Scalp Hunting in the Ohio Valley: The (Staggering) Siege of Fort Pitt – Pontiac’s War, Part 2

In early July, black pillars of smoke rose above the forests of the Ohio Valley. The garrison at Fort Pitt watched them with concern, for they were the banners of war—and the harbingers of a siege. The tribes of the Great Lakes region had risen up to reclaim their lands and drive the Anglo-Americans back across the Appalachians. As the most important British outpost in the Ohio Valley, Fort Pitt was one of their first targets. The siege was marked by a massive fortress, tense wilderness warfare, and a remarkable readiness to use violence. Indigenous warriors scalped, plundered, and killed to spread fear, while the British were prepared to go to extremes. They spoke openly of wiping out the rebellious tribes and even resorted to biological warfare. Since the uprising began in early May 1763 with an attack on Fort Detroit, dozens of chiefs and their warriors had joined the fight, and the first British outposts had already fallen. One of the first was Fort Sandusky, where a group of Wyandot outwitted the garrison. Their chief asked for a meeting with the commander, and when the two were alone, smoking a pipe, he suddenly pounced on the unsuspecting officer, seized him, and signaled to his warriors. Before anyone could react, they overpowered the 15-man garrison and plundered the fort. Then, more attacks followed across the frontier. This is how modern historiography tells the story of the siege of Fort Pitt and the end of Pontiac’s War. Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/sandrhomanhistory Paypal (thank you: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/SandRhomanhistory Bibliography Anderson, Fred, Crucible of War: The Seven Years’ War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754–1766. New York 2000. Borneman, Walter J., The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America, New York 2006. Calloway, Colin, The Scratch of a Pen: 1763 and the Transformation of North America, New York 2006. Dixon, David, Never Come to Peace Again: Pontiac’s Uprising and the Fate of the British Empire in North America, Norman 2005. Dowd, Gregory Evans, War under Heaven: Pontiac, the Indian Nations, & the British Empire. Baltimore 2002. Gill, Harold B. Jr., Colonial Germ Warfare, in: CW Journal, Spring 04, online: https://web.archive.org/web/20150801092104/http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Spring04/warfare.cfm [last accessed: June 29, 2026]. Gipson, Lawrence Henry, New Responsibilities within the Enlarged Empire 1763–1766, Caldwell 1956, p. 108. James, Martin W./Christopher, George W./Eitzen, Edward M., History of Biological Weapons: From Poisoned Darts to Intentional Epidemics. Medical Aspects of Biological Warfare, Washington, D.C., 2007. Jennings, Francis, Empire of Fortune: Crowns, Colonies, and Tribes in the Seven Years’ War in America, New York 1988. Middleton, Richard, Pontiac’s War: Its Causes, Course, and Consequences, New York/London 2007. Stevens, Sylvester K./Kent, Donald H. (eds.), The Papers of Col. Henry Bouquet / Prepared by the Frontier Forts and Trails Survey, Federal Works Agency, Works Projects Administration, Harrisburg 1940, Ser. 21634. Ward, Matthew C., Breaking the Backcountry: The Seven Years’ War in Virginia and Pennsylvania, 1754–1765, Pittsburgh 2003. White, Richard, The Middle Ground: Indians, Empires, and Republics in the Great Lakes Region 1650–1815, Cambridge 1991.