Stockbridge Militia
Stockbridge Militia | |
---|---|
Active | 1775–1778 |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch | John Nixon's Brigade, 8th Massachusetts Regiment, Massachusetts Militia, Continental Army |
Type | conventional soldiers, scouts |
Role | conventional, 18th century, European warfare and scouting operations |
Engagements | American Revolutionary War Siege of Boston Battle of Saratoga Battle of Monmouth |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Major General Horatio Gates Brigadier General John Nixon Jehoiaikim Mtohksin (Stockbridge officer) Abraham Nimham (Stockbridge officer) |
The Stockbridge Militia was a Native American military unit from Stockbridge, Massachusetts which served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The militia unit was composed mostly of Mohican, Wappinger, and Munsee from the Stockbridge area. While most northeastern tribes, such as Joseph Brant's Mohawks, aligned themselves with the British, the Stockbridge tribes allied with the American Patriots. Led by Jehoiaikim Mtohksin and Abraham Nimham, they were the first group of Native Americans to fight for the cause of American independence during the Revolutionary War.[1]
Early military service in Continental Army
In 1774, as the revolution began to get under way in
This first incarnation of the militia served at the Siege of Boston and the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. This militia disbanded soon thereafter, with some Indians returning to their homes and others continuing to serve as scouts for various units.
In 1777, a new militia was gradually formed as Stockbridge men from the
The Stockbridge Massacre
In August 1778, the Stockbridge Militia was stationed at an outpost in what is now the Bronx, just north of Manhattan.[3] They were attached to a newly formed Light Infantry Corps commanded by Continental Army general Mordecai Gist. The Queen's Rangers, a Loyalist military unit under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Graves Simcoe, led an attack on the Stockbridge Militia in what became known as the Battle of Kingsbridge[4] Cortlandt Ridge,[5] Van Cortlandt's Woods,[6] or The Stockbridge Massacre.[3] The Queen's Rangers were developed from Rogers' Rangers, a provincial unit in which many Stockbridge Indians had served during the French and Indian War.
The battle took place in the northeast of today's
Physical appearance of Stockbridge soldier
After the fighting,
Their costume was a shirt of coarse
battle-axe, which they know how to throw very skillfully. Through the nose and in the ears they wore rings, and on their heads only the hair of the crown remained standing in a circle the size of a dollar-piece, the remainder being shaved off bare. They pull out with pincers all the hairs of the beard, as well as those on all other parts of the body.[8]
The bodies of the Indians were left on the battlefield. Soon after, local residents discovered the corpses being scavenged by dogs, and they buried them in a mass grave.[9] By the 19th century the spirit of their sachem was said to haunt the land of "Indian Field".[10]
Heavy losses and end of military service
That engagement was the last of the war for the militia; Abraham's father, Daniel Nimham, was a man of great standing among the Wappinger, and the other casualties represented a significant loss to the total population of the tribe back in Massachusetts. Requesting leave to return home to help the families of the dead, the company was paid $1,000.00 for their service and discharged by order of George Washington in September 1778.[1]
Post war years of Stockbridge veterans
Shays' Rebellion, tribal suffrage, and tribal removal
By the time of Shays's Rebellion much of the Indian community at Stockbridge had left for the Brothertown community in New York. According to the historian Patrick Frazier, "The remaining Stockbridges appear not to have participated in the agrarian fray; if they had, it is hard to say which side they would have taken, since they had friends on both." It has been suggested that their service during the American Revolution created strong support for Indian
Most of the Indian survivors eventually settled in
References
- ^ a b c Frazier, Patrick. The Mohicans of Stockbridge. p. 225.
- ^ Abbott, Katharine Mixer (1907). Old Paths and Legends of the New England Border: Connecticut, Deerfield, Berkshire. pp. 228–230.
- ^ a b c "Death In the Bronx, The Stockbridge Indian Massacre August, 1778", Richard S. Walling, americanrevolution.org
- ^ "Battle of Kingsbridge (Stockbridge Indian Massacre)", The Kingsbridge Historical Society
- ^ The Road to Kingsbridge: Daniel Nimham and the Stockbridge Indian Company in the American Revolution", American Indian, Magazine of Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, Fall 2017
- ^ Origin and History", Stockbridge-Munsee Community, Band of Mohican Indians, mohican.com
- ^ Simcoe Journal. pp.85-86
- ^ Johann Von Ewald (1778). Diary.
- ^ Jenkins, Stephen (1912). The Story of the Bronx. pp. 303.
- ^ Appleton's Journal of Literature, Science and Art. Appleton & Co. 1872.