke
Strength
1,100	1,400
Casualties and losses
21 killed 40 wounded	656 killed or captured 279 wounded

St. Clair's defeat, also known as the Battle of the Wabash, the Battle of Wabash River or the Battle of a Thousand Slain,^[3] was a battle fought on 4 November 1791 in the Northwest Territory of the United States. The U.S. Army faced the Western Confederacy of Native Americans, as part of the Northwest Indian War. It was "the most decisive defeat in the history of the American military"^[4] and its largest defeat ever by Native Americans.^[5]

The Native Americans were led by Little Turtle of the Miamis, Blue Jacket of the Shawnees, and Buckongahelas of the Delawares (Lenape). The war party numbered over 1,000 warriors, including many Potawatomis from eastern Michigan. The opposing force of about 1,000 Americans was led by General Arthur St. Clair. The forces of the American Indian confederacy attacked at dawn, taking St. Clair's men by surprise. Of the 1,000 officers and men that St. Clair led into battle, only 24 escaped unharmed. As a result, President George Washington forced St. Clair to resign his post, and Congress initiated its first investigation of the executive branch.^[6]