War Along the Wabash

"In War Along the Wabash, historian Steven Locke recounts the events leading to the November 4, 1791 Native victory over an American army led by Arthur St. Clair deep within the Old Northwest frontier. The battle remains the worst defeat ever inflicted on the United States military. In vivid and evocative prose, Locke describes the moment when one of the most talented and consequential generations of Native leadership in American history confronted the young republic's Founding Fathers with devastating results. War along the Wabash is a compelling retelling of one of the most pivotal events in the nation's early history." ~Dr. Larry Nelson, Faculty Emeritus in History, and former Chair; Department of History at Francis Marion University

"On Nov. 4, 1791, two and a half years after George Washington's inauguration, the infant United States of America suffered its first national disaster. That day, an Ohio Indian army, led by a host of celebrated commanders, met the new U.S. Army in the woods of western Ohio. In three hours of battle, the Indians destroyed the U.S. Army, killing many famous heroes of the Revolutionary War. Historian Steven P. Locke's War Along the Wabash, which addresses that colorful event, reviews in admirable detail what happened, and captures much of the horror that those who were there experienced." ~John Winkler, author of Wabash 1791

"Locke provides such a vivid and multifaceted back story to life in untamed Ohio territory that the reader is transported back to 1791 as one of the participants. When Major General Arthur St. Clair and his squabbling officers lead an unharmonious Army into the deep woods north of the Ohio River chasing after fierce warrior of a unified Indian confederacy, one wants to bolt with the deserters for Kentucky with each felled tree and reduction in daily rations. The result is a brutal, bloody, and heartbreaking American debacle along the frigid banks of the Wabash. This is a scandalous and cautionary tale of how even the most experienced of combat leaders can be lulled into ignoring his own failing health, the fading morale of his men, and the overstretched supply lines of his forces while embarking upon grand missions with confusing aims—all in pursuit of 'glory'." ~Jeff Danby, author of Men of Armor

“Rescuing from an undeserved obscurity one of the great triumphs of 18th Century Native Americans over the U. S. Military, War Along the Wabash is a seminal work of meticulous research and scholarship.” ~Midwest Book Review