Crawford’s Defeat, also known as the Battle of Sandusky, May 25 – June 12, 1782, ended in the rout of around 500 Pennsylvania militia by an equal number of Native Americans; mainly Wyandot and Lenape Delaware, with some Shawnee, Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi, including a company of Butler’s Rangers. The Sandusky Expedition by Pennsylvania settlers, led by General Washington’s good friend Colonel William Crawford, was in response to the increased number of frontier settler attacks by Native American war parties. The uptake in deadly raids was in vengeful response to the Pennsylvania militia’s savage and hideous massacre of pacificist Christian Moravian converts, Lenni-Lenape (Delaware) and Mohegans, mainly women and children, at Gnadenhutten, March 8, 1782.
Confident of success, on Mary 25th, the militia crossed into the Ohio Territory from Pennsylvania and marched north toward the Sandusky River region on Lake Erie. The goal was to destroy the Sandusky’s villages, in effect halting native raids along the Pennsylvania frontier. Surprise was of the essence; however, unknown to the settlers, their progress was observed by native scouts. While militiamen probed to attack the villages, Native Americans and Loyalist Rangers were prepared and struck first. Facing a fierce and well organized enemy in what has been called Battle Island, the militia were the ones taken by surprise. The settlers had withdrawn to a wooded grove and on June 4th and 5th, exchanged fire with British forces. When the natives did not press the attack, Col. Crawford thought them weak and planned to attack at nightfall. But seeing reinforcements arrive throughout the day, that included 100 Butler Rangers, he realized they were surrounded and in peril of being annihilated. Instead of attack, he ordered a retreat that night.
But true to most militia forces, the settlers lacked military discipline. Sudden flashes split the night as native sentries were alerted. In the ink black night, entire units panicked; the withdrawal turned into a rout. Men splintered into small and large groups in an attempt to escape. Some individuals and larger groups managed to return home. The main body, about half, were pursued and held off an attack at what has been labeled The Battle of Olentangy. Most of the estimated 70 militiamen killed during the expedition had been taken captive, some of whom had participated in the dreadful murder of the Moravian Christians. In revenge for Gnadenhutten, the prisoners were tomahawked and scalped immediately. The rest, an unknown number, were ritually tortured before killed, including Colonel Crawford. Though the American Revolution was basically over in the east, this militia defeat did not signal the end of hostilities in the west. By the summer of 1782, native and Loyalist forces launched a two-prong major offensive against American forts and settlements. The year 1782 proved to be one of the bloodiest of the frontier war.
Background
With the conclusion of the French and Indian War, the British signed the Royal Proclamation of 1763. It created a boundary line that prohibited colonials from settling land west of the Appalachian Mountains. Colonials widely ignored and defied the proclamation and encroached on indigenous lands, fueling resentment that often broke out in deadly violence. When the American Revolution broke out in 1775, many native tribes aligned with the British, seeing them as less a threat than rebellious colonial settlers. By 1777, British regulars and loyalist partisan units, known as Rangers, teamed with native forces to attack frontier forts and frontier homesteads. Considered hostiles by rebellious colonials, Native American nations included the Iroquois, Shawnee, Mingos, Lenape Delaware, and Wyandots. Some leaders sought neutrality, but ultimately, due to atrocities by patriot militias, joined the fight alongside British and loyalist rangers.[1]
In February, 1778, the first major expedition by American forces into the Ohio Territory, west of the Pennsylvania frontier, was led by Continental General Edward Hand. He commanded 500 Pennsylvania militiamen who marched from Fort Pitt to the Cuyahoga River district. They were to destroy British military supplies; however, adverse weather forced the men to give up and return to Fort Pitt. On the return they murdered innocent women and children, including the mother and brother of influential Lenape chief Captain Pipe (Hopocan). After what was later called the ‘Squaw Campaign,’ and the ruthless killing of Lenape chief peacemaker White Eyes, Pipe turned against the Americans. He moved the Lenape Delaware 90 miles northwest to Sandusky River region where he and the Wyandot received support from the British at Detroit. From there, multiple raids were launched over the next four years.
By 1781, most Lenape Delaware had aligned with the British. In April of that year, Colonel Daniel Brodhead, commander at Fort Pitt, led a punitive raid into the Ohio Country. He destroyed the Lenape town of Coshocton, believing the Lenape had aided raiding war parties from the Sandusky Region. The Pennsylvania militia who were part of his command demanded they also destroy the Moravian Christian Villages of Schoenbrunn, Salem, and Gnadenhutten.[2] Moravian missionaries had established the three village for their Lenni-Lenape and Mohegan converts to Christianity. Colonel Broadhead refused to raid the villages and kill native pacifists who had remained neutral throughout the war.
As Shawnee, Wyandot, and Lenape war parties continued to raid the Pennsylvania and Western Virginia frontier, resentment towards the Lenape villages in Ohio grew. The Moravian Lenape ninety miles west of Fort Pitt were administered by Moravian missionaries David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder. They maintained their convert’s neutral position; however, primary sources indicated they kept American officials at Fort Pitt informed about hostile British and native activities. The Wyandot and British authorities at Fort Detroit believed the Moravians were in communication with the Americans in in September of 1781, forced the Moravian Lenape to abandon their villages and relocate to the Sandusky region in a hastily built village called Captive Town. The two missionaries, David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder were further removed to Fort Detroit.
Gnadenhutten Massacre Erupts the Ohio Frontier
After British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, October 19, 1781, the American Revolution was basically over. In the east, only minor clashes occurred in the southern theatre and Westchester, New York; mostly during British foraging expeditions. But in the western frontier, widespread blood was still spilt. Native Americans continued to battle colonial settlers’ encroachment on their ancestral lands. Raiding war parties usually remained home during the winter months, waiting for spring to resume their attacks in earnest. But the winter of 1781-1782 was unusually mild, enough for an earlier raiding campaign.
For the Moravian Lenape, it was all about timing. The British supplies promised those forced to relocate in Sandusky never arrived. Many of the villagers at Captive Town were starving. In late February, Shawnee leader Pipe and British authorities at Fort Detroit allowed the Moravians to return to their villages to harvest the crops they abruptly left behind and salvage what food and other supplies that were still in the villages. They arrived just as a severely savage raid on the Wallace family in the Monongahela River region of Pennsylvania took place. The father and four children were brutally killed. Later, Mrs. Wallace and a fifth child were discovered impaled on wooden stakes, the child’s stomach faced the east and his head faced the west. For the Pennsylvania settlers, this was the last straw. One hundred and sixty gathered and elected Colonel David Williamson their leader. On March 4th, they rode for the Moravian villages, convinced the pacifists either participated in the raid, or aided the warriors who did so. And this time, there was no Continental officer to stop them.
On March 7th, Colonel Williamson’s militiamen rode into Gnadenhutten. The Moravians were happily harvesting the dried corn that had been left standing in 300 acres. The settlers convinced the Lenape Christians that they were there to peacefully remove them to Fort Pitt for their protection. While the Moravians fed the militia, a detachment rode to bring the Moravians at nearby Salem to Gnadenhutten. On March 8th, the pacifists were tied and herded into two huts, one for the men and the other for the women and children. They were told that come morning, they would be killed. That night, while the condemned faced the horror and terror of certain death, some prayed and sang hymns. Meanwhile the settlers got drunk while surviving witnesses stated some of the women and young girls were dragged onto the snow and raped.
On the 8th, 28 men, 29 women, and 39 children, many toddlers, and infants, 96 in all, to designated ‘slaughter houses’, again, one for men and the other for women and children. Children cried out and mothers screamed for mercy as they were dragged to the slaughter houses. There, all were systematically murdered; many heads were crushed beneath a large cooper mallet while others plunged knives into quivering bodies and scalped the victims for trophies; including toddlers and infants. Two young boys were able to escape the carnage and join the Moravians of Schoenbrunn who were warned just in time of the murderous settlers. They fled before the militiamen arrived at their village. The boys told of the horrors at Gnadenhutten that understandingly ignited the wrath of the Ohio Valley natives.
Sandusky Expedition Organized
The Pennsylvania militiamen who viciously murdered unarmed pacifist men, women, and children at Gnadenhutten returned home to a hero’s welcome. However, Fort Pitt’s commander, General William Irving,[3] was appalled by their actions and convened a court of inquiry. Though the authorities were convinced the militia had no reason to slaughter the innocent Christians, no charges were ever brought. After the massacre increased the number of vindictive raids in Pennsylvania and Western Virginia, residents demanded a Federal invasion against Fort Detroit. They hoped it would be on the scale of General Sullivan’s 1779 expedition against the Iroquois.[4] Irving assessed it would take 2,000 Continentals and five pieces of artillery to do so. But after seven years of war, Congress was broke. So too, Philadelphia did not want to sponsor a major offensive that might upset ongoing peace talks. Washington informed General Irving that if the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania wished for an expedition, their militias would have to volunteer to do so. The Continental Army could not help.
Even though there would be no military aid from Washington and Congress, Pennsylvania militiamen were convinced they could act alone. It was decided that a blow against the Native villages at Sandusky could rid the country of native war parties. Men throughout the Monongahela River region volunteered for the expedition, including Colonel David Williamson and many of those who participated in the hideous murders of Moravian pacifists. Each volunteer was to provide his own horse, rifle or musket, ammunition, rations, and any supplies needed for the campaign. Their payment would be the plunder they expected to find at the Sandusky villages.
Due to the questionable legality of the expedition, General Irvine, as a uniformed Continental officer, did not command. He convinced his and Washington’s good friend former Continental officer Colonel William Crawford[5] to come out of retirement and agree to lead the expedition. Crawford was a good choice as he was a seasoned land surveyor and experienced wilderness fighter. He had previously led operations against Native Americans during the French & Indian War, commanded men in the 1774 Dunmore War against the Mingo and later, led troops during the Squaw Campaign into the Ohio Valley. But since it was a volunteer expedition, the men would vote their commander. Many wished Williamson of the Moravian massacre to lead them. But Irving campaigned for Crawford over Williamson, fearing another mass killing of native captives. Knowing it would be a close vote Irving reasoned, “The general and common opinion of the people of this country is that all Continental officers are too fond of Indians.”[6]
On May 20, 1782, the volunteer militiamen rendezvous at Mingo Bottom,[7] on the Ohio just west of the Pennsylvania frontier. The vote for commander was very close; 230 for Williamson and 235 for Crawford. Colonel Crawford was in overall command with Williamson[8] voted second as major. The other three majors in order of command were John McClelland,[9] Thomas Gaddis,[10] and James Brenton.[11]
The expedition assured that each man carried 30 days of food and supply. On May 25, 1782, (some sources list the 24th as another stated the 12th) around 500 militia volunteers left Mingo Bottom. Colonel Crawford was joined by his son John, his son-in-law William Harrison, and his nephew and namesake William Crawford.[12] At Crawford’s request, Irvine allowed Continental Army Surgeon Dr. John Knight[13] to accompany the expedition. Also accompanying the expedition was a German (later discovered a former Russian) named John Rose to serve as Crawford’s aide-de-camp.[14] Rose was to keep a journal of the expedition that would serve as a report for General Irving. ‘Indian Fighter’ Jonathan Zane[15] of Fort Henry at Wheeling and frontiersman John Slover[16] were employed as scouts.
Journey to the Sandusky River Region
The 175-mile trek to Sandusky proved to be far more troublesome than expected. All were mounted and at around 25 miles per day, it was estimated it would take seven days to reach the native villages; the journey stretched to eighteen days. Morale was high with many of the young militiamen boasting that they intended to exterminate the whole Wyandot Tribe. Though many had served during the war in some capacity, as a Continental Soldier or in a State Militia, true to all militiamen at the time, discipline was dismal. They loathed taking orders, refused guard duty, broke camp late, made camp too early, rations were wasted, and when supplies ran low, many ignored commands to hunt or forage for food. Colonel Crawford did not live up to expectations as an experienced commander. Rose recorded, he “speaks incoherent, proposes matters confusedly, and is incapable of persuading people into his opinion.” Officers argued over the poor state of affairs and wasted time discussing routes to take. With no one in firm control, the hungry and disheartened settlers began to desert; while Crawford failed to halt the exodus.
The columns continued their painstakingly slow progress through the wooden territory based on previously provided information by pioneer scouts and reports from individual native allies. Confident they would soon find their enemy, on June 3rd, they emerged into the open country of the Sandusky Plains, just below the Sandusky River. The next day, they reached the Wyandot village, Upper Sandusky. They believed they had crept up on the enemy undetected and prepared for battle. But were shocked to find the village had been abandoned. A Council of War was called. Once again, without a firm commander, officers argued over what was to be done. Some feared their enemy knew of the expedition and had concentrated forces elsewhere. Some were done with it all and wanted an immediate withdrawal back to Pennsylvania. Williamson, true to character, wanted to take 50 men and burn the Upper Sandusky village; of course, claiming plunder before the first torch was laid.
The council continued to argue until Crawford took some sense of command. He refused the destruction of the village, not wanting to separate his force when he had no knowledge of the enemy he faced. With others concurring, they would carry on for one more day. If there was no sight of the enemy, they would go home. Once more advancing northward over the Sandusky Plains, noted for the tall grass that stretched before them, spotted here and there by groves of trees. As usual, they broke early for a lengthy lunch. According to Rose’s journal, he was sent ahead of the column in command of a scouting party. Soon after, a couple of men returned to report that the scouts had met and were skirmishing with a large party of natives and loyalists advancing towards the main body of militia. The Battle of Sandusky had started.
Loyalist and Native Force
Belief in their superiority and invincibility, the Pennsylvania militiamen were pigheaded in their confidence that they could plan and execute an expedition into the Ohio interior that would take the British and Native Americans by complete surprise. Two months before militiamen rode from Mingo Bottom, from the very start of plans to destroy the Sandusky Villages, British agents and Native American scouts obtained detailed information of the entire operation. Scouts and spies under British agent and Loyalist Ranger leader Simon Girty,[17] and with the aid of an American deserter, relayed an accurate report of Crawford’s operations to Detroit’s commander Major Arent Schuyler DePeyster. As early as May 15th, in a council at Detroit, DePeyster, along with Girty and two other influential Loyalist Rangers, Alexander McKee and Matthew Elliott, informed Native leaders about the Sandusky expedition and its objective. The council immediately took actions to prepare for the settlers; determined to attack in a great body and repulse them.
Ranger McKee rode to the Great Miami River Valley to warn of the American invasion and to recruit Shawnee warriors. Agent Matthew Elliot was with 100 Butler’s Rangers under the command of William Caldwell[18] and would coordinate with native warriors from the Detroit region (known as Lake Indians) and the Council of Three Fires.[19] Elliot rode to the Sandusky region to warn the Wyandot and Lenape (Delaware) warriors and villagers to prepare to receive the invaders. Native scouts kept close watch on the snail like pace of the Pennsylvania settlers from the moment they entered the Ohio Territory. As the Americans wove their way west and north and neared the villages, women and children from Wyandot and Lenape towns were hidden in nearby ravines. Meanwhile British trappers packed their belongings and cleared the region.
The original Upper Sandusky village was abandoned and relocated eight miles to the north. This new Upper Sandusky town, also called the ‘Half King’s Town,’ for Wyandot chief Dunquat, was close to Lenape chief Captain Pipe’s Town (near present-day Carey, Ohio).[20] On June 4th, the day the settlers discovered the original Upper Sandusky had been abandoned, the village warriors were ready. Lenape under Captain Pipe,[21] Wyandots under Half King Dunquat,[22] and Mingos had joined forces to oppose the enemy. Their number was estimated to be between 300 to 500 warriors. Around 100 Butler’s Rangers under William Caldwell were nearby, but the Shawnee and Lake Indians were not expected to arrive until the next day. When Crawford’s scouts rode north, ahead of the main column, they ran into the Lenape and Wyandots. Pipe’s Lenape clashed and pursued the scouts in a fighting retreat, while the Wyandots temporarily held back. With the report his scouts had engaged the enemy, Crawford quickly brought the main body forward. The two forces engaged as the skirmish quickly escalated into a major battle.
Battle Island, June 4, 1782
Crawford’s advanced scouts under aide John Rose were pushing ahead through the plains’ tall grass when at 2 PM, they encountered Lenape warriors under Captain Pipe. Two militiamen galloped to inform Crawford while the rest turned tail and rode to a grove of trees where they laid down a fire. Pipe’s men followed and entered the grove of woods and pressed the scouts. Just as the scouts were threatened to be overrun, in true 50’s B-rated Hollywood style, Colonel Crawford rode up with the main body of militia.[23] They dismounted and drove Pipe’s warriors out of the grove and onto the plain. Hidden by the tall grass, the Delaware kept up a constant fire upon the militia in the wooded grove. Two hours after the initial contact, by 4 PM, the skirmish became a full-scale battle.
While the fire fight intensified, the Delaware did not try to drive the militia out of the grove; content to remain amongst the grass, rising to fire before dropping down to hide and reload. Casualties began to mount as some warriors crept forward and were shot. Settlers exposed themselves to fire, but were shot before they could duck behind a tree or drop behind a log. Some settlers climbed trees where rifled marksmen could fire down upon those hiding in the prairie grass. This went on for some time before the reason became clear to the settlers why the Delaware had not pressed the attack; Pipe had been waiting on Dunquat’s Wyandots to reinforce him. Amidst the Wyandots, were a company of about 100 Butler’s Rangers under the command of William Caldwell who assumed overall command of British forces. With Caldwell was agent Matthew Elliott who coordinated the two native forces. With the Wyandots holding the front, Pipe’s Lenape skillfully outflanked the militia’s position and attacked the grove from the rear. But the militia under Crawford’s command held firm and maintained a steady and accurate fire. After three and a half hours of incessant firing and with the approach of nightfall, the native forces slackened their fire and broke off the attack, pulling back.
Casualties for this first day of battle were similar among the combatants, amounting to the settlers losing 5 killed and 19 wounded.[24] British and Native American suffered 5 killed and 11 wounded.[25] Critical to the British force was the loss of William Caldwell who early in the battle had to leave the field after suffering wounds to both legs. Caldwell would later write that had he not been wounded, under his command, he would have pressed the attack and none of the settlers would have never escaped from the grove of trees. Men on both sides were fatigued after several hours of intense fighting and set fires to prevent surprise night assaults. They laid on arms to grab what rest they could, expecting to continue the fight the next day. During the battle, both sides suffered from lack of water. Though Pipe’s and Dunquat’s men were better off in which runners could bring up gourds and leather sacks of water, not so for the settlers. The closest source of water was a stream a mile away. However; a discovered toppled tree had a pool of putrid water amidst the exposed roots which served to quench some of the men’s thirst. By morning, Crawford had discovered fifteen men had deserted.[26] The grove of trees upon which the settlers had been surrounded was afterwards called ‘Battle Island.’[27]
Settlers’ Retreat Turns into a Panic-Stricken Rout
Morning, June 5th, opened with a steady fire by both sides that caused little harm. The British force remained at two to three hundred yards, far beyond any range of accuracy for smooth bore muskets.[28] The settlers believed their enemy was cautious and timid to attack based on having suffered severe losses the previous day. In fact, the British force was buying time, waiting for the Detroit forces of Lake Indians and Shawnee to arrive. Though low on ammunition and water, Crawford, now convinced he held the advantage in numbers, decided to hold his position in the grove. He planned to wait for nightfall then mount and in a surprise attack, drive his enemy from the field. But as the day wore on, Crawford realized he had been mistaken.
That afternoon, agent Simon Girty approached the settlers with a white flag, calling upon Crawford’s surrender, which was refused. Around the same time, militiamen began to spot a large number of green coats among the native fighters. Knowing them to be renowned Butler’s Rangers out of Detroit, Crawford and his officers were amazed that they had been able to join the battle in such short notice. More than one soon figured out that their opponent had been kept abreast of their campaign all along and were well prepared for battle. Crawford held council and while he and his officers were discussing their next move, Alexander McKee, former Continental soldier and longtime associate of Simon Girty, arrived with 140 Shawnee led by Black Snake (Peteusha).[29]
Black Snake positioned his men along the southern perimeter of the settler position; in essence, Crawford’s militia was now surrounded. A ceremonial feu de joie (fire of joy) was enacted by the Shawnee, firing muskets in the air to demonstrate their strength, which was answered by other British fighters. The effect was immediate among the settlers, causing fear and trepidation as Rose wrote, “completed the Business with us.” Faced with a well-organized and determined foe, far more enemy than thought, Crawford and his officers decided against any further offensive. Decision made, they would bury their dead, prepare the severely wounded for transport on biers, and that night, under the cover of darkness, get the hell out there. But a well-executed exodus proved far beyond the undisciplined settlers’ abilities and disaster was at hand.
In the dead of night, the retreat began. The plan was to return the same route, taking them past the abandoned Upper Sandusky town and home. Major McClelland’s division lead the way in silent column. At a moment when military training is most crucial, lacking among most militia forces, things immediately became unhinged. Crawford discovered Captain John Harden and his men could not wait, and had taken off on their own. Crawford halted the retreat and rode after the men, hoping to bring them back in line. Before he could reach them, British sentries discovered Hardin’s company and opened fire. The inexperienced settlers panicked and bolted. As more natives and Butler’s loyalists got into the fight, the crash of muskets accompanied by shouts and cries of terror was too much for McClelland’s men. They stampeded forward, leaving their commander behind shouting for them to halt.
The entire retreat erupted in a panic-stricken rout with many militiamen separated into small groups – groping in the dark, galloping off in all directions to escape the wrath of their enemy. When Major Brenton was wounded, Major Daniel Leet took command and successfully led around 90 men out of the enclosing circle of enemy. Crawford’s son John was among Leet’s command that had no intention of rejoining with their companions; they never turned back in a hell-bent ride for the safety of home. Meanwhile, in the black pandemonium of screaming men fleeing all around amidst flashes of erupting muskets, Colonel Crawford gave up trying to stem the tide of terror and instead searched frantically for his son John, son-in-law William Harrion, and his namesake nephew. Crawford, joined by Dr. Knight and two other militiamen, finally gave up the search and like the rest of his command, set off into the night, intent on escaping. Dr. Knight accompanied Crawford in this effort and would remain with the colonel during his capture and torture, resulting in Crawford’s horrendous execution.
Battle of Olentangy, June 6, 1782
After a night of terror, galloping through the dark to escape death or capture, sunrise, June 6th, of the original 500 settlers who set off from Pennsylvania, around 250 to 300 reached the abandoned Wyandot town of Upper Sandusky. Because Colonel Crawford was not among them, second in command Major David Williamson assumed leadership. Among natives and Butler’s Rangers, Matthew Elliot assumed command after Caldwell was wounded. Fortunately for the settlers, former Continental private Elliott was not of the same caliber leader as the British officer trained Caldwell. With the Americans disorganized and in a panic state, an aggressive pursuit by native and loyalist forces would have in all probability annihilated Williamson’s militia at Upper Sandusky. But Elliot was slow in organizing for another attack to go after the Americans and Williamson was allowed time to organize his command and resume the settler retreat.
A force of Delaware and Shawnee caught up with Williamson’s force on the eastern edge of the Sandusky Plains, near a branch of the Olentangy River. As soon as the warriors attacked, a large group of settlers rode off in panic. Most of the rest milled about in confusion as some prepared to set up a defensive position. Williamson gathered a small group of settlers and laid down a constant fire upon their attackers. After about an hour of fighting, the native force withdrew leaving Williamson to organize the remaining militiamen and continue the retreat. Three settlers were killed during what has been called the Battle of Olentangy and buried while eight more were wounded. There is no report of British loses.
As the retreat home continued, natives and soldiers of Butler’s Rangers fired sporadically at the column from long range. Williamson and Rose implored upon the retreating militia that they must stay together, warning that only an orderly retreat would get them home. They covered thirty miles that day, many on foot, having lost their mounts, and camped for the night. The next day, June 7th, two more Americans were captured and presumed killed. Later that morning, the Native Americans and Loyalist Rangers called off the pursuit. While the Native Americans repaired to the Wyandot towns, Butler’s Rangers, their mission accomplished, marched immediately for Detroit.[30] Six days later, Williamson’s column arrived at Mingo Bottom, June 13th. The ninety under Major Leet had already arrived. Of the rest, over the next several days stragglers arrived in small groups. Eventually, all but around seventy militiamen returned home from the expedition. Besides the eight reported killed and buried, the rest remained unaccounted for.
Fate of Captive Militiamen
Normally, prisoners taken by Native Americans after battle resulted in ransoms by the British in Detroit, adoption into the tribe, enslavement, or killed. The last being the least frequent. But after the Gnadenhutten Massacre of Christian Delawares and Mohegans by Pennsylvania settlers, March 8, 1782, as far as Native Americans in Ohio were concerned, the gloves were off. Captives of the Sandusky Expedition were either killed scalped and killed on the spot, or taken to villages where they were tortured prior to execution.
Ceremonial tortures and executions were obsolete during the American Revolution due to British influence. But after Gnadenhutten, ritual tortures were revived. Many militiamen, some of whom had been present at Gnadenhutten, were killed in this fashion. Documentations of their demise were rarely recorded but for a few cases whereas one or more captives who observed the death of their companions while waiting for a similar fate were able to escape. Two later popularized cases involved Colonel Crawford’s grisly execution, witnessed by Doctor Knight, and descriptions of several militiamen’s deaths by frontiersman scout John Slover before he escaped. Both Knight and Slover published journals of their experiences.
Execution of Captives and Crawford’s Ritual Torture
Crawford and Knight teamed up with four other militiamen and throughout the 6th, traveled southeast along the Sandusky River.[31] The following day, about 28 miles east of Battle Island, they came upon a party of around two dozen Lenape (Delawares). Knight instinctively dropped behind a log and raised his musket, but Crawford told him not to fire. Two ran up to Crawford and Knight and took their hands, having been former associates. Biggs saw the natives and loosened a shot. The warriors told Crawford to call Biggs forward or he would be killed, which he did. But Biggs and the three other companions took off.[32] Knight wrote that he and Crawford were taken by the Delawares to the camp of chief Wingenund, about a half mile distant. There the two met nine other militiamen who had been captured earlier.
Delaware chief Captain Pipe and Wyandot chief Wingenund, both former associates of Crawford,[33] had decided that Crawford was to be tortured and burned at the stake, in retaliation for the 96 Moravian Delaware and Mohegans who were slaughtered at Gnadenhutten; however, Crawford and Knight at the time were unaware of this. On Sunday the 9th, the scalps of Biggs and Ashley were brought into camp while all prisoners were marched north to Old Town, about 25 miles distant. Crawford was taken further to Half King’s town (Dunquat) where he met with an old acquaintance, Simon Girty. Crawford begged Girty to help him, offering the former Continental soldier money to use his influence on his behalf. Girty said he would do all in his power to help Crawford.
That same evening, Crawford was taken back to Old Town where he joined the other prisoners. At that time, the militiamen’s faces were painted black, a sign they would be executed. On Monday, June 10th, Pipe and Wingenund came up river to Old Town. They met with Crawford and informed him he would be put on trial for past crimes against Native Americans. Later, the prisoners were marched north towards the Wyandot village of Half King (Dunquat). Along the way, four of the prisoners were tomahawked and scalped. As they progressed north, five more militia prisoners were attacked by a group of women and boys. The militiamen were beaten then tomahawked to death. Victim John McKinly’s head was severed and kicked about while boys slapped Crawford and Knight’s faces with the men’s bloodied scalps. The march began again, this final time reaching the Delaware Chief Pipe’s Town.
Crawford was put on trial that night.[34] With Simon Girty serving as interpreter, Crawford was accused of taking part in the Gnadenhutten Massacre. Crawford denied it, but when Pipe’s sister-in-law recognized Crawford as one of the leaders of the 1778 ‘Squaw Campaign,’ in which her husband (Pipe’s brother) and Pipe’s mother were killed. Most present knew that Crawford was not involved in the slaughter of pacifist Moravians. But the Delawares vented their outrage on a surveyor and a soldier who had threatened their lands and lives for years. He was found guilty and condemned to ritual death by fire the following day at the Delaware village, Pipe’s Town.
On June 11th, one hundred Native Americans gathered to witness the 59-year-old Continental Officer and close friend of Washinton executed. Half King (Dunquat) and some of his Wyandots were present as well as Indian agent Matthew Elliott. Crawford was stripped naked and beaten. Charges of gunpowder were stuck into his body. His ears were cut off. His hands were bound behind his back with a rope tied from his hands to a post. A large fire was lit about seven yards from the pole, allowing Crawford to pace about while he was slowly ‘cooked.’ During the slow and gruesome torture, Crawford was poked with burning pieces of wood from the fire. Hot coals were thrown at him upon which he was forced to walk. This torture went on for hours. Crawford begged Girty to shoot him. The ranger responded that it was too late for him to interfere and that he die like a man. With his entire body charred and exposing torched flesh, Crawford collapsed. Thought dead, he was later revived by hot coals thrown on his face. Somehow, he rose to his feet and staggered about insensibly as the torture continued. When finally dead, his body was completely eviscerated.
Knight was taken the next day towards the Shawnee towns to be executed, but he was able to strike his guard and escape; making it back to Pennsylvania on foot. Of John Slover, during the militia’s rout, he fled eastward with a small group of settlers. He and two others were captured on the 8th and taken to Wakatomika, a Shawnee town. There, the three prisoners were forced to run a gauntlet. The men were beaten them with sticks and clubs. One was chosen to have his face painted black. While he ran the gauntlet, he was hacked at blades until tomahawked and cut to pieces. As custom, his head and limbs were stuck on poles. While there, Slover recognized three other previous captives; Major McClelland (fourth in command), and Crwaford’s nephew and son-in-law.[35] Their heads and limbs had been impaled on poles – reportedly their torsos had been thrown to the dogs. After Slover’s other companion was sent to another town to be killed, Slover was stripped naked for his execution. But just prior to his killing, Slover, was able to steal a horse and escape.
Afterward
Though peace negotiations in Paris were reaching their final stage before the belligerents’ signatures were affixed, after Crawford’s defeat, settlers west of the Appalachian Mountains feared the worst. Already by the summer months, 1782 was being called the ‘Bloody Year.’ Native raids along the frontier increased. Besides the destruction of individual settler homesteads, Mingo leader Guyasuta led around a hundred warriors and loyalists into Pennsylvania. In an attack that was the most severe Western Pennsylvania had experienced in the war, the Hannastown settlement was destroyed; nine were killed and twelve settlers were captured. With Detroit’s’ aide, Loyalist Rangers and Native Americans planned an aggressive offensive for the summer that involved two armies.
One army was to go against Fort Henry at Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), while the other would attack settlers in the Kentucky Territory. At Fort Henry, settlers withstood the siege, September 11 – 12, 1782.[36] The other major offensive by the Native and Loyalist force proved disastrous for Kentucky settlers, that included famous frontiersman Daniel Boone. At the Battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782, confident settlers pushed forward and were ambushed. Boone led one of the militia units during the defeat and panic-stricken retreat before a pursuing enemy. Among the casualties was Boone’s son, Israel, killed while trying to escape.
By September, the British Government ordered their western forces, including Fort Detroit, to cease operations because England and the United States were about to sign peace agreements. Though Fort Pitt Irving finally received permission to stage an American Continental Army offensive into the Ohio Valley, lack of enthusiasm killed the operation. However famed frontiersman George Rogers Clark was not through. In November, 1782, he conducted one of the last offensives of the war by destroying several Shawnee towns. Fortunately for the native inhabitants, the famed ‘Indian Killer,’ discovered vacant villages; the townspeople having been warned of Clark’s coming.
For Native Americans in Ohio and Kentucky, it was the beginning of the end for retaining their ancestral homes. England washed its hands of the whole affair, turning the western territories over to the United States to do with as they please. And with a growing sense of what would later be termed ‘Manifest Destiny,’ further strengthened by the ‘Monroe Doctrine,’ the rage American settlers and politicians was that opportunities in the west were up for grabs.
Result of Reported Tortures During Crawford’s Defeat
Within a year of Crawford’s death, Knight’s and Slover’s eyewitness accounts of the expedition were widely publicized. Slover’s detail of captive militiamen’s murders and Knight’s description of Crawford’s gruesome torture appeared in Francis Bailey’s Freeman’s 1783 Journal entitled Narratives of a Late Expedition Against the Indians with an Account of the Barbarous Execution of Col. Crawford. Reprinted several times, Dr. Knight’s tale sealed Crawford’s place in the chronicles of border warfare. But beyond that, the two narratives heralded in a period of biased hatred and savage stereotypes of all Native Americans that lasted generations – up to and including the early 20th Century.
But the jewel in the crown, that portrayed Native Americans as “animals vulgarly called Indians,”[37] was by Dr. Knight’s editor, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, an ‘acknowledged Indian-hater.’ Brackenridge republished Knight’s narrative with major alterations. He deleted all mention of Crawford’s trail. Discarded that ritual executions were resurrected only in response to the horrendous massacre by Pennsylvania settlers of 96 innocent Christian Lenape and Mohegan Moravians at Gnadenhutten. In fact, Brackenridge left out Gnadenhutten entirely. Brackenridge framed Knight’s entire narrative to appease his racial loathing of Native Americans. As historian Parker Brown wrote,[38] by suppressing the Native’s motivation, Brackenridge was able to create “…a piece of virulent anti-Indian, anti-British propaganda calculated to arouse public attention and patriotism.”[39] Brackenridge was brutally to the point; calling for the extermination of all Native Americans and seizure of their lands. An introduction to his edited version of Knight’s Narrative included the following, written by James Bailey, publisher of the Freeman’s Journal:
“But as they [the Natives] still continue their murders on our frontier, these Narratives may be serviceable to induce our government to take some effectual steps to chastise and suppress them; as from hence, they will see that the nature of an Indian is fierce and cruel, and that an extirpation of them would be useful to the world, and honorable to those who can effect it.”[40]
Others raised the call for the total demise of the ‘Red Skin race,’[41] described as a barbaric culture that ruthlessly tortured and murdered innocent white settlers. Gone was any mention of Native American massacres or the savage murders of captive Native Americans by white frontiersmen and settlers that included grisly torture.[42] Embedded in the American national memory, Crawford’s torture fueled generations of resentment and hatred towards Native Americans that argued for the genocide of all indigenous Americans, manifested in a popularized statement attributed to General Philip Sherman, Director of Indian Affairs for the United States Government under President U.S. Grant; “The only Good Indian is a Dead Indian.”[43] The stain of racial contempt tarnished the pristine history many of us as young children were taught in school. The real story was buried in historical bins; fact – Native people in America had been subjected to more than 1,500 wars, attacks, and raids authorized by the United States government.[44]
If You Would Like to Read More, We Suggest the Following:
Of Similar Interest on Revolutionary War Journal
Resource
Belue, Ted Franklin. “Crawford’s Sandusky Expedition,” The American Revolution, 1775–1783: An Encyclopedia 1. Ed. Richard L. 1993: Blanco, New York.
Brown, Parker B. “The Battle of Sandusky: June 4–6, 1782”. Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. Vol. 65 (April 1982B) pp. 115–51.
Brown, Parker B. “The Fate of Crawford Volunteers Captured by Indians Following the Battle of Sandusky in 1782”. Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. Vol. 65 (October 1982C), pp. 323–39.
Brown, Parker B. “The Historical Accuracy of the Captivity Narrative of Doctor John Knight“. Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. Vol. 70 (January 1987), pp. 53–67.
Brown, Parker B. “Reconstructing Crawford’s Army of 1782”. Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine. Vol. 65 (January 1982A) pp. 17–36.
Butterfield, Consul Willshire. An Historical Account of the Expedition against Sandusky under Col. William Crawford in 1782. 1873: Robert Clarke & Col, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Butterfield, Consul Willshire. History of the Girtys: Being a Concise Account of the Girty Brothers – Thomas, Simon, James, and George, and other Their Half Brother, John Turner…” 1890: Robert Clarke & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Davis, Cindy. “Event Marks Massacre of Moravian Delaware Indians in Gnadenhutten.” March 12, 2017. The Times Reporter.
Equal Justice Initiative. “Mass Killings of Native Americans.” September 9, 2019.
Finley, James Bradley Reverand. History of the Wyandot Mission, at Upper Sandusky, Ohio…. 1840: J. P. Thompson, Cincinatti, Ohio.
Harper, Rob. “Looking the other way: the Gnadenhutten massacre and the contextual interpretation of violence.” William and Mary Quarterly. Third Series, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Jul., 2007), pp. 621-644 (2007): 621–644.
Nelson, Larry L. A Man of Distinction among Them: Alexander McKee and the Ohio Country Frontier, 1754–1799. 1999: Kent State University Press, Kent, Ohio.
Nelson, Larry L. (eds.). The Sixty Years’ War for the Great Lakes 1754 – 1814. 2001: East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, Michigan. pp. 187–213.
Nester, William. The Frontier War for American Independence. 2004: Stackpole, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
Ostler, Jeffery. “To Extirpate the Indians”: An Indigenous Consciousness of Genocide in the Ohio Valley and Lower Great Lakes, 1750s–1810″. The William and Mary Quarterly. 72 (October 2015) Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture: 587–622.
Rosenthal, John Rose, Baron de. “Journal of a Volunteer Expedition to Sandusky.” The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. No 18, Vol 2 (1894).
Weslager, C. A. (1972). The Delaware Indians: A History. 1972: Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, NJ.
Sadosky, Leonard. Essay: “Rethinking the Gnadenhutten Massacre: The Contest for Power in the Public World of the Revolutionary Pennsylvania Frontier”. Presented in Skaggs, David Curtis;
Schutt, Amy C. Peoples of the River Valleys: The Odyssey of the Delaware Indians. 2013: University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, PA.
Zeisberger, David & Edited by Bliss, Eugene F. Diary of David Zeisberger, A Moravian Missionary Among the Indians of Ohio. 1885: Robert Clarke & Company, Cincinnati, OH. Reprint 1972: Scholarly Pres, St. Clair Shores, Michigan.
Endnotes
[1] Cornstalk, Shawnee leader (Hokoleskwa) had led the Shawnee throughout the 1760’s and 1770’s. During the French and Indian War and Lord Dunmore’s war in 1774, he led peace talks between opposing forces. He favored neutrality in the American Revolution. In October, Cornstalk and his son visited Fort Randolph, present day Point Pleasant, West Virginia) to inquire why two Shawnee were being held. Soon after, a militiaman stationed at the fort was killed in the vicinity. In retaliation, angry soldiers brutally murdered Cornstalk and his son plus the two other Shawnee. Cornstalk’s death turned many Shawnee against the Americans fighting the British.
[2] Grnadenhutten in Lenape means tents or huts of grace.
[3] General William Irving (1741-1804) was a physician/soldier from Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He had served as a ship’s surgeon before settling in Pennsylvania. He raised and led the 6th Penn. at the start of the war. Colonel Irving was captured in Canada at the Battle of Three Rivers, June 8, 1776. He spent two years waiting for exchange that came on May 6, 1778. He was commissioned a brigadier in 1779. On September 25, 1781, he received command of the Western Department and replaced Brodhead at Fort Pitt. Though Yorktown soon ended the war in the east, the western frontier still raged on. The settlers wanted an expedition against Detroit but Congress was broke. The settlers organized a mission against the villages of Sandusky. Irving convinced Colonel William Crawford to come out of retirement to lead the expedition. After the war, Irving was a PA delegate in Congress. He also aided in putting down the Whiskey Rebellion.
[4] General John Sullivan’s expedition against the Iroquois, June 18, 1779 – October 3, 1779, involved one quarter of all Continental Soldiers in America’s armies. They totally destroyed Iroquois villages in the Finger Lake region of New York, driving the survivors west towards Detroit where many starved during a harsh winter. The Iroquois Nation never recovered from what has now been called genocide.
[5] Colonel William Crawford (1722-1782) age 59. He was a Virginia land surveyor who became a skilled wilderness pioneer. He mentored a young teenaged George Washington and the two surveyed West Virginia and the Ohio region together, forming a close and lifelong bond. He was also a farmer and fur trader who had set aside his plow to fight in the French and Indian War. Later he returned to surveying in the Ohio Territory before and after the Treaty of Fort Stanwix of 1768 that set the boundary for settler expansion west. While farming and trading, he continued to survey the western frontier right up to the early 1770’s. After the French and Indian War, he participated in Pontiac’s War, 1763, and Dunmore’s War, 1774 where he built Fort Fincastle (later Fort Henry) in present day Wheeling, West Virginia. At the start of the American Revolution, he led the Virginia 7th and remained in Virginia recruiting throughout 1776; though many articles place him with Washington in New York and New Jersey – documentation proves this incorrect. In 1777, Crawford, now with the 13th Virginia, led light infantry at the Battle of Cooch’s Bridge and was heavily engaged with the enemy. He also fought at Brandywine Creek and Germantown. When the war in the west intensified, Crawford was transferred to the Western Department in November, 1777. He served at Fort Pitt under Generals Edward Hand and later Lachlan McIntosh. He helped build forts Laurens and McIntosh. In 1780, he spent time in Philadelphia seeking funds and in 1781, he retired from military service, until enticed from retirement by General Irving to led the Sandusky Expedition.
[6] Sadosky, pg. 204.
[7] Mingo Bottom is where the 160 militiamen gathered prior to participating in the Gnadenhutten Massacre.
[8] Williamson, the commander of militiamen who viciously slaughtered 96 pacifist Moravian Christian natives at Gnadenhutten, made his way back to Pennsylvania after the Sandusky expedition’s total failure. He managed to stay clear of Native war parties seeking his capture and execution for what he did at Gnadenhutten. He became sheriff of his county and died in 1806 in a state of poverty; perhaps a play of fateful justice, let along what his Maker would decide upon a corrupt soul tarnished with the slaughter of so many innocents and infant children.
[9] John McClelland (1734 – 1782) would be captured and tortured to death at Sandusky. He was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and became active in Westmorland, PA politics. During the American Revolution he rose through the militia ranks of Pennsylvania, becoming Lt. Colonel of the 4th Battalion of Westmoreland Militia in 1778. McClelland remained stationed in the western frontier throughout the war. In 1781, his militia joined General George Rogers Clark in his summer assault on Ohio and Indiana natives. A detachment under McClelland would be under the command of Colonel Archibald Lochry. His detachment was not with the rear guard that was attacked resulting in the death of Lochry and death and capture of around 100 militiamen; Lochry’s Defeat in August, 24, 1781. Batting a thousand, McClelland’s next action was Crawford’s Defeat in which he would not return.
[10] Thomas Gaddis would survive the expedition.
[11] James Brenton was wounded, but survived the expedition. His luck ran out two months later at the Battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782, at Licking River, now Robertson County, Kentucky, where he was killed in battle. It is reported his son helped bury the dead, but brought his father body home for burial.
[12] Crawford would be captured and horribly tortured before executed. So too his nephew and son-in-law would meet the same brutal fate.
[13] Dr. Knight was captured and was to be tortured and executed. He escaped but beforehand, had witnessed Crawford’s vicious execution. He would later detail the torture that was published and read throughout the states, resulting in biased hatred before Native Americans that would span two centuries.
[14] German John Rose was actually a former Russian named Baron Gustave Rosenthal, a Baltic nobleman from Russia. He had fled to America after killing a man in a duel. He is the only known Russian to have fought on the American side during the war. Rosenthal kept a detailed journal of the expedition, presumable to provide a full report to General Irving.
[15] Jonathan Zane (1749 – 1824) was one of the four brothers of the famed Zane frontier family. His brother Ebenezer and he founded the town of Wheeling upon where first Fort Fincastle was built (named for Governor Lord Dunmore) and Fort Henry – renamed for Patrick Henry. The Zanes were influential in all matters that concerned contact with Native Americans; Jonathan described as an ‘Indian Hater;’ involved in many Native American deaths. The Zane’s would become somewhat famous by their 17-year-old sister, Elizabeth. On September 12, 1782, while Fort Henry was under seize, she ran from the fort to her brother Ebenezer’s blockhouse to retrieve a keg of much needed powder. Though fired upon during her return to the fort, she escaped injury, becoming a legend in her own time.
[16] John Slover (1755-1813) was a frontiersman, interpreter, and scout. He had been captured as a boy and lived amongst the Miami, Lenape, and later Shawnee, being exchanged at age 20 after 12 years living amongst various tribes. He became a skilled frontiersman and interpreter employed by multiple military organizations. He would be captured during the Sandusky Expedition. He watched several of his other captives tortured and executed. He was tortured and though was partially burned at the stake, was able to steal a horse and escape; finding his way back to Pennsylvania.
[17] Simon Girty (1741-1818) was a frontiersman in the Ohio Valley Region. He and his brothers James and George were captured as children and adopted by Native Americans. Freed after living with the Seneca for several years, Girty worked as an interpreter and hunter. He had been active in several peace negotiations between the British and native American leaders fighting to retain their land from settler encroachments. At the start of the American Revolution, he and McGee joined the 13th Virginia Regiment. In 1777, he was promised a captaincy, but was commissioned a lieutenant instead. When the regiment was sent to Charleston, he remained behind on detached duty. Disillusioned with his treatment, he resigned in August 1777. Rumors of a loyalist conspiracy led to his arrest, along with McKee and others. He was acquitted, but remained under suspicion. Later, General Edward Hand at Fort Pitt and head of Western Division, hired Girty to act as intermediary and interpreter with the Senaca. After serving in the Squaw Campaign in Feb., 1778, on March 28, Girty and McKee deserted Fort Pitt and joined the British at Detroit. Girty spent the next four years convincing the Lenape Delaware to quit neutrality and join with the British. As a loyalist ranger, he spent those years leading war parties and large forces against American militia and Continental forces. Of particular, he led the native force during Lochry’s defeat, along with Brant’s Butler’s Rangers.
[18] William Caldwell, (1750-1822) was a loyalist officer in the British Indian Department. He commanded troops in John Butler’s famed Butler’s Rangers. He was with Lord Dunmore at the start of the American Revolution, wounded during the burning of Norfolk in January 1776. We was sent to Fort Niagara and joined the Indian Department. He was present at the Sierge of Fort Stanwix in August 1777. He was with Iroquois and John Butler during the Wyoming massacre. He also served with Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. He was with Brant during the German Flatts massacre. He was also present during the Cherry Valley massacre. He was posted to Detroit in 1779 and was active with the Shawnee and Delaware offensive in the Ohio Territory. After his injury at Sandusky, he later returned to the active field, leading Native Americans in their victory against Kentucky settlers, that included Daniel Boone, at the Battle of Blue Licks.
[19] The Council of Three Fires was a collection of closely related tribal bands that included Ojibwe, Odawa, and Potawatomi. The indigenous tribes arrived in the region between Lakes Huron and Michigan from the Atlantic coast on 796 AD at Michilimackinac.
[20] The American militia were unaware of Captain Pipe’s Town.
[21] Captain Pipe (Hopocan) had been a friend of the colonials. He was instrumental in helping to negotiate peace in many previous wars between native forces and settler militia, including British. When the American Revolution broke out, he and his Lenape at Coshocton, about 120 miles west of Fort Pitt (present day Pittsburg) in Pennsylvania. Pipe’s family was attacked and killed during settler raids and Coshocton was destroyed in April, 1781 by Colonel Daniel Brodhead, commander at Fort Pitt. He soon after moved to the Sandusky region and aligned with the British.
[22] Dunquat (Pomoacan, Half King to British and American settlers) was a significant Wyandot (Huron) warrior and chief, known as the “Half-King,” who allied with the British during the American Revolutionary War, leading mixed Native American forces against American settlers in the Ohio Country, while also protecting Christian Delaware communities and Moravian converts from violence, becoming a key figure in frontier conflicts and post-war diplomacy.
[23] Of course, Hollywood would have had some cavalryman sounding the bugle call as the frontiersmen rode up in the nick of time to save the day.
[24] Butterfield, pg. 212.
[25] 18th century historians and publications grossly exaggerated native losses as severe. But modern research was able to conclude both sides had similar casualties this first day of fighting.
[26] The fifteen men who deserted made their way back to Pennsylvania to report that Crawford’s command had been cut to pieces.
[27] According to Butterfield, by the 1870’s, battle island had been cut down and reduced to plowed farm fields like much of the Sandusky Plains.
[28] British trade firelocks were predominately smooth bore muskets, accurate to around 60 yards. Few Native Americans had groove bored rifles that were accurate at 200 yards (those with rifles often acquired from captured or dead settlers). Unlike popular belief, few settlers carried sought after rifles. Most of what we know as ‘Kentucky Long Rifles,’ were made in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For a farmer to commission or purchase one would take several years harvest. These farmers did not need to hunt, obtaining their meat needs through domestic livestock (again not like popular belief). But those settlers first starting out in the wilderness, before they could raise and breed enough livestock to feed their family, relied on hunting. For those settlers, acquiring a rifle became a necessity; however among the settlers riding with Crawford, most were established farmers, carrying smooth bore muskets.
[29] Black Snake, also called Snake or Captain Snake, historically referred to two major Shawnee Chiefs on the Ohio Territory; Peteusha (who died in 1813) and Shemanetoo (dying in the 1830’s). Brothers, both men fought against settler encroachment on their lands and were often seen together. Peteusha, the older and more experienced warrior, led the Shawnee against Crawford at Sandusky. Shemanetoo may have been present. Veterans of multiple clashes between settlers and militia forces since before Lord Dunmore’s War, Peteusha’s first recorded major battle was Point Pleasant where a militia victory forced Shawnee to give up land to expansionist British colonials. Peteusha would be one of the leading Shawnee war chiefs during the American Revolution, gaining support from British Authorities and organizing multiple raids against colonial settlements.
[30] Butterfield, pg. 327.
[31] Crawford and Dr. Knight traveled about a 100 yards in front of Lieutenant Ashley and Captain Biggs (who had been wounded), the two men riding horses. The other two young militiamen on foot brought up the rear. Butterfield, pg. 316.
[32] Of the four who ran off when Crawford and Knight were captured, Captain Biggs and Lieutenant Ashley were later killed and scalped. The two young privates made good their escape to Pennsylvania.
[33] Over the years, the two chiefs had had encountered Crawford during his surveying trips and while negotiating treaties, particularly the 1778 Fort Pitt Treaty.
[34] Scholars disagree if the trial was on the 10th or 11th, placing the execution the next day, on the 11th or 12th.
[35] Private William Crawford, Crawford’s young nephew, and Willaim Harris, Crawford’s son-in-law.
[36] This final siege on Fort Henry (the fourth of the war) became famous for a seventeen-year old’s run to retrieve critical gunpowder. Elizabeth Zane, sister to the famed frontiersmen Zane brothers, was holed up in the fort with other settlers as they withstood repeated attacks by mainly Wyandot and loyalist rangers. With gun powder nearly gone, Elizabeth (Betty or Betsy) ran over open ground, about 60 yards, to her brother’s blockhouse where powder and ammunition had been stored. During the run out, the natives were amused. But on the run back, realizing her purpose, they shot at her. Betty reached the fort safely. The powder proved a blessing to help fend off the fourth and final assault on the fort. Afterwards, Elizabeth became a legend in her own time.
[37] Quote by Hugh Brackenridge acknowledge ‘Indian-hater.’
[38] Parker Brown, October 1982 issue of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine.
[39] Brown, “The Historical Accuracy of…”, 1987.
[40] Quote by James Bailey who was the printer of the Freeman’s Journal that originally published Knights Narrative in 1783. Butterfield, pg. 324.
[41] The term Red Man often referred to Native Americans. Popular belief thinks that the term Red Skin refers to the color of a Native American’s skin. Therefore, it is alright to have sport totems using the term, like the former Washington Red Skins. However; the term’s original use stems from the color of a Native American after he had been skinned alive, revealing bloodied flesh – often done to native captives by white settlers and frontiersmen.
[42] One such torture commonly used by bot white settles and Native Americans was the act of cutting open the captive’s stomach, removing part of the intestines which was tied to a stake. The victim was forced to pace around the pole, tearing out the intestines, resulting in a painful death.
[43] Though the quote was substantiated by several period sources, General Philip Sherman denied he ever stated it. However, his history as manager of Indian Affairs was stained with approving many expeditions that propagated the annihilation and murder of the entire population of Native American villagers; men, women, and children.
[44] Equal Justice Initiative, Sept. 9, 2019.