Boone: A Biography by Robert Morgan

Author:Robert Morgan [Morgan, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, Adventurers & Explorers
ISBN: 9781565126541
Google: BdG0WnoMcXkC
Amazon: 1565126157
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Published: 2008-09-22T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

Farthest Outpost of Rebellion

1778–1779

After Boone and the other negotiators escaped from the treaty site and reached safety inside the fort, the firing from the fort and from the Indians in the field began in earnest. Young Ambrose Coffee lay exposed on the southeast blockhouse, watching the events unfold. Suddenly bullets began peppering around him, and when he dropped under cover and examined his clothes he found many bullet holes, though his body was untouched. “No less than fourteen bullet holes were made in his clothes, when he tumbled down into the bastion unhurt.”

Suddenly the firing on both sides was deafening. The air filled with the stench of burned gunpowder. Children cried and women screamed, thinking the fort was about to be stormed. Dogs began howling in the compound and cattle bawled and horses ran to and fro, whinnying in terror. Cattle stampeded from one side of the enclosure to the other.

Squire Boone took his position at a loophole but found the pain from his wound so intense he could hardly shoulder his rifle. When things calmed down a little Daniel cut the bullet from Squire’s shoulder, but the wound was so deep Squire was forced to retire to his bed. However, he kept an axe beside the bed to defend himself should the fort be taken. Luckily the tomahawk wound on Boone’s back was neither deep nor serious. He took his place, directing both the fire and defensive activity. That afternoon the Indians made a charge toward the stockade, as if they planned to scale the walls, but under heavy rifle fire they retreated. The many trees, including the Divine Elm and stumps near the palisade, afforded the attackers ample cover. The banks of Lick Branch near the fort provided a blind where Indians could conceal themselves, as did an especially large sycamore log lying at the edge of the hollow.

As the firing continued, the men in the fort saw another weakness of their location. The ridges on both sides of the river were high enough to provide a view into the enclosure. An ambitious marksman from either side of the river could fire into the fort and could, of course, spy on the inhabitants. John Gass later said, “They shot into it from off both hills.” The ridges were too far away for shooting with any accuracy, especially the south ridge, but the random shots killed livestock and added to the panic. It was real luck that the British had not supplied the Shawnees with swivel guns or cannon. Even one piece of artillery might have doomed the settlers.

Though primarily concerned with defending their lives and their families during the siege, the people of Boonesborough knew that a good deal depended on what happened there. With the new state government far away, engaged in a desperate war for survival and independence, the settlers were on their own. Boonesborough was the best known of the Kentucky settlements. If it fell, Harrodsburg and Logan’s Station and the smaller enclaves in the wilderness would likely go also.

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