The Battle of Wyomimg Valley (Massacre)

On July 3, 1778, British forces massacred 360 men, women, and children in Wyoming, Pennsylvania. From the article:

"The Battle of Wyomimg Valley (Massacre)

In 1777, after a British Army surrendered at Saratoga in upstate New York, Loyalists and their Iroquois allies in the region turned to hit-and-run tactics, raiding American Patriot settlements as well as the villages of American-allied Iroquois. Based at Fort Niagara, these raids were led by commanders such as British Colonel John Butler, Mohawk chief Captain Joseph Brant and Seneca chief Cornplanter.

Late in June, Col. Denison was informed by scouts that a force of approximately 700 Tories, Rangers and Indians under the command of Maj. John Butler and Chief Sayenqueraghta of the Seneca were gathering near Pittston at Fort Wintermute. With this news the alarm was sounded. Appeals for help were sent to Gen. George Washington, who sent troops, and to John Franklin in Huntington. The families quickly moved to the forts. The 24th Regiment gathered in Forty Fort and there decided to meet the enemy as far from the fort as possible in order to save their homes and crops. According to the inscription on the Wyoming Monument this group is described as being "chiefly the undisciplined, the youthful, and the aged". Many of these so called soldiers were farmers. Their only interest was in driving off the savages so they could return to their farming. "The urge, of peaceful necessities, overcame the danger of precipitate action, in the minds of these simple men."

In addition, Capt. Hewitt's Continental Company, the Kingston Company commanded by Capt. Buck were prepared to do battle. Much of the 1st and 2nd Alarm List Companies under Lt. Lebbeus Tubbs and Flavius Waterman in addition to the Upper Wilkes-Barre Company of Capt. Rezin Gere were also prepared to defend the settlement.

On July 2, early in the morning, the British commander sent under a flag of truce, and under escort of an Indian and a Ranger, a message delivered by Daniel Ingersol who had been captured at Fort Wintermute. Ingersol was not allowed to utter a word out of their hearing to either Col. Butler or Col. Denison. Their demand for surrender was refused. Toward noon, the beating drums down the lower Kingston road, announced the approach of reinforcements from Hanover, with Lazarus Stewart at their head. Lt. John Jenkins, Jr. was left in command of the Fort. With him were a few old men including the settlement's minister. Rev. Jacob Johnson's daughter, Lydia, was married to Col. Zebulon Butler. Others at the fort included Captain Obadiah Gore, Cpt. Wiliam Gallup and Thomas Bennet.

The militia, in the New England way of doing things, met in a sort of town meeting to debate the advantages and disavantages of an immediate attack. They pointed out that Captain Spaulding, with what remained of the companies of Durkee and Ransom, were en route, less than 100 miles away. In a few days, more help might come from Fort Jenkins and even Fort Augusta. Earlier in the day, Zebulon Butler had sent Isaac Baldwin with a message to the Board of War at Philadelphia. They hoped for a large group of Continental soldiers within a short time. They argued that the true number of the enemy had not been calculated. There were evidenlty large numbers of the Seneca who were well experienced in warfare.

But, the passionate words of Luzarus Stewart overcame the warnings of the more cautious. His enthusiasm was reinforced by the younger and more adventurous among the group. It has been said that Lazarus Stewart charged Zebulon Butler with cowardice; threatening to lead the others against the Indians, if Butler refused to give the order to advance.

On July 3, at 2:00 P.M. some 375 men marched out of Forty Fort to the fife and drum's "St. Patrick's Day in the Morning". It is reported that they carried the "stars and stripes", our new national flag, for the first time. Col. Zebulon Butler who was on leave from the Continental Army at the time, led the small army. Col. Nathan Denison was second-in-command. The men marched up what is now Wyoming Avenue. They stopped at a bridge which crossed Abraham's Creek. "In fact, Thomas Bennet boldly declared, they were marching into a snare and that they would be destroyed; and he left them at Abraham's Creek and returned to the fort." Another halt was made at Swetland's Hill. This time scouts reported the enemy was in full retreat. Here Butler, Dorrance and Denison wanted to hold the line until reinforcements arrived from Washington and John Franklin. But Lazarus Stewart prevailed. After 4:00 P.M., they marched on toward Exeter flats and defeat. There were only 174, including Butler and Denison, who escaped with their lives. Almost all who were captured were cruelly tortured and killed by the Indians. Samuel Finch managed to survive and later testified to his experience in his pension application.

When the British Butler saw the colonists forming a battle line, he set fire to Fort Wintermute and ordered the same be done to Fort Jenkins. Upon seeing the thick black smoke, the soldiers believed the enemy were retreating. As Butler had intended, the colonists were deceived and advanced more quickly...

...On July 4, Maj. John Butler for the British and Col. Nathan Denison for the Americans signed the articles of capitualtion, which were drawn up by the hand of Rev. Jacob Johnson. The terms of capitulation were fair, given the situation. The settlers were to lay down their arms and the fort was to be demolished. The settlers were to be permitted to occupy their farms without molestation of their persons. The Indians immediately violated the agreement by plundering the possessions of the settlers. No one in the fort was harmed, but when Maj. Butler withdrew his troops, the settlers began to flee from the valley. This departure was hastened by bands of Indians who stayed behind, destroying homes and threatening lives.

After the battle Col. Zebulon Butler and the remainder of Capt. Hewitt's company, about 15 men left the Valley to avoid being made prisoners of war. The women and children of the upper Lackawanna valley fled toward the upper settlements on the Delaware. Those of Pittston and Wilkesbarre fled over the mountains and swamps to the lower settlments. Those from Hanover, Plymouth and Newport tried to make their escape to Fort Augusta. Spaulding who was coming with his company to help defend the valley, met some of these fugitives on the mountains and returned to Stroudsburg.

Countless men women and children suffered in the flight after the massacre. Some became lost in the swamps and were never heard from again. Some such as Hannah Rogers, died of exhaustion. Hannah died and her body was placed under a fallen log. Her epitaph was written in charcoal: "Here rest the remains of HANNAH, wife of Josiah Rogers, who died while fleeing from the Indians after the massacre at Wyoming". Countless other families lost loved ones and were unable to lie them to rest in a suitable fashion.

Rev. Jacob Johnson took his family and grandson, Zebulon Johnson Butler and returned to Groton, Ct. Here he remained 3 years before returning to the Wyoming valley.

The Iroquois were enraged at the accusations of atrocities which they said they had not committed. This would have tragic consequences at the Cherry Valley massacre later that year. Reports of the massacres of prisoners at Wyoming and attrocities at the Cherry Valley Massacre later that year enraged the American public, and they demanded retribution. In 1779, the Sullivan Expedition commissioned by General Washington methodically destroyed at least forty Iroquois villages throughout upstate New York."