The war party was a large one, indeed, and looked irresistible. It had the British banners flying, and was commanded by Captain Duquesne, with eleven other Canadian Frenchmen and a number of the most prominent Indian chiefs, while the woods seemed to be literally alive with warriors. Many a settler, as he looked out upon the scene, felt that resistance to such a force was useless and the end of Boonesborough was close at hand.
Captain Duquesne, with great confidence in his ability to capture the place, sent in a demand to Captain Boone to surrender it at once in the name of his Britannic Majesty. Boone, in reply, asked to be allowed two days in which to consider the summons, and Duquesne granted the request.
Boone at once summoned his friends to council, and found, when they were gathered, that there were only fifty; but, after a full interchange of views, they decided to defend the station to the last man. The investing force numbered at the least calculation fully ten times as many as they, and a prolonged resistance would be sure to excite them to the highest degree of fury; but the resolution was unanimous, and there was no faltering on the part of the intrepid commander or any of his comrades.
At the expiration of the two days, Boone appeared at one of the bastions and announced his intention of defending the place, at the same time thanking the French commander for his courtesy in giving him the forty-eight hours in which to make his preparations against attack.
Captain Duquesne was surprised and disappointed over this decision, for he seems to have been confident that the settlers, after soberly thinking over and discussing the matter, would see not only the uselessness, but the suicidal folly of a resistance, which would exasperate the Indians, who would be irrestrainable in their vengeance, after the fall of the station.
The British commander was so anxious to secure the surrender of Boonesborough, that he immediately proposed more advantageous terms, making them so liberal, indeed, that Boone and eight of his companions accepted the invitation to go outside with a view of holding a conference.
Boone and his escort went forth in good faith, but they had not been in the clearing long when it became evident that a trap was set and treachery intended.
By a sudden concerted movement, the whites escaped from the Shawanoes, who were seeking to surround them, and dashing into the gates, closed them and hastened to the bastions, where they stood ready to answer the British captain at the muzzle of the rifle.
The fight commenced at once, a hot fire being opened from every direction upon the fort, but the pioneers returned it so sharply, and with such precision, that the Indians were forced to shelter themselves behind stumps and trees, from which they could discharge their guns with less certainty of aim.
Captain Duquesne gained a more appreciative idea of the skill of the Kentucky marksmen than he had ever held before, for the station was not only well guarded on every side, but it seemed impossible for a warrior to show himself for a second without being perforated by some settler, whose rifle sent out its sharp, whiplike crack, whenever an "opening" presented itself.