David Williamson (soldier): Difference between revisions
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==Massacre of peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island== |
==Massacre of peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island== |
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As Williamson and his unit were returning from the [[Gnadenhutten massacre]] of the Moravian Christian Indian martyrs, he and his militiamen massacred the peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island. These peaceful Delaware Indians were allies of the United States and provided intelligence to the Americans at Fort Pitt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Patrick |title=American Leviathan: Empire, Nation, and Revolutionary Frontier |date=April 2008 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8090-2491-9 |page=168 |language=English}}</ref> Among the many Delaware Indians murdered by Williamson and his militiamen were "two men whom Congress had commissioned as captains in the Continental Army."<ref name="Mann2005">{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=Barbara Alice |title=George Washington's War on Native America |date=2005 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-98177-8 |page=165 |language=English}}</ref> Anthony, a Christian Lenape, was in Pittsburgh and was thus able to escape to [[Sandusky, Ohio|Sandusky]] where the other Christian Indians were located; Chief Gelelemund and ten others (mostly women and children) fled as thirty Delaware Indians perished in fighting the militiamen to give Gelelemund cover.<ref name="Mann2005"/> |
As Williamson and his unit were returning from the [[Gnadenhutten massacre]] of the Moravian Christian Indian martyrs, he and his militiamen massacred the peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island. These peaceful Delaware Indians were allies of the United States and provided intelligence to the Americans at the nearby Fort Pitt.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Griffin |first1=Patrick |title=American Leviathan: Empire, Nation, and Revolutionary Frontier |date=April 2008 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-8090-2491-9 |page=168 |language=English}}</ref> Among the many Delaware Indians murdered by Williamson and his militiamen were "two men whom Congress had commissioned as captains in the Continental Army."<ref name="Mann2005">{{cite book |last1=Mann |first1=Barbara Alice |title=George Washington's War on Native America |date=2005 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-275-98177-8 |page=165 |language=English}}</ref> Anthony, a Christian Lenape, was in Pittsburgh and was thus able to escape to [[Sandusky, Ohio|Sandusky]] where the other Christian Indians were located; Chief Gelelemund and ten others (mostly women and children) fled as thirty Delaware Indians perished in fighting the militiamen to give Gelelemund cover.<ref name="Mann2005"/> |
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==Crawford expedition and the Battle of Olentangy== |
==Crawford expedition and the Battle of Olentangy== |
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Revision as of 02:02, 24 July 2021
David Williamson (1752–1814) was a Colonel in the Pennsylvania militia during the American Revolutionary War. He was born near Carlisle, Pennsylvania and led American militiamen in the Gnadenhutten massacre of the Moravian Christian Indian Martyrs, though he failed in his plan to massacre the Christian Indians (primarily Lenape and Mahican) in Schoenbrunn. He led Pennsylvanian soldiers in the massacre of peaceful Delaware Indians in Killbuck Island (who were allies of the United States) and was second in command in the Crawford expedition.
Gnadenhutten massacre of the Moravian Christian Indian Martyrs
David Williamson led the American soldiers that murdered 100 pacifist Moravian Christian Indians at the town of Gnadenhutten, Ohio.[1] It became known as the Gnadenhutten massacre. An account of the persecution of the Moravian Christian Indian Martyrs that described Williamson read as follows: "One Indian [Christian Lenape] female, who could speak good English, fell upon her knees before Williamson, the Commander, and begged most eloquently and piteously for his protection; but all her supplications and pleadings were unheeded by the heartless and dastardly wretch, who ordered her to prepare for death."[2]
Failed attempt to massacre pacifist Christian Indians at Schoenbrunn
After the Gnadenhutten massacre of the Moravian Christian Indian Martyrs, Williamson advanced his unit to massacre the Moravian Christian Indians who were peacefully harvesting their crops in Schoenbrunn.[3] Williamson's plan failed as one of the residents of Schoenbrunn was on his way to deliver a message from David Zeisberger to the Moravian Brethren in Gnadenhutten when he saw the scalped body of Joseph Schebosh, a Moravian of both Welsh and Lenape ancestry that Williamson's soldiers had murdered upon their arrival to Gnadenhutten.[3][4] The Moravian Indian Christian messenger quickly buried Schebosh's body and hurried back to Schoenbrunn to warn them.[3] The Moravian Brethren of Schoenbrunn quickly departed the village for Sandusky and by the time Williamson and his soldiers arrived, there was no one in Schoenbrunn for them to kill.[3]
Massacre of peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island
As Williamson and his unit were returning from the Gnadenhutten massacre of the Moravian Christian Indian martyrs, he and his militiamen massacred the peaceful Delaware Indians at Killbuck Island. These peaceful Delaware Indians were allies of the United States and provided intelligence to the Americans at the nearby Fort Pitt.[5] Among the many Delaware Indians murdered by Williamson and his militiamen were "two men whom Congress had commissioned as captains in the Continental Army."[6] Anthony, a Christian Lenape, was in Pittsburgh and was thus able to escape to Sandusky where the other Christian Indians were located; Chief Gelelemund and ten others (mostly women and children) fled as thirty Delaware Indians perished in fighting the militiamen to give Gelelemund cover.[6]
Crawford expedition and the Battle of Olentangy
He was also second in command of the Crawford expedition which was defeated by the combined Native American and British force at the Battle of Sandusky on June 4–6, 1782 near the Wyandot village of Upper Sandusky, Ohio. He led the majority of the remaining force home and was in command during the subsequent Battle of Olentangy during the retreat home on June 6, 1782.
Later life and death
Following the war, Williamson was elected to several terms as Sheriff of Washington County, Pennsylvania; however, his attempts at various business ventures failed and he died in poverty in 1814.[4]
References
- ^ Ricky, Donald (1 January 2009). Native Peoples A to Z: A Reference Guide to Native Peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Native American Book Publishers. ISBN 978-1-878592-73-6.
- ^ The Christian Miscellany and Family Visiter, Volume 1. John Mason. 1855. p. 20.
- ^ a b c d Mansfield, John Brandt (1884). The History of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. Gordon Printing. p. 295-303.
- ^ a b Olmstead, Earl P. (1997). David Zeisberger: A Life Among the Indians. Kent State University Press. p. 409. ISBN 978-0-87338-568-8.
- ^ Griffin, Patrick (April 2008). American Leviathan: Empire, Nation, and Revolutionary Frontier. Macmillan. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-8090-2491-9.
- ^ a b Mann, Barbara Alice (2005). George Washington's War on Native America. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-275-98177-8.