Opposition: Col. Daniel Brodhead IV 1736-1809

This American Revolutionary War officer was leader of several punitive expeditions against Natives in New York and in the Ohio Valley.  And, in the end, karma caught up with him in a strange way.

Daniel Brodhead IV (1736-1809) was the fourth of his name, born to an old New York family in Marbletown.  When he was a boy, his father moved the family to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.  There, Daniel IV saw firsthand the struggle between Natives and Settlers for the same ground.  In this case, it was the Lenape/Delaware, whom he would become familiar with later in life.  The family homestead was attacked numerous times.  When Daniel's father died, Daniel sold his share of the family homestead and headed for better prospects.  He would work a series of odd jobs before finding his calling as a soldier in the American Revolution. 

Brodhead became an officer in the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel.  He took part in many early battles in New York, including the Battle of Long Island, where George Washington commended Brodhead for his bravery.  He took over the 8th Pennsylvania after the death of its Colonel, suffered through Valley Forge and led his first expedition against Native Americans, in this case the Delaware living near the Muskingum River in the Ohio Country in 1778.  After General Lachlan McIntosh's failed attempt to capture Fort Detroit, Washington replaced McIntosh with Brodhead, making him commander of the Western Department, which included Ohio and western Pennsylvania.  Brodhead would have his hands full dealing with Shawnee, Wyandot, Mingo, Delaware and other tribes both working as auxiliaries for the British and defending their hunting range.

He would lead an expedition against the Ohio-based Seneca in 1779 in support of the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, which we've already covered.  In 1781, he led another expedition against the Lenape/Delaware known as the Coshocton Expedition.  It was during this expedition that he would have to restrain militia who wanted to kill Christianized Delaware living at the mission station of Gnadenhutten, something we've discussed in a previous post.  Then, karma in the form of George Washington caught up with Brodhead.  He was accused of misappropriating supplies and money earmarked for recruiting bonuses and removed from command.  He was court-martialed and acquitted of all the charges except mishandling the recruiting funds.  However, the court-martial found that his handling of the funds was justified under the circumstances and recommended no discipline.  Washington brevetted Brodhead a Brigadier General and sidelined him to militia command for the rest of the War.  He later married a wealthy widow, Rebecca Mifflin, from a well-known Pennsylvania family and helped found the Society of the Cincinnati, but he never held a field command again.