in
Bucyrus, Ohio. When the
American Revolutionary War began, Crawford initially was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the
5th Virginia Regiment on February 13, 1776. The 5th Virginia was raised in the Northern Neck, as well as counties around the city of Richmond City and Northern Virginia and initially was based in Williamsburg. where Crawford joined the regiment. Later that year, Crawford was promoted to Colonel of the
7th Virginia Regiment to fill a vacancy when Colonel William Daingerfield resigned his command of that unit. A number of histories incorrectly state that Crawford raised the 7th Virginia Regiment near
Fort Pitt at the beginning of the revolution. The 7th Virginia initially was raised in southeastern Virginia near
Gloucester Court House. The confusion may be due to Crawford's role in raising another regiment near Fort Pitt, the
13th Virginia, which was redesignated the 9th Virginia in 1778 and later renumbered to the 7th Virginia in 1781 while it was stationed at Fort Pitt. Crawford commanded the 13th Virginia for a time in 1777. Many histories also inaccurately state that Crawford led the 7th Virginia at the
Battle of Long Island and the following
retreat across New Jersey. Crawford's own words contradict this viewpoint in a letter written to George Washington from Williamsburg, VA on September 20, 1776: "
I Should have com to new York with those Reget ordred their but the Regt I belong to is Ordred to this place." Regimental histories of the 7th Virginia along with other historical references also reveal that the 7th Virginia did not participate in the battle of Long Island. Similar uncertainty surrounds narratives that state Crawford was with Washington at the
crossing of the Delaware and the Battles of
Trenton and
Princeton. Recent historians have sought to correct these inaccuracies, such as H. Ward in his biography of Revolutionary soldiers from Virginia: "
It is disputed whether Crawford served in any part of the New York-New Jersey campaigns of 1776-1777…" Crawford apparently left the command of the 7th Virginia in November 1776. A farewell letter to Crawford from the officers of the 7th Virginia was published in
the Virginia Gazette newspaper on November 22, 1776. He responded with a letter of his own in the same edition of the Gazette, bidding farewell to the 7th Virginia. He returned to his home on the frontier late in 1776 and was actively engaged in raising the
13th Virginia Regiment, which was authorized by Congress in September 1776 with recruiting beginning in December 1776 in the
District of West Augusta of Virginia (this region was claimed by Virginia and encompassed parts of present day western Pennsylvania and West Virginia). Crawford wrote to Washington from Fredricktown Maryland on February 12, 1777, to inform him he was coming from the frontier, where the officers of the regiment already had recruited about 500 men. He was on his way to Congress to seek funding for arms and supplies and then planned to immediately return home. The Continental Congress resolved on February 17, 1777: "
That 20,000 dollars be paid to Colonel William Crawford for raising and equipping the regiment under his command, part of the Virginia new levies." The
13th Virginia, or West Augusta regiment, was raised on the condition that it remain in the West in the event of an Indian War. However, with Washington's need for reinforcements in the East, the Continental Congress on January 8, 1777, requested the governor of Virginia to order the West Augusta regiment to join Washington in New Jersey. But with increased attacks on frontier settlements by Native Americans allied with the British in early 1777, a Council of War was held at Fort Pitt on March 24, 1777, that decided the
13th Virginia should not be deployed to the East at that time. Crawford wrote to Congress on April 22, 1777: "
Honorable Sir—Having received orders to join his Excellency General Washington in the Jerseys with the battalion now under my command, which orders I would willingly have obeyed, had not a council of war held at this place (proceedings of which were transmitted to Congress by express) resolve that I should remain here until further orders." However,
Colonel William Russell was now commander of the 13th Virginia and on June 9, 1777 a detachment of the regiment under Major Charles Simms marched eastward to Philadelphia. Colonel Russell apparently led another detachment of the 13th Virginia eastward in July after he was inoculated for smallpox. Likewise, Crawford may have brought a number of recruits with him when he joined Washington in July or August 1777. During the
Philadelphia campaign, Crawford was placed in command of a scouting detachment as part of the
light infantry corps for Washington's army.
General William Maxwell commanded the light infantry and Crawford was selected to serve as one of the field officers under Maxwell. William Walker, a member of the light infantry, described Crawford in the typical attire of a frontier rifleman: "
…Colonel Crawford with his leather hunting shirt, pantaloons and Rifle…" The British forces, after landing near
Head of Elk, Maryland, approached Philadelphia from the south through Delaware. Washington sent Maxwell's Light Infantry to delay the British march along the main road to Wilmington at a crossing of the Christiana Creek known as
Cooch's Bridge. On September 3, 1777, the fighting was intense between Maxwell's light infantry and the British vanguard, as John Chilton of the
3rd Virginia Regiment recorded in his Diary: "
3d Septr. - The enemy advanced as high as the red Lion, they were met with by our advanced party under Colo Crawford – the engagement was pretty hot. several on each side was wounded and some slain." Being outnumbered and outgunned, the light infantry was driven from Cooch's Bridge and fell back to the main American lines near Wilmington, Delaware. Crawford continued to serve in the light infantry corps at the battles of
Brandywine and
Germantown. On October 11, 1777, militia units from the Virginia counties of Prince William, Culpepper, Loudoun, and Berkley were formed into a brigade and placed under Crawford's command. However, as the war on the western frontier intensified late in 1777, Crawford was transferred to the
Western Department of the Continental Army. On November 20, 1777, Congress requested that Washington "
send Col. Wm. Crawford to Pittsburg to take command, under Brig. Gen. Hand, of the Continental troops and militia in the Western Department." He served at
Fort Pitt under Generals
Edward Hand and
Lachlan McIntosh. Crawford was present at the
Treaty of Fort Pitt in 1778, and helped to build
Fort Laurens and
Fort McIntosh that year. Resources were scarce on the frontier, however, and
Fort Laurens was abandoned in 1779. In 1780, Crawford visited Congress to appeal for more funds for the western frontier. In 1781, he retired from military service. ==Crawford Expedition==