Tag Archives: Delaware
The Crawford Campaign, 1782: Captivity, Torture, and Execution
(part five of five) For those men separated from the retreating main body in the pell-mell retreat, Crawford’s expedition had become a nightmare, beginning with the panic on the night of June 5. James Paul remembered being shaken awake with … Continue reading
The Crawford Campaign, 1782: Battle on the Sandusky
(part three of five) The expedition continued through thick forest until June 4, when it finally came upon a Wyandot town on the upper Sandusky after noon. It was abandoned to the surprise of Crawford’s guides.[i] (The Wyandot shifted from … Continue reading
The Crawford Campaign, 1782: Birth of an Expedition
(part two of five) In April, 1782 local leaders, in particular David Williamson, petitioned Irvine to lead a punitive raid to the Sandusky River aimed at the Wyandot and Hopocan’s Delaware.[i] While he could provide no material support or leadership, … Continue reading
The Crawford Campaign, 1782: American Strategy in Ohio, 1781-1782
(part one of five) War on the American frontier was generally brutal, but few incidents inflamed American passions in the country’s early history as much as the torture and execution of Colonel William Crawford in June 1782 in Northwestern Ohio. … Continue reading
Burning Colonel Crawford
Last year I came across Dr. John Knight’s account of the torture and execution of Colonel William Crawford by members of the Delaware Indian tribe in 1782. It was a vicious execution, but not unheard of in the wars on … Continue reading