Who commanded Pennsylvania troops in the Kittanning Expedition?

John Armstrong Sr. commanded Pennsylvania troops in the Kittanning Expedition.

Armstrong was a surveyor, engineer, and soldier who became one of Pennsylvania's leading provincial officers during the French and Indian War. After his brother Edward Armstrong was killed during the destruction of Fort Granville in August 1756, John organized a retaliatory expedition against Kittanning, a Lenape village used as a staging point for raids.

Armstrong led roughly 300 Pennsylvania provincial soldiers from Fort Shirley through difficult, roadless country. They reached Kittanning after a demanding march and launched a surprise attack on September 8, 1756. The village was burned, Captain Jacobs was killed, and the raid became known as both the Kittanning Expedition and the Armstrong Expedition.

The name can be confused with John Armstrong Jr., his son, who later served in the Revolutionary era. William Trent, Henry Bouquet, and James Burd were important figures in the broader colonial military story, but none commanded this expedition. Armstrong later led Pennsylvania troops during the 1758 Forbes Expedition.