Little Turtle - Career

Career

Little Turtle was selected as the war chief of the Atchatchakangouen division of the Miami tribe through his demonstration of military prowess in battle. Little Turtle earned it during the American Revolutionary War in action against a French force allied with the Continentals. Although he became the war chief of the leading division of the tribe, Little Turtle was never the head chief of the Miami, which was a hereditary position.

Little Turtle emerged as a war chief by defeating the French military adventurer Augustin de La Balme. In October 1780, La Balme plundered the principal Miami village of Kekionga (present-day Fort Wayne), as part of his campaign to attack the British in Detroit. On 5 November 1780, Little Turtle led an attack on La Balme's camp along the Eel River, killing La Balme and 30 of his men and bringing an end to the campaign. The victory established Little Turtle's reputation as a war leader, and through the 1780s, he led raids against colonial American settlements in Kentucky, fighting on the side of the British. The Miami were not unified in support of the British, however: the Piankashaw Miami supported the rebel Americans, while the Wea Miami vacillated.