“MAD ANTHO ’S ’’ VICTORy
at FALLEN
TIMBERS
Wayne Statue in. Tort Wayrte, Ind.
1 ' Gen. Anthony Wayne
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
a UGUSf 20 marks the one hundred fortl
eth anniversary of a battle that Is
unique In American history. For It
Is doubtful If there has ever been
a military engagement of more far
reaching consequences won as easily
^ and as quickly as was “Mad An
L*' thony" Wayne's victory over the
confederated Indian tribes of the
Old Northwest at Fallen Timbers on the banks
of the Maumee river In northwestern Ohio on
August 20, 1794.
Not only was it all the more brilliant by con
trast with the disasters which had befallen two
American generals who had previously tried to
subdue these same red men, but It led directly to
another victory, won around the council fire In
stead of on the battlefield—the Treaty of Green
ville, signed Just a year later. Without these
two the settlement of the Ohio country, the push
ing of the frontier line clear to the Mississippi
river and the opening up of the rich inland
empire of the Mississippi Valley to the land
hungry Americans of the early Nineteenth cen
tury might have been postponed Indefinitely.
So the Rattle of Fallen Timbers Is a milepost In
the history of our westward? expansion.
That expansion began even Bfefore the Revolu
tion was over and the decade which followed
the signing of the Treaty of Paris saw thou
sands of settlers streaming through Pittsburgh,
“the Gateway to the West" of that period, and
floating down the Ohio to seek n^w homes both
to the north and to the south of that river. The
Indians of that region—the Miamls, Wyandots,
Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas and Pottawato
mles—watched with alarm this ever-increasing
tide of white men pouring Into their hunting
grounds.
British imperial officers in Canada also watched
the flood of Immigration with dismay. If it kept
up, It meant the end of the profitable fur trade
In that area. So If they did not actually encour
age the Indian attacks on the American settlers,
they certainly did not discourage them, and
the forts and trading posts which they still held
In the West In spite of the terms of the Treaty
of Paris were outfitting points for many a scalp
ing party that went out to harass the Immigrant
traffic on the Ohio.
Not only were they threatening to wipe out
these new settlements, but back In Philadelphia
the new federal government seemed to be tot
tering to Its ruin because of the blows which
the Harmar and St .Clair defeats had dealt to
Its prestige. In this crisis President Washington
called upon an old friend of Revolutionary war
days to make good where the others had failed.
Gen. Anthony Wayne had retired to private life
in Pennsylvania after the Revolution, bat when
Washington asked him to reorganize the army
and take command of a third expedition against
the Indians, he accepted the responsibility as
readily as be had accepted the task of capturing
Stony Pojnt in 1777.
Wayne's popular nickname of “Mad Anthony”
was a misnomer insofar as It Implied rashness
and reckless daring. But It was true as a syno
nym for one poet's characterization of him—
- “fiery heart and cool, clear brain." And If ever
adequate preparation, caution and eternal vigi
lance had a splendid reward, they had It In
Wayne's campaign which culminated at Fallen
Timbers.
Wnen wayne iook coimnunu oi uie army id
April, 1792, he found Ita men untrained, lacking
In discipline and with little faith In their officers
—not much to be wondered at considering what
had happened In 1790 and 1791. But Wayne
brought about a thorough reorganization, even to
the name, which he changed to “The Legion of
the United States" and which be began drilling
at Pittsburgh in June, 1792.
It was bis original plan to form an army of
some 5,000 men, but he Soon saw that this would
be Impossible with the recruits that were fur
nished him. There were almost constant deser
tions, even at Pittsburgh, which was not far
enough away from the Indian country to allay
the fear of some of his soldiers who expected
the redskins to come whooping out of the for
ests and scalp them as they drilled.
From December, 1792, to May, 1793, Wayne
was camped some 27 miles below Pittsburgh at
a place he named Leglonvllle and during this
time his army of 2,500 men was being whipped
into some semblance of a military organization.
On May 8 he camped at Hobson’s Choice, so
named because he could find no other suitable
ground in the vicinity. In August negotiations
with the Indians were finally broken oflf and
Wayne, who already had been advancing toward
the Indian country, prepared for a campaign
which he saw would mean the success or failure
of the United States In enforcing Its rights
against the British as well as the Indians In the
Ohio territory.
The next stopping place noted In his orderly
book was "Head Quarters near Fort Hamilton,"
on October 9, 1793. At this point he began a
rigorous order of march and constant vigilance
against surprise attacks.
“Mad Anthony," bearing In mind the earlier
tenures, was at great pains to Impress upon the
troops the necessity of constant vigilance. On
October 19 two soldiers were shot for .sleeping
while on sentry duty. In that month cold weather
Chief
Little JSSStf
Turtle restitution
began to set In. General Wayne ordered the
army to “hat” for the winter. Fort Greenville
was built, and there the expedition passed the
winter, during which Wayne continued drilling
his men.
From Fort Greenville he sent a detachment
to SL Clair's battlefield to bury the dead and to
build another fort to which was given the sig
nificant name of Fort Recovery.
Skirmishes during the spring brought heavy
losses on both sides, but they did not stop Gen
eral Wayne's preparations to advance. The Indi
ans began to gather In force, and on July 30
a body of about 1,500 or 2,000 met a detachment
of 150 men and officers near Fort Recovery. The
battle lasted all day. More than 22 officers and
men were killed, but at length the attackers
withdrew In confusion.
On July 27, preparations having been made,
the main advance began again. The long and
hard drill had transformed Wayne’s men Into
veterans. In June the army had been re-enforced
by 1,000 mounted militia from Kentucky. Wayne
had also enlisted a force of frontiersmen famil
iar with life in the forest and trained In Indian
warfare to be used as scouts. In this “Corps of
Spies," as it was called, were two brothers
named Miller, who had been captives among the
Indians, an experience which made their services
of special value. Still another was Capt Wil
liam Wells, who had also been a captive, had
been adopted by the Mlamls, married a daugh
ter of Chief Little Turtle and as a “white Indian”
had actually killed and scalped men of bis own
race at St. Clair's defeat.
General Wayne's first encampment was at Still
water, 12 miles from Greenville. The second was
at “Indian Encampment," near Fort Recovery.
The expedition then stopped long enough to
build Fort Randolph. Another delay was caused
when a falling tree struck and nearly killed Gen
eral Wayne on August 3.
While the main body remained at the fort,
which was also known as Fort St. Mary and GlN<
ty’s Town, after Simon Qirty, the notorious
white renegade, a detachment went down SL
Mary’s river and built a post called FoTt Adams.
This move was made to confuse the Indians,
Implying as It did that Wayne Intended to con
tinue down the river. Instead, he proceeded
toward the Maumee.
A deserter bad warned tbe Indians or ms
approach and, unprepared to resist, the savages
had deserted their villages and houses, leaving
large fields of standing corn. The army came to
several large villages, and for miles they passed
through the fields. The troops were surprised
at the fertility of the country and the Industry
of the Indians, none of whom bad remained in
any of the villages or settlements. It was soon
made known, however, that they had congre
gated up stream In force to make a stand against
the expedition. Apprised of this situation and
expecting the attack at any time, "Mad Anthony"
steadily continued his advance.
At the confluence of the Maumee and Au
Qlalze rivers he paused to build Fort Defiance
on August 9. At this place he also stopped to
parley \rith the Indians, bearing In mind the
desire oi the government to make a peaceful
settlement U possible. Christopher Miller car
ried on negotiations, which ended when the In
dians asked ten days to reach a decision.
Wayne, suspicious of the delay and having
reason to believe that the Indians were only
waiting for re-enforcements and British aid, had
already prepared for a further advance. On
that day, August 18, he went forward 12 miles.
The next day he advanced another 10 miles, and
on August 19 he commenced the erection on the
banks of the Maumee of a fort which he called
Camp Deposit This was built primarily for the
protection of his heavy baggage, with which he
did not care to be encumbered whed the battle
began.
From damp Deposit a British fort (Fort
Miami) could be seen. This camp was com
manded by MaJ. William Campbell of the Brit
ish army, and It was believed that It was a
rallying point for the Indiana. Both the Indians
I
Wayne Memorial at Maumee Ohio
and Wayne expected the Brltlah to join In the
attack upon the Americana when the time waa
-ripe, and Wayne made plans to receive the Brit
ish with his horsemen; the Indians with the
infantry.
The long-expected battle came on the morn
ing of August 20. As Wayne’s army advanced
cautiously along the western banks of the Mau
mee, the American general saw that the Indian
general, Little Turtle, had chosen his battlefield
with great skill. Here a tornado had swept
through the forest, covering the ground with
fallen trees. The left flank of the Indians’ posi
tion was covered by the Maumee and their front
by a tangle of logs which, In the words of
Wayne, -“rendered It Impracticable for cavalry to
act with effect, and afforded the enemy the most
favorable covert for their savage method of
warfare."
Undaunted by this, Wayne at once deployed
his forces In two lines with his Kentucky volun
teer caVhlry on his left flank and sent these
under General Scott “to gain and turn their
right with spirit and promptitude.” Wayne's
official report of the battle that followed is a
laconic account of this battle which was over
almost before It began. He says: r
“I ordered the front line to advance with
trailed arms, rouse the Indians from their cov
erts at the point of the bayonet and, when up, to
deliver a close and wel -directed fire on their
backs followed by a brisk charge so as not to
give time to load again. . . . Such was the
Impetuosity of the charge by the first line of
Infantry that the Indian and Canadian militia
and volunteers were driven from all their cov
erts In so short a time that, although every
exertion was used by officers of the second line
of the legion, and by Generals Scott, Todd, and
Barber of the Mounted Volunteers to gain their
proper positions, yet but a part of each could
get up In season to participate In the action,
the enemy being driven In the course of an hour
more than two miles through the thick woods
already mentioned by less than one-half of their
numbers. . . . From every account the enemy
amounted to two thousand combatants, and the
troops actually, engaged against them were
short of nine hundred.”
The rout of the Indians was complete and
they fled toward the British fort whose gates
they expected would be opened to them. Instead,
the British kept their outer wall tightly closed,
and the confused Indians, closely followed by
the American riflemen, abandoned their camp
and equipment, and fled to the woods.
The next day Wayne marched bis men so
close to the fort as to bring from Its haughty
commander a demand to know “as speedily as
possible In what light I am to view your making
such near approaches to this garrison.” To this
“Mad Anthony” sent a characteristic reply:
“Without questioning the propriety, Sir, of your
Interrogatory, I may observe to you that were
you entitled to an answer, the most full and
satisfactory one was announced to you from the
muzzles of my small arms yesterday morning In
the actions against the hordes of savages in the
vicinity of your post . . . But had It continued
until the Indians etc. had been driven under
the Influence of the post and guns you mention
they would not have much Impeded the progress
of the Victorious Army under my command.”
Later Wayne fell back to Fort Defiance, but
the next month he advanced to the Miami vil
lages near the scene of Harmar's defeat and for
the next month his men were bnslly engaged In
the destruction of the villages and crops of the
Indians. Next he built a post to which he gave
the name of Fort Wayne (from which grew the
modern city of that name) and then retired to
Fort Greenville to go Into winter quarters.
The last act of the drama came In the summer
of 1795 when Chief Little Turtle, who had
warned the Indians against trying to oppose this
“chief who never sleeps” and advised them to
make peace while there still was time, led his
defeated tribesmen and their allies to the fort
to engage in the negotiations which resulted In
the historic Treaty of Fort Greenville.
In the words of a recent historian (Beverley
W. Bond, Jr„ author of “The Civilisation of the
Old Northwest,” published by the Macmillan com
pany), “this treaty marked the first Important
victory over the Indians In the Old Northwest
By Its terms, all of Ohio, except approximately
the section west of the Cuyahoga, was opened
to settlement as well as the elongated strip In
southeastern Indiana known as the ‘gore.* The
treaty also Included cession of small strate
gically located areas In the Indian country for
military posts, with lines of communication be
tween them and thus made It possible to estab
lish such posts as Fort Wayne at the bead of
the Maumee and Fort Dearborn at the mouth
of the Chicago. . . . The surrender of Detroit,
the center of British Influence among the Indi
ana, In 1796 after Jay’s treaty had been ratified,
rounded out the results of Wayne’s victory.*
• by WwtMB Kmwnr U»Un.
Howe About:
Our Indignation '
Simple Writing
Nostalgia
©. Bell Syndicate.—WNU Service
By ED HOWE
AJCDGE 1b Philadelphia lately
declared from the bench that
bandits are bums and parasites
who should be exterminated like
rata, as they are not worth the ex
pense of keeping them In peniten
tiaries. He even went so far as to
say that If “members of the Amer
ican Legion should engage In re
volver practice, they would not find
the judges In our courts loath to
assist them."
Everywhere the Indignation against
racketeers and politicians Is fero
cious, but the pitiful fact Is, noth
ing is being done. Even this fierce
judge did the same old thing:
sent the bandits to the penitentiary,
to probably be pardoned after a
few years more of expense to de
cent taxpayers.
• • •
Irvin Edman recently wrote of
“the Instincts that masquerade as
faiths, and the lusts that parade
as ideals.” ... To me this Is not
only very good writing, but Indi
cates sense. Edman also wrote: “In
these matters (the doctrines of the
relativists, the patter of the new
physics) I think It Is Important to
be simple; In all the complexity
of modern scientific formula. It Is
the same old sky with the same
things beneath It. I believe In the
common world of things as they
are about us, the things I touch,
see, taste, smell, hear; In the world
that worldlngs feast and want In.”
I plead for the use of simpler
words by writers, and simple forms
of expression. There Is a writer
named Immanuel Kant, admittedly
a man of unusual Intelligence, yet
hts sentences are so Involved that
his name has become an epithet:
people say a long and Involved
statement Is kant, meaning It Is
poor argument and poor sense.
People of his own time named
their dogs Immanuel Kant. Had
the man been content to write
more simply, his good Ideas would
have accomplished more good.
• • •
I arraign the ugly and unneces
sary word nostalgia. It means
home-sickness, a more expressive
and better-looking word. Our dic
tionary contains many other In
stances of annoyance and waste of
time. I believe I can name from
memory a hundred words often
used and which I do not quickly
know the meaning of tp reading,
although I have looked them up
many times. I know the meaning
of nostalgia now, having Just re
ferred to the dictionary, but the
next time I encounter It, I shall be
annoyed again In my reading.
• • *•
I know a young soldier who
served, during the late war, only
two months In a military camp near
his home. He told me at the time
he never had more to eat, less to
do, or enjoyed himself more. And
while he was off soldiering, his
wages at home went on.
Now, this soldier Is as fanatical
and unreasonable about the sol
diers’ bonus as some preachers
were about prohibition.
(Let me add In parenthesis In
tended only for dunces that In de
nouncing tills fellow, I Intend no
lack of respect for those former
service men who actually engaged
In battles, and were Incapacitated.)
• • •
“I went to India," says a travel
er, “with the Idea that the British
bedeviled the country, but when I
got there realized that the real
parasites are not the British, but
fourteen million sacred cows, which
not only destroy meager crops, but
eat food needed by the women and
children. The people are unbeliev
ably Ignorant, dirty and poor. It
would be a crime against humanity
and against India’s own future for
England to withdraw, and let In
dia’s three hundred and sixty mil
lion people develop into a political
and moral breeding ground for
world retrogression. Its land Is
naturally very poor; In addition,
wornout, and this handicap has
been added to by the people widely
accepting a religion worse than
constant war during a period of
constant famine and slavery.”
• • •
-I know little of Sir John Falstaff
except that he la acclaimed today
as the world's favorite rogue. Sir
John thought himself one of the
few good men of his time, and said:
“There live not three good men un
hanged In England, and one of them
Is fat and grows old” (meaning him
self). . . . Capt. William Kidd, an
other famous scoundrel, declared on
the gallows he was a much wronged
man. A book has lately been an
nounced to prove that Captain Kidd
was an eminent New Yorker, and a
bold and capable navigator of high
standing among the mercantile com
munity In both Boston and New
York; that the New York legisla
ture voted him $700 for his services
as a patriot; that a ship was given
him by popular subscription because
of his defense of liberty, that he
was banged by guilty capitalists In
England, because they knew that
In his own city, where his virtue
was known *»e would have been
acquitted.
Our Ortltl QuHun
Sultan of 8ulu la a Modarn Rular.
Prepared kr National Geographic Society.
Washington, D. C.—WNU Barrlca
HE sultan of Sulu, the only
oriental potentate ruling un
der the protection of the Unit
ed States, has recently been bereft
of all political power, although he
still exercises religious authority
over his Moro subjects In a little
group of Islands which are part of
the Philippines. The new governor
of the Philippines, Frank Murphy,
decided not to appoint the sultan to
the Philippine senate. Although the
sultan seldom took his seat, the
honor had been accorded him since
the time of Gov. Gen. Dwight F.
Davis.
“In real life the sultan of Sulu Is
not the amusing semi-savage that
George Ade put Into comic opera
three decades ago, but a decidedly
modern ruler of the Sulu archipel
ago, which forms a series of oceanic
stepping stones from the Philippine
group to British North Borneo,"
writes George M. Hanson, former
United States consul at Sandakan,
British North Borneo.
“Although he partly acknowl
edged the temporal sovereignty of
the United States In 1899, and com
pletely so In 1915, he retains some
of the glamor ascribed to him by
the dramatist and remains locally
a potentate to the native Sulus, or
Moros.
“Purely religious, his title con
notes nothing more than leadership
In the Mohammedan church within
the limits of his sultanate. The
sultan of Brunei. British Borneo, the
recognized 'royal highness’ in the
greater part of the territory, Is In
clined to regard him as a poor re
lation who pays tribute to Brunei;
but nevertheless he Is a full-fledged
sultan and has authority of a sort
over 300 small Islands and that part
of British North Borneo with ad
ministrative headquarters at Sanda
kan.
“In Borneo, or elsewhere, the
British are good colonizers. They
believe It Is wiser to placate the
Sulus on the Borneo side of the
Sulu sultanate than to run risk of
trouble; consequently they still pay
tribute to the sultan and accord
him military honors on his visits to
Sandakan.
Many Wives But No Children.
“The sultan prides himself on be
ing an American, though his domes
tic arrangements have hardly been
of a kind sanctioned In the United
States. Under the Koran be may
have four wives at one time; and,
since he has power to dismiss %
wife or divorce her by waving his
royal hand, the limitation of num
ber has not been Irksome. It Is said
that In his day he espoused many
wives. He has no children, how
ever, and the Rajamuda, or heir ap
parent (muda Is a Malay word
meaning “unripe"), Is his younger
brother. Although the 1913 treaty
recognized him as the spiritual head
of the Sulu Mohammedans. Its
terms were such as will eventually
cause polygamy to be abandoned.
“Matrimony Is somewhat casual
among the Sulus, and It Is not un
usual for girls of thirteen, twelve,
or even eleven to be claimed as
brides. When I was United States
consul at Sandakan, I had an amus
ing experience which Impressed
upon me the peculiarity of native
marriage customs.
“Shortly before the sultan’s visit
to Borneo that year, a German land
holder whom the British had ordered
out of the country for the duration
of the World war requested me to
take charge of bis rubber planta
tion near Sandakan. I agreed, since
it was then my duty to take over
representation of German Interests,
to go there on each pay day and
check the accounts, but I declined
to assume official control of the
plantation. Thus I became for
a short time ’master* of the Malay
laborers, pending appointment of
a permanent superintendent
"Upon my arrival on the first pay
day, the accountant, a SIngalese
from Oeylon, brought to my atten
tion a plea from Alus, the house
boy, who needed an advance of $10,
Singapore currency, for wedding ex
penses. Alua* prospective bride, the
Intermediary explained, was Oana
pa, daughter of Samat, the chief
tapper,
Canapa Was Too Young.
"Canape was rather a little girl,
and. It seemed to me, when her
mother presented her for Inspec
tion, much too young to be think
ing ot matrimony. I decided a little
delay would do no barm. Although
the mother, herself only twenty
four, argued that Canapa was ‘long
past eleven and ready to marry.' I
announced kindly but firmly that
no girl under twelve could be mar
ried without my special consent
"The mother asked if the wed
ding could take place when the girl
was twelve. Not wishing to seem
over-harsh, 1 assented. I even of
fered to take a photograph of the
supplicants and to give them a
print as balm for their disappoint
ment They eagerly posed for the
picture and went away seemingly
well pleased.
"On my next visit to the planta
tion, 1 sent for Canapa and her
mother and gave them a print of
the photograph I had taken Of them
two weeks earlier. They seemed
very happy, and the mother asked
again If Canapa could be married
when she was twelve. Again I said
yes, and told her to go ahead and
prepare for the wedding. Alus also
asked the snme question, and 1 re
peated my assurance to him. Canapa
would he twelve at the full moon,
which would occur, so he had
learned from the accountant, on
Sunday of the next week.
Entertaining the Sultan.
"A week after this episode the
sultan arrived and received official
entertainment at Government house.
1 could not let the British outdo me
In showing him the courtesy due his
position and Influence, and accord
ingly I Invited him and Jils party to
the consulate to tea. The guests
Included the sultana, the rajamuda,
the sultan’s minister, and several
datus, or chiefs.
“I offered them cigarettes and
banded the sultan a package la
beled ‘Egyptian Cigarettes, Turkish
Tobacco.' He examined the pack
age critically, and when he saw the
hieroglyphics be was delighted.
Egyptian cigarettes, be said, were
made by the ‘followers of the Faith
ful and not by Christian Infidels.'
1 did not disturb Ills sublime faith,
though I could have told him that
these cigarettes were machine made
In North Carolina, from tobacco
grown In Asia'Minor.
And So They Were Married.
“While I was entertaining the sul
tan at the consulate. It occurred to
me that It would be a tine thing to
have him perform the wedding cere
mony. This would be an unexpect
ed honor to Alus and Canapa and
no doubt would prove highly grati
fying to all concerned. The more
I thought of the Idea the better I
liked It I would have the young
couple come back with me to Sanda
kan on Saturday, and Invite the sul
tan to another tea, where he could
smoke his All of Turkish cigarettes
made by the ‘Faithful’ in North Car
olina. The Wedding of Alus the
Bajao and the twelve-year-old Malay
beauty, Canapa, would follow. The
incident was all but closed.
When I went to the plantation
the following Saturday, the full
moon that regulated Malay birth
days for the month had waned per
ceptibly. The accountant met me
as usual, but no smiling Alus stood
In the doorway to greet me.
“‘Where Is Alusr 1 asked.
"‘He is here no more. He and
Canapa live In the little house be
hind the rubber factory with Surln
lm, the kaboon (gardener), and they
went to Sandakan today In the hope
of getting to see the sultan.'
" ‘Living with Oanapaf* I mut
tered. ‘What do you mean7*
“•They were married at the full
moon, a week ago, as the tuan had
said, and he Is at this house no
more.’
“ ‘Married a week agof Who mar
ried them?*
•“Why you. Tuan; you married
them.*
“ T married them l What are
you driving atf*
"* "It was the full moon, Tuan,
and Canapa was twelve. And so
they were married, as the tuan had
said. They sleep In the house of
the kaboon, who Is Uanapa’s uncle.
Is not the tuan pleased T*
“Then the whole thing suddenly
dawned. The accountant was right,
and all my paternalistic plans for
giving the house boy and his child
ish fiancee a wedding of royal pomp
and circumstance bad come to
naught.
*“I fc*d married them, however,
unintentionally, but none-the-lesa
certainly. Because of my Inexpe
rience with native customs In af
fairs of the heart, I had spoken
fateful words too casually. The tuan
had signified his consent and had
find the time. That was enough."