Guest Post on Wyoming Valley Massacre

Today is July 3rd.

It's a good day in U.S. Navy history.

In 1898 the U.S. Navy destroyed the Spanish Fleet at the "Battle of Santiago", Cuba.

Despite this, today I'm going to focus on a much more tragic land based incident. The Battle of Wyoming. Today in 1778 British Colonel John Butler and a regiment of Colonial Loyalists destroyed the 24th Regiment of the Connecticut Militia near Forty Fort in Northeast Pennsylvania. At least 227 Americans were scalped in the aftermath of the battle. The British maintain all 227 were militiamen who surrendered, then took up arms against the British.

The Americans responded by destroying at least 40 Iroquois villages during the Sullivan Expedition.

Thomas Campbell wrote a poem in 1809 called Gertrude of Wyoming. The poem was very popular and it is thought to be the inspiration for Congressman J.M. Ashley's suggestion of Wyoming for the name of our least populous state.

-Tom

P.S. from Maggie

Cool re-enactment info here.