The American Revolutionary War on the frontier was, like other wars between Colonial powers and Settlers, made all the more deadly by the tendency of Europeans and Americans to recruit Native auxiliaries into the conflict, disrupt Native ways of life and claim the hunting ranges, often without informing them, and interject White politics into Native society. Even before the Revolution began in 1775, the Ohio Valley was contested ground. Originally part of the possessions of France and ceded after the Seven Years War ended in 1763, the Colonial powers who traded land like playing cards took little note of the people who had lived and hunted there centuries. After the disaster of Pontiac's Rebellion, many Native tribes made themselves as accommodating to the British as possible, though the British couldn't stop Settlers coming onto Native land. The right to settle the backcountry was as much an issue of the Revolution as taxation without representation.
As the Revolution began, the tribes in the Ohio Valley were of several different opinions on what to do, ally with the British, the Americans, or stay neutral. British officials disrupted this situation further by recruiting Natives to raid American settlements. In 1777, tensions deepened when American militia leaders murdered Cornstalk of the Shawnee, a leading advocate of neutrality. In February, 1778, Gen. Edward Hand led an American force into the Ohio country to neutralize the British efforts among the Natives. Poor supplies and bad weather hampered his efforts, although he did attack two villages filled mostly with women and children. Incidentally, they were of the family of a leading Delaware/Lenape warrior, Captain Pipe, and among the Americans were William Crawford and Simon Girty, serving as an interpreter and guide.
For the time being, Pipe held his temper, trying to keep his people neutral. He signed the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778, which would have given the Delaware a buffer state in the Ohio Valley. However, the principal Native advocate of this treaty, Delaware Chief White Eyes, was assassinated and the treaty shelved. Disgusted at this treachery, Pipe began exploring his options with the British. In 1780, a force of British with Native auxiliaries began raiding in Kentucky, responded to by Captain George Rogers Clark of Virginia. For some reason, many American leaders blame the Delaware/Lenape for much of the unrest on the frontier. In 1781, Col. Daniel Brodhead led a punitive expedition into the Ohio Valley and burned the main Delaware town of Coshocton. Clark led another expedition in 1781, but his men were defeated at the Battle of Lochry's Defeat. Mingo and Delaware who were determined to fight for the British, or just drive Settlers out of the Ohio Valley began gathering in towns and villages along the Sandusky River.
This situation created a dangerous state for the Moravian mission station at Gnadenhutten, where several Christianized Delaware lived precariously between the American base at Fort Pitt (now Pittsburgh) and the Sandusky River. Buckongahelas, whom we've already met, wasn't the only leader who warned the missionaries and their followers of what was about to hit. British forces, including Girty who had switched sides, forcibly moved the Christian Delaware to a new location, believing that the missionaries were actually American agents. The Gnadenhutten Massacre, discussed in a previous post, occurred in March, 1782, when Pennsylvania militia murdered over 100 Christianized Delaware who had returned to Gnadenhutten in such of food. The Ohio Valley, always a hotbed of skirmishing and raiding, was ready to explode again. Although the British signed formal terms of surrender at Yorktown in October, 1781, the war was far from over on the frontier.
General William Irvine, commander of the Western Department of the Continental Army, knew that the British were continuing to incite the Natives from their base at Fort Detroit and that the Fort had to be taken. Washington vetoed a march on Detroit, citing lack of funds, supplies and men. Not to be outdone, Irvine turned to local militia leaders, such as David Williamson, the perpetrator of the Gnadenhutten Massacre, who believed that an attack on the Indian towns and villages along the Sandusky would also make the point. Each volunteer would have to equip himself and provide his own supplies. Because the expedition did not have Washington's express approval, Irvine would have to delegate command to someone else. As volunteers began gathering at what is now Mingo Junction, Ohio, Irvine passed over Williamson (fearing another Gnadenhutten) and chose retired Col. William Crawford, a personal friend of Washington's, to take command. Williamson had to settle for second-in-command with rank of major.
The expedition ran into problems from the beginning. The volunteers were mostly undisciplined militia who wasted rations, left the ranks to hunt, and generally did what they pleased. Nor was Crawford a good leader for this type of group. A volunteer wrote that Crawford proposed matters in a confusing way and seemed unable to convince others of his plans an opinions. When they reached the Sandusky Plains, they discovered that a town they called Upper Sandusky, where they expected a village of Wyandot to be, had moved several miles away. This village, also called Half King's Town was near present-day Upper Sandusky, Ohio, with Pipe's Town (now Carey, Ohio), closer to where the Americans were. Crawford halted and sent a scouting party ahead, which soon encountered a large party of warriors backed up by British soldiers.Simon Girty had known about the expedition the whole time, thanks to captured Americans, and had relayed Crawford's plans to Fort Detroit. While Girty's colleague Alexander McKee was dispatched to rally the Shawnee, William Caldwell (father of Billy Caldwell), took a detachment of Butler's Rangers and a mixed force of Mingo, Wyandot and Delaware led by another Girty colleague, Matthew Elliott. This force collided with Crawford's scouts on June 4, 1782, near a grove of trees known as Battle Island. Crawford's men forced Pipe's Delaware out of the trees and onto the open prairie, where he was joined by the Wyandot. Matthew Elliot proved the better commander, as he was able to position warriors behind Crawford's force, surrounding him as the battle intensified. Both armies slept on the field that night.
Firing resumed on June 5, with the Natives buying time until the Shawnee arrived. During a lull in the fighting, Girty approached Crawford under a white flag and demanded surrender, which was refused. The Shawnee arrived, effectively trapping Crawford, who had hoped to stage an attack after nightfall. To their horror, the Americans discovered that British rangers were also on the field. Crawford decided to make a retreat under cover of nightfall, but Indian sentries detected the movement and began to attack. The American militia scattered, making them easier targets. Crawford became concerned about his son John, his son-in-law and a nephew. Along with the expedition's doctor, John Knight, he went to search for them, not realizing they had already been captured. Crawford and Knight were captured and we already know what happened to Crawford in time.
On June 6, in Crawford's absence, Williamson assumed command. As the Americans continued their retreat, the British and Indian force caught up with them at the Olentangy River. Though many of his men scattered, Williamson rallied enough of them that he could make a stand until the Indians retreated. The expedition finally returned to Mingo Junction, with a loss of 70 captured. Total losses were, Anglo-Indian 6 killed, 11 wounded, and American, 70 killed, or captured and killed later. Very few of the prisoners taken managed to escape to tell what became of the others. The site where Crawford met his fate on June 11, 1782, ritualized burning at the stake, is commemorated with the monument below.
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