S05E10: The Kittanning Raid of 1756

In 1756 the Colony of Pennsylvania was at war. With the

incursion of the French, the Western Delaware peoples of the Ohio Country

raided and burned the frontier villages of William Penn’s Peaceable Kingdom.

Although the colonial government was staunchly Quaker and did not believe in a

standing army, the efforts of Benjamin Franklin rallied the province into

action. In September of 1756 Colonel John Armstrong led 300 frontiersmen into

the wilderness to raid and destroy the Delaware village of Kittanning. Although

celebrated at the time, modern historians question the Kittanning Raid’s true

motivations and effectiveness. On this episode we discuss the Kittanning Raid

of 1756.