Ohio History Journal

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WAYNE AND THE TREATY OF GREENE VILLE

WAYNE AND THE TREATY OF GREENE VILLE

 

by DWIGHT L. SMITH*

 

It has generally been assumed that the chief architect of the

Treaty of Greene Ville at the end of the Indian Wars in the Old

Northwest was General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. The discovery of

hitherto unknown manuscript material, however, furnishes docu-

mentary evidence that Wayne was operating under very specific

orders from the war department. Further, a draft treaty for his

guidance and use predetermined to a large extent the ultimate

structure and content of the treaty. By comparing the instructions

and the draft treaty with the final document drawn up and accepted

at the Greene Ville council in the summer of 1795, it is possible to

assign Wayne precisely the credit due him. This is assuming, of

course, that general credit for the successful negotiation is pri-

marily his.

Following the American Revolution, repeated attempts to bring

peace between the Indians and the United States in the Old North-

west had failed. To Wayne was assigned the task that others had

failed to accomplish. As early as the autumn of 1792 he began to

organize and drill the Legion of the United States, as the army was

then designated, in the hope of an eventual decisive victory. The

legion advanced down the Ohio River to Fort Washington (Cin-

cinnati) and up the Great Miami Valley in western Ohio. A chain

of forts, spearheaded by Greene Ville, pointed into the Indian

stronghold of the Auglaize-Maumee-Wabash valleys.

From his headquarters at Greene Ville in mid-January of 1794,

Wayne reported to the secretary of war that Delaware, Miami, and

Shawnee Indians had sent him "a flag with overtures of peace."

There was reason to doubt the sincerity of this gesture and to con-

clude that it was only "insidiously to gain time." Wayne reasoned

that time would permit the Indians to reconnoiter his position and

 

*Dwight L. Smith is an assistant professor of history at Miami University and the

editor of From Greene Ville to Fallen Timbers: A Journal of the Wayne Campaign,

July 28-September 14, 1794.

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