St. Clair's Defeat

by Public Library of Fort Wayne and Allen County

“Under all of these disadvantages, it was generally believed by candid, intelligent men that the commanding general was not justly liable to severe censure. With one exception at the commencement of the action, the troops behaved with great bravery. They maintained their ground for three hours in an uninterrupted conflict with a superior force. They did not attempt to leave the field until it was covered with the bodies of their companions and a retreat was ordered. The General, less anxious for himself than for others, was the last to leave the ground after he had ordered the retreat.

“For some time after the disaster, St. Clair was universally censured. After a thorough investigation, a committee of Congress, with Mr. Giles of Virginia as chairman, found that the campaign had been conducted with skill and personal bravery. The committee concluded that the defeat was caused chiefly by the lack of discipline in the militia and by the negligence of those whose duty it was to procure and forward the provisions and military stores necessary for the expedition.

“Secretary of War Henry Knox addressed a letter to Congress complaining that an injustice had been done him by the committee. The report was then reconsidered by the same committee. After hearing the statements and explanations of the Secretary and after reconsidering the whole matter, they reaffirmed their first report.”

From one part of the country to the other, this defeat caused one loud and merciless outcry of abuse and detestation of St. Clair. Many a general with far less bravery and military skill has, when successful, been applauded by the unthinking multitude with vehement acclamations. The following excerpt from the narrative of St. Clair’s campaign shows that he deserved a better fate.

“During the engagement, Generals St. Clair and Butler were continually going up and down the lines; as one general went up one side, the other one went down the opposite side. St. Clair was so severely afflicted with the gout that he was unable to mount or dismount a horse without assistance. His own four horses had been turned out to feed overnight, but they had been brought in before the battle. St. Clair first attempted to ride a young horse, but the animal was so frightened by the firing that it could not be mounted. He had just moved the horse to where he could have some advantage from the slope of the ground when the horse was shot through the head. The boy holding it was wounded in the arm. A second horse was brought and harnessed; but as St. Clair was about to mount, the animal and the servant who held it were killed. The General then ordered the third horse to be prepared and brought to him at the left of the front line, which was then warmly engaged. The man and horse were never heard of afterward, and it is supposed that they were killed. General St. Clair’s fourth horse was killed under the Count de Malartie, one of his aides, whose horse had died on the march.

the horse was shot through the head

“On the day of the battle, St. Clair was not in his uniform; he wore a coarse coat and a three-cornered hat. A long queue and heavy gray locks flowed from under his beaver hat. Early in the action, a ball grazed the side of his face and cut off a portion of one of his locks. It is said that during the battle eight balls passed through his clothes. After his horses were killed, he exerted himself on foot for a considerable time with a degree of alertness that surprised everybody who saw him. When he was nearly exhausted, a packhorse was brought to him. Although he could scarcely prod the animal out of a walk, he rode it during the remainder of the day. Had he not been furnished with a horse, he would have had to remain on the field, even though he was unhurt.

“During the action General St. Clair exerted himself with a courage and presence of mind worthy of the best fortune. He gave his orders in person to Colonel Darke, and he was present when the first bayonet charge was made upon the enemy. When the Indians first entered the camp by the left flank, General St. Clair led the troops which drove them back. When a retreat became indispensable, he put himself at the head of the troops which broke through the enemy ranks and opened the way for the remainder of the army. When this was done, he remained in the rear and made every exertion to obtain a party to cover the retreat. The panic, however, was so great that his exertions were of little avail. At the height of the action, a few of the men crowded around the fires in the center of the camp; St. Clair was seen drawing his pistols, threatening them, and ordering them to turn and repel the enemy.”

In commenting upon the General’s honorable acquittal of all blame by the committee of Congress appointed to inquire into the causes of the failure of the expedition, Chief Justice John Marshall, in his LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON, remarks with his usual felicity of expression: “More satisfactory testimony in favor of St. Clair is furnished by the circumstance that he still retained the undiminished esteem and good opinion of President Washington.”