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: This image shows the Simon Kenton Memorial in Urbana, Ohio. Simon Kenton (1755-1836) was a legendary frontiersman in Ohio and the Midwest. In 1774, he served as a scout during Lord Dunmore's War. By 1775, Kenton had moved to Boonesborough, Kentucky. For the next few years, he worked as a scout for the settlement, often coming in contact with the local Indians. During the American Revolution, Kenton participated in a number of military engagements against the British and Indians. In 1778, he joined George Rogers Clark on a difficult but successful expedition into the Illinois Country, to attack British outposts as well as Indian settlements. Kenton moved to the Zanesfield, Ohio, around 1820. During the last years of his life, Kenton lived in poverty because of land ownership disputes and mismanagement of his money.In 1836, Kenton died in Logan County near Zanesfield and was buried there. In 1865, his remains were moved to Urbana. The state of Ohio constructed a monument to mark his grave in 1884. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06499
Subjects: American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; American frontier; Memorials--Ohio
Places: Urbana (Ohio); Champaign County (Ohio)
 

Description: This black-and-white illustration portrays the death of Richard Butler (1743-1791), frontiersman and military leader, on November 4, 1791, during the Battle of the Wabash (also known as St. Clair’s Defeat). It comes from an engraving in "History of the Discovery of America," written by Henry Trumbull and first published in 1811. The uniformed Butler is reclining against a tree, his right hand raised in supplication or in self-defense, as an American Indian man armed with a tomahawk approaches. Butler was born in Dublin, Ireland, and at age five came to North America with his father. They settled in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Richard Butler had a long career in the military, serving an ensign in Bouquet's Expedition in 1764 and an officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He participated in the Battle of Saratoga and eventually attained the rank of brigadier-general. In 1783 the Confederation Congress appointed him to be an Indian commissioner. He helped to negotiate a treaty with the Iroquois tribe, determining their western boundary with the United States. In 1785 the Confederation Congress sent George Rogers Clark, Arthur Lee, and Butler to the Ohio Country to negotiate a treaty with the Delaware, the Wyandot, the Ottawa, and the Chippewa. Treaty negotiations took place at Fort McIntosh. Most of the tribal representatives were younger chiefs who did not have the legal authority to negotiate a treaty; despite this, American commissioners pressed for a treaty. After several weeks of negotiations and the consumption of a lot of alcohol provided by the Americans, the American Indians signed the Treaty of Fort McIntosh on January 21, 1785. Tribal leaders agreed that they lived under the American government and could not form alliances with any other powers. They were forced to relinquish their lands in southern and eastern Ohio, and were confined to the western corner of modern-day Ohio. Many American Indians rejected the treaty. The Shawnee were especially opposed to the treaty because they lost claim to all of their lands in southwestern Ohio. Later that year, the Confederation Congress sent Butler and Samuel Holden Parsons to negotiate a new treaty with the Shawnee. The negotiations took place at Fort Finney near what is now Cincinnati. The Shawnee refused to give up their land, but Butler and Parsons threatened them with attack. Shawnee chiefs, fearing the power of the American military, agreed to the Treaty of Fort Finney on February 1, 1786. The Shawnee agreed to relinquish all claims to their land in southwestern Ohio and southern Indiana, and would move to the land set aside for them in the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. The Americans also promised to keep white squatters from settling on land reserved exclusively for the tribes. Butler spent the remainder of the 1780s as the superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern District of America. He also served in the Pennsylvania legislature. Butler was killed during St. Clair's Defeat, a major confrontation between the U.S. military and a large alliance of American Indians, led by Shawnee chief Weyapiersenwah (Blue Jacket) and Miami chief Mishikinakwa (Little Turtle). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06995
Subjects: Butler, Richard, 1743-1791; Kekionga, Battle of, Ohio, 1791; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783; American Indians--Warfare
Places: Ohio; Northwest Territory
 

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: 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: 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: 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 the death of Crispus Attucks at the Boston Massacre taken from "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: "While leading an attack against British troops in Boston." ALTERNATE TEXT: A chaotic scene in a town: A large group of people have gathered in the streets, with a group of soldiers to the left. The soldiers hold guns and are shooting into the crowd. One man lays in the street with another falling near him. There are buildings behind and to the left of the scene. Clouds and a few birds fill the sky. The crowds have kicked up dust from the street, while the guns have created smoke. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: blackphalanx_57
Subjects: African American soldiers; African American men; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
 

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 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