Colonel William Crawford Captured by Indians June 11, 1782

During the spring of 1782 the Indians, who had removed the seat of their depredations and war to the western frontiers of Pennsylvania, and Eastern Ohio, assembled in large numbers at Upper Sandusky, Ohio, which they used as place of general rendezvous and from which they went out to the places they decided in council should be attacked and destroyed.

The principal places to which they made incursions were along the Ohio River, especially in Western Pennsylvania. So serious was the situation along the frontier, and so bold had the savages become that Congress directed a regiment of volunteers to be raised to subdue them.

General Washington commissioned Colonel William Crawford, of Westmoreland County, Pa., to command the regiment and David Williamson, Lieutenant Colonel. These men were seasoned soldiers and unusually well qualified to lead troops against the Indians.

403In May, 1782, the command marched from Fort Pitt, well armed and provided with sufficient quantity of provisions. The command consisted of 462 officers and men. Each volunteer furnished his own horse, gun and a month’s provision. They were to be exempt from two tours of military duty, and in the event they captured any Indian towns, such plunder as fell into their hands should be returned to its former owner, if he could identify and prove his property, and all horses lost during the expedition by unavoidable accident were to be replaced by horses taken from the Indians.

After a fatiguing march of eleven days through the wilderness the command reached the site of Sandusky, but the inhabitants had moved eighteen miles farther down the stream. The officers decided there were no Indian towns nearer than forty miles, and while refreshing their horses the scouts advanced to search for Indian settlements. They had not gone far when the savages were discovered in great numbers and advancing toward them.

Colonel Crawford and his brave band advanced to meet the attack June 11, 1782, and when they had reached a point only a short distance from the town they were met by a white man bearing a flag of truce from the Indians, who proposed to Colonel Crawford that if he would surrender himself and his men to the Indians, who were of overwhelming force, their lives would be spared, but if they persisted further in their expedition and attacked the town they should all be massacred to the last man.

Crawford, while listening to the proposition, thought he recognized the bearer of it as one whose features were those of a former schoolmate and companion, one he knew by the name of Simon Girty, and with whom he had only recently served in the same regiment in the Continental Army.

Crawford sternly inquired of the traitor if his name was not Simon Girty. Answered in the affirmative, the colonel informed him that he despised the offer he had made; that he would not surrender his army unless he was compelled to do so by a superior force.

Girty returned and Colonel Crawford immediately commenced an engagement which lasted till darkness, without advantage to either side, when firing ceased. The troops encamped in the woods a half mile from the town. After refreshments they slept on their arms, so that they should not be caught unprepared in a surprise attack.

The sentinels reported during the night that they were surrounded by Indians upon every side, except a narrow space between them and the town. The officers consulted upon the best way of escape, for they realized to fight was useless and to surrender meant death.

Colonel Crawford proposed to retreat through the ranks of the enemy in an opposite direction from the town. Lieutenant Colonel Williamson thought the better plan would be to march directly through 404the town, where there appeared to be no Indians. It was no time for debate.

Colonel Crawford with sixty followers retreated on the route he had proposed by attempting to rush the enemy, but every man was killed or captured, the colonel and his surgeon, Dr. Knight, being among the prisoners. Lieutenant Colonel Williamson, with the remainder of the command and the wounded of the day’s battle, set out the same moment Colonel Crawford did, went through the town without losing a man, and by the aid of experienced guides arrived at their homes in safety.

The next day the Indians paraded their prisoners and disposed of all of them among the different tribes except Colonel Crawford and Surgeon Knight, who were reserved for a more cruel fate.

At the Indian council they were brought forward and seated in the center of the circle. The chiefs questioned Crawford on subjects relative to war. They inquired who conducted the operations of the American Army on the Ohio and Susquehanna Rivers the previous year; also who had led that army against them with so much skill and such uniform success.

Crawford very honestly and without suspecting any harm from his reply promptly stated that he was the man. Upon learning this, Chief Pipe, who had lost a son in battle where Colonel Crawford commanded, left his station in the council ring, stepped up to Crawford, blackened his face and at the same time told him he should be burned the next day.