Kittanning, a Delaware Indian village on the Allegheny River, was used as a base for Lenape raids against Western Pennsylvania frontier settlements. On Sept. 8, 1756, the village was attacked and much of it burned to the ground by 300 provincial troops led by General John Armstrong in the Battle of Kittanning. Armstrong won the battle, but lost more men than the Indian leader, Captain Jacobs, who was killed while fleeing his burning home. After this battle, a medal was struck, thought to be the first to honor participants in a battle.
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