Battle of the Wabash (1 Viewer)

[Fraxinus]

http://books.google.com/books?vid=1849086761

New Opsrey Volume. The Jenkins Indians should work here, maybe even the Snowshoe Sets. Massive defeat of American Army by Indian forces in 1791. Another BoM like episode with even higher casuality rates.

From Wiki:

The casualty rate was the highest percentage ever suffered by a United States Army unit and included St. Clair's second in command. Of the 52 officers engaged, 39 were killed and 7 wounded; around 88% of all officers became casualties. After two hours St. Clair ordered a retreat, which quickly turned into a rout. "It was, in fact, a flight," St. Clair described a few days later in a letter to the Secretary of War. The American casualty rate, among the soldiers, was 97.4 percent, including 632 of 920 killed (69%) and 264 wounded. Nearly all of the 200 camp followers were slaughtered, for a total of 832 Americans killed. Approximately one-quarter of the entire U.S. Army had been wiped out. Only 24 of the 920 officers and men engaged came out of it unscathed. Indian casualties were about 61, with at least 21 killed.

 

[marco55]

I have this one on order also.Love Osprey as they print books on little known battles and campaigns.
Mark

 

[lancer]

Should also check out "President Washington's Indian War: The Struggle for the Old Northwest, 1790-1795". Written by Wiley Sword and publishd by OKU Press. It is a good one. -- Al

 

[marco55]

I read that one and it is good.
Mark

 

[Fraxinus]

Received this new Osprey volume in the mail today. For those BoM addicts, this is a wonderful companion volume. This book effectively answers "a bunch of what if scenarios" about BoM. If you have a keen interest in BoM, this book is highly recommended.

At the Battle of the Wabash, the Indians attacked the American army's camp and after several hours of fighting were able to overrun the American camp. The camp had an established perimeter, but the perimeter eventually collapsed. The ineffectiveness of solid shot artillery in a dense forest is illustrated once again. The Indians attacked two different artillery positions at the very beginning of the battle, essentially driving the gunners away from their cannon and silencing those guns.

So how does this tie into BoM? Often you read about the lack of discipline within the British regulars at BoM with the thinking that organized bayonet charges might have saved Braddock (BoM). This volume refutes that line of thinking. As the Indians had room to retreat, the repeated bayonet charges at the Battle of the Wabash were totally ineffective and lead to very heavy American losses. The bayonet charges here were not the closing of a trap, like at Bushy Run. As it regards BoM, Gage securing the hill on the right probably would have done nothing to change the outcome of BoM, just the position were the British would have died.

Being on the defensive was the losing position at both BoM and at the Wabash.