Battle of Wyoming

Reenactment scene from the Battle of Wyoming that took place during the American Revolution in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania on July 03 1778.... more

by Jim Cook

Title

Battle of Wyoming

Artist

Jim Cook

Medium

Photograph - Digital Art

Description

Reenactment scene from the Battle of Wyoming that took place during the American Revolution in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania on July 03 1778. The legend of the battle and subsequent massacre had it's genesis during the American Revolutionary War when American Patriots were ambushed by Loyalists and accompanying Iroquois warriors. A forty five minute battle ensued and when the inexperianced patriots who were mainly farmers and settlers tried to follow an order to reposition their line it quickly turned into a rout.

The battle was over but the Iroquois went on a hunt for surviors.Sixty Americans managed to escape and only five were taken prisoner an unknown number of prisoners and fleeing soldiers were killed and tortured. A reported 227 scalps were taken. Of the 1000 Loyalist Rangers and Indians involved only 2 Rangers and 1 Indian were killed.The man who commanded them John Butler claimed in a report that he was satisfied that the Indians gave no quarter to those who opposed them but treated defenseless women and children "with a degree of humanity almost hitherto unparalled". This fact held no sway with local settlers who spread rumors that so infuriated the American public that militia companies began destroying Indian villages and culminated in the Sullivan Expedition commissioned by General George Washinton systematically wiped out forty Iroquis villages a destruction they never fully recovered from.

The battle and massacre were later depicted in the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell's poem "Gertrude of Wyoming" they are further commerated each year by the Wyoming Commemorative Association at a monument on the site of a mass grave for the victims.

The scene depicted here is from a re-enactment of the battle put on by members of the 24th Connecticut Militia Regiment a non profit organization consisting of people with a deep love of history and desire to preserve it.

More of my work can be seen at http://www.jimcookphotography
and here on FAA http://1-jim-cook.artistwebsites.com/

Uploaded

November 15th, 2012