7 MAY--This Day in US Military History

2015-05-07T09:05:37-04:00

1763 – Pontiac’s Rebellion begins when a confederacy of Native American warriors under Ottawa chief Pontiac attacks the British force at Detroit.

After failing to take the fort in their initial assault, Pontiac’s forces, made up of Ottawas and reinforced by Wyandots, Ojibwas, and Potawatamis, initiated a siege that would stretch into months.
As the French and Indian Wars came to an end in the early 1760s, Native Americans living in former French territory found the new British authorities to be far less conciliatory than their predecessors. In 1762, Pontiac enlisted support from practically every Indian tribe from Lake Superior to the lower Mississippi for a joint campaign to expel the British from the formerly French lands. According to Pontiac’s plan, each tribe would seize the nearest fort and then join forces to wipe out the undefended settlements.
In April, Pontiac convened a war council on the banks of the Ecorse River near Detroit. It was decided that Pontiac and his warriors would gain access to the British fort at Detroit under the pretense of negotiating a peace treaty, giving them an opportunity to seize forcibly the arsenal there. However, British Major Henry Gladwin learned of the plot, and the British were ready when Pontiac arrived in early May, and Pontiac was forced to begin a siege. At the same time, his allies in Pennsylvania began a siege of Fort Pitt, while other sympathetic tribes, such as the Delaware, the Shawnees, and the Seneca, prepared to move against various British forts and outposts in Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.
On July 31, a British relief expedition attacked Pontiac’s camp but suffered heavy losses and were repelled in the Battle of Bloody Run. Nevertheless, they had succeeded in providing the fort at Detroit with reinforcements and supplies, which allowed it to hold out against the Indians into the fall. The major forts at Pitt and Niagara likewise held on, but the united tribes captured eight other fortified posts. At these forts, the garrisons were wiped out, relief expeditions were repulsed, and nearby frontier settlements were destroyed.
In the spring of 1764, two British armies were sent out, one into Pennsylvania and Ohio under Colonel Bouquet, and the other to the Great Lakes under Colonel John Bradstreet. Bouquet’s campaign met with success, and the Delawares and the Shawnees were forced to sue for peace, breaking Pontiac’s alliance. Failing to persuade tribes in the West to join his rebellion, and lacking the hoped-for support from the French, Pontiac finally signed a treaty with the British in 1766. In 1769, he was murdered by a Peoria Indian while visiting Illinois. His death led to bitter warfare among the tribes, and the Peorias were nearly wiped out.

https://thisdayinusmilhist.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/may-7/

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May 7

7 May 1718 – The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. La Nouvelle-Orléans (New Orleans) was founded by the French Mississippi Company, under the direction of Monsi...

Response by SPC Jan Allbright, M.Sc., R.S. made May 7 at 2015 9:08 AM

2015-05-07T09:08:48-04:00

From the Vietnam desk - 50 Years Ago Today

6,000 Marines of the 4th marine Division are sent to Chu Lai, a sandy pine barren along the coast 55 miles south of Danang to build a second jet air base.

Chu Lai will sport a new type of field, the Short Airfield for Tactical Support (SATS) — a 4,000 foot long airstrip of aluminum matting with arrestor wires like an aircraft carrier. Initially all planes will take off via jet assist, but a catapult will be installed two years later. By 1 June, A-4 Skyhawks and MAG-12ss will be using the field.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made May 7 at 2015 9:08 AM

2015-05-07T09:08:38-04:00

One of the messier and more complex periods of American military morality....and that's saying something!

Response by SPC Chad Kolod made May 7 at 2015 9:09 AM

2015-05-07T09:09:47-04:00

This is why I signed up for a U.S. History class at my school. I feel like we should all be informed on the history of our great nation! Thanks for a great post!!

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 7 at 2015 12:04 PM

2015-05-07T12:04:50-04:00

I shudder at the thought of being executed by victorious tribes.

Response by MSgt Gerald Orvis made Jan 26 at 2018 8:55 PM

2018-01-26T20:55:28-05:00

Colonel Henry Bouquet's campaign to relieve Indian-besieged Fort Pitt in the summer of 1763 is worthy of note and demonstrated that Britain's "American Army" learned its lessons about woods warfare during the previous eight years of war. Bouquet assembled a force consisting of soldiers of the 42nd (Black Watch), 60th (Royal Americans) 77th (Montgomery's Highlanders), and some rangers, most of whom had been sent back from Cuba riddled with yellow fever. This force headed west on the Forbes Road (now US Hwy 30) from Philadelphia. After passing Fort Ligonier (now Ligonier PA), the force marched toward Bushy Run, but was ambushed and surrounded on a hilltop by a large Indian force. Using their knowledge of woods warfare, the Highlanders held the Indians at bay, but Bouquet knew his water would run out and his men would be doomed. On the second day of the battle, Bouquet arranged a tactical stratagem by which some of his men looked like they were retreating (with other men extending to fill the gaps), thus leading the Indians to make a headlong charge. The withdrawn men had formed a line within the circle, and they gave the Indians charging into the gap a devastating unexpected volley before charging with the bayonet. This completely unmade the Indian force and they fled. The battle was won and Bouquet continued his march to relieve Fort Pitt, where he arrived the next day. The Indians were gone. This battle was one of the deciding factors that ended Pontiac's Rebellion. It was fought on 5-6 August 1763. The painting at the head of this article is by Robert Griffing and depicts the moment when the withdrawn elements of the 42nd Royal Highland Regiment slammed into the charging Indians.