Indiana give up: they captured Fort Ouiatenon and Fort Miami during Pontiac's Rebellion. The British royal proclamation of 1763 designated the land west of the Appalachians for Native American use, and excluded British colonists from the area, which the Crown called "Indian Territory". In 1775, the American Revolutionary War began as the colonists sought self-government and independence from the British. The majority of the fighting took place near the East Coast, but the Patriot military officer George Rogers Clark called for an army to help fight the British in the west. Clark's army won significant battles and took over Vincennes and
Siege of Fort Erie Siege of Fort Erie The Siege of Fort Erie was one of the last and most protracted engagements between British and American forces during the Niagara campaign of the American War of 1812. From 4 August to 21 September 1814, the Americans successfully defended Fort Erie against a British army. During the siege, the British suffered heavy casualties in a failed storming attempt and also suffered from sickness and exposure in their rough encampments. Unaware that the British were about to abandon the siege, the American garrison later launched a sortie to destroy the British siege batteries, during which both