Sandy Creek Expedition

Sandy Creek Expedition
DateFebruary 19, 1756 (1756-02-19) – April 7, 1756 (1756-04-07)
Location
Western West Virginia
Result Expedition aborted
Belligerents
Virginia
Cherokee		 Shawnee
Commanders and leaders
Major Andrew Lewis
Outacite Ostenaco
Units involved
Virginia Regiment
Cherokee
Strength
220 (8 units Virginia infantry and volunteers)
130 Cherokee warriors
Casualties and losses
Killed: 2 1 Shawnee prisoner

The Sandy Creek Expedition, also known as the Sandy Expedition or the Big Sandy Expedition,[1] (not to be confused with the Big Sandy Expedition of 1861) was a 1756 campaign by Virginia Regiment soldiers and Cherokee warriors into modern-day West Virginia against the Shawnee, who were raiding the British colony of Virginia's frontier. The campaign set out in mid-February, 1756, and was immediately slowed by harsh weather and inadequate provisions. With morale failing, the expedition was forced to turn back in mid-March without encountering the enemy.

The expedition was the first allied military campaign between the British and the Cherokees against the French and their allied Native Americans,[2] and Virginia's only military offensive taking place during the French and Indian War.[3]: 15 

  1. ^ Andrew Cayton, Fredrika J. Teute, eds. Contact Points: American Frontiers from the Mohawk Valley to the Mississippi, 1750-1830. Omohundro Institute and University of North Carolina Press, 2012.
  2. ^ Douglas McClure Wood, "I Have Now Made a Path to Virginia": Outacite Ostenaco and the Cherokee-Virginia Alliance in the French and Indian War," West Virginia History, New Series, Vol. 2, No. 2, Fall 2008, pp. 31-60. West Virginia University Press
  3. ^ Osborn, William (Spring 2008). "William Preston in the American Revolution". Journal of Backcountry Studies. 3 (1). Retrieved May 30, 2023.