Savage Barbarity: Native American Uncivilized (Guerrilla) Warfare at Cold Creek in the Firelands of Ohio during the War of 1812

Abstract

abstract:In 1813, the United States was at war with Great Britain and her native allies. While military battles were vicious and violence was expected by both sides, uncivilized warfare—also known as irregular warfare, guerrilla warfare, and unconventional warfare—angered and was spurned by both Europeans and Americans. To be sure, uncivilized warfare was practiced by both Euro-Americans and Native Americans in the Great Lakes region of North America beginning as far back as the early seventeenth century. One case was that of an Odawa (Ottawa) war party from Fort Malden in Canada, which raided, killed, and captured American settlers at Cold Creek (Ohio) in June of 1813. The raid and ambush committed deplorable acts of butchery in the killing of women and children, and the tactic was used to instill fear and panic in American settlers in hopes of forcing them to vacate Indian lands. This article examines the details of uncivilized warfare at Cold Creek, which caused moral outrage and indignation in eastern newspapers, the American military, and the US Congress. The author argues that this type of warfare was more complex in native cultural traditions and sociopolitical relations between Native Americans and whites than simple revenge. The debate by historians on this issue remains unsettled today for lack of direct and circumstantial evidence.