"Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian America" Topic

"Nearly a century before the United States declared the end of the Indian Wars, the fate of Native Americans was revealed in the battle of Fallen Timbers. In 1794, General Anthony Wayne led the first American army— the Legion of the United States—against a unified Indian force in the Ohio country. The Indians were routed and forced to vacate their lands. It was the last of a series of Indian attempts in the East to retain their sovereignty and foreshadowed what would occur across the rest of the continent. In Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian American, historian Brady J. Crytzer traces how American Indians were affected by the wars leading to American Independence through the life of one of the period's most influential figures. Born in 1724, Guyasuta is perfectly positioned to understand the emerging political landscape of America in the tumultuous eighteenth century. As a sachem of the vaunted Iroquois Confederacy, for nearly fifty years Guyasuta dedicated his life to the preservation and survival of Indian order in a rapidly changing world, whether it was on the battlefield in the face of powerful imperial armies or around a campfire negotiating with his French, British, and American counterparts. Guyasuta was present at many significant events in the century, including George Washington's expedition to Fort LeBoeuf, the Braddock disaster of 1755, Pontiac's Rebellion and the Battle of Bushy Run in 1763, and the Battle of Oriskany during the American Revolution. Guyasuta's involvement in the French and British wars and the American War for Independence were all motivated by a desire to retain relevance for Indian society. It was only upon the birth of the United States of America that Guyasuta finally laid his rifle down and watched as his Indian world crumbled beneath his feet. A broken man, debilitated by alcoholism, he died near Pittsburgh in 1794. rnrnSupported by extensive research and full of compelling drama Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian America unravels the tangled web of alliances, both white and native, that determined the course of Native and American history and explains how the world of the Indians could not survive alongside the emergent United States."

See here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Interesting subject. Awful blurb. (I hope the author didnt write it)

Interesting subject. Awful blurb (I hope the author didnt write it.

Interesting subject. Awful blurb (I hope the author didn't write it).

I believe that Wayne's Legion was actually the fourth American Army. The first arguable was the Continental Army. The second was wiped out in 1791 (Harmer, sometimes seen as Carmer), and the third was defeated and wiped out in 1792 (St. Claire).

Wayne's Legion was formed in 1793, but took winter quarters in a fort and fought at Fallen Timbers in 1794. Unlike the previous two armies that were wiped out, Wayne determined not to assemble and train his army month the society of Philadelphia, but instead marched them into the wilderness to train. In so doing, he was able to create a somewhat better force than his previous to predecessors.

Wayne's army was actually four legions, numbered 1 through 4, plus some ancillary troops, like Kentucky mounted rifles. The 3rd US infantry, the most senior unit in the US Army, and the unit that, among other things, guards the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery, traces its lineage back to Wayne's Third Legion.

All this is from memory, so I may have the details wrong.

Buck Surdu

The 3rd US infantry, the most senior unit in the US Army, … traces its lineage back to Wayne's Third Legion.

Have they finally given up the attempt to go all the way back to Hazen's Continentals, then?

Glad you enjoyed it my friend.

Amicalement
Armand

The Legion of the United States, technically speaking, was truly the first standing army of the USA. The Continental Army created in 1775, after all, actually predates the formal creation of an independent American government and was disbanded right after the war. Harmer's and St. Clair's forces were products of the new government's aversion to a standing army, being composed of mostly militia with a relatively few "regulars." Harmer's defeat (1790), with a little more than 20% casualties, and the annihilation of St. Clair's force (1791) showed the folly of relying on militia (Richard Knopf ["Anthony Wayne and the Founding of the American Army"] characterized the milita as "ill-formed, ill-officered, ill-instructed, and of questionable value.") Congress, finally convinced of the need of a substantial professional army, created the Legion in March of 1792. The Legion, on paper (it never reached full strength), was to consist of four Sub-Legions, each made up of a regiment of infantry (968 men and officers), a troop of dragoons (82 men and officers), and an artillery company (79 men and officers). At Fallen Timbers, Anthony Wayne's well trained regulars (Legionnaires?) numbered about 900 effectives with all four Sub-Legions represented, with the rest of his force 1500 mounted and 150 foot of Kentucky militia. The Legion did the lion's share of fighting in the battle. The militia serving as the point in Wayne's advance broke and ran when the Indian's sprung their ambush, but the Legion held the line, stopped the Indian advance dead with effective volleys, and absolutely routed them with their steady advance with fixed bayonets. The Indian line collapsed so quickly that the Kentucky mounted militia were never engaged. One Indian leader later recalled, "We could not stand against the sharp end of their guns…"

By the way, I live just 20 miles from the Fallen Timbers battlefield, which, along with Fort Miamis (in the battle, the Indians retreated to that fort, begging help from the British garrison against the Americans: help was refused) is under development as a National Historical Site.

Thanks for the info oabee51! (smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Here's a link to the Wayne's Legion re-enactment that I belong to. The history and photos should help flesh out the picture of the Legion.
wayneslegion.org

Dave

All things Legion can be found on my blog:

link