Captain Jacobs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. (March 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.

Captain Jacobs (????- September 8, 1756) was a Delaware (Lenape) chief during the French and Indian War. His real name was Tewea; he was called "Captain Jacobs" by a Pennsylvania settler who purchased land from him and thought he resembled another person by that name. He is best known as the Native American leader during the Kittanning Expedition in 1756. There is not a lot of background information about Jacobs, only that he was a great warrior of the Lenape, and was responsible for the multiple raids on English settlers after Braddock's defeat.

[edit] Raid on Kittanning

On the morning of September 8th, 1756, Colonel John Armstrong led a force of three-hundred Pennsylvanians to attack the village of Kittanning in hopes of disrupting the Native's grip on the settlers. Jacobs' superior Chief Shingas was away during the battle, so Jacobs took command and fought Armstrong's men from his cabin. He was eventually killed when his cabin (full of ammunition and gunpowder) exploded after being set ablaze by one of Armstrong's men. The raid was a success, but Armstrong lost more than thirty of his men at the battle.