The site of the Chickasaws' bloodiest actions against Americans

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.