The Ohio Country in the eighteenth century was a zone of international strife, and the Delawares, Shawnees, Iroquois, and other natives who had taken refuge there were caught between the territorial ambitions of the French and British. A Country Between is unique in assuming the perspective of the Indians who struggled to maintain their autonomy in a geographical tinderbox.
The subject of this masterful, panoramic biography is one of the most mysterious, misunderstood icons of early American history. Simon Girty was a sharp-witted, rascally, many-tongued frontiersman whose epic adventures span the French and Indian War, Dunmore's War, the American War for Independence, the Indian Wars, and finally, the War of 1812. When he defected from the Patriot cause to serve the British in March 1778, Girty achieved instant infamy - becoming one of young America's most notorious characters. To understand his motivation one must discover, as he did, that the real, underlying cause of the American Revolution was the unquenchable thirst for Indian land of many of our so-called founding fathers - including George Washington - and their unrelenting dissatisfaction with the restrictions imposed upon their land speculation ambitions by the King's Proclamation of 1763. Like a detective doggedly combing through old evidence, author Phillip Hoffman spent 17 years studying every detail of Girty's life and times, amassing more than 4,000 computer windows of research. By exploring microfilm, ledgers, military records, congressional records, newspaper and magazine articles, and dozens of early American and Canadian fiction and non-fiction works, Hoffman was able to peel away the mythic legend that has hidden Girty's real persona for two and a half centuries. Little in Simon Girty's life was conventional or predictable. One of four sons raised by an Irish Indian trader settled near Harrisburg in eastern Pennsylvania, Simon's earliest experiences quickly isolate him from the majority of the colonists in his region, most of whom were German immigrants. To these people, the Girtys are Indian lovers, and the Indians are all savages and spawn of the devil. During the French and Indian War, when he is fifteen, Simon and his family are captured by hostile Shawnee and Delaware warriors led by French officers. Given away to a war party of Senecas, Simon is carried north and adopted, emerging eight years later at age twenty-three, a gifted linguist and a trained interpreter fluent in eleven native languages. Brought by a Seneca chief to Alexander McKee of the British Indian Department at Fort Pitt, Girty begins his career as a spy-interpreter-intermediary serving both English and Native American leaders. Girty's contacts include the great Seneca sachem Guyasuta, Sir William Johnson, merchant George Morgan, businessman John Connolly, William Crawford, Matthew Elliott, John Murray (Lord Dunmore), Simon Kenton, George Rogers Clark, Mingo chief John Logan, Mohawk chief Joseph Brant, Half King of the Wyandots, Captain Pipe of the Delawares, Moravian missionaries David Zeisberger and John Heckewelder, Shawnee chiefs Blue Jacket and Tecumseh, and Miami war chief Little Turtle, Detroit Governor Henry Hamilton, U.S. general Anthony Wayne, and even Daniel Boone. Land speculators George Washington and Ben Franklin are also woven through Girty's story. Through Girty's eyes we re-live the ill-fated Squaw Campaign, his rescue of Simon Kenton whom the Shawnees were about to torture and burn, the deadly ambush of Rogers' Flotilla, the Battle of Sandusky, William Crawford's trial and death by fire, the conquest of Martin's and Ruddle's Stations, the disastrous American defeat at Blue Licks (where Daniel Boone's son Israel was killed), and the incredible victories over Harmar and St. Clair by a confederation of Western and Northern Tribes. Finally, with Girty and his companions Alex McKee and Matthew Elliott, we witness the climactic defeat of the Indians by Mad Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers. Hoffman's dedication to detail, combined with his superb talent as a storyteller, brings us an intimate view of the full sweep of early American frontier conflicts, as experienced by a devoted adventurer whose heart was as much Indian as it was white. Simon Girty Turncoat Hero is American history at its best.
The remarkable story of David Fagen, an African-American "Buffalo Soldier" from Tampa, Florida who was first sent to fight in the Spanish-American War in Cuba, and then shipped off to combat in the Philippine-American War. His actions in the Philippines earn him the respect of the Filipino people, but to the Americans he is viewed as a traitor.
During the American Revolution and the border conflicts that followed, Simon Girty’s name struck terror into the hearts of U.S. settlers in the Ohio Valley and the territory of Kentucky. Girty (1741-1818) had lived with the Natives most of his life. Scorned by his fellow white frontiersmen as an "Indian lover," Girty became an Indian agent for the British. He accompanied Native raids against Americans, spied deep into enemy territory, and was influential in convincing the tribes to fight for the British. The Americans declared Girty an outlaw. In U.S. history books he is a villain even worse than Benedict Arnold. Yet in Canada, Girty is regarded as a Loyalist hero, and a historic plaque marks the site of his homestead on the Ontario side of the Detroit River. In Native history, Girty stands out as one of the few white men who championed their cause against American expansion. But was he truly the "White Savage" of legend, or a hero whose story was twisted by his foes?
Along with Benedict Arnold, Simon Girty was one of the most hated men in early America. The son of an Irish immigrant, he was raised on the western Pennsylvania frontier but was captured by the Senecas as a teenager and lived among them for several years. This able frontiersman might be seen today as a defender of Native Americans, but in his own time he was branded as a traitor for siding with First Nations and the British during the Revolutionary War. He fought fiercely against Continental Army forces in the Ohio River Valley and was victorious in the bloody Battle of Blue Licks. In this classic work, Richard Taylor artfully assembles a collage of passages from diaries, travel accounts, and biographies to tell part of the notorious villain's story. Taylor uses the voice of Girty himself to unfold the rest of the narrative through a series of interior monologues, which take the form of both prose and poetry. Moments of torture and horrifying bloodshed stand starkly against passages celebrating beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Throughout, Taylor challenges perceptions of the man and the frontier, as well as notions of white settler innocence. Simon Girty's bloody exploits and legend made him hated and feared in Kentucky and the Ohio River Valley, but many who knew him respected him for his convictions, principles, and bravery. This evocative work brings to life a complex figure who must permanently dwell in the borderland between myth and fact, one foot in each domain.
"Simon Kenton first came to Kentucky in 1772 as a teen fleeing justice. The land captivated his heart and he dedicated the next 28 years to helping settlers, fighting Indians, and scouting for famous military leaders."--
“A well-organized and concise introduction to the war’s major battles” (The Journal of America’s Military Past). Winner of the Gold Star Book Award for History from the Military Writers Society of America This is the first comprehensive account of every engagement of the Revolution, a war that began with a brief skirmish at Lexington Green on April 19, 1775, and concluded on the battlefield at the Siege of Yorktown in October 1781. In between were six long years of bitter fighting on land and at sea. The wide variety of combats blanketed the North American continent from Canada to the Southern colonies, from the winding coastal lowlands to the Appalachian Mountains, and from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean. Every entry begins with introductory details including the date of the battle, its location, commanders, opposing forces, terrain, weather, and time of day. The detailed body of each entry offers both a Colonial and a British perspective of the unfolding military situation, a detailed and unbiased account of what actually transpired, a discussion of numbers and losses, an assessment of the consequences of the battle, and suggestions for further reading. Many of the entries are supported and enriched by original maps and photos.
Perhaps few other frontiersmen of the early Revolutionary period were as complicated as the notorious Simon Girty. A native of Pennsylvania, Girty spent years of his childhood as a captive of the Seneca, eventually assimilating into its culture. During Lord Dunmore's War, Girty fought alongside Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone as a spy and scout for the British forces. Although initially supporting the Americans in the Revolution, Girty switched sides in 1778 and fought the remainder of the war against the colonials. After the war, Girty continued to fight against American encroachment on native territories. He settled in Canada and died there in 1818. His unusual life reflected the decades during which the "middle ground" was built and contested by native Americans and the British and French colonial empires.
Author Robert Thompson recounts the harrowing story of Phebe Tucker Cunningham, from her marriage at Prickett's Fort to her return to the shores of the Monongahela. Life on the West Virginia frontier was a daily struggle for survival, and for Phebe Tucker Cunningham, that meant the loss of her four children at the hands of the Wyandot tribe and being held captive for three years until legendary renegades Simon Girty and Alexander McKee arranged her freedom. Thompson describes in vivid detail early colonial life in the Alleghenies and the ways of the Wyandot, providing historical context for this unforgettable saga.
