Wyoming Valley massacre
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| Northern theater after Saratoga, 1778–1781 |
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| Rhode Island – Wyoming Valley – Carleton's Raid – Cherry Valley – Stony Point – Penobscot expedition – Sullivan expedition – Newtown – Springfield – Groton Heights |
The Wyoming Valley "massacre" was an encounter during the American Revolutionary War between American Patriots and Loyalists accompanied by Iroquois raiders that took place in Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, on July 3, 1778. More than three hundred Patriots were killed in what was branded a "massacre", although historians now generally believe it was primarily a battle. The aftermath, however, in which the Iroquois raiders hunted and killed fleeing Patriots before torturing to death the thirty to forty who had surrendered, is considered a massacre.
Background
In 1777, after a British army surrendered at Saratoga in upstate New York, Loyalists and their Iroquois allies in the region turned to hit-and-run tactics, raiding American Patriot settlements as well as the villages of American-allied Iroquois. Based at Fort Niagara, these raids were led by commanders such as Colonel John Butler, the Mohawk captain Joseph Brant and the Seneca chief CornplanterEncounter
The Wyoming Valley encounter occurred when Colonel Butler, leading his Rangers accompanied by a force of Cayugas and Senecas led by Cornplanter, made a surprise attack on the three hundred and sixty armed Patriot defenders of Forty Fort beside the Susquehanna River (near present-day Wilkes-Barre). The Patriots were virtually annihilated and around a thousand Patriot homes in the area were destroyed. After the battle, some of the victorious Loyalists and Indians began to harass prisoners and fleeing settlers, killing and torturing an unknown number. All Patriots who had been captured while fighting were executed and Butler reported that 227 American scalps had been taken [link]. He also insisted that no non-combatants had been killed, despite widespread rumors to the contrary.Survivors' accounts indicate that the movement to contact conducted by the Patriots was followed by a sharp battle lasting around forty-five minutes. An order to reposition the Patriot line turned into a frantic route when the inexperienced Patriots panicked. This ended the battle and triggered the Iroquois hunt.
Reports of the massacre enraged the American public and they demanded retribution. In 1779, the Sullivan Expedition methodically destroyed at least forty Iroquois villages throughout what is now upstate New York.
The massacre was famously depicted by the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell in his 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming. Because of the atrocities involved, Campbell described Joseph Brant as a "monster" in the poem, but it was later determined that Brant had not been present.
The massacre is commemorated each year by the Wyoming Commemorative Association, a local non-profit organization, which holds a ceremony on the grounds of the Wyoming Monument. The Monument is a grave interring many of the bones of the victims of the massacre. The commemorative ceremonies began in 1878, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Massacre. The principal speaker at the event was President Rutherford B. Hayes. The annual program has continued each year since then on the grounds of the Wyoming Monument.
References
- Boatner, Mark Mayo. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: McKay, 1966.
- Graymont, Barbara. The Iroquois in the American Revolution. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1972.
- Williams, Glenn F. Year of the Hangman: George Washington's Campaign Against the Iroquois. Yardley: Westholme Publishing, 2005.
Further reading
- Altsheler, Joseph A. "The Scouts of the Valley" (Historical Novel). Champaign, Ill. (P.O. Box 2782, Champaign 61825) Project Gutenberg.
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