The Fort Henry Story

     On September 11, 1782, a force of nearly 300 Wyandot, Shawnee, Seneca and Delaware Indians with a company of British Butler's Rangers attacked Fort Henry at Wheeling, Virginia, intent on destroying the patriot militia and settlers there. For three days the 47 men and women, with their children, defended the Fort and withstood constant assault with little hope of reinforcement or relief.

     The valiant efforts proved successful and though their homes and property were devastated, the Fort did not fall, and the defenders lived on to found Wheeling. Their heroic stand became know as the "last battle of the American Revolution".

The Fort Henry Defenders

     The names of the following fort defenders have come from a variety of sources. Several old books located in the Ohio County Public Library have lists that in part named those individuals that found themselves inside the Fort for what would be one of the last battles of the American Revolution.