Author Glenn F. Williams will present a lecture on Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era, Sunday, September 22,at 7 p.m. in the Tour Center at Green Bank Observatory.
The event is free.
Williams will detail the course and importance of the 1774 campaign against a Shawnee-led Indian confederacy in the Ohio Country. This was the final time an American colonial militia took to the field in His Majesty’s service and under royal command.
“Led by John Murray, the fourth Earl, of Dunmore and royal governor of Virginia, a force of colonials including George Rogers Clark, Daniel Morgan, Michael Cresap, Adam Stephen and Andrew Lewis successfully enforced the western border established by treaties in parts of present-day West Virginia and Kentucky. The campaign is often neglected in histories, despite its major influence on the conduct of the Revolutionary War that followed.
“Supported by extensive primary source research, Williams corrects much of the folklore concerning the war, and frontier fighting in general, demonstrating that the Americans did not adopt Indian tactics for wilderness fighting as is often supposed, but rather used British methods developed for fighting irregulars in the woods of Europe, while incorporating certain techniques learned from the Indians and experience gained from earlier colonial wars.
As an immediate result of Dunmore’s War, the frontier remained quiet for two years, giving the colonies the critical time to debate and declare independence before Britain convinced its Indian allies to resume attacks on American settlements.” ~ amazon.com
Dr. Glenn F. Williams is a Senior Historian at the U.S. Army Center of Military History at Fort McNair, D.C. He is the author of several books, including Year of the Hangman: George Washington’s Campaign against the Iroquois; USS Constellation: A Short History of the Last All-Sail Warship Built by the U.S. Navy; and Dunmore’s War: The Last Conflict of America’s Colonial Era.
The lecture and book signing at the GBO is sponsored by Pocahontas County Historical Landmarks, Blackhurst/Burner Reunion, Pocahontas County Bicentennial Committee, Green Bank Observatory and Fort Warwick, LLC.