Description: Photograph of an American flag flying at the site of Fort Laurens, a Revolutionary War fort, near Bolivar, Ohio, November 1928. The fort was built in the fall of 1778 along the Tuscarawas River by the American army. American soldiers had been sent to the Ohio Country to defeat the Wyandot Indians, strong allies of the English, and to attack the British garrison at Detroit. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03614
Subjects: Fort Laurens (Ohio); Ohio--History, Military; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Bolivar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Illustration of Simon Girty, Ohio Country frontiersman, printed in Volume 6 of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Publications by the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. Girty was born in Chambers Mill, Pennsylvania, in 1741. During the French and Indian War, his family sought refuge in Fort Granville, which was captured in 1755 by an army of French soldiers and native Indians. Girty eventually found himself in the hands of the Seneca Indians who took him to the Ohio Country and adopted him. His knowledge of Indian culture and language was highly sought after during the American Revolutionary War as both the British and Americans hoped to secure alliances with various local tribes. Girty first aligned himself with the Americans. However, he was discharged from the American military in 1777 and afterwards offered his help to the British. After the war, Girty continued to aid the Indians of the Ohio Country in resisting further settlement of the Ohio Country, participating in the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794. He eventually moved to Canada, where he died in 1818. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC2697_Girty_001
Subjects: American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; American Indians in Ohio; Fallen Timbers, Battle of, Ohio, 1794; Forts & fortifications; American Indian history; American Indians--Warfare; American Indians; Ohio History; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Illustration of Simon Girty, Ohio Country frontiersman, from "History of Ohio in Words of One Syllable" by Anne Cole Cady, printed in "An Ohio Portrait" by George W. Knepper. Girty was born in Chambers Mill, Pennsylvania, in 1741. During the French and Indian War, his family sought refuge in Fort Granville, which was captured in 1755 by an army of French soldiers and native Indians. Girty eventually found himself in the hands of the Seneca Indians who took him to the Ohio Country and adopted him. His knowledge of Indian culture and language was highly sought after during the American Revolutionary War as both the British and Americans hoped to secure alliances with various local tribes. Girty first aligned himself with the Americans. However, he was discharged from the American military in 1777 and afterwards offered his help to the British. After the war, Girty continued to aid the Indians of the Ohio Country in resisting further settlement of the Ohio Country, participating in the Ba View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC2697_Girty_002
Subjects: American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; American Indians in Ohio; Fallen Timbers, Battle of, Ohio, 1794; Forts & fortifications; American Indian history; American Indians--Warfare; American Indians; Ohio History; Ohio History--Settlement and Early Statehood
Places: Ohio
 

Description: Illustration of Peter Salem, a free African American soldier who was born a slave ca. 1750, who is credited with the death of British Major Pitcairn at the Battle of Bunker Hill as printed in "The Black Phalanx: A History of the Negro Soldiers of the United States in the Wars of 1775-1812, 1861-'65" by Joseph T. Wilson. Caption reads: "Peter Salem shooting the British Major Pitcairn." ALTERNATE TEXT: Two small armies face off in a battle, with men mostly using guns. There is one visible sword. Below the men are two piles of straw-like material. The American army to the left includes one African American soldier. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: blackphalanx_56
Subjects: African American soldiers; African American men; Slavery; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
 

Description: This image is an engraved portrait of Major Ebenezer Denny (1761-1882), Revolutionary War soldier and first mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this portrait, Denny is wearing a ruffled shirt and a high-collared waistcoat and coat. This engraving appears opposite the title page of his book "Military Journal of Major Ebenezer Denny, An Officer in the Revolutionary and Indian Wars" (1859), published in Philadelphia. Denny was born March 11, 1761, in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and joined the Continental Army in 1778. He witnessed the British surrender at the 1781 Siege of Yorktown (Yorktown, Virginia) and wrote a description of that event in his war journal. It is one of the most frequently quoted accounts of the event. After the Revolutionary War, Denny also witnessed two of the worst military defeats of U.S. military forces by American Indians: Harmar’s Campaign and St. Clair’s Defeat. Both events occurred in the Northwest Territory, in present-day Ohio. In fall 1790, Josiah Harmar, commander of the U.S. army in the Northwest Territory, was stationed at Fort Washington (present-day Cincinnati). He received orders from Secretary of War Henry Knox to end the threat of American Indian attack in western Ohio. Harmar marched from Fort Washington with 320 regular soldiers and roughly 1,100 militiamen, primarily from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. The militiamen were poorly trained and badly equipped, and the U.S. forces were soundly defeated in a series of battles with the American Indian forces led by Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). Following Harmar's defeat, native attacks against settlers increased. In 1791, Major-General Arthur St. Clair, governor of the Northwest Territory, led another campaign against the American Indian tribes in western Ohio, hoping to succeed where Harmar had failed. Lieutenant Ebenezer Denny was St. Clair’s aide-de-camp. St. Clair ordered the construction of forts in what is now western Ohio. He and his men left Fort Washington in September 1791. After a two-day journey, the troops stopped and built Fort Hamilton. Then they advanced forty-five miles northward and built Fort Jefferson. From the beginning of his campaign, St. Clair had trouble with his poorly trained and demoralized troops. Although it was still early fall, his men faced cold temperatures, rain, snowfall, and insufficient food. Despite these problems, St. Clair continued to advance against the Miami natives. By November 3, his men had arrived on the banks of the Wabash River, near some of the Miami villages. The next day Little Turtle, along with Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket), led a large alliance of seasoned volunteer warriors from nine different American Indian tribes against the U.S. troops and soundly defeated them. In his account of the day’s events, Denny wrote, “The ground was literally covered with the dead.” The battle known as “St. Clair’s Defeat” remains the worst defeat of the U.S. Army at the hands of American Indians. On November 19, Denny left for Philadelphia, where he had the unenviable task of informing President George Washington and Secretary of War Knox of the defeat. Washington demanded that St. Clair resign from the army. St. Clair did so on April 7, 1792, but remained governor of the Northwest Territory. In 1794, Washington dispatched General Anthony Wayne to succeed where St. Clair had failed. Wayne defeated the Native Americans at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in August 1794. In 1795, most natives in modern-day Ohio signed the Treaty of Greeneville, relinquishing all of their land holdings in Ohio except what is now the northwestern corner of the state. Denny continued his military service until 1794, when he resigned his commission and settled near Pittsburgh. He entered local politics and held several offices before being elected the city’s first mayor in 1816. He resigned the office in 1817 because of ill health. He died in July 1822. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07028
Subjects: American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; Kekionga, Battle of, Ohio, 1791; American Indians--Warfare; Northwest Territory--History; Veterans; Mayors
Places: Carlisle (Pennsylvania); Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania);
 

Description: Onlookers watch a historical reenactment of a battle in the American Revolution, in this photograph taken by Allan L. Horvath of Dayton, Ohio. A child wearing a bonnet naps on a mans shoulder. The image was the second prize winner in the Amateur category of the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA2734AV_B01_11
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Historical reenactments; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783); Battlefields;
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a historical reenactment of a battle in the American Revolution, taken by Warren Baightel of Lakewood, Ohio. The image was one of ten to win Honorable Mention in the Amateur category of the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest. In August 1976, the Ohio American Revolution Bicentennial Advisory Committee (OARBAC) began the Spirit of Ohio Bicentennial Photo Contest as part of a larger effort in Ohio to celebrate the 1976 American Bicentennial. The contest was meant to document "the spirit and character of the people and places which represent Ohio during [the] bicentennial year," and to create a permanent photographic archive of the year's festivity for use by future researchers. Both professional and amateur photographers submitted over 500 photographs for consideration, all taken within the state between January 1 and December 31, 1976. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA2734AV_B01_12
Subjects: American Revolution Bicentennial (1976); Historical reenactments; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783); Battlefields;
Places: Lakewood (Ohio); Cuyahoga County (Ohio)
 

Description: This engraving features a sketch of Fort McIntosh, which was established in 1778 near present-day Beaver, Pennsylvania. The log fort is situated on a bluff above the Ohio River, slightly less than a mile below the mouth of the Beaver River. Paths zigzag down the bluff to the river. The fort itself consists of logs placed horizontally; a flag attached to a flagpole is waving high above the palisade. A caption below the drawing reads: “View of Fort McIntosh.” The western wilderness played a major role in American, British, and American Indian strategy during the American Revolution. In May 1778, General George Washington, commander of the Continental Army, ordered Brigadier General Lachlan McIntosh to establish a new fort in the Western Department, one of the regional divisions within the Continental Army. The Western Division included the area that would become the Northwest Territory, including the future state of Ohio. The French engineer who designed the fort, Chevalier DeCambray, named it in honor of its new commander. During the American Revolution, Fort McIntosh had the largest assembly of troops west of the Alleghenies. Originally the fort was intended to be the starting point for an offensive against the British garrison at Detroit and against the Wyandot Indians. At the time, most American Indians residing in the Ohio Country allied themselves with the British. Although they were neutral in the conflicts, the Christian Delaware Indians were among the few natives who were friendly to the Americans. During November 1778, McIntosh decided not to carry out his orders due to the winter months that lay ahead. Rather he decided to wait until the warmer spring months before conducting his attacks. Instead, he ordered the construction of a fort along the Tuscarawas River (Fort Laurens, near modern-day Bolivar, Ohio) to help his men survive the harsh winter weather. Fort Laurens was Ohio’s only Revolutionary War fort. In 1785 Fort McIntosh was the site of meeting where a treaty was signed by representatives of the Continental Congress and by American Indian tribal leaders from the Chippewa, Delaware, Ottawa, and Wyandot. They signed a treaty that surrendered control of American Indian lands in southern and eastern Ohio to the United States government. Most Indians rejected the validity of the treaty, and rather than improving relations, the Treaty of Fort McIntosh only intensified existing tensions between the United States government and the Indian tribes. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06155
Subjects: McIntosh, Lachlan, 1725-1806; Treaties; Fortification--Pennsylvania; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Beaver (Pennsylvania)
 

Description: This print of an engraving depicts a popular image of a soldier during the American Revolution. He is wearing a plumed tri-cornered hat and loading a musket from a powder horn. The engraving by A. Bobbett (Albert Bobbett, approximately 1824-1888 or 1889) is that of a drawing by Felix Octavius Carr Darley (1822-1888), one of early America's most esteemed and productive illustrators and painters. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06945
Subjects: Ohio History--Military Ohio; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; Darley, Felix Octavius Carr, 1822-1888; Bobbett, Albert, approximately 1824-1888 or 1889; Military uniforms
 

Description: Illustration of the apotheosis of President Abraham Lincoln and President George Washington. Lincoln embraces Washington in heaven as Washington places a wreath over his head. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: NAM_SC20_3
Subjects: Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865; Washington, George, 1732-1799; Presidents -- United States; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; Civil War 1861-1865
 

Description: Photograph of the historical site of Fort Laurens, a Revolutionary War fort, near Bolivar, Ohio, November 1928. The fort was built in the fall of 1778 along the Tuscarawas River by the American army. American soldiers had been sent to the Ohio Country to defeat the Wyandot Indians, strong allies of the English, and to attack the British garrison at Detroit. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03615
Subjects: Fort Laurens (Ohio); Ohio--History, Military; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Bolivar (Ohio); Tuscarawas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Shawnee leader Ca-Ta-He-Cas-Sa, or Black Hoof, published in "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Little is known about Black Hoof's early years. Allied with the French, he was present at the defeat of Edward Braddock during the French and Indian War. He did fight at the Battle of Fallen Timbers and represented the Shawnee at the signing of the Treaty of Greenville. After this, Black Hoof became convinced that the Indians had no hope against the whites except to adopt their customs. Using his influence with the Shawnee, Black Hoof encouraged the Shawnee to adopt the whites' way of living. By 1808, his followers established farms at Wapakoneta. Conflicts between the Shawnee and settlers continued. In 1826, Black Hoof led several hundred Shawnee people to the Kansas territory. After leading his followers to Kansas, Black Hoof returned to Wapakoneta and died there in 1831. Thomas Loraine McKenney (1785–1859) served as the U.S. Superintendent of Indian trade from 1816–1822 and superintendent of Indian affairs from 1824-1830. James Hall (1793–1868) was a lawyer, writer, and editor who lived in Cincinnati, Ohio from 1833 until his death in 1868. Their book was illustrated with portraits from the Indian gallery in the Department of War in Washington, D.C. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02908
Subjects: American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; Iroquois Confederacy; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.