The Black Boys, also known as the Brave Fellows and the Loyal Volunteers, were members of a white settler movement in the Conococheague Valley of colonial Pennsylvania sometimes known as the Black Boys Rebellion. The Black Boys, so-called because they sometimes blackened their faces during their actions, were upset with British policy regarding American Indians following Pontiac’s Rebellion. The story is a bit complicated and spread over a six month period. The end result was that James Smith, with his Black Boys, laid siege to Fort Loudoun in November 1765, demanding the return of several weapons the British had confiscated in March. The weapons were returned, after negotiations with the British occupants of the fort. While this armed rebellion in what was then the far western reaches of the British influence has generally been forgotten, overshadowed in American historiography by various other actions taken by the British in that year, some historians see the Black Boys Rebellion as a precursor to the American Revolution.