John B. McClelland

John B McClelland (1740 – 1782) was a soldier in the American Revolutionary War. He was captured by American Indians during the Crawford Expedition and tortured to death at the Shawnee town of Wakatomika.

McClelland was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and after moving to Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, lived in that part which fell within Fayette County, Pennsylvania on its organization in 1783. [Boucher, "History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volume I", Chapter 9.] He married Martha Dale on 12 November, 1759, and is buried in Wyandot County, Ohio.

John McClelland was a member of the commission for the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776, and later represented Westmoreland County in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Convention met in Philadelphia, July 15, 1776, to form a constitution and frame a government for the state of Pennsylvania. A committee of prominent citizens met at Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia, on June 15, 1776, in order to make arrangements for a convention anticipating the separation of the colonies from Great Britain. Attendants were asked by the committee "to choose such persons only to act for them in the ensuing convention as are distinguished for wisdom, integrity, and a firm attachment to the liberties of this province"." [Boucher, "History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volume I", Chapter 23.]

In pursuance of this recommendation, delegates were chosen July 5, 1776, and the eight delegates to the convention elected for Westmoreland County were John Moore, Edward Cook, James Perry, James Barr, James Smith, John Carmichael, John McClelland, and Christopher Lobingier. [Boucher, "History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volume I", Chapter 23.]

At the outset of the Revolutionary War, McClelland was appointed to a citizen’s committee to procure arms and ammunition for the defense of the struggling new nation. He, with two of his sons John and Alexander, enlisted in the Pennsylvania militia, which worked in conjunction with the Continental Army during the war. He was a captain in the First Battalion of Westmoreland Militia at the beginning of the Revolution, a unit which was later prominent in the Whiskey Insurrection. [Boucher, "History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, Volume I", 122–31.]

By 1782, the Indians of the frontier allied themselves with the British and started attacking settlers. McClelland was commissioned a Major, [Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth, "Pennsylvania Archives, Vol. 2, 6th Series", 367-403.] and made third in command of an expedition, led by Colonel William Crawford, intended to put an end to Indian attacks on American settlers in that region.

In fact, John McClelland was one of four majors elected for the Crawford Expedition. The other Majors elected for the expedition included David Williamson of Washington County, Pennsylvania, Thomas Gaddis of Westmoreland (now Fayette), and Joseph Brinton of what is now East Pike Run Township, Pennsylvania. [Crumrine, "History of Washington County, Pennsylvania", 115.]

Upon learning that a British detachment from Detroit was about to join forces with the Wyandot Indian forces, and that a large band of Shawnee warriors had also appeared to the south, Colonel Crawford commenced a retreat, with Major John McClelland leading the way.

However, the volunteer army was soon attacked by the Shawnee and Delaware Indians, and suffered severely. Shortly afterward Major McClelland was wounded, fell from his horse, and was left behind. McClelland may have actually given his horse to John Orr, a severely wounded soldier, in order to enable him to clear himself from the field of battle. At the time, it was believed that Major McClelland was killed outright, and no effort was made to save him from capture.

The remainder of the division became disorganized and panic-stricken and disregarding McClelland's orders to follow the advance in a solid column, did not follow the prescribed route, becoming entangled in the wetlands.

Colonel Crawford's nephew, William Crawford, the Colonel's son-in-law, William Harrison, and Major McClelland all lost their lives at the hands of the Delaware and Shawnee Indians. Colonel Crawford was brutally tortured and burnt at the stake. The Shawnee Indians were led by Blacksnake.

Because of his sacrifice, the commission of lieutenant colonel was posthumously conferred upon McClelland. [Ellis, "History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania", 98-108.]

Notes

References

*Boucher, John N. "History of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania". New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1906.
*Crumrine, Boyd. "History of Washington County, Pennsylvania". Philadelphia: L.H. Everts and Co., 1882. Available [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?idno=00hc17099m;view=toc;c=pitttext online] from the University of Pittsburgh Digital Research Library.
*Ellis, Franklin. "History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania". Philadelphia: L.H. Everts and Co., 1882. Available [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/cgi-bin/t/text/text-idx?idno=00aft2784m;view=toc;c=pitttext online] from the University of Pittsburgh Digital Research Library.
*Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. "Pennsylvania Archives". Harrisburg: C.E. Aughinbaugh, Printer to the State of Pennsylvania, 1914.

External links

* [http://books.google.com/books?id=tZALAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA365 Service record] from Francis B. Heitman's "Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army"