Tag Archives: Ohio River
“God willing and the Creek don’t rise.”
If you are from a certain geographical area of the United States the title of this post is a saying you have heard numerous times. Heck, you may even use it yourself. I’ll admit that I have found usage of … Continue reading
Captain James Willing’s Mississippi Raid, Part 2
Willing’s next target was the town of Manchack upon which he descended “so rapidly that they reached the Settlements without being discovered.”[1] On the 23rd, Willing’s advance parties captured the 250-ton British sloop Rebecca, with sixteen 4-pounders and six swivels.[2] … Continue reading
The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, Part 2
An Englishman on the Frontier Part 1 click here. Nicholas Cresswell left Alexandria for the Illinois Country on March 16, 1775, his correspondence as yet unknown to the local Committee of Safety. The Ohio River served as a highway to … 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
Visiting a Tragedy: Gnadenhutten, OH
Few places in the American Revolution evoke sorrow like Gnadenhutten, Ohio. There, in March 1782, militia from Western Pennsylvania bludgeoned, scalped, and burned to death some ninety-six bound Indians who had adopted the Christian faith preached by missionaries from the … Continue reading
Chief Cornstalk’s American Revolution (part two)
Modern Replica of Fort Randolph in Point Pleasant, WV (Wikimedia Commons) At Fort Randolph, erected on the old Point Pleasant battlefield, Captain Matthew Arbuckle decided to take matters with the Shawnee into his own hands. He was already suspicious of … Continue reading
Chief Cornstalk’s American Revolution (part one)
Chief Cornstalk after an 1870 rendering (Wikimedia Commons) The American Revolution on the frontier was brutal. Neutrality was difficult position to maintain, but some Native American tribes attempted it. In the Ohio River Valley, it was particularly challenging. But, for … Continue reading
General Edward Hand: The Squaw Campaign
Emerging Revolutionary War welcomes guest historian Eric Sterner. In February 1778, Brigadier General Edward Hand, commanding Continental forces at Fort Pitt on the American frontier, launched what may be one of the oddest campaigns of the American Revolution, more famous … Continue reading