On this day 250 years ago in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the Oneida chief Skenandoah accompanied by Rev. Samuel Kirkland, visited General Washington’s headquarters and inspected the Continental Army. Washington reported that

He has come on a Visit to the Camp principally to satisfy his Curiosity: But as his Tribe has been very friendly to the Cause of the united Colonies, & his Report to his nation at his Return have important Consequences to the publick Interest, I have studiously endeavoured to make his Visit agreeable.

Skenandoah and the Oneida would turn into firm allies of the Americans throughout the War, and Skenandoah would end up held as a hostage by the British from 1780 until the end of the War in a vain effort to get the Oneida to end their alliance with the United States.

Sources: “George Washington to the Massachusetts General Court, 28 September 1775,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-02-02-0056. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 2, 16 September 1775 – 31 December 1775, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987, p. 61.]; Glatthaar, Joseph T. and James Kirby Martin, Forgotten Allies: The Oneida Indians in the American Revolution, New York: Hill and Wang, 2006 at p. 95

On this day 250 years ago off Charles Town (now Charleston), South Carolina, 30 militia in three large canoes departed Fort Johnson to land at Cumming’s (or Cummins) Point. The flagship of Governor Campbell’s three-ship fleet blockading Charleston Harbor, the HMS Tamar, intercepted the canoes and fired on them with its 6-pounder cannon preventing the militia from landing. There were no casualties on either side.

Sources: https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1775/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTAJqdWJqL8; Parker, Jr., John C., Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, West Conshohocken, PA: Infinity Publishing, 2013 at p.93; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTAJqdWJqL8