The siege of Fort Wayne took place from 5–12 September 1812, during the War of 1812. The stand-off occurred in the modern city of Fort Wayne, Indiana, between the United States garrison at Fort Wayne and a combined force of Potawatomi and Miami, supported by British troops. The conflict began on 5 September, when warriors under Native American chiefs Winamac and Five Medals killed two members of the U.S. garrison. Over the next several days, the Native Americans burned the buildings and crops of the fort's adjacent village, and launched sporadic assaults from outside the fort. Winamac withdrew on 12 September, ahead of reinforcements led by Major General William Henry Harrison. The attack on Fort Wayne was one of several attacks on U.S. outposts by Native Americans in September 1812. Other coordinated attacks occurred at Fort Harrison, Pigeon Roost, and Fort Madison. Background Fort Wayne was established in 1794 by United States forces under Major General Anthony Wayne. It was built at the end of the Northwest Indian War to exert United States influence at a large collection of Native American towns known as Kekionga. The 1809 Treaty of Fort Wayne, which granted approximately 30 million acres of Native American land to white settlers in the areas of Illinois and Indiana, was a major influence behind the Native American motivation to resist the United States' expansion. In addition, the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe kept tensions high between native nations and U.S. settlers. As a frontier outpost in a busy, Native American town located in remote northeastern Indiana Territory, this fort had fallen into disrepair in years leading up to 1812. The garrison was often insubordinate, many of the buildings deteriorated and supplies dwindled under the leadership of Captain James Rhea. Rhea, who had previously commanded Fort Industry and served in Wayne's army, arrived in Fort Wayne and took command on May 15, 1810. Days after his arrival, Rhea wrote to Colonel Jacob Kingsbury: "I am much pleased with my Command; I hope to be continued here ... at this Post everything has been going on very correct; I mean to take the Tract of Capt. Heald as near as possible ... I have been very will with Rheumatism Pains ever since I left you. I don't know if I ever shall recover, I have not had a Night Sleep in two Weeks." Rhea also soon toke note of the fort's