Pontiac (Ottawa leader) exaggerated. Historians today generally view him as an important local leader who influenced a wider movement that he did not command. The war began in May 1763 when Pontiac and 300 followers attempted to take Fort Detroit by surprise. His plan foiled, Pontiac laid siege to the fort, where he was eventually joined by more than 900 warriors from a half-dozen tribes. Meanwhile, messengers spread the word of Pontiac's actions, and the war expanded far beyond Detroit. In July 1763, Pontiac defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Bloody Run, but he was unable to capture the fort. In
Siege of Fort Recovery Siege of Fort Recovery The Siege of Fort Recovery, June 30, 1794, was a battle of the Northwest Indian War, fought at the present-day village of Fort Recovery, Ohio. As an American victory, it spelled the beginning of the end of the Confederation of Ohio Algonquians, under the control of the powerful Three Fires Confederation. After the Battle of the Wabash, in which American forces were decisively defeated by a combined army of Delaware, Miami, and Shawnee warriors, General Anthony Wayne ordered the construction of Fort Recovery in western Ohio. Understandably, this isolated outpost was targeted by the Indian forces.