8. The Shawnee besieging the fort were plagued by defective muskets
Boone gained the trust of the Shawnee during his captivity and used it to work on their muskets. Under the guise of repairing them, he weakened the locks of the muskets, which broke after being fired a few times. During the course of the siege, the Shawnee fire decreased steadily. Boone encouraged the men in the fort to return fire sparsely, in order to conserve gunpowder. The Indians attempted to set fire to the fort at night, but the tactic proved deadly to them, since they exposed themselves to the accurate fire of the settlers’ long rifles. Squire Boone, Daniel’s brother, fashioned a cannon out of a hollowed-out log, reinforced with barrel bands. It was fired once, perhaps twice, loaded with musket balls, split, and was discarded.
On the second or third day of the siege the Indians, led by the French-Canadians, began to dig a tunnel from the riverbank to beneath the walls of the fort. The intent was to detonate barrels of gunpowder beneath the wall, causing its collapse. Heavy rains collapsed the Indian’s tunnel before it reached its goal. Another attack, intended to set the fort afire by throwing torches over the walls was foiled by the same heavy rains and accurate gunfire from the defenders. On September 18, the Indians under Blackfish, frustrated with their failure, broke up into smaller war parties and abandoned the siege. The parties raided other settlements as they made their way north to Ohio. Only two men of the garrison were killed in the ten-day siege of Boonesborough.