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William Crawford (1732-1782) was an American soldier who fought Indians in the French and Indian Wars and the American Revolutionary War. He was tortured, scalped, and killed by Native Americans in a notorious incident near the end of that war.
Born in Virginia, he was part of the army that in 1758 captured Fort Duquesne, where Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania now stands and later settled in Fayette County, Kentucky.
Crawford was a friend of George Washington. Like Washington, Crawford had been a junior officer under the British and a surveyor. Crawford was also a veteran of the Braddock Expedition, Pontiac's War, and Lord Dunmore's War. Crawford had led previous missions against the Native Americans, and atrocities had been committed on both sides. In 1782, Washington persuaded him to take command of an army to attack Indians north of the Ohio River. Taking the rank of colonel, he led an unsuccessful mission. While in retreat, Crawford and several other men were captured. Crawford was tied to a stake, burned, and scalped in retaliation for the patriot massacre of the neutral Natives at the Moravian mission at Gnadenhutten. British liaison Simon Girty was a witness to Crawford's execution, which took place in what is now Wyandot County, Ohio.
Crawford County, Ohio and Crawford County, Pennsylvania are named for him.
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