USA > Kentucky > A history of Kentucky and Kentuckians; the leaders and representative men in commerce, industry and modern activities, Volume I > Part 12
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In Smith's "History of Kentucky" is given the following list of names of those who were in attendance at the celebration, though it is difficult to imagine any of the residents of the vicinity being absent: "Rich- ard Chenowith, his wife, Hannah, and their four children, Mildred, Jane, James and Thomas.
"James Patten, his wife Mary, and their three daughters, Martha, Mary and Peggy.
"John McManus, his wife Mary, and their
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"John Tuell, his wife. Mary, and their three children, Ann, Winnie and Jessie.
"William Faith, his wife Elizabeth, and their son, John.
"Jacob Reager, his wife Elizabeth, and their three children, Sarah, Maria and Henry.
"Edward Worthington was with Clark in the Illinois campaign, but his wife, Mary, his son Charles and his two sisters, Ann and Elizabeth, were at the Falls and at the dance.
William Foster, Samuel Finley, Neal Doherty and Isaac McBride were detailed by Clark to guard the military stores on Corn Island and thus became parties to the first settlement of Louisville."
Those who have noted carefully the above list will have found therein the names of some of the honored progenitors of the old families yet resident in Louisville. Those whose fancy has led them to the bestowal upon their children of fanciful and unusual
The sun shines bright on
my old
Menlucky
non ..
"James Graham was also with Clark, but his wife Mary, was at the Falls.
"John Donne was with Clark, but his wife Mary and their two sons, John and Charles, are believed to have been at the Falls at the time.
"It has also been claimed that Isaac Kim- bly and his wife, Mary, were among the first settlers at the Falls.
"In addition to these, Captain Isaac Rud- dle, James Sherlock, Alexander McIntyre, Vol. I-5.
names, may be struck by the frequent recur- rence in the list of that beautiful name, Mary. Our forefathers and mothers ordered many things very wisely in their day.
Colonel Clark had other than social events to claim his attention on his return. He held firmly to the opinion that until Detroit and Sandusky were taken and the British garri- sons captured or driven from the northwest, there would be a continuance of Indian war- fare. Instigated by promises of bribes and
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plunder made by English officers and agents, bands of Indians roamed through Kentucky, murdering here, plundering there; and it was necessary to the safety of the settlers and that of the entire territory that these out- rages should be brought to an end.
The winter of 1779 was one of intense cold and there was much suffering in the rude homes of the settlers, in addition to that caused by the Indians. All streams were frozen over for months, and supplies ran so short that they could be obtained only at the most extravagant prices. The price of corn ranged from fifty dollars to one hundred and seventy-five dollars per bushel, but it must be understood that payment was made in the much depreciated Continental currency. Those familiar with the value of Confederate currency during the later years of the War Between the States, can best appreciate what is meant to pay $175 for a bushel of corn in Continental money.
Trabue in his "Autobiography and Diary" says: "The hard winter began about the Ist of November, 1779, and broke up the last of February, 1780; the turkeys ( wild) were al- most all dead; the buffaloes had got poor, people's cattle mostly dead; no corn, or but very little, in the country. The people were in great distress; many in the wilderness frostbitten, some dead ; some ate of the dead horses and cattle. When the winter broke, the men would go and kill the buffaloes and bring them home to eat, but they were so poor. A number of people were taken sick and did actually die for the want of solid food."
But the sufferings of this winter did not put a stop to the coming to Kentucky of those who sought homes and independence. The immigration of 1780 was the largest the new territory had ever known. Three thousand people during the spring of this year arrived at Louisville and made certain the foundation of the beautiful city of today. Six new sta-
tions were founded by six hundred adven- turous spirits and the end of Indian domina- tion in the territory about the Falls was in sight. In addition to these accretions to the population about the Falls, the outlying sta- tions received marked additions. Surveyors from Virginia poured into the virgin terri- tory, one of the results being a new road across the Cumberland Mountains giving ac- cess to the Kentucky territory through the Wilderness road. Through this road and down the Ohio river, it is estimated that nearly ten thousand people passed during one year. Fears of Indian invasion, of which there were yet occasional incidents, were les- sened by the presence of the larger number of active men to repel them. But Indian incur- sions were not yet at an end.
Colonel Clark, experienced soldier as he was, realized this and had never given up the idea that the English strongholds at Detroit and Sandusky should be broken up and de- stroyed. Gov. Patrick Henry conceived a plan to strengthen the outlying colony by es- tablishing a fort near the mouth of the Ohio and by its presence enforce the claim of the United States to a western boundary at the Mississippi, south of the Ohio. Governor Henry believed that this fort held by a strong force would accomplish this result when peace negotiations with England were being held. But Governor Henry could not put his theory into active practice for lack of funds, and the matter was held in abeyance.
In April, 1780, Clark's other good friend, Thomas Jefferson, succeeded to the governor- ship of Virginia and announced to Colonel Clark his determination to establish such a fort, at the same time ordering him to begin its construction. This project was not popu- lar in Kentucky, as the people feared that the defence of such a station in the southwestern portion of the country would weaken the de- fenses in the older portions of the country. But Clark, a soldier full of resources, quieted
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these fears by stating that, if found neces- sary, he would withdraw some of the soldiers from the Illinois country to defend the new fort.
The location of the fort was at the junc- tion of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, so situated as to command the trade of the coun- try on either side of those rivers. Here he erected several block houses and a strong fort, the latter in honor of the man who had aided him in his perilous expedition into the northwestern territory, and was now the gov- ernor of Virginia, being called Fort Jeffer- son, which was garrisoned by a force of two hundred men.
Clark's mind was not entirely engrossed in the construction of this fort. His thought was not only upon the business at hand, but on that which he felt was in the near future. He expected an incursion by the Indians fos- tered by the British forces at Detroit. Clark mentally put himself into the position of the enemy and rightly conjectured that they would do what he would have done had he been in their place. That is what some peo- ple have called military genius. Toward the end of May, 1780, Clark saw his expectations almost realized, for an attack was then im- minent. With two companions, the three disguised as Indians, he left Fort Jefferson and made his way on foot to Harrodsburg, that he might organize for defence against the coming invasion. Like the gallant soldier that he was, Colonel Clark determined, if there were time, that he would organize a military force and instead of awaiting an at- tack, would march into the enemy's country on the offensive. Finding the people at Harrodsburg more interested in land entries than in any other matter, Colonel Clark closed the land offices and proceeded to the enlistment of a military force for the protec- tion of the settlements. Before he had suc- ceeded in raising the desired force, the inva- sion which he had foreseen came with almost
resistless force. June 22d, Colonel Byrd a British officer, at the head of some six hun- dred savages, appeared before Ruddell's station and, by displaying cannon, forced its surrender. Going thence to Martin's station but a few miles distant, it also was forced to surrender. The situation was, indeed, gloomy for the Kentucky settlements, and it looked for a time that their fate was sealed. 1lad Colonel Byrd commanded British soldiers, he could have swept Kentucky as a besom of destruction as none of the stations had can- non with which to oppose his artillery. But, happily for the people of Kentucky, Byrd's forces were only Indians and they acted as Indians. Gorged with the plunder of the sta- tions at Ruddell's and Martin's, and satisfied with the number of prisoners taken at these stations, they proposed to go back to their homes on the north side of the Ohio, there to enjoy in their own savage way, the fruits of their expedition. This is believed to have been the true cause of the withdrawal of the savage forces, but Collins states that the Indi- ans were eager to march against Bryan's station and Lexington, but were prevented by Colonel Byrd. Color is given to this theory by the explanation that Colonel Hamilton, "the hair-buyer," was expected to cooperate with Colonel Byrd, but being at the moment elsewhere engaged, could not do so. It is idle to speculate upon the reason for Colonel Byrd's withdrawal. It is enough to know and far more important that he did retire with his Indian forces to the north side of the Ohio river.
Clark, on the retreat of the enemy, called for volunteers for an invasion of the enemy's country. He had already the nucleus of a force and new enlistments soon brought his command to one thousand men, every man of them ready to march into the Indian country and to endure every hardship the campaign might demand. Those were men, indeed, and there was no savage force on earth that could
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withstand them. At the head of this force which comprised within its numbers the most famous Indian fighters of the settlements in Kentucky, Clark marched to Chillicothe which he captured without firing a gun, the Indians quitting the place before his arrival and fleeing into their forest fastnesses. Burning their houses and destroying their crops, Colonel Clark moved on Piqua, which was a strong and well garrisoned town, there being several hundred Indians here under command of the renegade white man, Simon Girty. Resistance was offered, but Colonel Clark had a little cannon with him and when he turned this upon the enemy they quickly fled and Piqua was soon in his possession. Here, as at Chillicothe, he destroyed the buildings and crops, thus teaching the Indi- ans a useful lesson. Colonel Logan, pushing further into the country, drove the Indians from one of their smaller towns which he also destroyed.
The little army, which had been entirely successful in all of its movements, now re- turned to Kentucky, after inflicting such damage upon their implacable savage foes as to protect Kentucky for nearly two years from further incursions of large forces, though small, skulking bands slipped across the Ohio occasionally to burn and kill as op- portunity presented.
Colonel John Floyd, writing to Governor Jefferson in April, 1781, said: "We are obliged to live in forts in this country and notwithstanding all the caution that we use, forty-seven inhabitants have been killed or taken prisoners by the savages, besides a number wounded, since January last.
"Whole families are destroyed without re- gard to age or sex. Infants are torn from their mothers' arms and their brains dashed out against trees, as they are necessarily mov- ing from one fort to another for safety or convenience. Not a week passes, and some weeks scarcely a day, without some of our
distressed inhabitants feeling the fatal effect of the infernal rage and fury of these execra- ble hell-hounds."
The Indians had not been idle. Whether on their own initiative or following the ad- vice of the British officers, who had instigated many of their raids into Kentucky, cannot be said, but they began, about this time, a con- federation of all the tribes of the northwest, the object of which was the driving out of Kentucky the white man. It has been stated elsewhere in this work that Kentucky while, in a general sense, never the permanent home of the Indian, was his favorite hunting ground, and it would have required but little inducement from the English officers to send the savages into the territory. This induce- ment was in the shape of guns and ammuni- tion far superior to the primitive bow and arrow and the tomahawk. The Indian took kindly to the new weapons and vainly imag- ined that with them in his hands he was the equal of the white man. A confederation of the Wyandottes, Cherokees, Pottawattomies, Tawas, Delawares, Shawnees and other tribes living nearer the Mississippi river or the lakes was formed. There was an agreement that representatives of these tribes should assemble at Chillicothe in the summer of 1782 and, proceeding to Kentucky, should drive out the whites, burning their homes and securing their property. The British author- ities, to their everlasting dishonor be it said, had promised aid and comfort to the savages on this red mission bent.
While these preparations for a murderous descent upon Kentucky were being arranged events of the most momentous character were transpiring in Virginia. Cornwallis, at the head of his army, had marched to Yorktown all unconscious that he was there to meet his fate and that at that little Virginia town he was to see laid the corner-stone of the inde- pendence of the colonies, and the real begin- ning of the United States of America, the
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greatest world-power of today. On October 19, 1781, the haughty British general had laid down the arms of his men at the command of that Virginian gentleman and soldier, George Washington, at whose wise counsel another English officer, General Braddock, had sneered years before, refusing to hear the ad- vice of a young colonial officer who dared to instruct a British general in Indian warfare. He had paid for his arrogance with his own life and that of many of his men, and now another British general had been humbled by that same young colonial officer.
The pioneers of Kentucky learning long after the event, that Cornwallis had surrend- ered, deemed the war with England at an end and hoped that they might now proceed in peace to till their fields, no longer fearing the attack of the savage or the ravages of his de- stroying torch. But not long did they indulge in this golden dream of peace, for, in the spring of 1782, the confederated savage bands began their premeditated attacks with
a ferocity hitherto unknown. The savages knew that disaster had come to their English allies in Virginia and felt that this effort to drive the white man from Kentucky was probably the last they could ever make. Win- ning now, they hoped that it was for all time; losing now, they felt that it was a final loss and that the hunting ground of Kentucky would never again be theirs. So their efforts were more desperate than they had before made. Throughout the three counties they raged, massacres and burnings marking their course as they had never done before, every section feeling the force of their attacks, few families escaping from adding to the death roll. Suddenly the savage forces withdrew from Kentucky and by August quiet reigned, and there seemed to be not one Indian in the three counties. But the whites had grown wise from experience and knowing that the Indians would return in yet greater force, be- gan to prepare for defense. Not knowing
before which fort they would appear prep- arations were made at all the stations to re- ceive them, the outlying settlers, meanwhile, deserting their homes and taking refuge in the forts.
While Kentucky was thus preparing to re- sist the expected invasion, the confederated tribes were busy at Chillicothe arranging for another attack. In this they were aided by a detachment of English soldiers under com- mand of Capt. William Campbell. Here also, was the white renegade, Simon Girty, more thoroughly a savage brute than any of the red men whom he incited to murder. He made an impassioned appeal to his savage followers, inciting them to deeds of un- equalled ferocity, telling of the recent attacks upon their towns and their destruction, call- ing them to recall the former beauties of their hunting grounds and their destruction by the white men, exhorting them to an effort, per- haps their last one, to drive out the settlers and renew their sovereignty over the beauti- ful land. Other speeches of like tenor, full of the rude but forceful eloquence of the In- dian, were made and the savage army began its march upon the Kentucky settlements full of a revengeful spirit and ready for any and all deeds of violence. They moved forward so quietly that they appeared before Bryan's station upon the Elkhorn, near where the beautiful little city of Lexington now stands, on August 15, 1782, without a man in the station having knowledge of their presence. There were but forty-four men in the station to resist four hundred. These had prepared to go to the support of a near-by station, when the firing of guns in their own vicinity attracted attention. A small body of savages was in view, firing their guns, uttering their demoniac yells and indulging in characteristic gestures, the latter of which were of a nature to infuriate the whites to the highest degree. Thirteen men were sent from the fort to re- turn the fire of this party in the hope of thus
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developing the larger party believed to be lurking in the forest. The ruse succeeded, for no sooner had this small party made its attack than Caldwell, the British commander, attacked the fort on the opposite side, believ- ing the thirteen men who had come out to be the entire force of the garrison. He was speedily convinced of his error, as the men remaining within the fort delivered so heavy a fire upon his forces as to speedily drive
promised protection to all, declaring, at the same time, that if compelled to capture the fort by a direct attack, he would not be re- sponsible for after events. The idea of this worse than savage brute promising immunity from outrage never appealed to those who knew his demoniacal nature and cruel career, and a young man named Reynolds, as spokes- man for those in the fort, informed Girty that those within the fort were not going to
BRYAN'S STATION SPRING, LEXINGTON
them back into the woods. Caldwell now be- gan a siege of the fort in characteristic fash- ion, but without success. Having no artillery, he was unable to beat down the stockade and the men within, being acquainted with every device of savage warfare, were enabled to successfully resist every attack. The rene- gade, Simon Girty, finding the savage wiles of no effect, came under a flag of truce and declared to the gallant defenders that further resistance was useless, as he was in moment- ary expectancy of the arrival of artillery with which he would have no difficulty in beating down their defenses and capturing the garrison. Demanding a surrender, Girty
surrender ; that they expected immediate re- inforcements; that the whole country was coming to their rescue and that if "Girty and his gang of murderers" remained twenty-four hours longer before the fort, their scalps would be found drying in the sun upon the roofs of their cabins.
Girty and Caldwell must have been im- pressed by the assurance of young Reynolds for, on the following morning, their camp was found to be deserted. The net casualties of the siege among the occupants of the fort amounted to four men killed, while the sav- ages had lost about thirty men. The Indians decided to change their position and follow-
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ing a buffalo trail, set out for the Lower Blue Licks, leaving behind them every indication that they desired to be followed, some of the savages even marking their line of march by cutting the trees along their route with toma- hawks.
An important incident of this siege, which showed the brave spirit of the pioneer women of Kentucky, must be noted. The fort had unfortunately been located apart from the spring by which water was supplied and when the siege was first begun the Indians, before their presence was known, had placed a party in ambush about this spring. By this device they hoped to capture or destroy any party leaving the fort for water, at the same time making a counter-attack upon the opposite side of the stockade. Those within the fort soon discovered the presence of the savages and understood their designs. To send out a party of men for water meant cer- tain death for them and probably for those in the fort. Strategy must be used and the final decision was of a most desperate character. It was decided that the women of the fort should be the water bearers. They at first
demurred, explaining that the Indians had hitherto not shown any particular discrimina- tion in the matter of scalps, taking as readily those of the women as those of the men who fell into their hands. They were told in re- ply that the Indians were accustomed to seeing women go to the spring each morning and see- ing them go now, would imagine that their presence was yet unknown and would there- fore, not disturb them. If the men went. the savages would know that their presence had been discovered and would not only fire upon them, but would begin their attack upon the fort. These brave women did not long hes- itate, the boldest at once declaring their will- ingness to make the effort while the others soon joined them and together they moved down to the spring, filled their vessels and re- turned to the fort unmolested by the Indians. No braver deed than this marked the early settlement of Kentucky; gallant as were the brave men who erected the new state under savage fire, none were so brave as these mothers, wives and daughters of Bryan's station.
CHAPTER XIV.
TERRIBLE AMBUSH AT BLUE LICK-GATHERING OF FUGITIVES-FATE OF PRISONERS-MIASSA- CRE AT KINCHELOE'S STATION-NO PEACE FOR KENTUCKY-ANOTHER APPEAL TO MOTHER VIRGINIA-LOGAN ON THE BLUE LICK AFFAIR-TODD ON THE BLUE LICK DISASTER --- EVEN BOONE DEPRESSED.
News of the attack upon Bryan's Station spread rapidly and at once reinforcements began their march to the beleaguered fort and to pour into the station. One hundred and eighty horsemen arrived on the night follow- ing the raising of the siege. Among these was Daniel Boone who, in a letter to Gov- ernor Harrison dated August 30, 1782, stated almost one third of this force was composed of commissioned officers. This is not to say that these officers were not as brave and effi- cient as the privates. It is but another proof that in those early days, as in these, there were many colonels who had no regiments.
It was determined in a council of war to begin an immediate pursuit of the retreating savages, without awaiting the arrival of Colonel Logan, who was known to be coming at the head of three hundred men. It is be- lieved that Boone opposed this hurried ad- vance. Expert as he was in Indian warfare, he readily deciphered the signs so ostenta- tiously left by the Indians on their line of march. To him they spelled danger; they were intended to deceive and to invite an at- tack upon what they supposed was a flying and demoralized force, but which, in reality, was strong and not only ready but anxious to be attacked. Coming within sight of the Licking river, the pursuers saw a small party of Indians on a leisurely retreat. The hot-
heads desired to attack at once. Boone, wis- est in Indian warfare of any of the party, advised against precipitancy, urging that the Indian force was undoubtedly strong and not only ready but anxious for battle. He in- sisted upon delay until Colonel Logan and his men arrived, but while he was thus using his knowledge of savage warcraft, Major Mc- Gary, one of the hotheads, spurred his horse into the river, calling out: "Those who are not cowards, follow me; I will show them where the Indians are." Upon this reckless challenge, the entire party moved forward, attacking the Indians with much bravery but without any organized system. The enemy appeared to retreat in much disorder, drawing the whites on until they came to a point on the ridge where two ravines, one on either side of their path, afforded the Indians an excellent opportunity for an ambuscade of which they had taken full advantage; for in these ravines was hidden their entire force and from them they poured a merciless fire upon the whites resulting in a panic among the latter. Before a retreat could be effected the Indians ex- tended their lines and completely surrounded the attacking party. At this moment. Boone's son was killed in the father's presence. The elder Boone attempted with some of his fol- lowers to gain the ford, only to find it in pos- session of the enemy. Retracing his steps to
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