The subject of the first congressional investigation.
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St. Clair's defeat, also known as the Battle of the Wabash, the Battle of Wabash River or the Battle of a Thousand Slain,[1] was a battle fought on November 4, 1791, in the Northwest Territory of the United States of America. The U.S. Army faced the Western Confederacy of Native Americans, as part of the Northwest Indian War. It was "the most decisive defeat in the history of the American military,"[2] and the largest victory ever won by Native Americans.[3]
. . . The House of Representatives began its own investigation into the disaster. This was the first Congressional Special Committee investigation,[14] as well as the first investigation of the executive branch. As part of the proceedings, the House committee in charge of the investigation sought certain documents from the War Department. Knox brought this matter to Washington's attention and because of the major separation of powers issues involved, the president summoned a meeting of all of his department heads; This was one of the first meetings of all of these officials together and may be considered the beginning of the United States Cabinet.[28] Washington established, in principle, the position that the executive branch should refuse to divulge any papers or materials that the public good required them to keep secret and that at any rate they not provide any originals. This is the earliest appearance of the doctrine of executive privilege,[29] which later became a major separation of powers issue.
The final committee report sided largely with St. Clair, finding that Knox, Quartermaster General Samuel Hodgdon and other War Department officials had done a poor job of raising, equipping, and supplying St. Clair's expedition. However, Congress voted against a motion to consider the Committee's findings and issued no final report. St. Clair expressed disappointment that his reputation was not officially cleared.[30]
Within weeks of learning of the disaster, President Washington wrote "We are involved in actual war!"[31] He urged Congress to raise an army capable of conducting a successful offense against the American Indian confederacy, which it did in March 1792 – establishing additional Army regiments (the Legion of the United States), adding three-year enlistments, and increasing military pay.[26] That May, it also passed two Militia Acts. The first empowered the president to call out the militias of the several states. The second required that every free able-bodied white male citizen of the various states, between the ages of 18 and 45, enroll in the militia of the state in which they reside. Washington would utilize the authority to call out the militia in 1794 to suppress the Whiskey Rebellion in Western Pennsylvania.
