James Smith

James Smith (November 26, 1737 – April 11, 1813 ) was a frontiersman, farmer and soldier in British North America. In 1765, he led the "Black Boys", a group of Pennsylvania men, in a nine-month rebellion against British rule ten years before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War. He participated in the Revolutionary War as a colonel of the Pennsylvania militia and was a legislator in the Kentucky General Assembly. Smith was also an author, publishing a memoir about his captivity by Native Americans in his Narrative in 1799, and in 1812 an in-depth analysis of Native American fighting techniques, based on observations during his captivity.

Early life Smith was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in an area now part of Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Some later sources suggest that he had little formal education. Though he lived in an area that was very Scottish, he himself was of English descent. Smith was born and raised in Pennsylvania but his parents were from the Chesapeake region of Virginia. He is not related to the politician of the same name.

French and Indian War and aftermath In May 1755, he worked on the Braddock Road, a road built west from Alexandria, Virginia in support of General Edward Braddock's ill-fated expedition against the French. He was adopted by a Mohawk family, ritually cleansed, and made to practice tribal ways – ultimately gaining respect for Native American culture. and disguised themselves in Native American dress, were upset with British policy regarding Native Americans following Pontiac's War.

In June 1766, Smith left to explore Kentucky. During the trip, he was injured by puncturing his foot on rivercane. With the help of an enslaved man named Jamie, Smith managed to return east to North Carolina. He was jailed because of his rough appearance until someone was found who could vouch for him.

In 1769, Smith and the Black Boys surprised Fort Bedford, freeing some prisoners being held there.

Later in 1769, while passing through Bedford with two companions, Smith was accosted by several men intent upon his arrest for being the leader of the Black Boys. Shots were fired, and one of Smith's companions was accidentally killed. Smith was initially found guilty of murder and jailed for four months before being exonerated and released. During his jail time, a group of 300 people, some of them Black Boys, came to free Smith from the jail, but Smith convinced them to return home in peace.

American Revolutionary War Smith represented Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania at the 1776 Constitutional Convention.

When the American Revolutionary War broke out, he joined the Pennsylvania militia as captain, and was made a colonel in 1778. He was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1939 movie Allegheny Uprising, which was based on the book. A segment in the 2006 PBS miniseries The War that Made America shows a dramatization of Smith running the Native American gauntlet, following his capture in 1755.