Point Pleasant 1774: Prelude to the American Revolution

From the author of Wabash and Fallen Timbers comes the story of a pre-Revolutionary conflict between American settlers and Indian tribes on the Ohio River in West Virginia.

The battle of Point Pleasant was the major battle in what is known as Lord Dunmore's War, the conflict between the Colony of Virginia and the Shawnee and Mingo Indian tribes in what is now the state of Kentucky. Following a series of incidents between American settlers and the Native tribes, the Earl of Dunmore led one militia army, with Colonel Andrew Lewis leading another, against the Shawnees and Mingos. On October 10, 1774, a force of about 700 Indians attacked Lewis's 1,100-man army at what is now Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Lewis's men succeeded in driving the Indian forces off, though only after suffering about 20 percent casualties. The two Virginia militia forces pursued the Indians into Ohio before a peace treaty was signed that opened up Kentucky for American settlement.