Command of the Legion of the United States
Upon accepting his new position, Wayne said, "I clearly foresee that it is a command which must inevitably be attended with the most anxious care, fatigue, and difficulty, and from which more may be expected than will be in my power to perform." As the new commanding officer for the Legion of the United States, Wayne was first tasked with increasing the number of soldiers in his force. He expanded Fort Hamilton while he began recruiting in the spring of 1792 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Although recruiting proved to be a difficult effort with the failures of past American expeditions still fresh, Wayne eventually was able to successfully boost the number of soldiers in the Legion. He helped create several infantry regiments that still exist today, one of them being the Third United States Infantry, called 1st Sub-Legion at the time and later named Third Regiment of Infantry.
Wayne then established Fort Lafayette on September 4, 1792, as a frontier settlement from Fort Pitt. Based on earlier failures of American generals, it was vital to train new soldiers and prepare them for new conflicts. Wayne established a basic training facility at Legionville to prepare professional soldiers for the reorganized army, stating that the area near Pittsburgh was "a frontier Gomorrah" that distracted troops. Using the Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States authored by Prussian military officer Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Wayne began to train his troops. This was the first attempt to provide basic training for regular Army recruits, and Legionville was the first facility established expressly for this purpose. Wayne set up a well-organized structure of sub-legions led by brigadier generals, seen as forerunners of today's brigade combat teams. Wayne was a strict disciplinarian and executed several troops for offenses. Two soldiers were executed for sleeping at their posts. He required his soldiers to adhere to a sharp dress code, with each sub-legion having a distinctive cap and regimental standards with their unit colors. On April 7, 1793, Wayne's troops moved to Fort Washington in Ohio and continued their intense training while also entrenching themselves to repel potential attacks.
Although some experts today are quick to point to the drawbacks of Wayne's severe disciplinary methods, Major John Brooke finds they also helped build confidence among his troops. Each day, he allowed troops to receive half a gill of whiskey with their rations and an extra one for the best shooters. Barrels of rum, whiskey, wine, flour, and rations were stockpiled at various forts and traveled with Wayne's legion. Brooke goes on to write about Wayne's strong relationship with his soldiers, "The winter passed drearily at Greeneville. They were almost in the heart of the Indian country, cut off from communication with the outside world, and surrounded by crafty and treacherous foes. Wayne shared the hardships and privations of his men, and personally saw that discipline and instruction were kept up. The sentinel on post might know when to expect the conventional visit from the officer of the day, but he never knew at what hour he might see the form of the commander-in-chief emerge from the wintry gloom." Wayne's support of his soldiers builds on his earlier experiences with his soldiers during the Revolutionary War.
During his command of the Legion of the United States, Wayne also encountered domestic problems en route to securing the Northwest Territory. On May 5, 1793, Wayne entered Cincinnati in preparation for future conflict further West. Although Kentucky was a newly independent state after breaking away from Virginia, many citizens still believed that the United States federal government did little to protect their economic interests in the region. Historian Paul David Nelson writes of the local sentiment,"Thus, a few of Kentucky's citizens continued into 1793 to plot all sorts of schemes, including assisting the French to attack Spanish territory, using Kentucky as a base of operations; taking Kentucky out of the federal union and uniting it with the Spanish Empire; and striking a deal with some Canadian citizens to form a separate nation in the West, free from the control of the United States, Britain, or Spain." After learning of a smaller than originally anticipated military force, Wayne had to turn to recruiting local Kentucky citizens with the help of Kentucky Governor, Isaac Shelby. Although Wayne was able to successfully add Kentucky citizens to the Legion, there were still fewer than expected and many joined too late to have a significant impact. Nelson goes on to write about the ineffectiveness of the Kentucky troops during the Northwest Indian War, "Once the Kentucky soldiers reached Wayne's winter head quarters, moreover, they did not cover themselves with glory. The commander, knowing that the troops were restless and murmuring about returning to their home state, suggested to Scott in late October that the Kentucky Mounted Volunteers be detached for a 'desultory expedition against the Indian Villages at Au Glaize'...To Wayne's utter disgust, one-third of Scott's men — through no fault of Scott — simply decamped for home in mid November without order."
On December 24, 1793, Wayne dispatched a force to Ohio to establish Fort Recovery at the location of St. Clair's defeat as a base of operations. Friendly Native Americans helped Wayne recover a cannon that the attackers had buried nearby, with its redeployment at the fort. The fort became a magnet for military skirmishes in the summer of 1794, with an attack led by Miami chief Little Turtle failing after two days and resulting in Blue Jacket becoming war leader. In response, the British built Fort Miami to block Wayne's advance and to protect Fort Lernoult in Detroit. Wayne's army continued north, building strategically defensive forts ahead of the main force. British Indian Department official Alexander McKee provided strategic battle advice to the Northwestern Confederacy beforehand.
On August 3, 1794, a tree fell on Wayne's tent at Fort Adams in northern Mercer County. He was knocked unconscious, but he recovered sufficiently to resume the march the next day to the newly built Fort Defiance on August 8, 1794. After observing Wayne's activities for two years, Little Turtle declared that Wayne was "the Chief that does not sleep" and advised fellow Indians to answer calls for peace, though Blue Jacket and Indian Department officials were opposed. On August 20, 1794, Wayne mounted an assault on the Indian confederacy at the Battle of Fallen Timbers near modern Maumee, Ohio, which was a decisive victory for the U.S. forces, effectively ending the war. It was later discovered that a company of volunteers from Lower Canada under William Caldwell had dressed as Native Americans and participated in the battle. Following the battle, Wayne used Fort Defiance as a base of operations and under the direction of Washington's policies, destroyed the Native Americans’ villages and food stocks. Like many wars throughout history, the U.S. military essentially used a common war tactic known as scorched earth tactics in the later part of the campaign, destroying fields and homes of Native Americans as winter approached. Reporting on the progress, Wayne would write "their future prospects must naturally be gloomy & unpleasant".
The Native Americans attempted to flee to Fort Miami, though the fort's commander, Major William Campbell closed its doors as he was unwilling to risk a war with the United States. Wayne then used Fort Deposit as a base of operations because of its proximity to Fort Miami and encamped for three days in sight of Fort Miami. Wayne attempted to provoke Campbell by destroying McKee's post as well as Native American crops and villages within sight of Fort Miami before withdrawing. When Campbell inquired as to the meaning of the encampment, Wayne replied that the answer had already been given by the sound of American muskets. The next day, Wayne rode alone to Fort Miami and slowly conducted an inspection of the fort's exterior walls. The fort's garrison debated whether to engage Wayne, but in the absence of orders and with Britain already being at war with France, Campbell declined to fire the first shots. Neither Campbell nor Wayne was willing to be the one to start a second war, and the Legion finally departed for Fort Recovery.
Throughout the campaign, Wayne had advocated for vigilance against potential British attacks and planned for another large battle while the Legion was at full strength. When Wayne arrived at Kekionga unopposed on September 17, 1794, he razed the Miami capital and then selected it as the site for the new Fort Wayne. Wayne wanted a strong fort, capable of withstanding a possible attack by British artillery from Fort Detroit. Fort Wayne was finished by October 17 and was capable of withstanding 24-pound cannon. Although the British did not attack from the Northwest and Native Americans did not re-form into a large army, small Native bands continued to harass the Legion's perimeter, scouts, and supply trains.
Wayne then negotiated the Treaty of Greenville between the tribal confederacy — which had experienced a difficult winter – and the United States, which was signed on August 3, 1795. The U.S. stated the land was already ceded by the French or British in previous wars. At the meetings, Wayne promised the land of "Indiana", the remaining land to the west, to remain Indian forever. Wayne also supplied food and farming supplies as a good faith gesture. Wayne read out portions of the Treaty of Paris, stating to the Native Americans that the British were encouraging them to fight for land that they had already ceded to the United States.
While crops were planted and farmed again, Wayne's promise of land and treaty were left vulnerable after his death. A Spanish spy Wilkinson would take command of his army. Citizens eventually continued to settle beyond the borders and the state of Ohio later entered into the Union in 1803. After Wayne's death, settlers continued moving past the borders and pushing the Native American people who lived there further westward.
