Archibald Lochry Letters Finding Aid

The Swain Report, Number 8


Archibald Lochry letters

by David Swain

Archibald Lochry, from Bedford, Westmoreland County, PA, was a lieutenant in the Revolutionary War. In June 1781, he and his 107 men assembled at Fort Pitt, assigned to march SW from there to meet George Rogers Clark’s expedition at Wheeling, VA (now WV). Their goal was to capture Detroit. By mischance, Lochry and his men were ambushed by British and Indian fighters, and his entire force was killed or captured. Lochry himself was killed. Little more is known about this man except that he held a few local public positions in Westmoreland County.




The 32 negative microfilmed letters on one short reel owned by the David Library date from before the episode of Lochry’s death. All were written by Colonel Daniel Brodhead, Commissioner of the Western District (Pittsburgh), and apparently all pertain to military movements in the Fort Pitt area. All but one were addressed to Lochry except for one, which was written to another lieutenant named Stokley. The quality of the negative-microfilming can make reading these letters a challenge. Suggestions for handling this style of microfilm can be found here.

Additional information on the letters (Manuscript Group 276) may be found on the Pennsylvania Archives website.


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