The fort was built at the direction of Major General
"Mad Anthony" Wayne in the second week of August 1794 at the confluence of the
Auglaize and
Maumee rivers. It was one of a line of defenses constructed by American forces in the campaign leading to the
Northwest Indian War's
Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794. Work began on August 9, 1794, and was completed by August 17. The name was derived from a declaration by
Charles Scott, who was leading a band of Kentucky militiamen in support of Wayne, that: "I defy the English, Indians, and all the devils of hell to take it." The post was considered one of the strongest fortifications built in that period. Before and during the Battle of Fallen Timbers, Wayne ordered the destruction of all
Native American villages and their crops within a radius of the fort. The land which originally belonged to Native Americans was ceded to the United States by the British after the American Revolutionary War. The British would later supply and influence local tribes to take up arms. Under terms of the
Treaty of Greenville, signed on August 3, 1795, the native nations ceded around the fort and allowed the Americans to maintain a trading post there, even though it was within the area of land defined by the "Greenville Treaty Line", beyond which Americans had agreed not to settle. Wayne promised the land of "Indiana", the remaining land to the west, to remain Indian forever. During the treaty meeting, Wayne brought with him food supplies for the natives and made sure crops were planted again. The fort was abandoned in 1796. ==Later events==