page_title: William Crawford (soldier)
section_title: Crawford Expedition
hierarchical_section_title: William Crawford (soldier) / Biography / Crawford Expedition
context_page_description: William Crawford was an American soldier and surveyor who worked as a western land agent for George Washington. Crawford fought in the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured and burned at the stake by American Indians in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre, a notorious slaughter of Indians by militia near the end of the American Revolution.
context_section_description: In 1782, General William Irvine persuaded Crawford to come out of retirement and lead an expedition against enemy Indian villages along the Sandusky River. Before leaving, on 16 May he made out his will and testament. His son John Crawford, his son-in-law William Harrison, and his nephew and namesake William Crawford also joined the expedition.
  After his election as commander of the expedition, Crawford led about 500 volunteers deep into American Indian territory with the hope of surprising them. However, the Indians and their British allies at Detroit had learned about the expedition in advance, and brought about 440 men to the Sandusky to oppose the Americans. After a day of indecisive fighting, the Americans found themselves surrounded. During a confused retreat, Crawford and dozens of his men were captured. The Indians executed many of them in retaliation for the Gnadenhutten massacre earlier in the year, in which 96 peaceful Christian Indian men, women, and children had been murdered by Pennsylvanian militiamen. Crawford's execution was brutal; he was tortured for at least two hours before he was burned at the stake. His nephew and son-in-law were also captured and executed. The war ended shortly thereafter, but Crawford's horrific execution was widely publicized in the United States, worsening the already strained relationship between Native Americans and European Americans.
caption: Execution of Crawford
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