Kentucky Under Assault

American Revolution
Written By Tom Hand

Since the attack on Logan’s Fort in May 1777, the settlements of Kentucky had been under constant assault by tribes north of the Ohio. In September 1778, Blackfish, a Shawnee chief, led a large contingent of warriors to Boonesboro. The siege lasted 12 days, but Daniel Boone’s efforts saved the post and Blackfish was forced to retire. In the spring of 1780, the British, in conjunction with their invasion of the southern colonies, launched an offensive to recapture the Illinois Country, but Colonel George Rogers Clark repelled that force near Cahokia on May 25. Clark’s army then crossed the Ohio in August and headed north into Shawnee territory to exact some revenge.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how Kentuckians, under assault, took the fight into the Ohio Country, and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of Library of Congress, Gilcrease Museum, Indiana State Library, University of South Florida, The New York Public Library, Encyclopedia Virginia, Wikipedia.

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Although Lord Charles Cornwallis surrendered to General George Washington at Yorktown in October 1781 and peace talks began in Europe soon thereafter, the brutal warfare in the Ohio Country and Kentucky continued unabated. Little did talks taking place in comfortable parlors thousands of miles away affect the Indians and Kentuckians, they were dealing with a daily dose of life and death affairs on the frontier.

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Kentucky had suffered greatly from Shawnee raids in June 1780 and Colonel George Rogers Clark decided it was time to take the fight into their homeland. His invasion across the Ohio would lead to the largest battle west of the Appalachians during the American Revolution.

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With the capture of Fort Sackville, Kaskaskia, and Cahokia, Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark had gained control of the southwestern portion of the Province of Quebec, better known as the Illinois Country, for the United States. Clark was at the height of his popularity, but the ambitious twenty-six year old wanted more and turned his attention to the crown jewel of British possessions in that part of the world, Fort Detroit.

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Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark and his band of 120 determined men arrived on the outskirts of Fort Sackville in the fading sunlight on February 23, 1779, undetected by the British garrison. They were tired and hungry, filthy and unshaven; they had not eaten for four days. After a two hundred mile trek across the flooded fields of what is now eastern Illinois, with their goal before them, Clark prepared to attack.

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Following the British retaking of Fort Sackville on December 17, 1778, Lieutenant Colonel George Rogers Clark’s plan to conquer the Illinois Country for the United States was in peril. Without this strategic location in American control, his invasion of the southwestern portion of the Province of Quebec would be for naught, and continued incursions into Kentucky by Britain’s Indian allies would continue unabated.

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The capture of Kaskaskia and Cahokia by Colonel George Rogers Clark had been surprisingly easy, with no bloodshed whatsoever. Not one to rest on his laurels, Clark immediately began to formulate a plan to crack a potentially tougher nut located about 180 miles to the east, the British post of Fort Sackville.

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Tom Hand
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The Battle of Piqua
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Clark Captures Fort Sackville