Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 78

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654

USA > Kentucky > Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II > Part 78

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In Jan., 1793, the Indians plundered horses in Logan county, were pursued and one of them killed, and one of the pursuers wounded. Otherwise, the Indian war of 1793-4 seems not to have been seriously felt in southeastern Kentucky.

Pioneer Stations .- Maulding's station was established on Red river in 1780, one at Muddy river licks between 1780 and 1784, one at Russellville (by whom not known) in 1780, and one on Whippoorwill creek (by several of the Mauld- ing family ) in 1784. Davis' station was in Logan or Warren county. Kil- gore's station was established in 1782, on the south side of Red river and north of Cumberland river ; it was attacked by Indians, the same year, and broken up; it was in Logan county, or in Tennessee near the Kentucky line.

Counties formed out of Logan, wholly or in part .- In 1796-Christian and Warren ; 1798-Livingston, Muhlenburg, Barren, and Henderson ; 1806- Hopkins ; 1809-Caldwell; 1810-Butler ; IS11-Union ; 1815-Allen ; 1819- Simpson and Todd; 1820-Monroe and Trigg; 1821-Hickman; 1822- Calloway ; 1823-Graves; 1824-McCracken; 1825-Edmonson; 1842- Crittenden, Marshall, and Ballard ; 1845-Fulton; 1854-Lyon and McLean; 1860-Metcalfe and Webster.

Earliest Visitors .- While it is possible that some of the "Long Hunters " from North Carolina and Virginia, in 1770-71, reached what is now Logan county, there is no good reason to believe that they wandered so far westward. It is absolutely certain that some of them-perhaps all those (of the original company of forty) who remained so long a time from home as to deserve the peculiar title which has since distinguished them-were in Green county, and several of them in Barren and Allen counties (see under those counties). The very proof and story of their presence in those counties makes it most probable that they did not penetrate much, if any, further westward. It is more likely, but far from certain, that some or all of the party of hunters (only one of whom, Henry Skaggs, is known to have been of the Long Hun- ters in 1770) who, in the summer of 1775, recorded upon the trees below Bowlinggreen the date of their visit to Warren county, extended their hunting explorations further west into Logan county. (See under Warren county.)

Probably the first visitors to Logan county of whom authentic data are preserved, were the corps of surveyors sent out by Virginia, in 1779-80, to run the boundary line-known ever since as Walker's line-between Ken- tucky and Tennessee. On the east bank of the main East Fork of Red river, about 1} miles below the mouth of Whippoorwill, on the southern border of Logan county, stood, in the summer of 1859-and is probably standing now (1873)-a large beech tree, more than three feet in diameter, marked, by a hatchet very narrow in the blade, with three chops, fore and aft. In the former year were still to be seen, cut in the bark, a great number of names- most of them illegible-and the date " 11 March, 1780." On other beech trees, near to the large one, are the names of "James West, 11th March, II ... 31

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1780," and "Isaac Bledsoe, 11 March, 1780." Austin P. Cox and Charles M. Briggs, the Ky. commissioners, and Benj. Peeples and O. R. Watkins, the Tennessee commissioners, to fix, establish, run, and re-mark the line of boundary between the two states, reported that beyond doubt these trees had been marked by Walker or his party.

Of Logan County, the first magistrates, in 1792, were Ambrose Maulding, Young Ewing, and Burwell Jackson, gentlemen, so the record runs. The first county clerk was Samuel Caldwell, who was also one of the first two lawyers. The first criminal tried was, in 1792, for stealing a cow, and held over to the court of oyer and terminer. The first court of quarter sessions was held in 1801, by Ebenezer Alexander and Reuben Ewing; the first clerk of this court, Armstead Morehead. The first circuit court was held in 1803,- by Ninian Edwards (afterwards governor of Illinois), judge, and Win. Read- ing and Reuben Ewing, associates. The next judge was Wm. Wallace. The first surveyor was Wm. Reading, who was the largest land-holder in southern Kentucky. The first sheriff was Major WM. STEWART, described as "one of the celebrities of the place, an early settier more familiar with its early history than any one personally known to the present generation; he was a native of Richmond county, Georgia-a man of strong passions and decided charac- ter, faithful to his friends and dangerous to his foes; an oddity in manners, and a curiosity in dress; as dark as the storm and as frolicsome as the sunshine, dealing always in the mystic signs and hyperbolical language of the Indian ; the fright of little girls, and the admiration of mischievous boys; an unfathomed mystery to the people among whom he lived and died; in a word, a relict of the ancient civilization of Kentucky ; his self-given sobriquet was " Old Bill." (See under Hopkins county, the story of the Harpes. )

General BENJAMIN LOGAN, from whom Logan county received its name, was among the earliest and most distinguished of those bold pioneers who, penetrat- ing the western wilds, laid the foundation of arts, civilization, religion and law, in what was then the howling wilderness of Kentucky. It is among the proud- est of those distinctions which have exalted the character of our venerable com- monwealth, that she numbers among her founders, men beneath whose rough and home spun hunting shirts resided qualities of heroism which would have made them prominent in Greece and Rome. As the eye wanders along the ser- ried ranks of those stern and iron men, who stand so firm and fearless amid the gloom of the overhanging forest, it is arrested by a commanding form which tow- ers conspicuous among them all-tall, athletic, dignified-a face cast in the finest mould of manly beauty, dark, grave and contemplative, and which, while it evin- ces unyielding fortitude and impenetrable reserve, invites to a confidence which never betrays. Such was Benjamin Logan.

His parents were Irish. When young, they removed to Pennsylvania, and there intermarried. Shortly afterwards they removed to Augusta county, in the then colony of Virginia, where Benjamin Logan was born. At the age of four- teen he lost his father, and found himself prematurely at the head of a large fam- ily. Neither the circumstances of the country, then newly settled, nor the pe cuniary resources of his father, had been favorable to the education of the son ; nor is it to be supposed that the widowed mother had it more in her power, what- ever her inclination might have been, to bestow upon him a literary education. His mind was not only unadorned by science, but almost unaided by letters ; and in his progress through life, he rather studied men than books.

His father died intestate, and as a consequence of the laws then in force, the lands descended to him by right of primogeniture, to the exclusion of his broth- ers and sisters. He did not, however, avail himself of this advantage. but with his mother's consent, sold the land not susceptible of a division, and distributed the proceeds among those whom the law had disinherited. To provide for his mother a comfortable residence, he united his funds to those of one of his broth ers, and with the joint stock purchased another tract of land on a fork of James river, which was secured to the parent during her life, if so long she chose to re- side on it, with the remainder to his brother in fee. Having seen his mother and family comfortably settled, he next determined to provide a home for himself

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LOGAN COUNTY.

He accordingly removed. to the Holston river, purchased lands, married, and commenced farming.

At an early age he had evinced a decided predilection for military life, and when only twenty-one had accompanied Col. Henry Bouquet in his expedition against the Indians of the north, in the capacity of sergeant. In 1774 he was with Dunmore in his expedition to the north-west of Ohio.

In 1775 he determined to come to Kentucky, and accompanied by only two or three slaves, set out to see the lands and make a settlement. In Powell's valley he met with Boone, Henderson and others, also on their way to Kentucky. With them he traveled through the wilderness; but not approving of their plan of set- tlement, he separated from them on their arrival in Kentucky, and turning his course westwardly, after a few days' journey, pitched his camp in the present county of Lincoln, where he afterwards built his fort. Here, during the same year, he and William Galaspy raised a small crop of Indian corn. In the latter end of June he returned to Holston to his family. In the fall of the year he re- moved his cattle and the residue of his slaves to the camp ; and leaving them in the care of Galaspy, returned to his horne alone, with the intention of removing his family. These journeys, attended with considerable peril and privation, evince the hardihood and energy of his mind, as well as his bodily vigor and ac- tivity. He removed his family to Kentucky in 1776.

The year 1776 is memorable in the early history of Kentucky as one of peculiar peril. The woods literally swarmed with the Indians, who seemed ex- cited to desperation by the formation of settlements in their old hunting grounds, and abandoned themselves to the commission of every species of outrage. Savage ingenuity seemed stimulated to the utmost to devise new modes of annoyance to the settlers, and Mr. Logan judged it prudent to place his wife and family be- hind the more secure defences of Harrodsburg, where they would be less ex- posed to danger than in his own remote and comparatively undefended station. He himself remained with his slaves, and attended to the cultivation of his farm. The year passed without his being engaged in any adventure of consequence.

In the spring of the year 1777 Mrs. Logan returned to her husband, and hav- ing been reinforced by the arrival of several white men, he determined to remain and maintain himself at all hazards. His resolution was soon put to the test. On the 20th of May, 1777, one hundred Indians appeared before the fort, and having fired on the garrison, then engaged in the fields, commenced a regular siege. This, in the end, proved to be one of the most determined and well sus- tained investments ever executed by Indian hostility and enterprise. The garri- son were in continual danger for several weeks, and many incidents occurred which even at this distance of time, makes the blood curdle. Never did the high and manly qualities of courage, sagacity and fortitude, for which Mr. Logan was so eminently distinguished, display themselves more gloriously than during those terrible days, when his little garrison was beset for weeks by those howling devils of the forest. A full account of this siege may be found under the head of Lincoln county, to which the reader is referred for particulars.

During this same year, (1777), while on one of his excursions, in search of Indian signs, he discovered a camp of Indians, at the Big Flat lick, about two miles from his station. He immediately returned, and raising a party of men, attacked them with great resolution. The Indians fled, without much loss on their part and none on his. He was again at the same lick,-it being the resort of game as well. as of Indians,-when he received a fire from a concealed party of Indians, which broke his right arm and wounded him slightly in the breast. The savages then rushed upon him, and so near was he falling in their hands, that they at one time had hold of his horse's tail. No sooner had his wounds healed, than he resumed his active course of life-shunning no danger, when to incur it was for the benefit of his country or his friends.

In the year 1779, an expedition was set on foot against the Indian town of Chil- licothe. In this expedition, Logan served as second in command ; Col. Bowman commanded in chief. The detachment amounted to one hundred and sixty men ; consisted entirely of volunteers, accustomed to Indian warfare ; and was well of- ficered, and anxious to meet the enemy. . The following account of the ex- pedition, is from the graphic pen of Mr. McClung-(see his interesting Sketches of Western Adventure, page 113) :

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"They left Harrodsburg in May, and took their preliminary measures so well, that they arrived within a mile of Chillicothe, without giving the slightest alarm to the enemy. Here the detachment halted at an early hour in the night, and, as usual, sent out spies to examine the condition of the village. Before midnight they returned, and reported that the enemy remained unapprised of their being in the neighborhood, and were in the most unmilitary security. The army was in- stantly put in motion. It was determined that Logan, with one half of the men, should turn to the left and march half way around the town, while Bowman, at the head of the remainder, should make a corresponding march to the right; that both parties should proceed in silence, until they had met at the opposite extremity of the village, when, having thus completely encircled it, the attack was to com- mence.

"Logan, who was bravery itself, performed his part of the combined operation, - with perfect order, and in profound silence; and having reached the designated spot, awaited with impatience the arrival of his commander. Hour after hour stole away, but Bowman did not appear. At length daylight appeared. Logan, still expecting the arrival of his colonel, ordered the inen to conceal themselves in the high grass. and await the expected signal to attack. No orders, however, arrived. In the mean time, the men, in shifting about through the grass, alarmed an Indian dog, the only sentinel on duty. He instantly began to bay loudly, and advanced in the direction of the man who had attracted his attention. Presently a solitary Indian left his cabin, and walked cautiously towards the party, halting frequently, rising upon tiptoes, and gazing around him.

"Logan's party lay close, with the hope of taking him without giving the aların ; but at that instant a gun was fired in an opposite quarter of the town, as was afterwards ascertained, by one of Bowman's party, and the Indian, giving one shrill whoop, ran swiftly back to the council house. Concealment was now impossible. Logan's party instantly sprung up from the grass, and rushed upon the village, not doubting for a moment that they would be gallantly supported. As they advanced, they perceived Indians of all ages and of both sexes running to the great cabin, near the centre of the town, where they collected in full force, and appeared determined upon an obstinate defence. Logan instantly took possession of the houses which had been deserted, and rapidly advancing from cabin to cab- in, at length established his detachment within close rifle shot of the Indian re- doubt.

" He now listened impatiently for the firing which should have been heard from the opposite extremity of the town, where he supposed Bowman's party to be, but, to his astonishment, every thing remained quiet in that quarter. In the mean time, his own position had become critical. The Indians had recovered from their panic, and kept up a close and heavy fire upon the cabins which covered his men. He had pushed his detachment so close to the redoubt, that they could neither ad- vance nor retreat without great exposure. The enemy outnumbered him, and gave indications of a disposition to turn both flanks of his position, and thus endanger his retreat.

" Under these circumstances, ignorant of the condition of his commander, and cut off from communication with him, he formed the bold and judicious resolu- tion, to make a moveable breastwork of the planks which formed the floor of the cabins, and, under cover of it, to rush upon the stronghold of the enemy and carry it by main force. Had this gallant determination been carried into effect, and had the movement been promptly seconded, as it ought to have been, by Bowman, the conflict would have been bloody, and the victory decisive. Most probably not an Indian would have escaped, and the consternation which such signal ven- geance would have spread throughout the Indian tribes, might have repressed their incursions for a considerable time. But before the necessary steps could be taken, a messenger arrived from Bowman, with orders 'to retreat !'

" Astonished at such an order, at a time when honor and safety required an of- fensive movement on their part, Logan hastily asked if Bowman had been over- powered by the enemy ? No! Had he ever beheld an enemy .? No! What, then, was the cause of this extraordinary abandonment of a design so prosper- ously begun ? He did not know : the colonel had ordered a retreat ! Logan, however reluctantly, was compelled to obey. A retreat is always a dispiriting movement, and with militia, is almost certain to terminate in a complete rout. As

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soon as the men were informed of the order, a most irregular and tumultuous scene commenced. Not being buoyed up by the mutual confidence which is the offspring of discipline, and which sustains regular soldiers under all circumstan- ces, they no longer acted in concert.

" Each man selected the time, manner, and route of his retreat for himself. Here a solitary Kentuckian would start up from behind a stump, and scud away through the grass, dodging and turning to avoid the balls which whistled around him. There a dozen men would run from a cabin, and scatter in every direction, each anxious to save himself, and none having leisure to attend to his neighbors. The Indians, astonished at seeing men rout themselves in this manner, sallied out of their redoubts and pursued the stragglers, as sportsmen would cut up a flock of wild geese. They soon united themselves to Bowman's party, who, from some unaccountable panic of their commander, or fault in themselves, had stood . stock still near the spot where Logan had left them the night before.

" All was confusion. Some cursed their colonei; some reproached other offi- cers : one shouted one thing ; one bellowed another ; but all seemed to agree that they ought to make the best of their way home, without the loss of a moment's time. By great exertions on the part of Logan, well seconded by Harrod, Bul- ger, and the gallant Major Bedinger, of the Blue Licks, some degree of order was restored, and a tolerably respectable retreat commenced. The Indians, how- ever, soon surrounded them on all sides, and kept up a hot fire, which began to grow fatal. Colonel Bowman appeared quite bewildered, and sat upon his horse as if panic struck, neither giving an order, nor taking any measures to repel the enemy. The sound of the rifle shots had, however, completely restored the men to their senses, and they readily formed in a large hollow square, took trees, and returned the fire with equal vivacity. The enemy were quickly repelled, and the troops recommenced their march.

"But scarcely had they advanced half a mile, when the Indians re-appeared, and again opened a fire upon the front, rear, and both flanks. Again, a square was formed and the enemy repelled ; but scarcely had the harassed troops re- commenced their march, when the same galling fire was opened upon them from every tree, bush and stone, capable of concealing an Indian. Matters now began to look serious. The enemy were evidently endeavoring to detain them, until fresh Indians could come up in sufficient force to compel them to lay down their arms. The men began to be unsteady, and the panic was rapidly spreading from the colonel to the privates. At this crisis, Logan, Harrod, Bedinger, &c., select- ed the boldest and best mounted men, and dashing into the bushes on horseback, scoured the woods in every direction, forcing the Indians from their coverts, and cutting down as many as they could overtake.

"This decisive step completely dispersed the enemy, and the weary and dis- pirited troops continued their retreat unmolested. They lost nine killed and a few others wounded." [See p. 425.]

No other affair of importance occurred, until the rash and disastrous battle of the Blue Licks, in which Logan was unable to participate, although in full march for that place at the head of a well appointed force when he received intelligence of the defeat of his countrymen. He immediately retraced his steps to Bryan 's station, where he remained until the following day, when he proceeded to the bat- tle ground for the purpose of burying the dead. Having performed this duty, he disbanded his men and returned home.

He remained quietly engaged in agricultural pursuits until the summer of 1788, when he conducted an expedition against the north-western tribes, which as usual terminated in burning their villages and cutting up their corn, serving to irritate but not to subdue the enemy.

From this time until the period of his death, General Logan devoted himself to the cultivation of his farm, and engaged actively in the civil and political con- tests which had begun to occupy a large share of public attention. He was a member of the convention of 1792, which formed the first constitution of Ken- tucky, and when in 1799, a convention was called for the purpose.of remodel- ing that instrument, he was a delegate from the county of Shelby, and assisted in the formation of the present constitution. He was repeatedly a member of the State legislature, and it is scarcely necessary to add, stood high in the esteem and confidence of his legislative compeers. After having discharged faithfully and

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with ability all the duties of the man, the soldier, the patriot, and statesman, he died at an advanced age, full of years and full of honors, beloved and mourned by all who knew him. General Logan was the father of the Honorable William Logan, twice a judge of the court of appeals.

Closely connected with the history of General Benjamin Logan is that of a young Indian, distinguished for his high qualities of bravery, generosity, and all those rude virtues which at times impart such nobility to the character of the American aborigines. He was taken prisoner by General Logan in 1786, when a youth. On parting with him to send him back to his people, the general had given him his name, which he retained to the end of his life. Before the treaty of Greenville he had distinguished himself as a warrior, though still very young. His mother was a sister to the celebrated Tecumseh and the Prophet. His death occurred under very tragical circumstances-for an account of which we are indebted to M'Afee's history of the late war.

Shortly after General Tupper's expedition to the Miami Rapids in 1812, Logan was sent by General Harrison with a small party of his tribe to reconnoitre in the direction of the Rapids. He met with a superior force of the enemy near that place, by which he was so closely pursued that his men were obliged to disperse for safety in their retreat. Logan and two of his companions, Captain John and Bright Horn, arrived safe at General Winchester's camp, where he faithfully reported the incidents of the excursion. But there were certain persons in the army who suspected his fidelity, and reproached him with being friendly to and with communicating intelligence to the enemy. The noble spirit of Logan could not endure the ungenerous charge. With the sensibility of a genuine soldier, he felt that his honor should be not only pure and firm, but unsuspected. He did not, however, demand a court of enquiry-following the natural dictate of a bold and generous spirit, he determined to prove by unequivocal deeds of valor and fidelity, that he was calumniated by his accusers.

On the 22d of November, he set out the second time, accompanied by only the two persons before named, determined either to bring in a prisoner or a scalp, or to perish himself in the attempt. When he had gone about ten miles down the north side of the Miami, he met with a British officer, the eldest son of Colonel Elliott, accompanied by five Indians. As the party was too strong for him, and he had no chance to escape, four of them being mounted, he determined to pass them under the disguise of friendship for the British. He advanced with confi- dent boldness and friendly deportment to the enemy-but unfortunately one of them was Winnemac, a celebrated Potaw: tamie chief, to whom the person and character of Captain Logan were perfectly well known. He persisted however in his first determination, and told them he was going to the Rapids to give infor- mation to the British. After conversing some time he proceeded on his way, and Winnemac, with all his companions, turned and went with him. As they trav- eled on together, Winnemac and his party closely watched the others, and when they had proceeded about eight miles, he proposed to the British officer to seize and tie them. The officer replied that they were completely in his power ; that if they attempted to run, they could be shot; or failing in that, the horses could easily run them down. The consultation was overheard by Logan ; he had previously intended to go on peaceably until night, and then make his escape ; but he now formed the bold design of extricating himself by a combat with double his number.

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Collins historical sketches of Kentucky. History of Kentucky: Vol. II, Part 78

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn Publication date: 1874 Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co. Number of Pages: 1654

Author: Collins, Lewis, 1797-1870. cn; Collins, Richard H., 1824-1889. cn
Publication date: 1874
Publisher: Covington, Ky., Collins & Co.
Number of Pages: 1654