By: Christine K. Thompson and Nick Nelson
Principal Investigators: Christine Thompson and Mark A. Hill
Reports of Investigation 86,, Applied Anthropology Laboratories, Ball State University
Abstract
The battlefield of the Battle of Wabash (1791) and the Battle of Fort Recovery (1794) is located in and adjacent to the town of Fort Recovery in Mercer County, Ohio. The battlefield, as identified in 2010 National Park Service American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) report (GA-2255-10-002, Keller et al. 2011) and 2013 ABPP report (GA-2287-13-002, Thompson et al. 2015), encompasses approximately 787 acres. It is composed of private and public (local and state) owned land with current land use as mostly agricultural and relatively undisturbed in the northwest portion of the battlefield and mostly residential and commercial (the village of Fort Recovery) in the southeast portion of the battlefield. Key defining features that played vital roles during the battles such as the Wabash River, Buck Run, the high ground on which St. Clair’s army was encamped and the bluff or high ridge where the Native Americans staged their attack in the Battle of the Wabash can still be discerned today and maintain their integrity