Head of Auglaize - Part 4

 Head of Auglaize - Part 4

This blog is my final in a series of blogs designed to put forth my proposal that General Anthony Wayne built a post on the banks of the Auglaize River at or very near the future site of Fort Amanda.  I believe readers will find the information presented in this blog very convincing and worthy of consideration. 

Final Supporting Evidence  

May 7, 1794   (Letter from Wayne to Knox)

“I must acknowledge that I have a strong prejudice in favor of a post at the North end of the portage on Au Glaize river & in favor of that route in preference to this; because at a proper season, i.e., in the spring & fall of the year, all supplies for the use of the troops & Garrisons may be transported by Water, with only twenty-one miles Land carriage-, which is between the head of the  navigation of the Miami of the Ohio, say at Loramies stores (about fifteen miles above the Old Chillakothe or Pique town) & even from the Chillakothe to that point on Au Glaize wou’d be but about 35 or 36 miles over a fine level open ground.  At all events the savages out to be removed from, or kept in check at Grand Glaize; by establishing a post at the place before mentioned- & to which a road is already Opened, it is so from situate as to be within striking distance both of Grand Glaize  & Roche de Bout at the foot of the Rapids of the Miami of the Lake the distance to either of those places from that point don’t exceed Forty miles - & forms an Equilateral triangle between those three points

IMPORTANT NOTE:  What's important here is that Wayne was saying a year before the Greenville Treaty was signed, he had already cut a road to the spot on the Auglaize where he intended to build a post. 

His plans for proceeding with construction were put on temporary hold until after his battle at Fallen Timbers and the signing of the Greenville Treaty.

The Greenville Treaty

The Greenville Treaty included the agreement in Article III of the Greenville Treaty stipulated that that certain parcels of land were to be ceded to the United States.  Among those parcels were.   

(1) One piece of land six miles square at or near Loramies store

(2) One piece two miles square, at the head of the navigable warer or landing on the St. Marys river near Girty's town.

(3) One piece six miles square, at the head of the navigable water of the Auglaize River.

 

 

 

My Proposal Hits a Snag

When I read in his Oct. 19, 1795 that he had "completed a chain of posts at St. Marys, Loramies and Old Chillakothe (Piqua)" I began to wonder why he didn't mention building one on the Auglaize.  It was then I began to wonder if I could be wrong and that he didn't build one there after all.  Further investigation of records housed in the Library of Congress records changed everything. .   

1796

On February 3^rd, 1796, outgoing Secretary of War Timothy Pickering, submitted a report to the Committee on Military Establishments listing the frontier posts he ne recommended retain a military presence of various kinds. A section of that report read:

“In applying the military force to these objects, I have thrown the posts to be occupied into divisions, in each of which there will be a principal station for the ordinary residence of the Commandant of the division. One battalion will occupy one of these divisions, and a sub-legion three of them. The Lieutenant Colonel will take a station the most convenient for superintending his sub-legion. A general officer will find abundant employment in visiting and regulating all the posts. Beyond question, the military posts we must occupy, on our frontiers, will be numerous, though the garrison will be small.”  

The following month on 29th March, 1796, James McHenry, the new Secretary of War, with his thoughts on economy, particularly  "diminished," gave to the before mentioned Committee the list of forts to be mentioned in this region, with the garrison each should have, as follows: Defiance, Wayne, Adams, Recovery, Head of Augliaze, Miami, and Michillimackinac, each fifty-six men, and Detroit 112 men. In these reports Forts Miami and Detroit were recognized as the property of the United States, but they were not evacuated by the British until the nth July, 1796, according to the report of Lieutenant Colonel Hamtramck and others.

"Un snagged"

The reason Wayne hadn't mentioned building a post on the Auglaize in his October 19th letter is simple; he hadn't built it yet, and wouldn't until sometime between the end of October and December 1795.

Why the Auglaize and Not the St. Marys?

Of particular interest is that Fort St. Marys is not listed among the posts to be maintained yet Fort Adams is.   Wayne shipped supplies via the St. Marys to Defiance in Sept. 1795.  Because Fort St. Marys is not listed in the posts to be maintained, my thought is he may have found the St. Marys difficult to navigate and started using the Auglaize instead with the loading/unloading site at Head of Auglaize.  In addition, as Bodley pointed out in 1812,  the Auglaize River had more water, and was less prone to freezing that the St. Marys,

 

Adding to this, the distance by water from Girtys town (St. Marys) to Fort Wayne then on to Fort Defiance was 170 miles whereas  using the Auglaize to ship supplies to Forts Defiance then on to Fort Wayne was only 140 river  miles, a savings of approximately 30 river miles.  

In the chart above listing posts to be maintained, Loramie's store is not specifically listed as a "Fort" nor is Head of Auglaize.  We know Loramies store became a fortified palisaded post so we can assume the same held true for the Head of Auglaize post.   In addition, McHenrys report to the Committee on Military Establishments, Head of Auglaize with the other posts in its division were to be garrisoned with 56 soldiers.  

The British abandoned their Fort Miami in 1796 when Wayne's troops took command.  

Fort St. Marys and Fort Defiance were both abandoned late in 1796 but Fort Miami didn't close until 1799.  The assumption is Head of Auglaize and Loramies remained opened longer to continue sending supplies to Fort Miami.  When Loramies closed in 1798/99, Head of Navigation closed as well.  

For more information about Wayne's Fort Loramie, check out Greg Shipplies pics and postings on Facebook.  The work being done there by he and his crew is nothing absolutely fascinating.

Proposal Conclusion

After a careful study of correspondance between General Anthony Wayne and the Secretarys of War during the period 1792 - 1796, that included recommendations from the for the operation of newly created posts on the frontier including one called Head of Auglaize,  I put fortth for consideration my proposal that between  November - December of 1795, troops under the command of General Anthony Wayne built a post on the west bank of the Auglaize River, at or very near the future site of Fort Amanda.  

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Artifacts Found at the Tawa Town site 

The large numbers of artifacts found at Tawa town i.e., a spur probably off a Dragoons boots, parts of saddles broken bayonete, uniform buttons indicate that Wayne's troops were in the area.

Worn by troops in Wayne's army

Dave Johnson

djohnson43@att.net