Kittanning Expedition

Part of the French and Indian War

Date	September 8, 1756
Location	near Kittanning, British Province of Pennsylvania
Result	7 of 11 prisoners freed

Belligerents

Province of Pennsylvania

Delaware Indians

Commanders and leaders

John Armstrong

Captain Jacobs †

Strength

300 provincial soldiers

Unknown

Casualties and losses

17 killed
13 wounded
19 missing
(the missing include 4 liberated white prisoners, 2 of whom were recaptured and tortured to death)

7 men and 2 women killed

The Kittanning Expedition, also known as the Armstrong Expedition or the Battle of Kittanning, was a raid during the French and Indian War that led to the destruction of the American Indian village of Kittanning, which had served as a staging point for attacks by Delaware (Lenape) warriors against colonists in the British Province of Pennsylvania. Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong, this raid deep into hostile territory was the only major expedition carried out by Pennsylvania Provincial troops during a brutal backcountry war. Early on September 8, 1756 they launched a surprise attack on the Indian village.

Although it eventually became a worldwide conflict known as the Seven Years' War, the French and Indian War began on the Pennsylvania frontier as a struggle for control of the Ohio Country. With the surrender of George Washington at Fort Necessity in 1754 and Braddock's defeat in 1755, the settlers on the Pennsylvania frontier were without professional military protection, and scrambled to organize a defense.

The French-allied Indians who had defeated General Edward Braddock at the Monongahela were primarily from the Great Lakes region to the north. The local Indians, mostly Delaware and Shawnee who had migrated to the area after white colonists had settled their lands to the east, had waited to see who would win the contest—they could not risk siding with the loser. With Fort Duquesne now secured, the victorious French encouraged the Delaware and Shawnee to "take up the hatchet" against those who had taken their land.

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Wikipedia