Skirmishes around Vincennes (1786)

Skirmishes around Vincennes
Part of the Northwest Indian War
An 1825 portrait of George Rogers Clark
Date 1786 Location Vincennes, Indiana Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Piankeshaw Miami Wea
Commanders and leaders
John Small Daniel Sullivan John Hardin George Rogers Clark	Unknown

During the onset of the Northwest Indian War (1786–1795), there were numerous skirmishes around Vincennes in 1786 between American settlers and Native Americans near Vincennes, a frontier town on the Wabash River. American pioneers had been pouring into the area after the American Revolutionary War, creating tensions with the Native inhabitants of the region.

On April 15, 1786, American militiamen from Vincennes, responding to an attack on a river boat, attacked Natives along the Embarras River; the Americans had three men killed in the skirmish. As hostilities continued, Americans appealed to Virginia Militia officer George Rogers Clark in Kentucky to protect Vincennes from Natives.

Meanwhile, Jean Marie Philippe Le Gras, the French civilian commandant at Vincennes, worked to maintain peace between Natives and Americans. He blamed the crisis on indiscriminate American attacks on friendly Natives, and unsuccessfully tried to expel Americans from Vincennes.