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.
Pat Holscher says
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.
roscoebeauregard says
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…
JimC says
Thanks for stopping by Roscoe. Couldn’t agree more.