Joseph Louis Cook - American Revolution

American Revolution

Although most of the Iroquois sided with the British during the American Revolution, Louis Cook allied himself with the 13 colonies. He offered his services to General George Washington as early as 1775. Cook was with Benedict Arnold on his expedition into Quebec, and was already known as Colonel Louis. Washington again met with Cook in 1776 and referred to him as "Colonel Louis."

In New York, Louis Cook was present at the Battle of Oriskany, and participated in the Saratoga Campaign. Cook led a large body of Oneida warriors under General Robert Van Rensselaer. Following the Battle of Klock's Field, Colonel Louis forded a river in pursuit of Sir John Johnson while General Rensselaer delayed. Infuriated, Colonel Louis shook his sword at Rensselaer and accused him of being a Tory.

Colonel Louis was with the Continental Army at Valley Forge in the winter of 1777. In spring 1778, Peter Stephen DuPonceau wrote of his meeting Colonel Cook, dressed in American regimentals, when he overheard Cook singing a French aria. In March of that year, General Philip Schuyler sent Colonel Louis to destroy British ships at Niagara to prevent another Canadian expedition.

The familiar name "Colonel Louis" became official on June 15, 1779, when he received a commission from Continental Congress as a Lieutenant Colonel in the Continental Army. This commission was the highest rank awarded to an American Indian during the Revolution, and is the only known Continental Army commission given to a man of African descent. Colonel Louis was with Lieutenant-Colonel Marinus Willett at the Battle of Johnstown in 1781, one of the last North American battles of the American Revolutionary War.

During the war, Colonel Louis Cook became a personal enemy of Captain Joseph Brant, a Mohawk who supported the British. When each returned to their homes after the war, their personal conflict divided the Mohawk nation and brought the Seven Nations and Iroquois to the brink of war.