When I got the email about a preview of a new exhibit at Ohio History Connection, I quickly signed up. Only as the date approached and I started looking into the exhibit did I realize that, while I would get to preview the opening of “St. Clair’s Defeat Revisited: A New View of the Conflict,” this would not be the exhibit’s premiere. That had occurred at the Fort Recovery Museum, the actual site of St. Clair’s Defeat, in November of 2023. After spending about two months at Fort Recovery, the exhibit had appeared for nearly four months in Fort Wayne, IN, and more than six months in Miami, OK. The opening I was previewing was its fourth.
The disappointment I felt in this not being the world premiere I initially thought it was, was outweighed by my embarrassment in not knowing of the true world premiere that had happened more than a year before. Food and drink were pretty good compensation, however, and both disappointment and embarrassment were pretty much forgotten at the member’s reception.
The member’s preview also included a panel presentation and a question and answer session. Bill, whose last name I failed to record, acted as MC, while Kim Rammel and Dr. Kristen Barry supplied the information. Rammel is president of the Fort Recovery Historical Society. Barry is a professor at Ball State University and a member of the team responsible for the exhibit.
It has been said that history is written by the victors, but while that is generally true of wars, it isn’t always true of individual battles. The “new view” this exhibit provides comes from descendants of the nine Native American tribes that nearly annihilated the entire United States army in 1791. Specific details of the battle differ very little as related by the two sides, but there are differences in its overall assessment. Virtually every description of the battle that I have read attributes the overwhelming success of the native force to errors, poor training, and incompetence on the part of the Americans. Those certainly contributed, but the native’s brilliant plan of attack and its near-perfect execution were at the heart of their victory.
It was great to see the event so well attended even though it meant space to study the exhibits was in short supply. l snapped these pictures during the reception period when the display area was not quite as crowded as it was following the presentation in the auditorium. In addition to the battle, parts of the exhibit are dedicated to Background, Aftermath, and Persistence. The victory brought only a brief respite. In just a few years, a new U.S. Army was victorious at the same site and elsewhere, and the Treaty of Greenville soon followed. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was followed by forced relocation and the systematic suppression of native culture. The tribes have survived, however. This exhibit spent those months in Oklahoma so descendants of the people who defeated St. Clair could see it.
Two smaller versions of the exhibit have been created. One is on permanent display at Fort Recovery. The other will travel and is currently at the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe, OH, where it will remain until April 13. The exhibit at the Ohio History Connection runs until August 17.