Kekionga!: The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S. Army [Hardcover]

Wilbur Edel (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0275958213 | ISBN-13: 978-0275958213 | Publication Date: January 30, 1997

After almost two centuries of on-and-off resistance to white encroachment on Indian lands, a band of Ohio Indians attacked and almost destroyed the army of the infant U.S.A. The battle for the Indian village of Kekionga, unmentioned in any history textbook, stunned President Washington and Congress and provoked both a change in military policy and the first legislative investigation of an executive department under the Constitution. This history of the relations between Native Americans and European settlers, principally during the colonial and revolutionary periods, focuses on the clash of two very different civilizations in the struggle for control of the land. It also sets in world perspective the savagery of the French and Indian Wars, disposing of the myth that brutally inhumane treatment of the enemy was characteristic only of Indian fighting methods. Subsequent to the Indians' supression after Kekionga, government and private indifference to Indian rights and gross mistreatment persisted until the last quarter of the 20th century.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

WILBUR EDEL is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Lehman College of the City University of New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Praeger Publishers (January 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0275958213
• ISBN-13: 978-0275958213
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,663,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good vivid introduction in Indian/white relations., October 8, 1998

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[e-mail] (Leuven, Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Kekionga!: The Worst Defeat in the History of the U.S. Army (Hardcover)

Wilbur Edel's book "Kekionga" is in fact not a detailed description of the worst defeat of the American army led by general St Clair against the Native Americans in the late 18th century. The story of the battle itself merely takes one page in this book. So people mainly interested in pure military history will not find a satisfactory answer. But I don't thing Edel, who is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science, intended to write a book focusing only on the military aspects of this dramatic battle , which is in fact not that well known in American history.

The author prefers a global approach of this battle which was the direct result of white settlers penetrating in the Ohio-lands of the Wabash Indian tribes after the American War of Independence.

Edel clearly explains the relation between Native Americans and their white opponents from the start of white colonisation untill the present. He indicates the role of the different European nations in the New World who played a important role in the Indian-white relations during the 18th and 19th century. So one can learn in fact each nation (European and Native American as well) had their own hidden political agenda. For example during the War of Independence, both Americans and English tried to use Native Americans for their cause. Indians tried to use them to obtain better trade-goods. Some tribes tried to form alliances with Europeans to protect their homelands from invasion of other Europeans. The author gives a clear inside in this processes which indicates that international politics in that period do not differ that much from the way international politics are run nowadays.

In a vivid description he brings back to life the voices of the people who played a decisive role in this confrontation. Fortunately he retains from giving too many details and keeps this book to the point. Nevertheless he is very accurate and each statement is linked to a bibliographical note.

I enjoyed reading this book, which gave me (as a European who is not that familiar with the American history) also a better understanding of the sometimes stressed relations between the American Federation and the individual States of the Union. In my opinion this book can be used as a standard introduction to understand the complex relationship between the Native Americans and the American Federation.

Jan Everaet Winksele / Flanders BELGIUM