Joseph Buller Bullard
Born: 1732, North Carolina
Married: Martha na,
Child: John Bullard
Died: 9-20-1782, Lookout Mountain, Tennessee
Notes: "The Watauga Association was a semi-autonomous settlement from 1772 to 1777 in what is now extreme North-East Tennessee. Settlers negotiated a 10 year lease of the land from the Cherokee Indians in 1772, and being beyond jurisdiction of any existing government, created the Watauga Association to govern themselves. Before 1775 they drafted the Watauga Petition asking North Carolina to annex them and pledging to assist North Carolina in the American Revolution. In 1775 the petition was accepted. In 1777 the settlement was incorporated as Washington County in North Carolina. The area in 1784 was part of the short-lived state of Franklin which collapsed by 1790. It then became part of Tennessee. Joseph Bullard was one of the original signers of the Watauga Petition (though he signed Joseph Buller). Captain Joseph Bullard died in the American Revolutionary War Battle of Lookout Mountain (not as famous as the later Civil War Battle of the same name). The Chattanooga area was controlled by the Chickamauga Indians at the time of the Revolution. They were a rogue group of Cherokee that refused to abide by the more general Cherokee peace treaty at that time. The government of North Carolina authorized a military campaign against them in the summer of 1782. Colonel John Sevier organized 250 Wautuga and Nolichucky Riflemen to pursue the Chickamaugas. On Sept 20 1782 they engaged in battle at the northern end of Lookout Mountain. The frontiersmen won. This was an official Revolutionary War engagement, considered by many to be the last ""Overmountain"" battle of the American Revolution. According to one source, when the Chickamauga saw that Captain Joseph Bullard was killed, they rejoiced, mistaking him for Col. John Sevier. According to the same source, historians record a strong resemblance between the two, with Sevier reputed ""the most handsome man on the frontier, tall and slender, fair with blue eyes and brown hair, erect military carriage and a commanding presence."" It is unknown how much or in what particulars this description fits Captain Bullard, but it is the only one we have."
Reference: "e-familytree.net/f6810.htm#f251796, genforum.genealogy.com/feagin/messages/379.html, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watauga-Petition, hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=4496"
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