| I think she must have meant General Arthur St. Clair. In 1791 he was involved
in a battle with the Miami Indians under Chief Little Turtle and a confederation of other tribes near present day Fort Recovery Ohio, although some text books say it was Fort Wayne Indiana. St. Clair was court martial and later found innocent of the charges in this most one sided defeat. He resigned his army commission the next year. He was the first president of the Continental Congress, the first Governor of the Northwest territories, and a Revolutionary War hero at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. He fled Fort Ticonderoga in the face of far superior British numbers, and although he was lambasted for it, General Washington approved of this move. St. Clair was born in Thurso Scotland to a William Sinclair, his mother was a Balfour. He studied at Edinburgh University and was commissioned into the Regiments of Foot with Lord Jeffry Amherst and served in Canada in the 1750s. St. Clair used his own money to provide for the needs of his men when the government of the United States would not provide it. He retired to and died near Ligoner Pennsylvania in 1818 after falling off his horse drawn wagon, hitting his head upon the ground, he was penniless. My own GG Grandfather, William Sinclair, lived in this very small town at the time of his death. I feel they must have known each other. St. Clair is now the name of many rivers, lakes, streets, and towns in the old Northwest Territories (Indiana, Ohio, Michigan & Illinois) In my own hometown St. Clair Street is where you will find our Central Library, the War Memorial Mall, and the most beautiful building in town, The Scottish Rite Cathedral, which is bathed in bright white lights in the evening. Donald Sinclair (Indianapolis) |