Gnadenhutten Massacre monument   Save
Ohio Guide Photographs
Description: 37-foot-high monument made of Indiana marble dedicated Wednesday June 5, 1782. The Gnadenhutten massacre of 100 Christian Delawares by American militia (Pennsylvania) is often called the worst atrocity of American Revolution. Inscription reads "Here triumphed in death ninety Christian Indians, March 8, 1782." Led by Lieutenant Colonel David Williamson, Pennsylvania militia executed 96 Christian Indians: 28 men, 29 women and 39 children. Their skulls were crushed by mallets and they were scalped. Two young boys escaped. The town was burned and a missionary later found the bodies and buried them in a mass grave. Earlier, in late 1781, the British had moved the Christian Indians from the Moravian villages west to what was called Captive Town, on the Sandusky River in north-central Ohio. The Indians, starving that winter, returned to Gnadenhuetten to harvest crops and collect stored food. They were surprised by a raiding party of 160 militiamen. The Americans accused the Indians of raids and voted to put them to death. The Indians spent the night before their execution praying and singing hymns. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B15F01_032
Subjects: monument--indian massacre--German missionaries--Moravian Christians
Places: Tuscarawas County (Ohio); New Philadelphia (Ohio); Gnadenhutten (Ohio)