William Crawford (soldier)

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This is about the 18th century U.S. military officer. For the 19th century Georgia politician, see William H. Crawford.

William Crawford (1732 – 11 June 1782) was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burnt at the stake by American Indians in a notorious incident near the end of the American Revolution.

Contents 1 Early career 2 American Revolution 2.1 Crawford expedition 3 Legacy 4 Notes 5 References

[edit] Early career

Crawford was born in Orange County, Virginia, at a location which is now in Berkeley County, West Virginia.^[1] He was the son of William Crawford and Honora Grimes,^[2] who were farmers of Scots-Irish ancestry. After his father's death in 1736, his mother married Richard Stephenson. Crawford had a younger brother, Valentine Crawford, and five half-brothers and one half-sister.^[3]

In 1749, Crawford made the acquaintance of George Washington, a young surveyor the same age as Crawford. Crawford accompanied Washington on surveying trips and learned the surveyor's trade. In 1755, Crawford served in the Braddock expedition with the rank of ensign, and like Washington he survived the disastrous Battle of the Monongahela. Over the next several years of the French and Indian War he served in Washington's Virginia Regiment, guarding the Virginia frontier against Native American raiding parties. In 1758, Crawford was part of General John Forbes's army which captured Fort Duquesne, where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now stands. He served in the military for several years more, taking part in Pontiac's War in 1763.

In 1765 Crawford built a cabin on the Braddock Road along the Youghiogheny River in what is now Connellsville, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. His wife and three children joined him there in 1766. Crawford made a living as a farmer, fur trader, and slave owner. When the 1768 Treaty of Fort Stanwix with the Iroquois opened up additional land for settlement, Crawford worked as a surveyor, locating lands for settlers and speculators. Back in 1754 the soldiers of the Virginia Regiment had been promised bounty land by Governor Robert Dinwiddie for their service in the French and Indian War; in 1770 Crawford and George Washington took a trip down the Ohio River to choose the land to be given to the veterans of the regiment. The land chosen was in the area of what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Crawford also made a western land scouting trip in 1773 with Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia. Washington was unable to make this trip because of the sudden death of his step-daughter.^[4]

After the outbreak of Dunmore's War in 1774, Crawford received a major's commission from Governor Dunmore, and built Fort Fincastle at present Wheeling, West Virginia.^[5] Crawford led an expedition which destroyed two Mingo villages (near present Steubenville, Ohio) in retaliation for Chief Logan's raids into Virginia.^[6] During the expedition, Crawford's men rescued two captives held by American Indians, killing six and capturing 14 Indians in the process.^[2]

Crawford's service to the colony of Virginia in Dumore's War was controversial in Pennsylvania because the two colonies were involved in a bitter dispute over the boundary in the Fort Pitt region. Crawford had been a justice of the peace in Pennsylvania since 1771, first for Bedford County and then for Westmoreland County when it was established in 1773. Arthur St. Clair, another Pennsylvania official, called for Crawford to be removed from office, which was done in January 1775. Beginning in 1776, Crawford served as a surveyor and justice for Virginia's short-lived Yohogania County.^[7]

[edit] American Revolution

With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Crawford quickly recruited a regiment for the Virginia Line of the Continental Army. On 11 October 1776, the Continental Congress appointed him colonel of the 7th Virginia Regiment. Crawford led his regiment in the Battle of Long Island and the retreat across New Jersey. He crossed the Delaware with Washington and fought at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. During the Philadelphia campaign, he commanded a scouting detachment for Washington's army.^[8]

After the war on the western frontier intensified in 1777, Crawford was transferred to the Western Department of the Continental Army. He served at Fort Pitt under Generals Edward Hand and Lachlan McIntosh. Crawford was present at the Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778, and helped to built Fort Laurens and Fort McIntosh that year. Resources were scarce on the frontier, however, and Fort Laurens was abandoned in 1779. In 1780, Crawford visited Congress to appeal for more funds for the western front. In 1781, Crawford retired from military service.

[edit] Crawford expedition

Main article: Crawford expedition

In 1782, General William Irvine persuaded Crawford to come out of retirement and lead an expedition against enemy Indian villages along the Sandusky River. Before leaving, on 16 May he made out his will and testament.^[9] His son John Crawford, his son-in-law William Harrison, and his nephew and namesake William Crawford also joined the expedition.

After his election as commander of the expedition, Crawford led about 500 volunteers deep into American Indian territory with the intention of surprising the Indians. The Indians and their British allies from Detroit had learned about the expedition in advance, however, and brought about 440 men to the Sandusky to oppose the Americans. After a day of indecisive fighting, the Americans found themselves surrounded. During a confused retreat, Crawford and some of his men were captured. The Indians executed many of these captives in retaliation for the Gnadenhütten massacre earlier in the year, in which about 100 Indian civilians were murdered by Pennsylvania militiamen. Crawford's execution was particularly brutal: he was tortured for at least two hours before being burned at the stake. His nephew and son-in-law were also captured and executed. Although the war ended shortly thereafter, Crawford's execution was widely publicized in the United States, worsening the already strained relationship between Indians and Americans.

[edit] Legacy

In 1982, the site of Colonel Crawford's execution was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 1994, the Wyandot County Patriotic Citizens erected an 8.5 ft (2.6 m) Berea sandstone monument to commemorate the site. The Ohio Historical Society also has a historical marker nearby.

Crawford County, Ohio and Crawford County, Pennsylvania are named for him. Crawford County, Indiana may also be named for him.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Anderson, James H. Colonel William Crawford. Columbus: Ohio Archæological and Historical Publications, 1898. Originally published in Ohio Archæological and Historical Quarterly 6:1–34. Address delivered at the site of the Crawford monument on 6 May 1896. Available online from the Ohio Historical Society.
• Boatner, Mark Mayo, III. Encyclopedia of the American Revolution. New York: McKay, 1966; revised 1974. ISBN 0-8117-0578-1.
• Butterfield, Consul Willshire. An Historical Account of the Expedition against Sandusky under Col. William Crawford in 1782. Cincinnati: Clarke, 1873.
• Miller, Sarah E. "William Crawford". The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War: A Political, Social, and Military History. 1:311–13. Gregory Fremont-Barnes and Richard Alan Ryerson, eds. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2006. ISBN 1-85109-408-3.
• O'Donnell, James H., III. "William Crawford". American National Biography. 5:710–11. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-512784-6.