Dunmore's War William Caldwell (c. 1750 – 20 February 1822) was an Irish-born military officer and colonial official in the British Indian Department.
[citation needed] His initiation into combat was in the Wyoming Valley of Pennsylvania when Pennsylvanians fought against Connecticut settlers.
[citation needed] With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, Caldwell served with Lord Dunmore's forces in the attack on Norfolk, Virginia, in 1776, and was injured.
After recovering from wounds, Caldwell went to Fort Niagara where he was appointed captain in Butler's Rangers on 24 December 1777.
They destroyed all of the buildings and grain in the area, and killed and captured much livestock, leaving the settlers struggling through the winter.
[citation needed] Based out of Detroit, Caldwell led a force of about 50 rangers in many battles and expeditions in Kentucky and the Ohio Country.
[citation needed] After the death of Matthew Elliot in April 1814, Caldwell was appointed Superintendent of Indians in the Western District, with his son Billy as his second-in-command.
[citation needed] According to traditional belief, while stationed at Fort Niagara, Caldwell had a relationship with a Mohawk woman, the name of whom is unknown.
He was seemingly a respected citizen of Illinois, serving as Justice of the peace for Chicago in 1826, alongside other well-known early settlers such as John Kinzie, and Jean Baptiste Beaubien.
For this he was given, by the Federal government of the United States, 2.5 square miles of land or, two and a half Sections, above the Old Indian Boundary Line established by the Treaty of St. Louis (1816), on the North Branch of the Chicago River.