Fort Jefferson

The Chickasaws' bloodiest actions against the Americans occurred at Fort Jefferson. George Roger Clark was ordered by Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia to build a fort below the mouth of the Ohio River, on Chickasaw hunting grounds in present-day Kentucky. Gov. Jefferson viewed attacking the British-allied Chickasaws as key to destroying British power.

Fort Jefferson was completed in April 1780 and was garrisoned with 100 men. Chickasaw leader James Colbert led a Chickasaw army to Fort Jefferson and burned it. After a year of siege, Clark’s army finally retreated in June 1781.