Ambush at Fort Laurens: Consequences of the American Colonial Western Expansion in Ohio

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "“A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces", at the 2025 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the summer of 1778, the British garrison of Detroit prevented western expansion of the fledgling republic that was established two years prior. On October 23, 1778 an expedition of 1,200 men consisting of Continentals and others led by General Lachlan McIntosh left Ft. Pitt. On their way, they established Ft. Laurens with one hundred and eighty-one men and 5 women during the winter of 1778-79. On the morning of February 23, a wagon driver and 18 men left the fort and were fired upon. Allegedly, the attackers killed and scalped seventeen people and took two as prisoners. Examination of skeletal remains revealed that multiple blows to the head were common. Eleven of 12 crania from ambush victims and four of seven non-ambush victims exhibited lesions consistent with scalping. No evidence of gunshot wounds was found.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2025   •
• “A Little Grass and Earth Thrown in to fill up the Grave”: Archaeological studies of American War for Independence burial spaces

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow