Battle involving colonists and indigenous peoples fought near Richmond, Virginia
A 1656 colonial-indigenous battle near Richmond in which Colonial Rangers and Pamunkey allies suffered heavy losses, leading to the disgrace of their commander.
Key Facts
- Date
- March or April 1656
- Pamunkey warriors killed
- Nearly all 100 Pamunkey warriors
- Colonial commander
- Colonel Edward Hill
- Pamunkey chief killed
- Chief Totopotomoi
- Hill's punishment
- Censured and stripped of rank by Virginia Assembly
- Modern marker location
- Chimborazo Park, Richmond, Virginia
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Iroquois expansion during the Beaver Wars in 1654 displaced several tribes from the Lake Erie region southward into Virginia. A group referred to as the Richahecrians settled near the James River, alarming colonists in Richmond. Within two years, the Virginia General Assembly authorized Colonel Edward Hill to remove the indigenous presence, enlisting Pamunkey warriors under Chief Totopotomoi as allied forces.
Colonel Hill led Colonial Rangers alongside approximately 100 Pamunkey warriors against the Richahecrians near what is now Richmond, Virginia. During the engagement, Hill and his colonial troops retreated, leaving their Pamunkey allies exposed. The abandoned warriors were slaughtered, including Chief Totopotomoi himself, and casualties among both the Pamunkey and Colonial Rangers were severe enough that the creek reportedly ran red with blood, giving the site its name.
Colonel Hill was disgraced by the defeat, censured by the Virginia General Assembly, and stripped of his military rank. The site, known thereafter as Bloody Run, became the location of another violent engagement twenty years later during Bacon's Rebellion in 1676. The physical site has since been paved over and the creek dried up; a state marker in Chimborazo Park is the only remaining commemoration.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Colonel Edward Hill, Chief Totopotomoi.
Side B
1 belligerent