-
Period: to
Major Battles and Wars of the Native Americans
The history of the Native Americans was shaped by these battles and wars. Sometimes we fought with them, a lot of times we fought against them. These wars and battles also helped mold the history of the United States of America. Blood was spilled, lives were taken, victories were won, and defeats were lost. All tragedies and all glorious moments changed what happened to the Native Americans and the lives around them. -
Start of King Philip's War
A war between New England colonists and Nataive Americans. Because of demands for land, relations had fallen with the colonist and the natives. King Philip, the chief of the Wampanoag tribe, started the war by attacking Swansea in Plymouth Colony on January 23, 1675. The Wampanoags, the Narragansets and the Nipmucs then lead series of raids; and were followed by retaliatory by the colonists. The Indians attacked 52 of the 90 towns then settled in New England, destroying 20 of them. -
End of King Philip's War
In August, 1676, Captain Benjamin Church's forces defeated the Wampanoags, and Philip was killed, near Mount Hope (now Bristol), Rhode Island. The war ended with his death. The Nipmucs fled to Canada and New York. Some 600 colonists and 3,000 natives had been killed in the bloody conflict, which saw much brutality on both sides. -
Start of King William's War
A war between the English, French, and Native American allies. The war began with a three-pronged attack by the French and their native allies on English colonial settlements. They raided Schenectady, New York and many settlements a villages along the east coast. Many colonists were massacred by natives. The colonists first retaliated by sending a fleet, commanded by Sir William Phips, to attack the French fort of Port Royal, Acadia (now Nova Scotia), in 1690. -
End of King William's War
After the capture of Port Royal, the English prepared a combined land and sea attack on Quebec, hoping to capture French Canada. When their army of 2,000 was scattered by the French, the fleet turned back. Both sides continued to make border raids, but without significant results. The Treaty of Ryswick on September 13, 1697 returned Port Royal to the French. -
Start of Queen Anne's War
At the start of the war in America, British colonials in South Carolina unsuccessfully attacked St. Augustine, Florida. The greatest concentration of fighting was in New England and Acadia. Many New England settlements were ravaged from time to time by Native Americans allied with the French. The next year French and native allies descended on Deerfield, Massachusetts, killing about 50 inhabitants and taking more than 100 as captives. -
End of Queen Anne's War
The English counterattacked against French possessions north of the British colonies. However, Port Royal, the capital of Acadia, was captured by British colonial forces in 1710 and later renamed Annapolis Royal. To capture both Quebec and Montreal a massive attack by land and sea on French-held Canada was planned in 1711. Troops were sent from England to help. The effort was abandoned after accidents in the St. Lawrence River. The war ended with the settlement called the Peace of Utrecht. -
Start of French and Indian War
In 1754 George Washington and troops were sent to protect a site (present-day Pittsburgh) that was to built on. But the French had already taken this site to build Fort Duquesne. This was because they wanted to connect their land of Canada to Louisiana. Washington's men built a smaller fort, which they called Fort Necessity, but were forced to surrender by superior French forces and Native American allies. In 1755, the French and natives also defeated U.S. forces near Fort Duquesne. -
End of French and Indian War
The British suffered losses, but then gained some victories. In 1759 British and colonial soldiers defeated French forces at Quebec. Montreal fell to General Amherst in 1760, and the French gave up Canada. By the Treaty of Paris, 1763, they also gave Britain the Ohio area and that part of Louisiana east of the Mississippi (except for New Orleans).The Treaty of Paris allowed colonial expansion to the Mississippi River. -
Battle of Fallen Timbers
A battle in which U.S. troops defeated a British supported force of Native Americans. This battle took place about 15 miles southwest of present day Toledo, Ohio. This defeat resulted in the Treaty of Greenville in which the Native Americans had to open the area of Ohio and much of Indiana to settlement. -
Battle of Tippecanoe
A battle between frontier troops and Native Americans near the Shawnee village of Prophet’s Town. While the founder/leader of the village (Tecumseh) was traveling, Governor William Henry Harrison marched almost 1000 men to Prophet’s Town. About 450 natives attacked the troops along the way, but they were overpowered. Harrison burned Prophet’s Town and claimed a great victory. Acts of revenge by the natives, possibly encouraged by the British in Canada, helped bring on the War of 1812. -
Massacre of Raisin River
General James Winchester sent a detachment of Kentucky troops to expel the British from Frenchtown. The move was successful, and Winchester moved all his men into the village. In a surprise attack, Colonel Henry Proctor, commanding 1,500 British and Native Americans, forced Winchester to surrender. Proctor then withdrew, taking with him all able-bodied prisoners but leaving 30 sick and wounded Americans behind. The natives killed all 30. -
Start of First Seminole War
This war between the United States and the Seminole Native Americans in Florida. The Seminole War resulted from raids into Spanish-owned Florida by state militias. The opening battle was fought in late 1817 when United States troops clashed with Seminoles who had staged retaliatory raids into the United States. -
End of First Seminole War
In 1818, President Monroe ordered General Andrew Jackson to end the conflict. However, Jackson exceeded his orders by launching a full-scale invasion of Florida, burning every Seminole village he and his troops could find. After the war the Seminoles were forced to sign three treaties. The first (1823) confining them to a reservation in central Florida and the other two (1832 and 1833) providing for their removal to west of the Mississippi River. -
Start of Second Seminole War
After the treaties, the majority of the Native Americans resisted resettlement. In 1835 a few hundred warriors under the leadership of Osceola began fighting against United States troops. -
End of Second Seminole War
After the treaties, the majority of the Native Americans resisted resettlement. In 1835 a few hundred warriors under the leadership of Osceola began fighting against United States troops. After Osceola was seized and imprisoned in 1837, a succession of generals, including Zachary Taylor, slowly subdued most of the Seminoles, and about 4,000 Seminoles were sent west. -
Start of Third Seminole War
Several hundred undefeated Seminoles fell far back into the swamplands of the Florida Everglades after the result of the Second Seminole War. During 1855–58 a third war was fought, mainly a series of small engagements. -
End of Third Seminole War
The Seminoles were subdued, and all but about 125 then agreed to be removed to Indian Territory. Descendants of those that remained live in the Everglades today. -
Battle of Wounded Knee
This was a battle between a Native American band called the Sioux and U.S. troops. The Sioux had started to do mystic spiritual actions after being restricted to reservations in the Dakotas. Fearing an uprising, the authorities sent in troops. The Sioux fled. At Wounded Knee Creek (in present day South Dakota) the U.S. Seventh Cavalry overtook them. Nearly 300 Sioux, including women and children, were killed in the fighting that followed; 29 troopers died.
