In the 1770s, English men, women, and children (European-Americans) started to settle in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania. On July 1, 1778, during the Revolutionary War, Fort Jenkins (a patriot stockade east of present-day Exeter) surrendered to the British (under Major John Butler). It was later burned to the ground. A couple days later, on July 3, 1778, a force of British soldiers, with the assistance of about 700 Indians, attacked and killed nearly 300 Wyoming Valley settlers in and around present-day Exeter.