Battle of Bloody Run (1656): Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox military conflict |
{{Infobox military conflict |
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|image=Battle of Bloody Run - Marker, Chimborazo Park, Richmond.jpg |
|image=Battle of Bloody Run - Marker, Chimborazo Park, Richmond.jpg |
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|caption= a marker erected concerning the battle |
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|caption= |
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|conflict=Battle of Bloody Run |
|conflict=Battle of Bloody Run |
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|date=1656 |
|date=1656 |
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|place= Bloody Run Creek, currently paved over, previously near 32nd Street, Richmond, Virginia |
|place= Bloody Run Creek, currently paved over, previously near 32nd Street, Richmond, Virginia |
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|result= "Richahecrian" victory |
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|result= defeat of English and allied [[Pamunkey]] tribe |
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|combatant1="Richahecrian" tribe |
|combatant1="Richahecrian" tribe |
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|combatant2=[[ |
|combatant2= [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia Colony]] <br/> Pamunkey tribe |
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|commander1=unknown |
|commander1=unknown |
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|commander2=Colonel Edward Hill <br/> [[Totopotomoi|Chief Totopotomoi]] [[Killed in Action|†]] |
|commander2=Colonel Edward Hill <br/> [[Totopotomoi|Chief Totopotomoi]] [[Killed in Action|†]] |
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Revision as of 14:29, 6 June 2021
| Battle of Bloody Run | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 a marker erected concerning the battle | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| "Richahecrian" tribe |
Virginia Colony Pamunkey tribe | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| unknown |
Colonel Edward Hill Chief Totopotomoi † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 500 - 600 |
~200 (100 Colonial Rangers and 100 Pamunkey warriors) [[37°31′39″N 77°24′45″W / 37.527543°N 77.412425°W]] | ||||||
The Battle of Bloody Run was fought in March or April of 1656[1] near Richmond, Virginia.
In 1654, the expansion of the Iroquois Nation (during the Beaver Wars) displaced several tribes from their homelands around Lake Erie. One tribe moved south into Virginia, settling temporarily around the James River. Records of the time refer to these people as the "Richahecrians", while James Lederer said they were "Mahocks and Nahyssans". The colonists in nearby Richmond were uneasy with the proximity of a potentially hostile force. Within two years, the Virginia General Assembly had given permission to Colonel Edward Hill to remove the Indian presence. His orders specifically stated that he was not to use force unless necessary.[2] that war should only be a last resort. The General Assembly also specifically sent messages to Chief Totopotomoi and the Chichahominy Indians, requesting their assistance.[3]
Colonel Hill led the Colonial Rangers, reinforced by 100 Pamunkey warriors under Chief Totopotomoi. When five "Richahecrian" chiefs came to negotiate, Hill ordered they be taken and killed, which resulted in the attack by the opposing force. During the battle, Hill and his men retreated, resulting in the slaughter of their Indian allies, including Totopotomoi himself. The large number of casualties—nearly all of the Pamunkey warriors, and a good part of the Colonial Rangers—earned the site its name of Bloody Run, as the creek was said to have run red with blood. Afterward, Hill was disgraced because of his defeat, censured by the Virginia Assembly, and stripped of his rank.
The creek was the site of another bloody battle 20 years later,[4] during Bacon’s Rebellion, in 1676. More Indian incursions led the Virginia colonists to authorize Nathaniel Bacon to march against the Indians. The battle of Bacon’s Quarter Branch[5] took place near Bloody Run, and the creek was once again christened with blood.
Today, the site of the battle had been paved over and the creek and spring have dried up. The only indication of the site is a state-erected marker commemorating the event in the northwest corner of Chimborazo Park.[6]
External links
References
- ^ The General Assembly of Virginia addressed the problem of 500 or so 'new Indians' along the James River and ordered messages be sent to Totopotomoi requesting his assistance in their 10 March 1656 session
- ^ Noel, Tricia. The Battle of Bloody Run. Church Hill People’s News. 2014-12-02. Web. Retrieved 2015-03-23. The Battle of Bloody Run Archived 2014-12-16 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.vagenweb.org/hening/vol01-16.htm
- ^ Howe, Henry (1852). Historical Collections of Virginia. Wm. R. Babcock. p. 334.
- ^ Howison, Robert Reid (1846). A History of Virginia: From Its Discovery and Settlement by Europeans to the Present Time, Volume 1. Carey & Hart. p. 359-60.
- ^ Noel, Tricia. The Battle of Bloody Run. Church Hill People’s News. 2014-12-02. Web. Retrieved 2015-03-23. The Battle of Bloody Run Archived 2014-12-16 at the Wayback Machine