The story of the rebellion has its roots in the origin of the fort, Fort Loudoun. Fort Loudoun was constructed by Pennsylvania Provincials under the command of Joseph Armstrong in 1756 to fortify the frontier following the defeat of British General Edward Braddock in 1755. Originally garrisoned by provincials until 1757, British troops, followed by supplies, occupied the fort for the remainder of its service to 1765. In a sense the military presense at the fort changed from protection to enforcement of policies.
At the same time Fort Loudoun was being constructed, James Smith, a Scot-Irish of Conococheague, was into his first year of indian captivity in Ohio. Smith was part of a labor party constructing Burd's Road (later named Forbes) west to Fort Duquesne when he was captured by French allied indians in 1755. Smith spent the next 5 years of his life living and conducting himself as an indian. (There is so much interesting information in his story; look in the Links tab) When he returned to Conococheague in 1760 Smith settled as a frontier farmer and married. After 1759, the French and Indian War was going in a positive direction for the British. The threat to western Pennsylvania frontier and Fort Duquesne was lifted. For a few years it would seem that peace was attained, but in 1763, Indians of the Ohio, formerly alligned with the French were unhappy with the treaties of the European nations and trade restrictions imposed. These Indians rallied together under the leadership of Chief Pontiac and threatened the Pennsylvania frontier. Many forts in Ohio and beyond fell under Indian attack, settlers and troops were pushed out of Ohio, Fort Pitt (formerly Fort Duquesne) was under seige and the settlements as far east as Carlisle were being raided by Pontiac's war parties. It was then in 1763 that the people of Conococheague came to James Smith for It was widely known that Smith was taught the skills of the Indian in hunting and warfare. Smith and two other men (who were also Indian captives) formed a ranger company of about 50 men of Scot-Irish and German descent. What was unique to this unit, different from any other European fighters was that they adopted the Indian dress and way of fighting; guerilla warfare. This is an exact quote from Smith's journal: “…the committee appointed me captain of this company of rangers, and gave me the appointment of my subalterns. I chose two of the most active young men that I could find, who had also been long in captivity with the Indians. As we enlisted our men, we dressed them uniformly in the Indian manner, with breech-clout, leggings, moccasins and green shrouds which we wore in the same manner that the Indians do, and nearly as the Highlanders wear their plaids. In place of hats we wore red handkerchiefs, painted our faces red and black, like Indian warriors. I taught them the Indian discipline, as I knew of no other at that time, which would answer the purpose much better than British.“ (Sqoowa) It was also then that Smith's rangers were given the name "the Black-Faced Boys" or "Black Boys" because of painting themselves as Indian warriors. Once trained and equipped for ranging the Pennsylvania frontier, Smith's Black Boys left the Conococheague not returning for almost one year. There is no existing document that details what they did during those months of following the various Indian trails. What is a fact is that while other settlements in Pennsylvania as far east as Carlisle were being raided by Pontiac's war parties, the Conococheague received no such incident. It would not be until July 26, 1764 when another incident occurred at the Enoch Brown schoolhouse in Greencastle (http://www.greencastlemuseum.org/Local_History/enoch.htm). After Colonel Bouquet's forces met and defeated a large Indian force at the Battle of Bushy Run and the seige of Fort Pitt lifted by the end o |