Editing Daniel Boone (section)

==American Revolution==
[[File:Carl Wimar Abduction of Boones Daughter detail Amon Carter Museum.jpg|thumb|''Abduction of Boone's Daughter'', painting by [[Karl Ferdinand Wimar]], 1855, [[Amon Carter Museum of American Art]]]]

American Indians who were unhappy about the loss of Kentucky by treaties saw the [[American Revolutionary War]] (1775–1783) as a chance to drive out the colonists. Isolated settlers and hunters became the frequent target of attacks, convincing many to abandon Kentucky. By late spring of 1776, Boone and his family were among the fewer than 200 colonists who remained, primarily at the fortified settlements of Boonesborough, Harrodsburg, and [[Logan's Station]].{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=130}}

On July 14, 1776, [[Capture and rescue of Jemima Boone|Boone's daughter Jemima and two other girls were captured outside Boonesborough]] by an Indian war party, who carried the girls north toward the Shawnee towns in the Ohio country. Boone and a group of men from Boonesborough set out in pursuit, finally catching up with them two days later. Boone and his men ambushed the Indians, rescuing the girls and driving off their captors. The incident became the most celebrated event of Boone's life. [[James Fenimore Cooper]] created a version of this episode in his classic novel ''[[The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1826).{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=331}}{{sfn|Bakeless|1939|p=139}}

In 1777, [[Henry Hamilton (governor)|Henry Hamilton]], British Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, began to recruit American Indian war parties to raid the Kentucky settlements. That same year in March, the newly formed militia of [[Kentucky County, Virginia]], mustered in Boonesborough, whose population included ten to 15 enslaved people.<ref name=":1" /> On April 24, 1778, the British-allied Shawnee led by [[Chief Blackfish]] mounted the [[siege of Boonesborough]]. Armed enslaved men fought alongside their owners at the fort's walls. After going beyond the fort walls to engage the attackers, London, one of the enslaved, was killed.<ref name=":0" />

Boone was shot in the ankle while outside the fort. Amid a flurry of bullets, he was carried back inside by [[Simon Kenton]], a recent arrival at Boonesborough. Kenton became Boone's close friend, as well as a legendary frontiersman in his own right.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=144–147}}{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=219–220}}

===Capture and court-martial===
While Boone recovered, the Shawnee kept up their attacks outside Boonesborough, killing cattle and destroying crops. With food running low, the settlers needed salt to preserve what meat they had, so in January 1778, Boone led a party of 30 men to the salt springs on the [[Licking River (Kentucky)|Licking River]]. On February 7, when Boone was hunting for meat for the expedition, he was captured by Blackfish's warriors. Because Boone's party was greatly outnumbered, Boone returned to camp the next day with Blackfish and persuaded his men to surrender rather than put up a fight.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=154–159}}

Blackfish intended to move on to Boonesborough and capture it, but Boone argued the women and children would not survive a winter trek as prisoners back to the Shawnee villages. Instead, Boone promised that Boonesborough would surrender willingly the following spring. Boone did not have an opportunity to tell his men that he was bluffing to prevent an immediate attack on Boonesborough. Boone pursued this strategy so convincingly some of his men concluded he had switched sides, an impression that led to his court-martial (see below).{{sfn|Bakeless|1939|p=167}}{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=156–157}} Many of the Shawnee wanted to execute the prisoners in retaliation for the recent murder of Shawnee Chief [[Cornstalk (Shawnee leader)|Cornstalk]] by Virginia militiamen. Because Shawnee chiefs led by seeking consensus, Blackfish held a council. After an impassioned speech by Boone, the warriors voted to spare the prisoners.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=226–230}}{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=159–160}} Although Boone had saved his men, Blackfish pointed out that Boone had not included himself in the agreement, so Boone was forced to [[running the gauntlet|run the gauntlet]] through the warriors, which he survived with minor injuries.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=160–161}}{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=231}}

{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?201703-1/boone-biography Presentation by Robert Morgan on ''Boone: A Biography'', October 15, 2007], [[C-SPAN]]}}
[[File:Boone adoption.png|thumb|upright|Illustration of Boone's ritual adoption by the Shawnee, from ''Life & Times of Col. Daniel Boone'', by Cecil B. Hartley (1859)]]
Boone and his men were taken to Blackfish's town of [[Chalahgawtha|Chillicothe]]. As was their custom, the Shawnee adopted some of the prisoners to replace fallen warriors. Boone was adopted into a Shawnee family at Chillicothe, perhaps into Blackfish's family, and given the name Sheltowee (Big Turtle).{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=237}}{{#tag:ref|Biographers usually state that Boone was adopted by Blackfish, but historian John Sugden believes Boone was probably adopted by another family.{{sfn|Sugden|1999|p=873}}|group=note}} In March 1778, the Shawnee took the unadopted prisoners to Governor Hamilton in [[Detroit]]. Blackfish brought Boone along, though he refused Hamilton's offers to release Boone to the British. Hamilton gave Boone gifts, attempting to win his loyalty, while Boone continued to pretend that he intended to surrender Boonesborough.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=238–241}} Boone returned with Blackfish to Chillicothe.<ref>Glenn Tucker reports, that Boone became [[Tecumseh]]’s brother by adoption: "Blackfish was as fascinated with Boone as with a new trinket, though Boone had killed the chief’s son in an earlier raid. By the time he reached Detroit Blackfish had determined not to part with Boone at any price. Hamilton gave Boone a horse and trappings, paid Blackfish and the warriors a thousand dollars in provisions for the ten others and soothed Blackfish by allowing him to keep Boone. Boone rode his new horse to Old Chillicothe, which he and the Shawnee reached on April 10. There he and one of the salt-makers who had stayed behind, a youth named Benjamin Kelly, became Tecumseh’s brothers by adoption." Glenn Tucker: Tecumseh: Vision Of Glory</ref>

On June 16, 1778, when he learned Blackfish was about to return to Boonesborough with a large force, Boone eluded his captors and raced home, covering the {{convert|160|mi|km}} to Boonesborough in five days on horseback and, after his horse gave out, the majority on foot. Biographer [[Robert Morgan (poet)|Robert Morgan]] calls Boone's escape and return "one of the great legends of frontier history."{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=249}}

Upon Boone's return to Boonesborough, some of the men expressed doubts about Boone's loyalty, since he had apparently lived happily among the Shawnee for months. Boone responded by leading a preemptive raid against the Shawnee across the [[Ohio River]], and then by helping to successfully defend Boonesborough against a [[siege of Boonesborough|10-day siege]] led by Blackfish, which began on September 7, 1778.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=251–273}} After the siege, Captain [[Benjamin Logan]] and Colonel [[Richard Callaway]]—both of whom had nephews who were still captives surrendered by Boone—brought charges against Boone for his recent activities. In the [[court-martial]] that followed, Boone was found "not guilty" and was even promoted after the court heard his testimony. Despite this vindication, Boone was humiliated by the court-martial, and he rarely spoke of it.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=199–202}}{{sfn|Lofaro|2012|pp=105–106}}

===Final years of the Revolution===
After the trial, Boone returned to North Carolina to take his family back to Kentucky. In the fall of 1779, a large party of emigrants came with him, including the family of [[Abraham Lincoln (captain)|Captain Abraham Lincoln]], grandfather of the future president.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=284}}{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=203}} Rather than remain in Boonesborough, Boone founded the nearby settlement of [[Boone Station#Boone's New Station|Boone's Station, KY]]. He began earning money by locating good land for other settlers. Transylvania land claims had been invalidated after Virginia created Kentucky County, so settlers needed to file new land claims with Virginia. In 1780, Boone collected about $20,000 in cash ({{Inflation|US|20000|1780|fmt=eq|r=-4}}{{Inflation/fn|US}}) from various settlers and traveled to [[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] to purchase their land warrants. While he was sleeping in a tavern during the trip, the cash was stolen from his room. Some of the settlers forgave Boone the loss; others insisted he repay the stolen money, which took him several years to do.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=208}}

In contrast to the later folk image of Boone as a backwoodsman who had little affinity for "civilized" society, Boone was a leading citizen of Kentucky at this time.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=206}} When Kentucky was divided into three Virginia counties in November 1780, Boone was promoted to lieutenant colonel in the [[Fayette County, Kentucky|Fayette County]] militia. In April 1781, he was elected as a representative to the [[Virginia General Assembly]], which was held in Richmond. In 1782, he was elected sheriff of Fayette County.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=208–09}}

Meanwhile, the American Revolutionary War continued. Boone joined General [[George Rogers Clark]]'s invasion of the Ohio country in 1780, fighting in the [[Battle of Piqua]] against the Shawnee on August 7.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|p=298}} On the way home from the campaign, Boone was hunting with his brother Ned when Shawnee shot and killed Ned, who resembled Daniel. The Shawnee beheaded Ned, believing him to be Daniel, and took the head as evidence that Daniel Boone had finally been slain.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|pp=211–212}}{{#tag:ref|Morgan says Ned Boone was probably just scalped, not beheaded.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=301–302}}|group=note}}

In 1781, Boone traveled to Richmond to take his seat in the legislature, but British dragoons under [[Banastre Tarleton]] captured Boone and several other legislators near [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]]. The British released Boone on [[Parole#Prisoners of war|parole]] several days later.{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=213}}{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=302–303}} During Boone's term, [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Cornwallis]] [[Siege of Yorktown|surrendered at Yorktown]] in October 1781, but the fighting continued in Kentucky. Boone returned to Kentucky and in August 1782 fought in the [[Battle of Blue Licks]], a disastrous defeat for the Kentuckians in which Boone's son Israel was killed. In November 1782, Boone took part in another Clark-led expedition into Ohio, the last major campaign of the war.{{sfn|Morgan|2007|pp=331–332}}{{sfn|Faragher|1992|p=224}}