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How Did St. Clair’s Defeat Happen

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====American Weaknesses====
[[File: Map_of_St._Clair’s_EncampmentArthurStClair.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Map of the Position of the Americans Forces at Arthur St. Clair’s DefeatClair (1737-1818)]]
A good commander will do everything in his power to win a battle before a shot is even fired. This is accomplished through proper intelligence of the enemy, planning, and ensuring proper logistics. General St. Clair failed on all of these counts. The lack of intelligence that St. Clair’s forces gathered about their enemy and the terrain they were in was woefully inadequate and totally lacking in some respects. They were not sure which chief was in charge of the Indian army they faced and even worse, they did not have any idea of their enemy’s numbers and St. Clair was not even sure about the name of the river. <ref> Eid, Leroy V. “American Indian Military Leadership: St. Clair’s 1791 Defeat.” <i>Journal of Military History</i> 57 (1993) pgs. 76-77</ref>
====Western Indian Confederacy Strengths====
[[File: ArthurStClair.jpg|250px|thumbnail|left|Arthur St. Clair (1737-1818)]]
Militarily speaking, the tribes of the Western Confederacy valued individualism and generally eschewed dictatorial type leadership on the battlefield. This philosophy generally cost them against the Americans, even when they had British supplied guns, but they were able to change their outlook when they faced St. Clair temporarily. The leaders of the Western Indian Confederacy all came together to assign their campaign against the Americans as a tribally mandated one, which made it a national or even a racial war. <ref> Eid, p. 82</ref>

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