The Battle of Sideling Hill (sometimes written Sidling Hill) was an engagement in April 1756, between Pennsylvania Colonial Militia and a band of Lenape warriors who had attacked Fort McCord and taken a number of colonial settlers captive. The warriors were taking their captives back to their base at Kittanning when they were ambushed by the militia, but with the help of reinforcements, the Lenape fought off the militia and escaped. The battle is significant because it was the first engagement involving Pennsylvania Militia after Braddock's defeat.
Background
In 1753 William McCord obtained a land grant from the Penn family, on the western frontier of what is now Franklin County. This land and the surrounding area had been a favorite hunting ground for the Lenape people for centuries, and they had built temporary shelters in the area for use on hunting trips. McCord reportedly told them they were no longer welcome, and that they should stop roaming the land near his home. The Lenape assured him they would not cause him or his neighbors any problems and ignored his warning. McCord proceeded to burn their lodgings. The Indians withdrew from the area, but the attack in 1756 may have been motivated by this conflict.
Fort McCord (often referred to in contemporary documents as "McCord's Fort") was built in early 1756 near the base of the Kittatinny Mountain, north of Parnell Knob in western Pennsylvania. The fort was the fortified home of William McCord, and probably consisted of a stockade surrounding the farm buildings and a two-story blockhouse with loopholes through which to fire at attackers.
Attack on Fort McCord
Jean Lowry's account
A first-hand account of the attack on the fort and of the subsequent battle was written by Jean Lowry, William McCord's younger sister. She reports that most of the men had left the stockade during the day to engage in farming, and only Lowry's husband stayed there as a guard. On 1 April 1756, a band of Lenape (Delaware) Indians under the command of either Captain Jacobs or Shingas attacked the fort, killed Lowry's husband and set the blockhouse on fire, forcing the women and children inside to surrender. They captured 27 settlers (Lowry says there were 21 captives, indicating that some had been killed). The Lenape then forced the captives to travel through the mountains for three days before stopping to rest. At dawn on 4 or 5 April, a group of Pennsylvania Militia, including many of Lowry's "friends and neighbors," attacked and were able to rescue the captives. According to Lowry, "only one Indian was killed and another wounded, upon which they all fled." Within a few minutes, however, the Lenape returned, killed a number of the militia, and recaptured the survivors of the Fort McCord attack. One of the male prisoners, probably a soldier, was tortured to death. Lowry and the other prisoners were then taken on to Kittanning.
Battle of Sideling Hill
Report from the South Carolina Gazette
On 12 April 1756, the South Carolina Gazette published a letter describing the battle:
Edward Shippen's account
On 24 April 1756, Edward Shippen III wrote to Governor Morris to report hearing an eyewitness account of the battle:
Reports from other sources
Other sources report that, following the attack on Fort McCord, three companies of militia under the joint command of Captain Hance Hamilton (then commander at Fort Lyttleton), Captain William Chambers, and Captain Alexander Culbertson, had been sent in pursuit of the Lenape and their captives. Culbertson's company, reinforced by nineteen men from Fort Lyttleton, caught up with the Lenape three days after Fort McCord was attacked, and ambushed them at dawn, as described in Jean Lowry's account. In a two-hour engagement, both sides suffered heavy casualties, but the colonists were driven off by the arrival of reinforcements under the command of Shingas. Captain Culbertson was killed and most of his men were killed or wounded before they withdrew from the battlefield. Five captives, including two of William McCord's daughters, escaped and made their way to Fort Lyttleton. Another captive, Mary McCord, William McCord's sister-in-law, was accidentally shot and killed by the militia.
Aftermath
In a letter from Captain Hance Hamilton to Captain Potter, dated Fort Lyttleton, 4 April 1756, he says:
Doctor David Jameson, the surgeon at Fort Lyttleton, was seriously wounded and was left for dead on the battlefield, but he was able to return to the fort the next day. Hamilton gives a partial casualty list of eight soldiers killed and seven wounded. Chester Sipe reports that the Lenape suffered 17 killed and 21 wounded, "according to the statement of one of their number who was captured." Sources state that 20 militia were killed and 12 or 13 wounded, although reports differ on this point.
Captain Jacobs was reported killed during the battle, however this was later proved untrue. He was killed during the Kittanning Expedition on 8 September 1756.
Within a week of the battle, Governor Robert Hunter Morris issued a formal Declaration of War against the Delawares and established a bounty for the scalps of Indians. On 15 April a law was passed regarding the organization and behavior of the Provincial Militia, including punishment for desertion or mutiny by soldiers.
Location
The precise location of the Battle of Sideling Hill, and hence the burial site of the militia lost in the battle, has not been determined. Three possible locations have been proposed, based on contemporary documents:
Anderson's Grove: A 2003 report by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission proposed that the Battle of Sideling Hill took place near Maddensville (a neighborhood of Springfield Township, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania), at the confluence of Little Aughwick Creek and Sideling Hill Creek at a place now known as Anderson's Grove.
Juniata Crossing: A few days after the battle, Captain Joseph Shippen wrote to his father, Edward Shippen III, describing the location of the battle:
Near Waterfall: The Indians may have been returning to Kittanning along the Raystown Path, an ancient Indian trail that runs from Clay Township through Bedford (formerly known as Ray's Town) to Logstown, northwest of Pittsburgh. The battle may have taken place in the gap in the mountains created by Sideling Hill Creek, between the present-day towns of New Grenada and Waterfall on Pennsylvania Route 913.
Memorialization
A stone monument with a Celtic cross, listing the names of the colonists killed and wounded as well as the civilian captives taken by the Indians, was erected in 1914 and can be found on Fort McCord Road in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. A historical marker at the site of Fort McCord, erected in 1947, lists the names of 20 soldiers killed and 11 wounded at Sideling Hill.