prison ship in New York Harbor until his exchange in 1780. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel and was probably present at the siege of Yorktown in 1781. After the war, he was sent out against the insurgents in the Whiskey Rebellion in 1784. With peace established, Darke served in the Virginia Convention in 1788 and subsequently was elected to and served in the Virginia legislature. As a lieutenant colonel in the Kentucky militia, Darke commanded the left wing at the disastrous Battle of the Wabash in 1791 during the Northwest Indian War. His son Captain Joseph Darke died as a result of wounds received in the battle. In 1790, General Josiah Harmar, with a poorly trained and ill-equipped army and volunteer militia, was sent to attack the Northwestern Confederacy of Indians on the upper Maumee River. Harmar was soundly defeated. President George Washington reinforced the army and assigned General Arthur St. Clair to command. St. Clair went north from Fort Washington, Ohio and built Fort Hamilton and Fort Jefferson. On October 1791, St. Clair left Fort Jefferson and camped at a spot later called Fort Recovery on November 3, 1791. On November 4, his army of 1,400 men was surprised at sunrise by a large party of Indians. Within a few hours, St. Clair was forced to retreat under cover provided by Darke. Nine hundred men, women and children were reportedly killed. Personal life Darke married Sarah, the widow of William Delayea, an Indian fighter. The two had four children: John, Joseph, Samuel, and Mary. His three sons all died while young men. Darke took in Thomas Worthington, the 14-year-old orphaned son of a family friend, and gave him an education. Worthington became the sixth governor of Ohio. William Darke has descendants through son John's daughter Elizabeth and through daughter Mary's two marriages. Legacy Darke County, Ohio is named for him, as is Darkesville, West Virginia. Notes References Neville, Gabriel (2018). "A Forty Year Bond: William Darke and George Washington in Politics, Business and War." The Magazine of the Jefferson County Historical Society, 84:23-38. External links The 8th Virginia Regiment (history site) "The Grim Days of 1791" (biographical video) 1736 births 1801 deaths American militia generals American people of the Northwest Indian War American Revolutionary War prisoners of war held by Great Britain Continental Army officers from Virginia Delegates to the Virginia Ratifying Convention 18th-century American politicians People from