Frontier Rebellion & The End Of Pontiac’s War

March 6, 2022, by JimC

Pontiac’s War bloodied the rising British Empire. Art by Robert W. Griffing.

The final episode of the Frontier Partisans Podcast series on Pontiac’s War is up. You can access it here or on Spotify or most other podcasting platforms.

The conclusion of the war doesn’t have a satisfying narrative arc. There was no decisive “end” to the conflict — it just lost momentum and faded off as both sides maneuvered toward an acceptable and achievable peace. The British victory at Bushy Run was important, but not as decisive as it’s often been portrayed.

The battle near Bushy Run Station in 1763, depicted by Don Troiani.

The charge of the Highlanders at Bushy Run, depicted by Robert W. Griffing.

The results of the war were ambiguous, and laid a powder train that would explode in the American Revolution a decade on.

Frontiersman James Smith led a backcountry rebellion in 1765 that presaged the conflicts of the American Revolution.

Pontiac himself was a diminished figure long before the war that bore his name wound down, and he came to a pretty sad and sordid end — murdered by a Peoria Indian in a personal feud.

The Death of Pontiac by De Bost Smith.

None of this is to say that the events of 1764-66 weren’t fascinating and important — they are. We’ve learned quite a bit about wars that don’t really end and conclusions that raise more issues than they resolve in the past 20+ years. In that sense, Pontiac’s War is a classic — and instructive — insurgency.