Editing Little Turtle (section)

===La Balme's Defeat===
{{main|La Balme's Defeat}}
Little Turtle earned this designation during the [[American Revolutionary War]] in action against a French force allied with the [[Patriot (American Revolution)|American patriots]], led by French military adventurer [[Augustin de La Balme]].<ref name=Rafert44>Rafert, ''The Miami Indians of Indiana'', p. 44.</ref> After raising a force of forty-to-fifty men at [[Vincennes, Indiana]] and a similar number along the [[Kaskaskia–Cahokia Trail]], in October 1780 La Balme plundered [[Fort Miami (Indiana)|Miamitown]] at [[Kekionga]] (present-day [[Fort Wayne, Indiana|Fort Wayne]]), as part of his campaign to attack the British in Detroit.<ref name="greenevincennesknox">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zBQVAAAAYAAJ&dq=Augustin+de+La+Balme+Little+Turtle&pg=PA217|title=History of Old Vincennes and Knox County|author-first=George|author-last=Greene|publisher=S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.|publication-date=1911|access-date=2021-10-24}}</ref>{{rp|217}} When La Balme stopped to camp along the [[Eel River (Wabash River)|Eel River]] just three miles south of Little Turtle's village, Little Turtle received permission to lead an attack.<ref name=H89>Hogeland, pp. 88–89</ref> On November 5, 1780, Little Turtle attacked La Balme, killing La Balme and forty of his men and taking the rest prisoner. The battle was a complete rout, and Little Turtle's army suffered almost no casualties. Many French soldiers were heard begging to surrender while they were scalped alive.<ref>"Notes on Old Cahokia: Part Two: Fort Bowman (1778–1780)" Charles E. Peterson ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' Vol. 42, No. 2 (Jun. 1949), p. 194</ref> Several French officers were taken alive, three of whom were burnt at the stake, one of whom had his hands and feet cut off before being killed by having his face struck with a tomahawk, and four of whom were let go as a warning to the rest of the French.<ref>"Notes on Old Cahokia: Part Two: Fort Bowman (1778–1780)" Charles E. Peterson ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society'' Vol. 42, No. 2 (Jun. 1949), pp. 199</ref><ref name="greenevincennesknox"/>{{rp|217}} When French forces allied to the Americans attempted to scout out the location a few days later, they saw that the heads of several French soldiers blocked the path impaled on pikes. After seeing this, they turned back.<ref>"French Imperial remnants on the middle ground: The strange case of August de la Balme and Charles Beaubien" – Birzer, Bradley J. ''Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society''; Springfield Vol. 93, Iss. 2, (Summer 2000)</ref> These events occurred in and around what is today [[Columbia City, Indiana]] in [[Whitley County, Indiana]].<ref>Gaff, Alan D. (2004). "Bayonets in the Wilderness". Anthony Waynes ''Legion in the Old Northwest''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-3585-9.</ref> The victory ended the campaign and established Little Turtle's reputation as a war leader.<ref>Cayton, pp. 147–48.</ref> Through the 1780s, Little Turtle continued to lead raids against colonial American settlements in [[Kentucky]], fighting on the side of the British. However, the Miami bands did not uniformly support the British. The [[Piankashaw]] Miami supported the rebel Americans, while the [[Wea]] Miami vacillated between the British and Americans.<ref>Carter, ''Life and Times'', 72–75.</ref>