The Siege of Fort Wayne-- Part 1

This past September 6th marked the 200th anniversary of the beginning of the siege of Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It was part of a highly successful British and Indian campaign to push Americans out of the Northwest Territory which led to the capture of Fort Mackinac and Detroit in Michigan, Fort Dearborn in Illinois and attack on Fort Madison in Iowa.

From Wikipedia.

The Siege of Fort Wayne lasted from September 5th to September 12th, 1812.

Since the loss at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, Indians tribes in the Northwest Territory had been bitter at the increasing presence of Americans.

Fort Wayne, in northeast Indiana had fallen in disrepair, troop morale was low and apparently, the commander, Captain James Rhea, was a drunk.

The fort learned at the fall of Fort Dearborn August 28th when Corporal Jordan arrived after escaping the massacre.  On the 28th, Stephen Johnston, assistant fur trader at the fort, was killed by Indians about a mile away from the fort.  The fort's women and children were evacuated.

In early September, Pottawatomi and Miami tribes began gathering around the fort.

Negotiations were carried out but to no avail.

On the morning of September 5th, two soldiers were attacked returning from an outhouse and then the Indians began an assault on the fort's east side.  Nearby houses were burned.  The Indians constructed two wooden cannons and tricked the garrison into believing they were real.

More to Come.  --Brock-Perry