Fallen Timbers Battlefield

Last updated
Fallen Timbers Battlefield
Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis National Historic Site (a232db38-06e3-430c-a00d-c0a8e0f63710).jpg
A statue commemorating the battle
USA Ohio location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location Maumee, Ohio
Coordinates 41°32′39″N83°41′51″W / 41.54417°N 83.69750°W / 41.54417; -83.69750
Area9 acres (3.6 ha) (landmarked area)
Built1794
Website Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis National Historic Site
NRHP reference No. 66000616
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHSDecember 9, 1999
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960 [2]

The Fallen Timbers Battlefield was the site of the Battle of Fallen Timbers on 20 August 1794. The battle, a decisive American victory over Native American and British opponents, effectively ended the Northwest Indian War, securing the Old Northwest for settlement. An area believed to be the battle site, located in Maumee, Ohio, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960. [2] That site, now the Fallen Timbers State Memorial, is about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) south of the actual battlefield, which was identified in 1995, and much of which is now preserved as part of the Fallen Timbers Battlefield and Fort Miamis National Historic Site along with Fort Miami. The National Historic Site was established in 1999 as a partnership between the National Park Service, Metroparks Toledo, and the Ohio History Connection.

Contents

Setting

The battlefield site is a parcel 187 acres (76 ha) in size, located in southwestern Maumee, bounded by Interstate 475 to the east, United States Route 24 to the south, Jerome Road to the west, and a railroad right of way south of Monclova Road to the north. Most of the area is relatively flat and open, except for the central area, which is a heavily wooded ravine that was a major feature of the terrain that influenced the course of the battle. [3]

The site was relatively undisturbed for most of its time after the battle, seeing logging and some agricultural activity. The ravine was apparently left undisturbed due to the difficulty of its terrain. The battlefield area was identified by an archaeological survey in 1995, and further investigation in 2001 identified the locations of the battle lines and other features. [3]

State Memorial

The state memorial is located south of the national historic site, between US 24 and the Maumee River. It is 9 acres (3.6 ha) in size, set on high ground overlooking the river valley. The principal features of the site are three commemorative items: the Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument, installed in 1929, a plaque listing the United States Army soldiers who fought in the battle, and Turkey Foot Rock. The latter is a boulder on which a turkey foot has been carved, supposedly marking the place where Ottawa chief Turkey Foot was slain. [4] It has been moved from its original location at the base of Presque Isle Hill, two miles south of Maumee City and four miles south of the site of Fort Miamis. From what we now know about the location of the battle, that location was not within the battlefield.

Although this site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960, an updated landmark nomination is being prepared to correct the boundaries to include the actual battlefield site. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maumee, Ohio</span> City in Ohio, United States

Maumee is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Maumee River, it is a suburb about 10 miles (16 km) southwest of Toledo. The population was 13,896 at the 2020 census. Maumee was declared an All-America City by the National Civic League in June 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fallen Timbers</span> Battle of the Northwest Indian War fought in 1794

The Battle of Fallen Timbers was the final battle of the Northwest Indian War, a struggle between Native American tribes affiliated with the Northwestern Confederacy and their British allies, against the nascent United States for control of the Northwest Territory. The battle took place amid trees toppled by a tornado near the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio at the site of the present-day city of Maumee, Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maumee River</span> River in Indiana and Ohio, United States

The Maumee River is a river running in the United States Midwest from northeastern Indiana into northwestern Ohio and Lake Erie. It is formed at the confluence of the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers, where Fort Wayne, Indiana has developed, and meanders northeastwardly for 137 miles (220 km) through an agricultural region of glacial moraines before flowing into the Maumee Bay of Lake Erie. The city of Toledo is located at the mouth of the Maumee. The Maumee was designated an Ohio State Scenic River on July 18, 1974. The Maumee watershed is Ohio's breadbasket; it is two-thirds farmland, mostly corn and soybeans. It is the largest watershed of any of the rivers feeding the Great Lakes, and supplies five percent of Lake Erie's water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wabash River</span> Tributary of the Ohio River in the United States

The Wabash River is a 503-mile-long (810 km) river that drains most of the state of Indiana, and a significant part of Illinois, in the United States. It flows from the headwaters in Ohio, near the Indiana border, then southwest across northern Indiana turning south near the Illinois border, where the southern portion forms the Indiana-Illinois border before flowing into the Ohio River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wabash and Erie Canal</span> Disused canal in Indiana

The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was the longest canal ever built in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Fort Meigs</span> Battle in the War of 1812

The siege of Fort Meigs took place in late April to early May 1813 during the War of 1812 in northwestern Ohio, present-day Perrysburg. A small British Army unit with support from Indians attempted to capture the recently constructed fort to forestall an American offensive against Detroit, and its Fort Detroit in the Great Lakes region which the British from the north in Canada had captured the previous year. An American sortie and relief attempt failed with heavy casualties, but the British failed to capture the fort and were forced to raise the siege.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Meigs</span> United States historic place

Fort Meigs was a United States fortification along the Maumee River in what is now Perrysburg, Ohio during the War of 1812. The British Army, supported by Tecumseh's Confederacy, failed to capture the fort during the siege of Fort Meigs. It is named in honor of Ohio governor Return J. Meigs Jr., for his support in providing General William Henry Harrison with militia and supplies for the line of forts along the Old Northwest frontier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Recovery</span> United States historic place

Fort Recovery was a United States Army fort ordered built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne during what is now termed the Northwest Indian War. Constructed from late 1793 and completed in March 1794, the fort was built along the Wabash River, within two miles of what became the Ohio state border with Indiana. A detachment of Wayne's Legion of the United States held off an attack from combined Indian forces on June 30, 1794. The fort was used as a reference in drawing treaty lines for the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, and for later settlement. The fort was abandoned in 1796.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National military park</span> Military Parks of the United States

National Military Park, National Battlefield, National Battlefield Park, and National Battlefield Site are four designations for 25 battle sites preserved by the United States federal government because of their national importance. The designation applies to "sites where historic battles were fought on American soil during the armed conflicts that shaped the growth and development of the United States...."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Defiance (Ohio)</span> United States historic place

Fort Defiance was built by General "Mad" Anthony Wayne in the second week of August 1794 at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers. It was one of a line of defenses constructed by American forces in the campaign leading to the Northwest Indian War's Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794.

Fort Miami, originally called Fort St. Philippe or Fort des Miamis, were a pair of French built palisade forts established at Kekionga, the principal village of the Miami. These forts were situated where the St. Joseph River and St. Marys River merge to form the Maumee River in Northeastern Indiana, where present day Fort Wayne is located. The forts and their key location on this confluence allowed for a significant hold on New France by whomever was able to control the area, both militarily for its strategic location and economically as it served as a gateway and hotbed for lucrative trade markets such as fur. It therefore played a pivotal role in a number of conflicts including the French and Indian Wars, Pontiac's War, and the Northwest Indian War, while other battles occurred nearby including La Balme's Defeat and the Harmar campaign. The first construct was a small trading post built by Jean Baptiste Bissot, Sieur de Vincennes around 1706, while the first fortified fort was finished in 1722, and the second in 1750. It is the predecessor to the Fort Wayne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fort Miami (Ohio)</span> United States historic place

Fort Miami (Miamis) was a British fort built in spring 1794 on the Maumee River in what was at the time territory claimed by the United States, and designated by the federal government as the Northwest Territory. The fort was located at the eastern edge of present-day Maumee, Ohio, southwest of Toledo. The British built the fort to forestall a putative assault on Fort Detroit by Gen. "Mad" Anthony Wayne's army, then advancing northward in southwestern Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site</span> United States historic place

Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site is a historic site in Oneida County, New York, United States that marks the Battle of Oriskany, fought in 1777 during the American Revolution, one of the bloodiest engagements of the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wisconsin Heights Battlefield</span> United States historic place

The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is an area in Dane County, Wisconsin, where the penultimate battle of the 1832 Black Hawk War occurred. The conflict was fought between the Illinois and Michigan Territory militias and Sauk chief Black Hawk and his band of warriors, who were fleeing their homeland following the Fox Wars. The Wisconsin Heights Battlefield is the only intact battle site from the Indian Wars in the U.S. Midwest. Today, the battlefield is managed and preserved by the state of Wisconsin as part of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. In 2002, it was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

The Port Gibson Battlefield is the site near Port Gibson, Mississippi where the 1863 Battle of Port Gibson was fought during the American Civil War. The battlefield covers about 3,400 acres (1,400 ha) of land west of the city, astride Rodney Road, where Union Army forces were establishing a beachhead after crossing the Mississippi River in a bid to take the Confederate fortress of Vicksburg. The Union victory secured that beachhead and paved the way for the eventual fall of Vicksburg. A 2,080-acre (840 ha) area surrounding part of the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, and a larger area was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2005. In 2009, the battlefield was designated by the Civil War Preservation Trust as one of its Top 10 most endangered Civil War battlefields. In 2011, the Civil War Preservation Trust was renamed the Civil War Trust, which in 2018 became a division of the American Battlefield Trust. The Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 644 acres (2.61 km2) of the Port Gibson battlefield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farnsworth Metropark</span> Regional park in Waterville, Ohio

Farnsworth Metropark is a regional park in Waterville, Ohio, owned and operated by Metroparks Toledo. The long narrow parks sits on the western shore of the Maumee River with a view of several islands, including Missionary, Butler and Indian islands, all of which are owned by the State of Ohio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial</span> World War I memorial site in France

The Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial is a memorial site in France dedicated to the commemoration of Dominion of Newfoundland forces members who were killed during World War I. The 74-acre (300,000 m2) preserved battlefield park encompasses the grounds over which the Newfoundland Regiment made their unsuccessful attack on 1 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Birch Coulee Battlefield</span> United States historic place

Birch Coulee Battlefield in Renville County, Minnesota, United States, was the site of the Battle of Birch Coulee, the costliest military engagement for U.S. forces during the Dakota War of 1862. It is now a historic site with self-guided trails and markers interpreting the battle from both sides. Birch Coulee was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places for having state-level significance in military history, and was listed in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twelve Mile Square Reservation</span> Area of Ohio, United States

The Twelve Mile Square Reservation, also called the Twelve Mile Square Reserve, was a tract of land in Ohio ceded by Indians to the United States of America in the Treaty of Greenville in 1795. This particular area of land immediately surrounding Fort Miami was considered to be of strategic importance by the United States government representatives. It was subsequently surveyed in a manner different from surrounding land, and lots sold, or granted, to settlers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument</span> Statue serving as a monument

The Battle of Fallen Timbers Monument or Anthony Wayne Memorial is a statuary group created by Bruce Saville.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Fallen Timbers Battlefield". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2012-10-11. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  3. 1 2 3 "General Management Plan for Fallen Timbers and Fort Miamis National Historic Site" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-02-24.
  4. "NHL nomination for Fallen Timbers Battlefield". National Park Service. Retrieved 2018-02-24.