Fort Jefferson (Ballard County, Kentucky)
Ballard County · Kentucky · American Revolutionary War
History & Significance
The construction of Fort Jefferson was first proposed during a Council of War meeting between Clark and his junior officers at the Falls of the Ohio (Louisville) on November 16, 1779. Construction began with about 150 soldiers on April 11, 1780, with help from the Kaskaskia.
By January 1780, Clark had surveyed the confluence area of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and selected a location for the fort and town five miles south of the confluence on the east side of the Mississippi River. The construction of Fort Jefferson and the civilian town of Clarksville was completed in June 1780.
In 1781, the Chickasaws, led by Colbert, besieged the fort for five days, aroused by use of their land without consent. General Clark arrived with reinforcements and supplies, and the Indians withdrew.
On June 8, 1781, Fort Jefferson was evacuated and the troops arrived at Falls on the Ohio on July 12, 1781. Fort Jefferson and its Town of Clarksville were the only Virginian settlements built in Kentucky sanctioned by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The fort was briefly reoccupied during the Civil War era.
Key Facts
Map
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🧳 Visiting
What you’ll see when you visit:
- Revolutionary War-era wooden stockade protecting Ohio River trade routes
- Historic site at the confluence of Ohio River and Mississippi River
- George Rogers Clark's 1780 military outpost controlling Virginia-Louisiana commerce
- Abandoned 1781 after pressure from British and Chickasaw forces
- Reconstructed fort illustrating frontier military architecture
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Jefferson_(Kentucky)
- https://history.ky.gov/markers/fort-jefferson-site
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=18639
- https://www.fourriversexplorer.com/fort-jefferson-kentucky/
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=278121
- https://www.chickasaw.tv/events/fort-jefferson