American Indian Strategy: Use of the Landscape

American Indian Strategy: Use of the Landscape. . Bottom panel of text:, You are looking towards the high ground and ridge where an estimated 1,400 American Indian warriors assembled in a crescent formation before attacking St. Clair's army. The American Indian alliance consisted of approximately 150 Ottawa, 150 Ojibwa, 100 Potawatomi, 100 Miami, 300 Shawnee, 300 Delaware, 200 Wyandot, 75 Seneca Cayuga, and 25 Cherokee warriors. The crescent formation was a proven American Indian battle strategy used for decades to surround the enemy with minimal losses, but was never used with an alliance this large against such a large opposing force. Based on the topography of the land and historical accounts, it is virtually certain the alliance took full advantage of the landscape when planning and executing its battle strategy. The American Indians remained undetected through the early morning hours of November 4; lighting no fires, remaining silent, assembling in the natural protection afforded by the landscape. Based on the topography, the American Indians had a commanding view of the area while St. Clair's army was hampered by their location visibility. When the 700 warriors in the center of the American Indian crescent attacked the Kentucky Militia camped northwest of the Wabash River, the remaining 700 warriors at the edges of the crescent followed the contours of the landscape and the protection of the forest to "surprise" and encircle the rest of St. Clair's encampment., Middle-center panel of text:, The left image shows the location of the American Indian crescent formation in red and St. Clair's encampment in blue. The lightly shaded areas were visible to the American Indian warriors: the dark areas were not visible to American Indians based on the landscape. Notice how St. Clair's main encampment sits on the first area of high ground visible to the American Indians. In contrast, as shown on the right image, the American Indians had positioned themselves on the landscape where they were completely invisible to St. Clair's army. The dark areas on the right image show the areas that were invisible to St. Clair's army: the lightly shaded areas could be seen St. Clair's n soldiers. Credit: Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University.