John Forsyth

John Forsyth 1780-1841, American cabinet member, b. Fredericksburg, Va. He began law practice in Augusta, Va., and was in the House of Representatives from 1813 until his election to the Senate in 1818. In Feb., 1819, he resigned to become minister to Spain. After serving again in the House of Representatives (1823-1827), as governor of Georgia (1827-1829), and for a second time as U.S. Senator (1829-34), he became Secretary of State under President Jackson and continued to hold the office during President Van Buren's administration. As Secretary of State he was concerned chiefly with gaining compensation from France for plundering U.S. ships during the Napoleonic Wars, with the question of the annexation of Texas, with the Caroline Affair , and with the disputed boundary between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada.

Bibliography: See biography by A. L. Duckett (1962).

Teahouse of the August Moon, The (1953), a comedy by John Patrick. [Martin Beck Theatre, 1,027 perf.; Pulitzer Prize, Tony, NYDCC Awards.] Captain Fisby ( John Forsythe) is under orders to bring democracy to a postwar Okinawan village, whether the locals want it or not. He attempts to establish some free enterprise, but the only thing the islanders can produce are cricket cages, for which there is no export market. When one wily resident, Sakini ( David Wayne), transforms Fisby's plans for a schoolhouse into a teahouse, where some stronger spirits may also be served, all hell breaks loose. Fisby's frightened, befuddled superior, Col. Wainwright Purdy III ( Paul Ford), arrests Fisby and orders the teahouse destroyed. The demolition is no sooner complete than Purdy discovers the teahouse has been hailed in Washington as a shining example of “American ‘get‐up‐and‐go.’” Luckily, Sakini and his friends have only dismantled and hidden the building materials, so the edifice is hastily reassembled to await the visit of the congressmen and news photographers. Based on a novel by Vern Sneider, this ingratiating comedy, which some felt was really held together by Wayne's superb characterization, nonetheless walked away with all the season's awards. It was the source of the failed musical Lovely Ladies, Kind Gentlemen (1970). John PATRICK (1907–95) was born in Louisville and attended both Columbia and Harvard. Although he had several other plays produced on Broadway, his only other success was The Hasty Heart (1945). Among Patrick's other plays were The Curious Savage (1950) and Everybody Loves Opal (1961), both of which were very popular with amateur and summer stock groups.

Wounded Knee, Battle of (1890).The final major encounter between Indians and the U.S. Army, Wounded Knee grew out of the revitalization movement known as the Ghost Dance that swept western Indian reservations in 1889–90. On the Sioux reservations of North and South Dakota, people embraced the new religion with fervor. Fearful of violence, agents called for military assistance, and strong forces were dispatched. The overall commander, Maj. Gen. Nelson A. Miles, pressed for the imprisonment of such “troublemakers” as Sitting Bull and Big Foot.

On 15 December 1890, Sitting Bull was killed while resisting arrest by Indian policemen. Big Foot eluded arrest when he led his band of Lakota Sioux in a trek toward Pine Ridge Agency; his intent was not hostile, as assumed, but peaceful. Intercepted, the band was escorted to Wounded Knee Creek to be disarmed. Col. James W. Forsyth and the Seventh Cavalry, about 500 strong and bolstered by four small‐caliber cannon, surrounded the Indian village of about 350 people. Neither side intended a fight, but the disarming process built tension and suspicion. A rifle accidentally discharged touched off battle.

After a brief exchange of close range fire and hand‐to‐hand fighting, the Indians scattered and the artillery opened fire. The village was flattened, and Indians fleeing in all directions were cut down. About 200 of Big Foot's people, including women and children, were killed or wounded, while the troops lost 25 killed and 39 wounded. After Wounded Knee, General Miles maneuvered his forces in such fashion as to bring about the surrender of the Ghost Dancers. The Indians, and even General Miles, accused the troops of indiscriminate massacre. Although few such incidents can be documented, the tragedy at Wounded Knee poisoned relations between whites and Indians; today, it still symbolizes the wrongs inflicted by one race on the other.
[See also Plains Indians Wars.]

Bibliography

Robert M. Utley , The Last Days of the Sioux Nation, 1963.
Richard E. Jensen,, R. Eli Paul,, and and John E. Carter : Eyewitness at Wounded Knee, 1991.

Robert M. Utley