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Fort Recovery
On December 23, 1793, General Wayne gave orders for the erection of a fort in Ohio
on the site of General St. Clair’s defeat (St. Clair’s
shame) by the Indians in 1791. When the soldiers arrived to construct the fort, and
before they could pitch thei r tents, they had to scrape up the bones of St. Clair’s
dead soldiers to make space for their camp. The next day six hundred skulls were found.
They were gathered together and burned along with the other bones. Within five days,
"A work impervious to savage forces" was completed - four blockhouses connected
by pickets, a fort large enough to house 250 men. Wanting to regain the Army’s
foothold and reputation, Wayne named the fort, Recov ery.
Today, Fort Recovery State
Memorial offers visitors a glimpse of the 1790s, featuring two reconstructed blockhouses
with connecting stockade, a monument and a museum (open May - September). There is also a
100 foot high granite shaft monument on State Route 119 where more than 1,200 souls (of
which 250 are women [wives] who traveled with the soldiers to battle) lay in a common
grave. Erected by Congress in 1912, the monument recognizes the men who served St. Clair
and Wayne.
'Indian' segment written in December, 1997 by David Lodge
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