Redcoats at the Forks
J. H. Northrop on the British presence at the Forks

For most local people, the history of the Forks area goes something like this: In the 1700s the Miami Indians lived along the Wabash River and its tributaries. They traded with the French until the American Revolution. The Miami won two big battles under Little Turtle, but Anthony Wayne defeated them at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Over the next fifty years the Indians ceded all their land to the US Government. The Wabash and Erie Canal was built and brought in great numbers of Irish and German immigrants. Then, the Miami were removed to the west and the history of Forks of the Wabash ends.

But the actual history is more like a complex fabric woven of many people, ideas and cultures with an occasional major happening rising out of the fabric. In simplifying, it is easy to miss entire periods, groups, or events.

One group often overlooked is the British military. Many people do not know that, between 1760 and 1763, redcoat soldiers regularly traveled up and down the Wabash River, often passing through the Forks area. What were the British troops doing here, and why? How did they move about? What was their perspective on the Miami Indian nation and on the region?

Europe went to war in 1756, what was essentially the first world war. The fighting lasted for seven years. In the rest of the world it was known as the Seven Years War. The fighting in North America was called the French and Indian War. This fighting saw Great Britain and Prussia take on Russia, Austria and France. The British focus was on the colonies in India, Africa, Asia and the Americas rather than on the fighting in Europe.

The wars in North America during the early to mid 18th century have often been referred to as the "Beaver Wars". The focus of the colonial policies at that time dealt more with gaining access to trade with the native Americans than anything else. Having control of the western routes meant having control of the fur trade with the Native Americans.

In the 18th century the modern highway system did not exist. There were three routes between the eastern British or French colonies and the western territory, including the major port of New Orleans,. The central route followed the Great Lakes to the mouth of the Maumee River (Toledo OH), up the Maumee to the portage across the divide (Ft. Wayne, IN), across the portage to the Forks of the Wabash (Huntington, IN) then down the Wabash River to the Mississippi. Controlling this route was of strategic importance to the colonial, and native, powers.

France was the early leader in controlling the western fur trade. Between 1710 and approximately 1720, France was on a fort building campaign to prove itís hold over the western lands. It was during this time that Ft. Ouiatenon (Lafayette, IN), Ft. St. Joseph (NilesMI), and Ft. St. Phillipe (Ft. Wayne, IN), among others, were constructed and garrisoned with French troops. Ft. St. Phillipe was replaced by Ft. Miamis in 1750.

In 1761 the war in North America had ended in the British favor. A detail of British Rangers under Lt. Butler accepted the surrender of Ft. Miamis and Ouiatenon. Their detail was replaced the following year by details from the 1st Battalion of the 60th Royal American Regiment. The British now controlled the middle route. British supplies, traders and troops moved regularly back and forth between the posts along the Wabash River and over the portage to the Maumee and the East Coast until the American Revolution. They were present again during the War of 1812, but that defeat marked the end of the Redcoats' presence on the western territories.