Fallen Timbers – 1794 (pages 149-154)
(page 149, pars. 1-2) beleaguered American soldiers retreated into Fort Recovery Details of the action can be found in Winkler, John F. Fallen Timbers, pp. 49-52; Hogeland, William Autumn of the Black Snake, pp. 320-323; and Sugden, John. Blue Jacket, Warrior of the Shawnees, pp. 156-171. Indians attacked Fort Recovery, but its fire power was too strong. In hindsight Indian leaders on the field should have called off the attack once their exposed position was revealed and that, without cannon, the fortification could not have been breached. Failure of their own battlefield intelligence about American-allied Chickasaw scouts bedeviling their rear, added to the Ojibwa and Ottawa failure to take Fort Recovery. For the details on the fort and battlefield see: Roberts, Robert B. Historic Forts, p. 648.
(page 150, par. 1, lines 5-6) Neville’s slaves joined in to bravely defend his house Hogeland, William. The Whiskey Rebellion, pp. 146-152; and Slaughter, Thomas P. The Whiskey Rebellion: Frontier Epilogue to the American Revolution, pp. 165, 180.
(page 150, par. 1, line 1) Whiskey Rebellion violence escalated in Western Pennsylvania A moderate leader from Western Pennsylvania sympathetic to the Whiskey Rebels was William Findley (1741-1821) Wood, Gordon S. 2009. Empire of Liberty, pp. 218-223; and Caldwell, John William Findley from West of the Mountains: Congressman, 1791-1821. Even before passage of the onerous whiskey tax, some Westmoreland citizens were willing to take up arms involving issues in which they were viscerally engaged. It is tempting to speculate whether there were any linkages, either ideologically or by persons involved, between the Formans’ rocky experiences with proto-abolitionist while transiting Westmoreland County, and regional resistance to the excise tax beginning the following year.
William Findley was considered a leader, albeit a moderate one, of what came to be known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Findley was an anti-Federalist, who had represented Westmoreland County at Pennsylvania’s U.S. Constitution ratification convention. Later, as political parties coalesced, he came to be aligned with Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans, but unlike most Jeffersonians, Findley was anti-slavery.
(page 150, par. 2, lines 3-4) prepared for battle at the site of a recent tornado Calloway, Colin G. The Victory With No Name, p. 175.
(page 151, par. 1, line 1) “[William Wells] indispensable to our actions” Winkler, John F. Fallen Timbers, Op. cit., p. 18. Future President William Henry Harrison, as quoted by Winkler, described William Wells’ contribution to the American victory at the Battle of the Fallen Timbers.
(page 151, par. 3, line 2) The action was brief and sharp My sources for the Battle of the Fallen Timbers military deployments, incident, and the course of hostilities, derive from well researched descriptions in: Winkler, John F. Fallen Timbers, Op. cit.; Hogeland, William Autumn of the Black Snake, Op. cit.; and Calloway, Colin G. The Victory With No Name, Op cit. Winkler is especially strong as military historian; Hogeland incorporates Indian perspectives more effectively than do traditional accounts.
(page 153, par. 2, line 1) Whiskey Rebellion lost momentum George Washington’s personal leading of the federalized militias of several states to suppress the Whiskey Rebels possessed both practical and symbolic import. With ample justification, this episode is considered an important milestone in Washington’s biography and his second administration. See Ellis, His Excellency, George Washington, p. 225. Washington himself obliquely referred to defusing the incipient rebellion in his following State of the Union address, proclaiming “reasonable control which has been given to a spirit of disorder.” George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation for January 1, 1795, LOC. In contrast to Washington’s tact Alexander Hamilton is said to have delighted in the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion Slaughter, Thomas P. The Whiskey Rebellion, Op. cit., p. 216.