Blackberry Campaign
| Blackberry Campaign | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Northwest Indian War | |||||||
 A portrait of Charles Scott | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Wabash Confederacy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Charles Scott James Wilkinson | Unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 5 wounded |
32 killed 41 captured | ||||||
The Blackberry Campaign is the name given to a May 1791 expedition led by
Campaign
Following their defeat in the 1790
St. Clair's force was delayed by recruiting, training, and supply, but the militia's terms of service would soon expire,[3] so he reluctantly gave the Kentucky militia permission to begin their campaign independently.[2] Scott's mounted force crossed the Ohio River on 19 May 1791, near the mouth of the Kentucky River.[3] On 23 May, the militia began their march north, burning villages along the way. Native American forces, aware of a pending invasion, presumed the target of Scott's expedition was Kekionga, as the Harmar Campaign had been the previous year. According to British agent Alexander McKee, approximately 2,000 warriors gathered at Kekionga to meet the invaders.[3] On 1 June,[7] a hundred miles away, Scott's forces were spotted about 5 miles from the Wea town of Ouiatenon, on the Wabash River. Having been spotted, Scott ordered his columns to advance quickly. A detachment under John Hardin split off to attack two smaller Kickapoo villages,[8] while Scott led the main attack on Ouiatenon.[7] An unknown number of inhabitants escaped to a Kickapoo village across the river, but Scott reached the town before the evacuation was complete. A battalion under James Wilkinson rushed to the river a fired into the crowded evacuation boats, which Scott reported "virtually destroyed all the occupants of five canoes."[7]
Scott had the town burned and the crops destroyed. He reported 32 Native Americans killed.[9] Only 6 prisoners were captured at Ouiatenon, but Hardin returned with an additional 52 prisoners from the two smaller villages, mostly women and children.[8]
Unaware that most warriors were waiting for him at Kekionga, Scott declared that they had fled out of fear and left their women and children undefended.[10] He wanted to continue on to Kithtippecanunk to the north, but the militia's horses were too exhausted for the 18 mile trip.[8] Instead, Wilkinson led a detachment of 360 dismounted men to the village and destroyed it, returning to Ouiatenon 12 hours later. Wilkinson described Kithtippecanunk as inhabited by French and Native Americans, living in about 70 "well finished" hourses, and that "by the books, letters, and other documents found there" to be in "close connection with, and dependent on, Detroit."[11]
The militia remained in the area of Ouiatenon until 4 June, burning several villages. The arrived near Louisville 10 days later.[11] Scott released 16 of the weakest captives, sending them with a message that the remaining prisoners could be recovered if the Native Americans would report to the U.S. fort on the Great Miami River to "bury the hatchet and smoke the pipe of peace."[10] 41 women and children were transferred to Captain Asheton[11] of the First American Regiment on 15 June and sent to Fort Steuben, near the modern border of Ohio and Pennsylvania.[9]
Aftermath
The gathered Native American forces at Kekionga began to disperse in mid-June when the United States force did not arrive. One group had heard rumors that Scott's forces had gone to Vincennes, instead, and discovered the destroyed villages on their journey down the Wabash River. They initially pursued the militia, but could not keep pace with Scott's mounted forces.[10] Native American leaders complained that the British had goaded them to war without providing them with the armament to fight it. McKee sent a letter to Sir Guy Carleton, writing that "little attention will be now paid" to potential talks of peace.[10] Joseph Brant, who had promoted a moderate position towards the United States at Niagara and Quebec before joining the rush to Kekionga, wrote that the Shawnee and Miami had vowed not to negotiate with a people "so wicked."[12]
In Kentucky, the raid was considered a great success, and many called for a second raid before the end of Summer.
Members of the Wea tribe traveled to Fort Washington and Fort Knox to claim their imprisoned family, but were told that were told that peace would not be granted until all the Wabash nations came and pledged peace, and until they acted like men rather than children.[12] The captured villagers were not released until nearly a year had passed.[15]
References
- ^ Heighway, David (11 April 2019). "The Blackberry Campaign". Hamilton East Public Library. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ a b c Every 1963, p. 202.
- ^ a b c d Sword 1985, p. 139.
- ^ Barnhart 1971, p. 287.
- ^ Sword 1985, pp. 139–40.
- ^ Sword 1985, p. 138.
- ^ a b c Sword 1985, p. 140.
- ^ a b c Barnhart 1971, p. 290.
- ^ a b c The Military Department of Kentucky (1939). "Military History of Kentucky" (PDF). Kentucky National Guard History. p. 29. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d Sword 1985, p. 141.
- ^ a b c Barnhart 1971, p. 291.
- ^ a b Sword 1985, p. 142.
- ^ a b Linklater 2009, p. 107.
- ^ Every 1963, p. 203.
- ^ a b Calloway 2018, p. 387.
- ^ Sword 1985, p. 159.
- ISBN 9780199387991.
Sources
- Barnhart, John D; Riker, Dorothy L (1971). Indiana to 1816. The Colonial Period. Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society. ISBN 0-87195-108-8.
- Calloway, Colin G (2018). The Indian World of George Washington. New York: Oxford University Press. LCCN 2017028686.
- Every, Dale Van (1963). Ark of Empire. The American Frontier 1784-1803. New York: Morrow. pp. 202–3. ISBN 1720068666.
- Linklater, Andro (2009). An Artist in Treason. The Extraordinary Double Life of General James Wilkinson. New York: Walker Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8027-1720-7.
- Sword, Wiley (1985). President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790–1795. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-2488-1.