Description: This print shows a facsimile bust drawing of Governor Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) from life by Colonel Joseph Trumbull (first commissary general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.) In this portrait St. Clair is wearing a cocked hat with cockade. Printed at the bottom edge of the print is the caption “Fac Simile [sic] of a pencil drawing from life by Colo. Trumbull.” The name of Arthur St. Clair is handwritten in black ink underneath the caption. Also visible are the hand-printed names “J.B. Longacre” and “H.B. Hall.” Arthur St. Clair was a political and military leader in the Ohio country during the American Revolution and first years of the new nation. He was the first governor of the Northwest Territory and also served as governor of the Ohio Territory. St. Clair was born on March 23, 1736, in Scotland. Some sources list his birth year as 1734 or 1737. Little is known of his early years, and there still is some dispute over exactly who his parents were. He probably studied briefly at the University of Edinburgh and then left school to study anatomy with a man named William Hunter. By 1757, St. Clair had enlisted in the British army as an ensign and was serving in North America during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolutionary War, he rose to the rank of major general in the Continental Army but lost his command after a controversial retreat. Under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory, General St. Clair was appointed governor of what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, along with parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. He named Cincinnati, Ohio, after the Society of the Cincinnati, and it was there that he established his home. When the territory was divided in 1800, he served as governor of the Ohio Territory. James B. Longacre was the fourth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, a post he held from 1844 until his death in 1869. Before his appointment to that post, Longacre had established himself as one of the nation’s finest engravers, known for his elegant engravings based on portraits by other artists. He and James Herring collaborated on a four-volume work entitled “The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Conducted by James B. Longacre, Philadelphia; and James Herring, New York. Under the superintendance of the American Academy of the Fine Arts” (published between 1834-1839). As chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, he designed the Indian Head cent (1859 to 1909) in 1859); the Shield nickel (1866 to 1883); Flying Eagle cent (1856 to 1858), and other coins of the period. Henry Bryan Hall (1808-1884) was an English stipple engraver and portrait painter. Born in England, he came to the United States in 1850. He established the firm H.B. Hall & Sons, New York, which achieved great acclaim for its engravings and portraits of political and military leaders. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05827
Subjects: Ohio History--Military Ohio; St. Clair, Arthur, 1736-1818--Portraits; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Northwest Territory
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Kiontwogky, also called Cornplanter or John O'Bail III (alternate spellings include O'Beel or Abeel), chief of the Seneca Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Around 1732, Cornplanter was born to a Gah-hon-no-nah, a Seneca woman, and Johannes Abeel Jr., a Dutch fur trader. Cornplanter fought in alliance with the British during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) and the Revolutionary War (1775-1783). He also served as a diplomat between the United States and American Indian nations after the Revolutionary War, participated in post-war negotiations, and signed the Treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784. He replaced Red Jacket as chief in 1791. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p174_KiOnTwogKy
Subjects: Seneca Tribe; Iroquois Confederacy; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War (1775-1783)
Places: Washington D.C.
 

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: 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: 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: 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: 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: 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: The Morgan County Courthouse in McConnelsville, Morgan County, Ohio. Cars are parked in front of the courthouse, with a gathering to the right of the courthouse. Morgan County in southeastern Ohio was formed on December 29, 1817 and was named after Daniel Morgan, an officer in the American Revolutionary War. McConnelsville was established as the county seat in 1819. Morgan County Courthouse is located in downtown McConnelsville and is considered one of the most impressive in Ohio. The Greek Classic building was built in 1858 at a cost of $10,000. It is still standing and is open to visitors. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07519
Subjects: Courthouses--Ohio--History; Ohio History--State and Local Government; Architecture--Ohio; Morgan County (Ohio); American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: McConnelsville (Ohio); Morgan County (Ohio)
 

Description: This is a lithograph of an oil painting of Red Jacket, Chief of the Wolf Clan of the Seneca Tribe, published in volume one of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" by Thomas Loraine McKenney and James Hall. Red Jacket, or Sagoyewatha, allied with the British and fought in the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), and was nicknamed Red Jacket after the British honored him with an embroidered red jacket for his service. Red Jacket died in 1830. Thomas McKenny served as the United States Superintendent of Indian Trade in 1821 and commissioned portraits of American Indian leaders who visited Washington D.C. to negotiate treaties with the United States federal government in order to to preserve the memory and history of America's native peoples. After the paintings were completed, he commissioned lithographs of the 300 paintings and compiled them into three volumes of "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" where a short biography accompanied each portrait. The paintings were housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, commonly referred to as the Castle, and in 1868 all but five were destroyed in a devastating fire. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: V970_97M199h_v1_p005_RedJacket
Subjects: Seneca Tribe; Iroquois Confederacy; American Indian history; American Indians--Portraits; American Indian tribal leaders; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Washington D.C.
 

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.