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.