Sandy Creek Expedition | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
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