The siege of Fort Henry was an attack on American militiamen during the American Revolutionary War near the Virginia outpost known as Fort Henry by a multi-tribal alliance in September 1777. The fort, named for Virginia Governor Patrick Henry, was at first defended by only a small number of militia, as rumors of an Indigenous raid had moved much faster than the warriors themselves, and a number of militia companies had left the fort. The remaining militia were successful in repulsing the attack.
In the summer of 1777, rumors began circulating throughout frontier areas of Virginia and Pennsylvania that Indigenous tribes living in the Ohio Country were planning attacks on frontier settlements south of the Ohio River. Fort Henry, which had been constructed in 1774 to protect the settlers in the area around what is now Wheeling, West Virginia, was one of the rumored targets.
In early August, General Edward Hand, the region's commander at Fort Pitt, warned militia Lieutenant Colonel David Shepherd and all of the local militia captains of the threat, and ordered 11 militia companies to gather at Fort Henry. At least six companies arrived totalling over 350 men. Minor skirmishes near Fort Henry took place in early August resulting in two enslaved men wounded and one Indigenous warriors killed.
For a time thereafter, militia companies stayed at Fort Henry, improving its defenses and patrolling for Indigenous warriors. However, the absence of any major threat led many of those companies to leave and return to their homes. By the end of August, only Captain Joseph Ogle's 25 man company from Buffalo Creek and the fort's local militia under Captain Samuel Mason remained.
Some sources report that the main attack happened on September 1, while others report September 21. On the night of the battle, a multi tribal alliance of a few hundred Indigenous warriors approached the fort in great stealth and secrecy. The warriors were predominantly Wyandot and Mingo, although there were also some Shawnee and Lenape). They were led by the Wyandot Chief Dunquat and the Lenape Chief Buckongahelas Local men later from Fort Shepherd (in Elm Grove) and Fort Holliday arrived to help defend the fort before it was invested. The total number of defenders on the first day varies by accounts from 42 to just under 100 militia. This is likely because accounts of the battle were recorded after the war and the local militiamen arrived sporadically alongside civilians taking refuge.
When four men left the fort early that morning, the Indigenous warriors ambushed them, killing one. The other three escaped, including two who returned to the fort to raise the alarm.
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) grew from colonial resistance to British taxation without parliamentary representation — a dispute that radicalized through the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Boston Massacre (1770). Fighting began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775; the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Army under George Washington faced severe shortages of supplies and troops, enduring the brutal winter at Valley Forge (1777–1778) before French alliance and French financing turned the military balance. Major engagements included Bunker Hill (1775), Trenton (1776), Saratoga (1777) — which secured French intervention — and Yorktown (1781), where British General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. An estimated 25,000 American soldiers died in service, from combat, disease, and captivity. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded British territory east of the Mississippi, though it left unresolved questions about Indigenous land rights and the status of Loyalists.
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