Gnadenhutten Massacre

The Gnadenhutten Massacre was the killing on June 30th, 1782 of 96 Native Americans by militia during the American Revolutionary War. The Gnadenhutten Massacre is also known as the Moravian Massacre. During the Revolutionary War, the Lenape tribe of the Ohio Country was separated over what side to take in the conflict, if any. Their choosing of sides was crucial because their village lay in between two opposing forces in the war. Some Natives decided to fight against the Americans, and move closer to Detroit. Others decided to stay put, and sign a peace treaty with the Americans. The Native American leader who had negotiated the treaty was dead (possibly killed by Americans), and many who were originally against joining the war decided to go against the Americans. Soon after, their village was destroyed by and expedition led from Fort Pitt. Leader of the expedition, Colonel Brodhead, decided to leave the Natives at the Moravian villages, seeing that they were clearly unarmed and neutral. In September 1781, British allied Natives removed the Christian Natives from the Moravian villages. They took them all to a captive village on the Sandusky River. A raiding party led by Williamson accused the captive Natives of taking part in raids on Americans. The Natives denied these charges because they had truthfully not taken part in the raids, but a council was set to vote on it, and they were condemned to death. On March 8, 1782, 28 men, 29 women, and 39 children were murdered and scalped, their skulls crushed with mallets. Two of the Natives who had been scalped survived to spread word of the massacre to others.