Natives versus Settlers: Harmer's Defeat, 7-22 October, 1790

The latter portion of the Northwest Indian War (1790-94) is often called Little Turtle's War with good reason.  Little Turtle of the Miami racked up several impressive victories against White commanders, his most famous being the Battle of the Wabash in 1791.  However, before he met Arthur St. Clair, he'd run into Josiah Harmer no less than three times in October, 1790.

The Northwest Indian War in general (1785-1795) saw some of the bloodiest conflicts on the frontier.  Natives raided American settlements and isolated farms and blockhouses, opposing encroachment on their homelands and hunting ranges.  But the settlers just kept coming.  Finally, several tribes in the Ohio Valley, including the Miami, Shawnee and others, banded together to form large enough war parties to hopefully put an end to the trespassing for good.  At the time of the three skirmishes known collectively as Harmer's Defeat, Little Turtle of the Miami was acting in concert with Blue Jacket of the Shawnee, in command of over 1,000 warriors of various tribes.  Josiah Harmer was a veteran of the Revolutionary War, with experience and a track record that caused Washington to put confidence in him.  Harmer marched toward the main Miami village of Kekionga, now Fort Wayne, Indiana, with a force of 320 Regulars and 1100 militia.  Their objective was a punitive mission against the Shawnee and Miami for raids on American settlements, but Harmer's men were the ones who would feel the pain.

Harmer began his march along the Great Miami River, approaching Kekionga.  However, when he sent his second in command, John Hardin of Kentucky, to launch a surprise attack on the village, they found that its inhabitants had burned it to the ground and fled.  Harmer turned his attention to other Miami villages, but they likewise had been evacuated.  The Native command team were well aware of Harmer's intentions and movements and awaiting their moment to strike.  Near present-day Churubusco, Indiana, on October 19, 1790, Hardin's men encountered a lone Native warrior on horseback.  They took the bait, pursuing him as he led them right into an ambush.  The Native horsemen led the Americans into a swamp, where Little Turtle's forces attacked.  This skirmish, called either the Battle of Heller's Corner, or Hardin's Defeat, cost 22 Regulars, 40 militia killed and 12 Americans wounded.  Some of Hardin's men had to hide in the swamp to escape with their lives.

Harmer next sent a scouting party of 300 men under Ensign Phillip Hartshorn.  (Ensign in those days could also be an army rank).  On October 20, 1790, they walked right into an ambush not far from the burned village of Kekionga.  This skirmish, called Hartshorn's Defeat, happened so fast that the Americans had to pull away from Kekionga and leave their dead on the field, further dispiriting American morale.  A rift developed between Harmer, the Regular Army officer and Hardin, a militia commander who wanted to take a larger force and try to strike back at the Natives or at least bury the bodies properly.  Hardin himself was in bigger trouble, soon enough.  On October 21, 1790, he returned to the area of the burned-out Kekionga and found Little Turtle's main force of 1,000 warriors.  He sent back word to Harmer for reinforcements.  Harmer, possibly drinking, got cold feet.  Instead of marching to Hardin's relief, he bunched his remaining 800 men into a square formation and hunkered down.

It didn't go well for either Hardin.  Hardin divided his men into smaller groups and tried to attack the Natives on al sides.  Little Turtle was on to him and baited the militia into foolish charges until he could isolate the regular force.  Little Turtle's men then swooped down on the regulars in an encounter known as Harmer's Defeat (though he wasn't there) or as the Natives remembered it, the Battle of the Pumpkin Fields.  The origin of this name was grim enough.  Hardin lost 180 men and the bare skulls reminded the Natives of pumpkins steaming in the autumn air. Native losses were about 120 men.  Harmer, still sitting tight with his remaining men, determined that he could not attack and began a retreat.  Until St. Clair's defeat the following year, this was the worst defeat handed to the Americans by the Natives and it was a military and political nightmare for the Washington Administration.

Washington was furious and lost his proverbial temper, saying "my mind is prepared for the worst, that is for an experience without honor or profit."  Harmer demanded a court martial and was white-washed, but his career was stymied after these battles.  None of these men knew that the worst was yet to come, courtesy of Little Turtle, Blue Jacket and their colleagues.