An Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky in 1782: Under Colonel William Crawford

During the American Revolution, British allied Indians of the Ohio Country ruthlessly attacked white settlements and lone settlers in the frontier areas of western Pennsylvania, what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. German Moravian missionaries, in an attempt to convert the heathen Indians to Christianity founded a village near the Tuscarawas River in Eastern Ohio which they named Gnadenhutten (German for "huts of grace". ) Here dwelt Indians from the Lenni Lenape or Delaware tribe that had converted to Christianity and were learning the white man's agricultural way of life. These Moravian Indians were neutral in the American Revolution, much to the disgust of their red brethren who had taken up villages along the Sandusky River, near their Wyandot allies. In March 1782, after the Moravian Indian's heathen brothers along with other British allied Indians attacked settlements in western Pennsylvania, Militia Colonel David Williamson led a group of men to Gnadenhutten and massacred 96 peaceful, Christian men, women and children. Needless this barbarous act infuriated the red warriors of the Ohio Country and attacks along the frontier borders increased. The settlers clamored for an expedition against the Indian towns along the Sandusky River in an attempt to deter the Indian from further depredations. The expedition was approved by General Washington and under the auspices of General William Irvine, the militia gathered at Mingo Bottom and on May 25, 1782, under the command of Colonel William Crawford, a very close friend of General George Washington, they began their fateful march towards the Sandusky River. Second in command was none other than Colonel David Williamson. This book tells of the events, sometimes quite graphic, of the Revolution west of the Allegheny Mountains upon the early American frontier. This book also contains the first hand, eyewitness account of the torture and execution of Colonel William Crawford, as witnessed by Dr. John Knight, Surgeon, who was captured along with Crawford and also condemned to death. Dr. Knight managed to escape and make his way back to the settlements. This book is filled with true stories of those who participated in the battle, the escapes, the deaths, the heroes and the villains. A must read for anyone with an interest in frontier history and the American Revolution. This book is part of the Historical Collection of Badgley Publishing Company and has been re-created from the original. The original contents have been edited and corrections have been made to original printing, spelling and grammatical errors when not in conflict with the author’s intent to portray a particular event or interaction. Annotations have been made and additional content has been added by Badgley Publishing Company in order to clarify certain historical events or interactions and to enhance the author’s content. Illustrations and photos have been added by Badgley Publishing Company. This work has been re-formatted and re-indexed. This work was created under the terms of a Creative Commons Public License 2.5. This work is protected by copyright and/or other applicable law. Any use of this work, other than as authorized under this license or copyright law, is prohibited. Read more