Where:
Boston Athenaeum
10 1/2 Beacon St
Boston, MA 02108
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Lectures & Conferences
Event website:
http://www.bostonathenaeum.org/events/2421/victory-no-name-native-american-defeat-first-american-army
Colin Calloway -- The Victory with No Name: The Native American Defeat of the First American Army
Free and open to the public.
Registration is NOT required.
In 1791, General Arthur St. Clair led the United States army in a campaign to destroy a complex of Indian villages at the Maumee River in northwestern Ohio. Almost within reach of their objective, St. Clair's 1,400 men were attacked by about one thousand Indians. The U.S. force was decimated, suffering nearly one thousand casualties in killed and wounded, while Indian casualties numbered only a few dozen. Emphasizing the extent to which the battle has been overlooked in history, Calloway illustrates how this moment of great victory by American Indians became an aberration in the national story and a blank spot in the national memory. Calloway shows that St. Clair's army proved no match for the highly motivated and well-led Native American force that shattered not only the American army but the ill-founded assumption that Indians stood no chance against European methods and models of warfare. St. Clair’s defeat—as it came to be known—ultimately changed the very ways in which Americans fought their wars. An engaging and enlightening read for American history enthusiasts and scholars alike, The Victory with No Name brings this significant moment in American history back to light.
Colin Calloway is Professor of Native American Studies at Dartmouth College. He is the author of many books, including Scratch of a Pen and Pen and Ink Witchcraft.