Battle of Devil ' s Hole The Battle of Devil ' s Hole , also known as the Devil ' s Hole Massacre , was fought near Niagara Gorge in present - day New York state on September 14 , 1763 , between a detachment of the British 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot and about 300 Seneca warriors during Pontiac ' s Rebellion ( 1763 – 1766 ) . The Seneca warriors killed 81 British soldiers and wounded 8 before they managed to retreat . Background . As early as 1757 , Seneca in the Niagara Falls area had complained to the French about losing control of the long portage along an area of the Niagara River , which French traders were trying to improve for wagons . They resented the Europeans trying to take over their traditional territory and displace them from their work . After the Seven Years War , the British took over this area near the Great Lakes . John Stedman improved the former portage trail so that it could accommodate oxen and wagons , and hired teams and escorts to carry goods through . Formerly up to 300 Seneca men had worked as porters on what they thought of as their portage . Discontent rose among many Native American tribes in the Great Lakes area , who wanted to get rid of the British colonists before more encroached on their lands . In Pontiac ' s Rebellion , beginning in 1763 , several tribes in the Great Lakes and Northwest area cooperated in rising up against the British . In the New York colony , Sir William Johnson , the Superintendent of Indian Affairs , had long advocated fair treatment of Native Americans but was only partially successful . He wrote , " Our people in general are ill calculated to maintain friendship with the Indians . They despise those in peace whom they fear to meet in war . " Battle . On September 14 , 1763 , a large Seneca band of an estimated 300 – 500 warriors ambushed a wagon train and its armed escort en route from Fort Schlosser to Fort Niagara as it passed through " Devil ' s Hole " , an area known for its difficult terrain . One part of the trail was in a heavily wooded area with a deep ravine on either side ; there the Seneca warriors attacked the wagon train . The escort party and teamsters , led by Porter Master John Stedman , were caught completely by surprise ; animals broke into a stampede or were driven into the ravine along with their wagons and drivers . The Seneca moved in to fight at close quarters , making musket fire useless , and only three of the party of 24 ( including Stedman ) managed to escape to Fort Schlosser for help . Camped nearby at Lewiston was a detachment of the British British 80th Regiment of Light Armed Foot from Fort Gray . Two companies of the 80th commanded by George Campbell and William Fraser heard the news of the ambush and rushed off to rescue the wagon train . From a brush - covered hill commanding the trail , Seneca warriors attacked the soldiers about one mile from the wagon train . Once the British companies began to retreat , the Seneca moved to cut them off from the fort and killed " more than 80 soldiers . " The soldiers suffered a loss of 81 dead and 8 wounded before withdrawing ( some sources claim the entire rescue party was killed ) . The Anglo - Americans called it " The Devil ' s Hole Massacre " . The warrior Dekanandi later told Sir William Johnson that 309 warriors attacked the British and their only loss was one man wounded . Aftermath . Reinforcements from Fort Schlosser under the command of Major John Wilkins arrived shortly after the second battle , but soon withdrew to the fort , fearing another attack . When they returned several days later , they found the soldiers had been ritually scalped or their bodies thrown into the ravine . Shortly after the battle , Johnson was told that the attack had been planned by a Seneca chief known as Farmer ' s Brother , who led a large band that supported Chief Pontiac . The consensus among historians is that the battle was related to the larger rebellion . Because of the successful Seneca attacks , the British reinforced their position in Niagara , when the Seneca had hoped to drive them away . Eventually Sir William Johnson forced the Seneca to cede land in this area : a strip one mile wide on each side of the Niagara River from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie , called the Mile Reserve , as well as the islands upriver of Niagara Falls . This cut them off from traditional control of the river and portage , which had been a transportation route as well as a source of food and water . The Seneca long contended to regain control of the river banks . Settlers mostly stayed out of the area until after the conclusion of the American Revolutionary War . Its settlement forced most of the Iroquois as British allies to Canada .