Colonel Crawford

Crawford County was named after Colonel William Crawford, who was begged out of retirement by General George Washington.

In 1781, Colonel Crawford was searching for Delaware Indians who were aligned with the British. He and his men were ambushed in Upper Sandusky and the party was separated. Crawford and his attaches retreated for Leesville but were lost in northern Crawford County. Here he decided to break his sword because he didn't want die by his own sword in at the hand of an Indian should he be caught; thus the probable naming of "Brokensword Creek in northern Crawford County."

Meanwhile Crawford's men retreated south and east and were sniped at throughout their travel retreat in the tall prairie grasses. Caught in a June thunderstorm in a woods at "Seccaium," an abandoned trading area very well known to the Indians and French, they were defeated as their muskets and powder got wet.

Because the Revolutionary War was not known to be over, technically it can be considered the last battle. Crawford was captured at Leesville along with a few of his men, and transported back to the upper Sandusky area where some were tortured and Crawford was burned at the stake.

Memorial on the site where Colonel William Crawford, Revolutionary War hero and Indian fighter was captured east of Leesville, and on the Lincoln Highway.

Battle of Seccaium monument, on SR 19 between Bucyrus and Galion on the earlier Lincoln HIghway. This is where technically the last Revolutionary War battle was fought.