The Siege of Boonesborough took place in September 1778 during the American Revolutionary War. The attack on the Kentucky settlement of Boonesborough was led by Chief Blackfish, a Shawnee leader allied to the British. Months before the battle, Blackfish had captured and adopted Daniel Boone, the founder of Boonesborough. Boone escaped the Shawnees in time to lead the defense of the settlement. Blackfish's siege was unsuccessful and was lifted after ten days. Boone was then court-martialed by fellow officers who suspected him of having British (or Shawnee) sympathies. Boone was acquitted, but soon moved away from Boonesborough. Combatants American Revolutionaries, France, Netherlands, Spain, Native Americans Great Britain, German mercenaries, Loyalists, Native Americans Commanders George Washington, Comte de Rochambeau, Nathanael Greene William Howe, Henry Clinton, Charles Cornwallis (more commanders) The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,[1] was a war between... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Boonesborough, Kentucky is an unincorporated community of Kentucky located in the central part of the state along the Kentucky River. ... Official language(s) English Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... The Shawnee, or Shawano, are a people native to North America. ... Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, frontiersman and Indian-fighter, who blazed the trail known as the Wilderness Road and founded Boonesborough, Kentucky (also known as Boonesboro). ... Richard Callaway (born 2 August 1860, died 19 March 1935 at Sydney, New South Wales) was a cricket Test match umpire. ... // Background Among the Acts of Parliament denounced by the Patriots as Intolerable Acts were the Proclamation of 1763, which forbade Anglo-American settlement west of the Appalachians; and the Quebec Act of 1774, which made provision for the extension of Québecs borders to the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. ... The Battle of Vincennes was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on February 23 – February 25, 1779 when a small force of American soldiers led by George Rogers Clark encircled Fort Sackville at Vincennes, Indiana and continued marching around it until the Indians and British garrisoned there were... Fort Laurens was an American Revolutionary War fort in what is now the U.S. state of Ohio. ... The Battle of Saint Louis (Spanish San Luis) was an unsuccessful British-led attack on the Spanish town of St. ... Birds invasion of Kentucky during the American Revolutionary War was just one phase of an extensive series of operations planned by the British in 1780, whereby the entire West, from Canada to Florida, was to be swept clear of both Spaniards and colonists. ... The Battle of Blue Licks, on August 19, 1782 was the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War. ... Combatants American Revolutionaries, France, Netherlands, Spain, Native Americans Great Britain, German mercenaries, Loyalists, Native Americans Commanders George Washington, Comte de Rochambeau, Nathanael Greene William Howe, Henry Clinton, Charles Cornwallis (more commanders) The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,[1] was a war between... Official language(s) English Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Boonesborough, Kentucky is an unincorporated community of Kentucky located in the central part of the state along the Kentucky River. ... The Shawnee, or Shawano, are a people native to North America. ... Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, frontiersman and Indian-fighter, who blazed the trail known as the Wilderness Road and founded Boonesborough, Kentucky (also known as Boonesboro). ... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ...

Background

Settlement of Kentucky

In 1774, the British colony of Virginia defeated a coalition of Native Americans in the Ohio Country, primarily Shawnees, in Dunmore's War. In the treaty that ended the war, the Ohio River was established as the boundary between Shawnee lands north of the river and western Virginia (present West Virginia and much of Kentucky) to the south. The Native Americans were not unified, however, and many leaders did not recognize the treaty—which ceded their prime hunting grounds—to be binding. Official language(s) English Capital Richmond Largest city Virginia Beach Area  Ranked 35th  - Total 42,793 sq mi (110,862 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 430 miles (690 km)  - % water 7. ... The Ohio Country, showing the present-day U.S. state boundaries The Ohio Country (sometimes called the Ohio Territory) was the name used in the 18th century for the regions of North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and in the region of the upper Ohio River south of Lake... The Shawnee, or Shawano, are a people native to North America. ... Dunmores War (or Lord Dunmores War) was the result of several collisions that took place in the spring of 1774, on the Ohio River above the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, between Native American peoples (particularly Shawnee, Miami, and Wyandot) and parties of Anglo_American settlers who were... Ohio River viewed from Liberty Hill in Ripley, Ohio. ... Official language(s) English Capital Charleston Largest city Charleston Area  Ranked 41st  - Total 24,244 sq mi (62,809 km²)  - Width 130 miles (210 km)  - Length 240 miles (385 km)  - % water 0. ... Official language(s) English Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ...

In 1775, Richard Henderson of North Carolina purchased a large amount of Kentucky land from the Cherokees, who also hunted in Kentucky, on which he intended to establish a colony called Transylvania. Henderson's employee Daniel Boone blazed the Wilderness Trail into central Kentucky and built Fort Boone, soon renamed Boonesborough. Boonesborough and the rest of Transylvania became part of Virginia in 1776. A number of families from the east soon settled there. Shawnees to the north were unhappy about American expansion into Kentucky, and sporadically attacked Boonesborough. Richard Henderson (1734-85) was an American pioneer, born in Hanover Co. ... Official language(s) English Capital Raleigh Largest city Charlotte Area  Ranked 28th  - Total 53,865 sq mi (139,509 km²)  - Width 500 miles (805 km)  - Length 150 miles (240 km)  - % water 9. ... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ... Transylvania was an attempt in the 1770s by the Transylvania Company to found a new American colony by buying land from Native Americans. ... Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (November 2, 1734 – September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer, frontiersman and Indian-fighter, who blazed the trail known as the Wilderness Road and founded Boonesborough, Kentucky (also known as Boonesboro). ... The Wilderness Road was the principal route used by American and immigrant settlers into and across Kentucky for more than fifty years. ... Boonesborough, Kentucky is an unincorporated community of Kentucky located in the central part of the state along the Kentucky River. ...

Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War had begun in the east. In 1777, British officials opened a new front in the war with the American colonists by recruiting and arming Native American war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. Henry Hamilton, the British Lieutenant Governor of Canada at Fort Detroit, found willing allies in leaders such as Chief Blackfish of the Shawnees, who hoped to drive the Americans out of Kentucky and reclaim their hunting grounds. As the raids intensified, Americans who strayed from fortified settlements like Boonesborough were likely to be killed or captured. American Indians brought 129 scalps and 77 prisoners to Hamilton in 1777. ^[1] Combatants American Revolutionaries, France, Netherlands, Spain, Native Americans Great Britain, German mercenaries, Loyalists, Native Americans Commanders George Washington, Comte de Rochambeau, Nathanael Greene William Howe, Henry Clinton, Charles Cornwallis (more commanders) The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence,[1] was a war between... Henry Hamilton (c. ... Building and origins of Fort Detroit Fort Detroit began as a settlement on the Detroit River called Fort Ponchartrain. ... Native American Big Mouth Spring with decorated scalp lock on right shoulder. ...

Capture of Daniel Boone

Unable to dislodge the Kentuckians from their fortified settlements, the Indians destroyed crops and killed cattle, hoping that food shortages would compel the Kentucky settlers to leave. With the food supply at Boonesborough running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, and so in January 1778 Daniel Boone led a party of thirty men to the salt springs on the Licking River. On 7 February 1778, when Boone was out hunting meat for the expedition, he was surprised and captured by warriors led by Blackfish. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, he convinced his men to surrender rather than put up a fight. The mouth of the Licking River, where it joins the Ohio River The Licking River is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 320 mi (515 km) long in northeastern Kentucky in the United States. ... February 7 is the 38th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Blackfish wanted to continue to Boonesborough and capture it, since it was now poorly defended, but Boone convinced him that the women and children were not hardy enough to survive a winter trek as prisoners. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly to the Shawnees the following spring. Boone was improvising, saying anything to keep the Shawnees from attacking Boonesborough. He did not have an opportunity to tell his men what he was doing, however, and many of them concluded that he had switched his loyalty to the British.

Illustration of Boone's ritual adoption by the Shawnees, from Life & Times of Col. Daniel Boone, by Cecil B. Hartley (1859)

Boone and his men were taken as prisoners to Blackfish's town of Chillicothe. As was the practice of Shawnees, some of the prisoners were adopted into the tribe to replace fallen warriors. The remainder were taken to Detroit, where Indians received a bounty from Governor Hamilton for each prisoner (or scalp) taken. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into the family of Chief Blackfish himself. Like most of the other adoptees, Boone was watched closely but eventually escaped. On 16 June 1778, when he learned that Blackfish was preparing to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the 160 miles to Boonesborough in five days. Chalahgawtha (or Chillicothe) was the name of one of the two principal septs of the Shawnee tribe of Native Americans in the Ohio Country in North America during the 18th century, as well as the name one of the principal village of this sept. ... June 16 is the 167th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (168th in leap years), with 198 days remaining. ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

Upon his return, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since after surrendering the salt making party he had apparently lived quite happily among the Shawnees for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnee village of Paint Lick Town on the other side of the Ohio River. This accomplished little, and the raiding party hurried back to Boonesborough when they discovered that Blackfish had marched south.

Negotiations

On 7 September 1778, Blackfish's force arrived outside Boonesborough. Boone counted 444 Native Americans and 12 white men. The former were mostly Shawnees, with a number of Cherokees, Wyandots, Miamis, Delawares, and Mingos. The latter were French-Canadian militiamen from Detroit, former French subjects now fighting on behalf of the British Crown. Although this was the largest force yet sent against the Kentucky settlements, taking a fortified position like Boonesborough would still be difficult without artillery to reduce the stronghold. September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1778 was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... For other uses, see Cherokee (disambiguation). ... The Wyandot or Wendat (also called the Huron) are a First Nations people originally from modern day Southern Ontario and Quebec, Canada. ... The Miami are a Native American tribe originally found in Indiana and Ohio. ... The Lenape or Lenni-Lenape (later named Delaware Indians by Europeans) were, in the 1600s, loosely organized bands of Native American people practicing small-scale agriculture to augment a largely mobile hunter-gatherer society in the region around the Delaware River, the lower Hudson River, and western Long Island Sound. ... The Mingo people were an Iroquois group that migrated west to the Ohio River Valley in the mid-eighteenth century 1750s and formed their own distinct identity there. ...

Blackfish called Boone out of the fort for a parley and reminded Boone of his promise to surrender the settlement. Blackfish presented letters from Governor Hamilton which proclaimed that the settlers would be well treated and taken to Detroit if they surrendered. If they did not surrender, there were no guarantees.

Boone told Blackfish that he would present the offer to the others. He could not make this decision himself, Boone said, since during his captivity other officers had assumed command.

Back in the fort, Boone outlined the situation. The consensus was to fight rather than surrender. The decision was made to prolong the negotiations with Blackfish as long as possible, since reinforcements from Virginia were expected. Boone and Major William Bailey Smith went outside again and told Blackfish that they feared that the trip to Detroit would be too hard on the women and children. Blackfish pointed out that he had brought 40 horses to transport those unable to walk. Boone asked for another day to consult with the others. Leaders from the two sides smoked a peace pipe together and then broke off negotiations for the day. A Lakota (Sioux) peace pipe pipestem, without the pipe itself, displayed at the United States Library of Congress A peace pipe, also called a calumet or medicine pipe, is a ceremonial smoking pipe used by many Native American tribes, traditionally as a token of peace. ...

Over the next two days, settlers in the fort prepared for the siege. Based on faulty intelligence received from Hamilton in Detroit, Blackfish believed that there were at least 200 militiamen in the fort, when in fact there were only about 40 effective gunmen inside. The Kentuckians reinforced the illusion of a greater number of men by having some of the women in the fort carry weapons while dressed in men's clothing. On the evening of 8 September, Blackfish and Boone met once again. Boone told a surprised Blackfish that the fort would not surrender. Blackfish proposed that a formal treaty conference with all of the leaders be held on the next day. September 8 is the 251st day of the year (252nd in leap years). ...

The treaty session began on 9 September with leaders from the two sides sharing a meal outside the fort. Afterwards, the council began. In case of trouble, both sides had gunmen covering the meeting from a distance. Blackfish demanded to know "by what right had the white people taken possession of this country." Boone replied that they had bought the land from the Cherokees at Sycamore Shoals. A Cherokee chief confirmed that this was true. Blackfish accepted this answer, and then proposed that if the settlers would pledge their allegiance to the king of Great Britain, the Shawnees would accept the Ohio River boundary and both sides would live in peace. A treaty to this effect (which does not survive) was then signed.^[2] September 9 is the 252nd day of the year (253rd in leap years). ...

The Shawnees then approached the Americans to shake hands and seal the agreement. What happened next is unclear. According to one popular interpretation, the Shawnees, having failed to secure the surrender of Boonesborough, attempted to seize the American leaders. However, as historian John Mack Faragher and others have argued, there is little evidence that this was the Shawnees' intention. The only thing that is certain is that a scuffle broke out, and marksmen from both sides opened fire. Despite a few injuries, the Americans managed to scramble back into the fort. The Indians rushed the gate, but were driven back by heavy gunfire. Negotiations were over; the formal siege had begun. A siege is a prolonged military blockade and assault of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by force or attrition. ...

Siege

Gunfire was exchanged over the next several days. After the initial flurry of shooting, Boone—who reemerged as the natural leader even though as a captain he was outranked by Major Smith and Colonel Richard Callaway—urged the Kentuckians to conserve their gunpowder. At night, Native Americans ran up to the walls and attempted to throw burning torches onto the roofs of the houses within. This was ineffective, however, because the warriors made easy targets for the Kentucky marksmen. Richard Callaway (born 2 August 1860, died 19 March 1935 at Sydney, New South Wales) was a cricket Test match umpire. ...

On 11 September, Antoine Dagneaux de Quindre, in command of the Detroit militia, convinced the Indians to begin digging a tunnel from the bank of the river towards the fort. Known as sapping, the goal was to place barrels of gunpowder in the tunnel under a section of the fort's walls. When these barrels were exploded, the wall would collapse, leaving a place for the attackers to rush in. When the defenders inside the fort heard the digging, they began to dig a countermine, hoping to collapse the attackers' tunnel prematurely. The diggers on both sides began to yell taunts at each other. Fortunately for the Kentuckians, heavy rains caused the Indians' tunnel to collapse before it reached the fort. September 11 is the 254th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (255th in leap years). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Undermining. ...

Boone's brother Squire Boone was known as an inventor. He fashioned a makeshift wooden cannon, reinforced with iron bands, which was fired once or twice at groups of Indians before it cracked. Squire Boone also made squirt guns out of old musket barrels, which were used to put out fires on the roofs.

The Shawnees launched their final assault on September 17, again trying to set fire to the fort. They were beaten back, and a heavy rain helped to put out the fires. The Shawnees lost more men killed in this attack than on all previous days. The next day, they gradually broke off the siege. They separated into scattered war parties and raided other settlements, inflicting far more damage in this, their traditional mode of warfare, than they had done during the siege.^[3] September 17 is the 260th day of the year (261st in leap years). ...

Aftermath

After the siege, Colonel Richard Callaway brought charges against Boone, alleging that Boone "was in favour of the British government." Joining Callaway was Captain Benjamin Logan from nearby Logan's Station. Logan and Callaway both had nephews who had been surrendered by Boone at the salt licks and were still prisoners. In the court-martial proceedings, held at Logan's Fort, there were four charges against Boone: Benjamin Logan (circa 1742-December 11, 1802 was an American military officer in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. ... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ...

1. Boone had surrendered the salt making party without a fight
2. While in captivity, Boone had promised to surrender Boonesborough to the British
3. After his return, he had led the Paint Lick expedition, which weakened Boonesborough at a time when Blackfish's army was expected
4. Boone had exposed the officers to ambush by agreeing to meet the Indians at the peace treaty outside the fort.

After listening to all the testimony, the court found Boone "not guilty", and even promoted him to major because of his actions. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the episode and rarely spoke of it again.^[4]

An elderly Daniel Boone in 1820.

Boone then went to North Carolina to retrieve his family, who had returned there during his captivity, believing him to be dead. When Boone came back to Kentucky, he established a new settlement called Boone's Station rather than resettle in the place where he had been court-martialed.

While Boone was in North Carolina, a retaliatory raid was launched against Blackfish's town of Chillicothe in the spring of 1779. Blackfish successfully defended his village, but was shot in the leg and later died when the wound became infected. On 8 March 1780, Richard Callaway was caught outside Boonesborough by Shawnees and was killed, scalped, and mutilated. March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ... 1780 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

The siege of Boonesborough was dramatized in an episode of the 1964 CBS television series "The Great Adventure", with Peter Graves starring as Daniel Boone. The events are now reenacted yearly at Fort Boonesborough State Park. Peter Graves (actor) (born March 18, 1926) is an American actor who made more than 70 screen and TV films or series. ...

References

• Bakeless, John. Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness. Originally published 1939, reprinted University of Nebraska Press, 1989. ISBN 0803260903
• Draper, Lyman Copeland. The Life of Daniel Boone. Written in the 19th century but unpublished; edited by Ted Franklin Belue and published in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania: Stackpole Books, 1998. ISBN 0811709795
• Elliott, Lawrence. The Long Hunter: A New Life of Daniel Boone. New York: Reader's Digest Press, 1976. ISBN 0883490668
• Faragher, John Mack. Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer. New York: Holt, 1992. ISBN 0805016031
• Lofaro, Michael A. Daniel Boone: An American Life. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 2003. ISBN 0813122783

Notes

1. ^ Lofaro, p. 83
2. ^ Faragher, p. 189.
3. ^ Faragher, p. 198.
4. ^ Court-martial: Faragher, pp. 199–202; Lofaro, pp. 105–106.

External links

• The Fort Boonesborough Foundation
• List of people in Boonesborough during the siege
• Photographs from the 2005 reenactment of the siege

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