General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A holiday to honor someone who owned hundreds of slaves for over 50 years, [View all]WhiteTara
(31,261 posts)In 1778, 30 Stockbridge (a Christian Indian community) soldiers died fighting for the American revolutionaries against the British at White Plains, New York. Among those killed were chief Daniel Nimham. As a result of bravery in this battle, General George Washington promoted Hendrick Aupaumut to the rank of captain.
While many Indians aided the Americans in their struggle for independence, in 1779 George Washington sent 5,000 American troops under the command of General John Sullivan to destroy the villages of the Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca as punishment for aid which they had supposedly given to the British. Washingtons orders are for
the total destruction and devastation of [the Indian] settlements and capture as many prisoners as possible.
The American forces made no distinction between those who had been American allies and those who had aided the British. The Americans destroyed 40 villages and 160,000 bushels of corn.
http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1077