Fort Jefferson (Kentucky)

Fort Jefferson (Kentucky)
Chickasaw tribal land, Kentucky territory of Virginia, present-day site one mile south of Wickliffe, Ballard County, Kentucky
Typestockade
Site information
Controlled byVirginia
Site history
Built1779
In use1779–1781
Battles/warsAmerican Revolutionary War
Garrison information
Past
commanders		George Rogers Clark, Capt. Robert George
Garrison100
Capture of Fort Jefferson
Part of American Revolutionary War
DateJune 1780 - June 1781[1]
Location
Vicinity of fort Jefferson
Result Chickasaw victory, abandonment of US actions against the Chickasaws
Belligerents
Chickasaw  United States
Commanders and leaders

James Colbert

Alexander Colbert

George Rogers Clark

Capt. Owen
Strength
unknown

120 soldiers

unknown amount of local settlers
Casualties and losses
unknown but small

unknown, but significant

fort Jefferson burned down by Chickasaw forces [2]
Return of the public stores (at Fort Jefferson), signed Martin Carney, approximately February 16, 1781

Fort Jefferson was a town on the Mississippi River, about one mile south of Wickliffe, Kentucky in southwestern Ballard County.[3]

In 1779, George Rogers Clark built a stronghold of the same name at the intersection of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in order to consolidate his forces and to control access to the Ohio.[4][5] The original fort was burned down by Chickasaw forces in 1781. The settlement was reestablished in 1858.[3] The town itself no longer exists. The site is now home of the Phoenix Paper mill.

  1. ^ "Chickasaw.tv | Fort Jefferson".
  2. ^ Fraser, Kathryn M. (1983). "Fort Jefferson: George Rogers Clark's Fort at the Mouth of the Ohio River, 1780-1781". The Register of the Kentucky Historical Society. 81 (1): 1–24. JSTOR 23379603.
  3. ^ a b "Fort Jefferson, Kentucky". Kentucky Atlas & Gazetteer. 1994. Archived from the original on 2007-01-29. Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  4. ^ Ryan, Finley (2000-02-13). "Fort Jefferson, 1779". Retrieved 2007-05-29.
  5. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fort Jefferson (Kentucky)