Fort Pitt Museum Pitt, after William Pitt the Elder. As a result, in 1763 local Delawares and Shawnees took part in Pontiac's Rebellion, an effort to drive the British out of their territory. The Indians' siege of Fort Pitt began on June 22, 1763, but the fort was too strong to be taken by force. In negotiations during the siege, the commander of Fort Pitt gave two Delaware emissaries blankets that had been exposed to smallpox, in hopes of infecting the surrounding Indians and ending the siege. The effectiveness of this attempt is unclear. Outbreaks of smallpox had plagued Native Americans for years
Siege of Fort Recovery Siege of Fort Recovery The Siege of Fort Recovery, June 30, 1794, was a battle of the Northwest Indian War, fought at the present-day village of Fort Recovery, Ohio. As an American victory, it spelled the beginning of the end of the Confederation of Ohio Algonquians, under the control of the powerful Three Fires Confederation. After the Battle of the Wabash, in which American forces were decisively defeated by a combined army of Delaware, Miami, and Shawnee warriors, General Anthony Wayne ordered the construction of Fort Recovery in western Ohio. Understandably, this isolated outpost was targeted by the Indian forces.