The Battle of Kenapacomaqua, also called the Battle of Old Town, was a raid in 1791 by

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

forces under the command of Lieutenant Colonel (later Brigadier General) James Wilkinson on the

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

( Wea) town of Kenapacomaqua on the Eel River, approximately six miles upstream from present-day

Logansport, Indiana Logansport is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, Indiana, United States. The population was 18,366 at the 2020 census. Logansport is located in northern Indiana at the junction of the Wabash and Eel rivers, northwest of Kokomo. H ...

Background

In 1791, Northwest Territory Governor Arthur St. Clair readied an Army to attack

Kekionga Kekionga (meaning "blackberry bush"), also known as KiskakonCharles R. Poinsatte, ''Fort Wayne During the Canal Era 1828-1855,'' Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Bureau, 1969, p. 1 or Pacan's Village, was the capital of the Miami tribe. It was ...

in response to Harmar's Defeat in 1790. He intended to dispatch a separate force simultaneously to distract the defending Native American coalition. Delays in preparations caused St. Clair to initiate Wilkinson's raid prior to the main body's advance, however. Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson had served under Brigadier General Charles Scott during the

Blackberry Campaign The Blackberry Campaign is the name given to a May 1791 expedition led by Charles Scott against Native Americans of the lower Wabash Valley, primarily Wea, Kickapoo, Miami, and Potawatomi. The intent of the campaign was to demonstrate the vu ...

of Spring 1791, in which mounted Kentucky militia raided Native American villages along the

Wabash River The Wabash River (French: Ouabache) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed May 13, 2011 river that drains most of the state of Indiana in the United States. It flows from ...

and its tributaries. That campaign was considered a great success, and many called for a second raid before the end of Summer. Wilkinson's force of 523

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

militia departed Fort Washington on 1 August 1791. They covered about 70 miles in two and a half days, and arrived at Kenapacomaqua on 7 August 1791.

Battle

Wilkinson immediately crossed the Eel River and attacked. Unknown to Wilkinson, the village was lightly defended.

Alexander McKee Alexander McKee ( – 15 January 1799) was an American-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department during the French and Indian War, the American Revolutionary War, and the Northwest Indian War. He achieved the ...

had called a Grand Council of the

Western Confederacy The Northwestern Confederacy, or Northwestern Indian Confederacy, was a loose confederacy of Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of the United States created after the American Revolutionary War. Formally, the confederacy referred to it ...

, and other leaders were travelling to Quebec for a meeting with

Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester (3 September 1724 – 10 November 1808), known between 1776 and 1786 as Sir Guy Carleton, was an Anglo-Irish soldier and administrator. He twice served as Governor of the Province of Quebec, from 1768 to 17 ...

and Joseph Brant. The remaining residents were suffering from a severe flu-like illness, which- according to one British observer- caused them to bury two or three people each day. Thirty-four Miami were taken prisoner, mostly women and children. One of the captives was a daughter of Miami war chief

Little Turtle Little Turtle ( mia, Mihšihkinaahkwa) (1747 July 14, 1812) was a Sagamore (chief) of the Miami people, who became one of the most famous Native American military leaders. Historian Wiley Sword calls him "perhaps the most capable Indian leader ...

. In addition, one U.S. captive was found at Kenapacomaqua and released. According to that captive, only eight warriors had remained at the village. Sixty warriors were patrolling the Wabash River, while others were at

Vincennes Vincennes (, ) is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. It is next to but does not include the Château de Vincennes and Bois de Vincennes, which are attache ...

purchasing ammunition or gathering food in the forests. Two Kentuckians were killed and another wounded. Nine Miami died in the encounter. By Wilkinson's own account, the Miami dead included only six warriors. Two of the dead were women, and one was a child. Wilkinson's forces cut down the corn crops and burned the village houses. The militia made camp for the night, but decided not to proceed further due to fear of retaliation. Wilkinson followed the same route to Kentucky used by General Scott months earlier, stopping at

Ouiatenon Ouiatenon ( mia, waayaahtanonki) was a dwelling place of members of the Wea tribe of Native Americans. The name ''Ouiatenon'', also variously given as ''Ouiatanon'', ''Oujatanon'', ''Ouiatano'' or other similar forms, is a French rendering of ...

to destroy the crops newly planted since the June raid.

Aftermath

The

was enraged by the attack and sent calls to war. Within weeks, news arrived that the United States had begun a larger advance north from Fort Washington. Observers at Fort Detroit noted a constant stream of Native Americans going to war. Wilkinson exaggerated the report of his raid, claiming to have destroyed "the chief town" of the Wea. Although Wilkinson's success is now credited to circumstances which left Kenapacomaqua lightly defended, General St. Clair and President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

were both pleased with Wilkinson's raid.

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

Henry Knox Henry Knox (July 25, 1750 – October 25, 1806), a Founding Father of the United States, was a senior general of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, serving as chief of artillery in most of Washington's campaigns. Following the ...

considered both the Blackberry Campaign and the Battle of Kenapacomaqua a success, writing "The consternation arising from the demonstration of their being within our reach must all tend to the great object, the establishment of peace." As a reward, Wilkinson was given command of the Second United States Regiment during the main campaign that October. Ironically, Governor

urged peace that same August at his conference, held at the

Chateau St. Louis The Chateau St. Louis (french: Château Saint-Louis) in Quebec City was the official residence of the French Governor of New France and later the British Governor of Quebec, the Governor-General of British North America, and the Lieutenant-Gov ...

in Quebec. The American Indian council departed with terms of peace to present to the United States. When the council arrived at

Fort Detroit Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or Fort Detroit (1701–1796) was a fort established on the north bank of the Detroit River by the French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac and the Italian Alphonse de Tonty in 1701. In the 18th century, Fre ...

, however, they received news of Wilkinson's raid and St. Clair's advance. The entire council immediately departed to defend Kekionga, which ended on 4 November 1791 with St. Clair's Defeat, one of the worst defeats in U.S. Army history. The Northwest Indian War would continue another four years.

Notes

References

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