Indigenous People in the Continental Army
At Valley Forge, a select number of individual soldiers in Connecticut regiments had either Black, Pequot, or a combined Black and Pequot heritage. The two groups began intermarrying in the eighteenth century. Unfortunately, muster rolls did not include soldiers' race or ethnic identity, and pension records or other documentation do not exist for each individual soldier. Therefore, it is difficult to gauge an exact number of American Indians serving in the Continental Army during the encampment, since many had been integrated into colonial society.
American Indian Allies to the Continental Army
During the American Revolution, the majority of American Indian Nations allied themselves with the British in order to preserve their culture and stop encroachment upon their lands. However, some supported the Patriots and their cause because of personal ties, shared religious beliefs, or mistreatment by the British in the past. These allies included large numbers from the Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Mohicans, and the Stockbridge-Munsee Nations.
The Oneida and Tuscarora at Valley Forge
In the spring of 1778, General George Washington asked to have a delegation of Oneida and Tuscarora warriors with his army at Valley Forge. Washington and the Congressional Committee wanted these allies to counter the British raids in the area, which were confiscating supplies, seizing stragglers, acquiring intelligence, and harassing civilians. These American Indians could help capture enemy soldiers to gain important information and discourage attempts of desertions from the Continental Army. These warriors had repeatedly proved themselves as exceptional scouts, and superb small-unit fighters. Washington praised these warriors by writing to General Philip Schuyler saying that, "The Oneidas and Tuscaroras have a particular claim to attention and kindness, for their perseverance and fidelity."
Close to fifty warriors from these nations would be sent to Valley Forge. On May 15, 1778 they arrived at the encampment. On May 18, they were directed to participate in a reconnaissance in force numbering 2,200 troops under the command of Marquis de Lafayette to an area called Barren Hill. On May 20, British forces appeared trying to capture Lafayette and the army. The Oneida warriors ambushed some the British soldiers and provided some delaying action as the army started retreating back to the Valley Forge Encampment. They were the last to cross the Schuylkill in the army. It is thought that six Oneidas were killed during this engagement and they are buried at St. Peter's Church Cemetery in Barren Hill. In the middle of June, thirty-four of the original fifty returned home. Their reason for their quick return was threats from the British and British American Indian Allies on their families and homes. The warriors would continue to fight for the patriotic cause and their own survival in upstate New York for the rest of the war.
Citations
Glatthaar, Joseph T., and James Kirby Martin. Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians and the American Revolution. New York: Hill and Wang, 2006. Print.
Graymont, Barbara. The Iroquois in the American Revolution. Syracuse University Press, 1972. Print.
Jackson, John W. Valley Forge: Pinnacle of Courage. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications, 1992. Print.
Levinson, David. "An Explanation For The Oneida-Colonial Alliance In The American Revolution." Ethnohistory 1976. Print.
Reed, John. "Barren Hill." Valley Forge Journal. Print.
During the colonial period, Native Americans had a complicated relationship with European settlers. They resisted the efforts of the Europeans to gain more of their land and control through both warfare and diplomacy. But problems arose for the Native Americans, which held them back from their goal, including new diseases, the slave trade, and the ever-growing European population in North America.
In the 17th century, as European nations scrambled to claim the already occupied land in the “New World,” some leaders formed alliances with Native American nations to fight foreign powers. Some famous alliances were formed during the French and Indian War of 1754–1763. The English allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, while the Algonquian-speaking tribes joined forces with the French and the Spanish. The English won the war, and claimed all of the land east of the Mississippi River. The English-allied Native Americans were given part of that land, which they hoped would end European expansion—but unfortunately only delayed it. Europeans continued to enter the country following the French and Indian War, and they continued their aggression against Native Americans. Another consequence of allying with Europeans was that Native Americans were often fighting neighboring tribes. This caused rifts that kept some Native American tribes from working together to stop European takeover.
Native Americans were also vulnerable during the colonial era because they had never been exposed to European diseases, like smallpox, so they didn’t have any immunity to the disease, as some Europeans did. European settlers brought these new diseases with them when they settled, and the illnesses decimated the Native Americans—by some estimates killing as much as 90 percent of their population. Though many epidemics happened prior to the colonial era in the 1500s, several large epidemics occurred in the 17th and 18th centuries among various Native American populations. With the population sick and decreasing, it became more and more difficult to mount an opposition to European expansion.
Another aspect of the colonial era that made the Native Americans vulnerable was the slave trade. As a result of the wars between the European nations, Native Americans allied with the losing side were often indentured or enslaved. There were even Native Americans shipped out of colonies like South Carolina into slavery in other places, like Canada.
These problems that arose for the Native Americans would only get worse in the 19th century, leading to greater confinement and the extermination of native people. Unfortunately, the colonial era was neither the start nor the end of the long, dark history of treatment of Native Americans by Europeans and their decedent’s throughout in the United States.