Wyoming Valley Massacre, one of many tragedies of the Revolutionary War in America, occurred in what is now Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. In 1778, it was an incorporated county in the colony of Connecticut. At that time, most of the inhabitants of the Wyoming Valley believed in the American cause of independence from Britain (now the United Kingdom). However, some residents of the Wyoming Valley were Tories, and they remained loyal to Britain.
As the war went on, the Tories were driven out of the community, and joined other Tory and Indian bands. In the summer of 1778, these bands attacked Wyoming Valley. The inhabitants fled for safety to Forty Fort, near the site of the present city of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. About 300 men defended the fort. An army of 800 fighters, led by a British officer, opposed them. Six hundred of the attackers were Indians.
On July 3, the two groups met in a hard-fought battle. The attackers defeated the settlers, and killed more than two-thirds of them. The Indians tortured many of them to death. The survivors were left to find their way to the nearest settlements, and many of them died before they could reach help. The attackers completely destroyed the village and left the rest of the valley in ruins.
