On Aug. 20, 1794, Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne led his troops into battle against a confederation of Native Americans led by Blue Jacket, a Shawnee chief. It came to be called the Battle of Fallen Timbers because it took place along the Maumee River where a storm had downed many trees.

After the Revolutionary War, several Indian tribes united to oust whites from Ohio. Their victories over Army regulars and militiamen led by Gens. Josiah Harmer (1790) and Arthur St. Clair (1791) demoralized settlers. So in 1792, President George Washington called on Wayne to head the Army of the Northwest and combat the Indians.

Wayne spent months training his troops at Fort Washington in Cincinnati and at other forts he had them build in Ohio. He moved his army of 2,000 regulars and 1,500 militiamen out of Greenville in July 1794. Blue Jacket and more than 1,000 braves lay in wait for them in the stand of fallen trees. As was their custom, the Indians fasted before the battle to increase their ferocity. Wayne intentionally delayed his arrival until the Indians were weak from hunger.

He marched into the wooded area south of Toledo on Aug. 20 and routed the Indians in about an hour. The Indians sought refuge at Fort Miami, but the British there refused to open the gates.

Some scholars regard this as one of the most critical battles in U.S. history. Wayne's victory assured that the young country would continue to sweep westward.

Rebecca Goodman

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com or call (513) 768-8361