Battle of Piqua

The Battle of Piqua, also known as the Battle of Pekowee or Pekowi, was part of the western campaign during the American Revolutionary War. Led by General George Rogers Clark, over 1,000 soldiers (among them Daniel Boone and Simon Kenton) crossed the Ohio River near present-day Cincinnati and burned five Shawnee villages, including Old Chillicothe, along the Little Miami River. Peter Loramie's Store, a British trading post-located in what was later Fort Loramie, Ohio in Shelby County, Ohio-, was also burned by Clark's men. The Shawnee gradually withdrew during the first few days before finally engaging American forces 7 miles west of Springfield, Ohio on August 8, 1780. Joseph Rogers, a cousin of George Rogers Clark, had previously accompanied him to Kentucky and was later captured by the Shawnee near Maysville. Despite having been adopted by the tribe, he was killed during the battle while trying to join American forces.

After several hours of fighting, both sides suffered moderate casualties before scattering the small Shawnee rearguard. The campaign against the Shawnee in the Miami River Valley was intended to discourage further raids against Kentucky and other parts of the American frontier, and while no further raids were made by the Shawnee for the remainder of the American Revolutionary War, hostility greatly increased among the tribes living in the Ohio Country for years afterwards.

The battle was the only major engagement fought in Ohio during the American Revolutionary War and a memorial trail and state park, the George Rogers Clark Memorial (39.9125°N, -83.90833°W) and Tecumseh State Park, was later built on the site of the battle by the Clark County Historical Society.

An official ceremony was held on the 142nd anniversary to commemorate a monument to George Rogers Clark, a 18 ft. marble statue, as well as the birthplace of Tecumseh. The park was enlarged in 1930 and, on the sesquicentennial celebration of the battle, an historical conference was held at nearby Wittenberg College on October 9, 1930.