Frontier Partisans

The Adventurers, Rangers and Scouts Who Fought the Battles of Empire

Wyoming Massacre

July 3, 2014, by JimC

Ensign Downing’s Escape — Battle of Wyoming. Painting by Don Troiani

The Wyoming Massacre… The name, for 200 years, conjured images of rampaging Iroquois warriors slaughtering Americans. As they did. But the massacre came when the Iroquois and a contingent of Loyalist Rangers routed an American militia force in battle. The Indians did not slaughter non-combatants; they simply took a bloody toll of a defeated, panicked, demoralized enemy force.

On July 3, 1778, Maj. John Butler’s Loyalist Rangers and Seneca auxiliaries inflicted this bloody defeat on American militia in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley.

The Valley was a breadbasket for General Washington’s continental Army, and as such an attractive target for the British and their Indian allies. Butler lured the American militia toward his force, bidding the Seneca warriors to hit the dirt to remain hidden from view. The militia made no attempt to reconnoiter the Rangers’ positions and were unaware of the hidden force of warriors.

After the Americans fired three ineffective volleys, the Rangers fired and charged from a range of about 100 yards, and the Senecas sprang up on the militia’s front and flank and engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. The terrified Americans fled, which only made them more vulnerable. The rangers took three killed and eight wounded, while taking 227 scalps and the defenses of the Wyoming Valley. Notably, no non-combatants were harmed, though the Seneca did torture prisoners to death.

Only a handful of Americans escaped the carnage, as depicted in Don Troiani’s painting.

The massacre prodded Washington to dispatch a column under Gen. John Sullivan in 1779, which systematically destroyed Iroquois villages, impoverishing the people and effectively breaking them as a significant military force, though warriors continued to raid through the end of the Revolutionary War.

Filed Under: Chapters

Previous Post: « Stuff That Works — 5.11 Tactical PUSH Pack
Next Post: Bror Blixen —Part I — Out to Africa »

Comments

  1. Pat Holscher says

    July 8, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    Very interesting.

    A friend of mine actually gave me a t-shirt commemorating this battle, with an image of the monument on it. Interesting to learn more about it.

    Reply
  2. roscoebeauregard says

    February 4, 2015 at 10:17 am

    Discovered this battle, learning of it never in my history studies, as why such mediums as the internet has given more of us this information.. SEEK YE TO FIND. I was researching on my G-Grandfather Jessy Gore, and his Brother Asa Gore, (who since we found is buried in Dallas Texas, strongly believe that these men themselves were half-breeds)… And found an Asa Gore listed in the battle, and the father O. Gore. Have been collecting this information to share soon on face book. Factual, and my sister earlier found the diary linked to a decedent of the Gore’s. Also of great interest, is the poem by Thomas Campbell.. and can be located thru POEM HUNTER ( GERTRUDE OF WYOMING), 39 pages of write attributed to this battle(massacre) … Possible the 12 year old son mentioned in the poem is that of the serving son of one of the Gore men who perished in that battle.. He was raised by kin… There is a whole community of Gore’s about Sisbee Texas, 100 miles west into East Texas, as I am on the Sabine River, Louisiana, and my ancestors are kin to the Sisbee Gores, but we find no connection. face book d’Rev Roscoe Beauregard, and soon will add the tag of (PTSD Vet) to my status name. Without understanding the past, we cannot fully grasp where we each individual and collective souls are presently… Merci Beaucoup…

    Reply
    • JimC says

      February 4, 2015 at 1:37 pm

      Thanks for stopping by Roscoe. Couldn’t agree more.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Frontier Partisans

  • Introduction
  • Jim Cornelius
  • The Muster (Links)
  • Search this Site

Receive Frontier Partisans Posts Via Email

Categories

  • Chapters
  • Frontier Partisan Bookshelf
  • On Your Own Hook
  • The War Chest

Recent Posts

  • The Majestic Frontier Partisan Art of Anatoly Telenik
  • Canyon de Chelly — Part III — The Long Walk
  • Born For The Sabre
  • Working The Trapline — December 2019
  • A Thanksgiving Message From Col. James Smith
  • The First Thanksgiving: Beer, Sport And Feasting
  • The First Thanksgiving Through Wampanoag Eyes
  • Canyon de Chelly — Part II — Kit Carson’s War Of Attrition

fp@frontierpartisans.com

Copyright © 2019 FRONTIER PARTISANS, Jim Cornelius