USA > Kentucky > Daviess County > History of Daviess County, Kentucky, together with sketches of its cities, villages, and townships, educational religious, civil military, and political history, portraits of prominent persons, biographies of representative citizens, and an outline history of Kentucky > Part 2
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Passing over the visits to different portions of Kentucky in 1758, and again in 1767, the company, headed by Daniel Boone in 1769, and by Knox in 1770, may be regarded as the earliest visits worthy of particular attention. Boone's party remained in the State two years, and the party led by Colonel James Knox came one year later and remained about the same time; the two parties never met. 2
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The bounty in lands which had been given to the Virginia troops who had served throughout the old French war, were to be located upon the Western waters, and within less than two years after the return of Boone and Knox from their long hunting excursion, surveyors were sent out to locate these lands upon the Ohio River. In 1773 Captain Thomas Bullitt led a party of surveyors down the Ohio to the Falls, where a camp was con- structed to protect them from the Indians. Three brothers from Virginia, named McAfee, accompanied him to the mouth of the Kentucky River. In 1775 other parties of surveyors and hunters followed, and during this same year James Harrod erected a log cabin upon the spot where Harrodsburg now stands, which rapidly grew into a station, and is doubtless the oldest in Kentucky. In the spring of 1775 the fort, afterward called Boonesboro, was constructed, and five months from that time Boone's wife and daughters joined him and resided in the fort, -the first white women that ever stood upon the banks of the Kentucky River. In 1775 the renowned pioneer, Simon Kenton, erected a log cabin, and raised a crop of corn near the spot where the town of Washington now stands. In the spring of 1776 Colonel Benjamin Logan brought his wife and family to Logan's Fort, about one mile west of the present town of Stanford, in Lincoln County. During this year Colonel George Rogers Clark for the first time made his ap- pearance in Kentucky. He visited different stations, but made no location.
In the winter of 1776 Kentucky was formed into a county by the Legislature of Virginia, and thus became entitled to a separate County Court, justices of the peace, sheriff, constables, coroner, and militia officers. In the spring of 1777 the Court of Quarter Sessions held its first sitting at Harrodsburg, attended by the sheriff of the county and its Clerk, Levi Todd. The first court of Kentucky was composed of John Todd, John Floyd, Benjamin Logan, Jolin Bowman, and Richard Calloway.
The year 1778 was rendered memorable by two great military events. One was the invasion of the country by an army fof Indians and Canadians under the command of Captain Du Quesne, a Canadian officer, which proved unsuccessful, and the other was the brilliant expedition of Colonel George Rogers Clark against the English posts at Vincennes and Kaskaskia.
The year 1779 was marked by three events. About the first of April a solitary block house was erccted by Robert Patterson npon
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the spot where the city of Lexington now stands; the unfortunate expedition of Colonel Bowman against the Indian town of Chilli- cothe was undertaken and carried out, which resulted in total fail- ure; and the celebrated land law of Kentucky was passed by the Kentucky Legislature. This law was well intended. and the settle- ment and pre-emption features were just and liberal. The defect was the neglect of Virginia to provide for the general survey of the country at the expense of the Government, and its subdivisions into whole, half, and quarter sections, as is now done by the United States.
The year 1780 was distinguished by the vast number of emi- grants who crowded to Kentucky for the purpose of locating land warrants. Indian hostility was proportionably active, and a for- midable expedition, consisting of Indians and English, under Colonel Bird, threatened Kentucky with .destruction; and for the first time cannon were employed against the stockade forts of Kentucky. In November of this year Kentucky was divided into three counties, to which the names of Fayette, Jefferson and Lin- coln were given. They had now three County Courts, three Courts of Common Law and Chancery Jurisdiction, and a host of magistrates and constables. No court, capable of trying capital offenses, existed nearer than Richmond.
The year 1781 was distinguished by a very large immigration, by prodigious activity in land speculation, and by the frequency of Indian inroads in small parties. In May a party of Wyandots invaded Kentucky, and committed shocking depredations in the neighborhood of Estill's Station. Captain Estill collected a party . of equal force and pursued them rapidly; but he was totally over- powered by the Indians, and himself and nearly all his officers were killed.
A party of Wyandots, consisting of twenty men, encountered Captain Holder, at the head of seventeen Kentuckians, and de- feated hini with loss.
But these small parties were the mere pattering drops of hail which preceded the tempest. In the month of August an army of 500 Indian warriors, composed of detachments from all the Northwestern tribes, traversed the northern part of Kentucky. and appeared before Bryan's Station very unexpectedly. The gar- rison took prompt measures to repel the enemy. The alarm was given to neighboring stations, while those who remained gave a bloody repulse to the only assault which the Indians ventured to
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makeupon the fort. The enemy became discouraged, and re - treated to the Lower Blue Lick. By noon the next day 160 men had assembled at Bryan's Station, eager to encounter the invad - ers. Colonels Todd, Trigg, and Daniel Boone, Majors Harlan, McBride and Levi Todd, Captains Bulger and Gordon, with forty- five other commissioned officers, including the celebrated McGary, assembled in council and hastily determined to pursue the enemy without waiting for Colonel Logan, who was known to be collect- ing a strong force at Lincoln, and who might be expected to join them in twenty-four hours. The pursuit was keen and bloody, the Indians coming out victorions. Todd, Trigg, Harlan, McBride, Bulger and Gordon were killed on the field of battle. Sixty offi- cers and men were killed, and seven prisoners were taken. The number of wounded was never ascertained. Some of the fugitives returned to Bryan's Station the night after the battle, and were there met by Colonel Logan at the head of 450 men, who continued his march to the battle-ground. The bodies of the dead were col- lected and interred, and, having satisfied himself that the Indians had crossed the Ohio, he returned to Bryan's Station and disbanded his troops.
It was an established custom in Kentucky at that time never to suffer an Indian invasion to go unpunished, but to retaliate upon their villages and corn-fields the havoc which their own settle- ments had experienced. Colonel George Rogers Clark led his regiment of State troops against the Indian villages in Ohio, and invited the militia of Kentucky to join him. One thousand rifle- men responded to the call, and rendezvoused at the month of the Licking, under the command of Clark. They penetrated into the heart of the Indian country, and reduced their towns to ashes, and laid waste the whole country with unsparing severity. Hav- ing completely destroyed everything within their reach, the de- tachment returned to Kentucky.
In the spring of 1783 Kentucky was erected into a district, and a Court of Criminal as well as Civil Jurisdiction was formed. The court held its first session in Harrodsburg in the spring of 1783, and was opened by John Floyd and Samuel McDowell, as Judges, John May, Clerk, and Walker Daniel, Prosecuting Attorney. Seventeen culprits were presented by the grand jury. During the summer a log court-house and jail of "hewed or sawed logs nine inches thick" was erected on the spot where Danville now stands. Peace followed in 1783, and Indian hostilities were for a time
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suspended. In the summer of 1784, some depredations were com- mitted by the Indians upon the southern frontier, and Colonel Ben- jamin Logan received intelligence that a serious invasion was contemplated. Upon an examination of the laws then in existence, the most eminent lawyers decided that no expedition could lawfully and effectually be carried out against the Indian tribes; the power of impressment had ceased with the war, and in a state of peace could not legally be exercised. There was no power known to the law capable of calling forth the resources of the country, however imminent the danger; all of their legislation car a from Richmond, distant many hundred miles, and separated from Kentucky by desert mountains and interminable forests traversed by roving tribes of Indians. The necessity of a government independent of Virginia was deeply and almost unanimously felt. Several conventions were held, numerous addresses were sent to the Virginia Legislature, before any action was taken up on the subject. It was not until several years of hard labor, indomitable perseverance and determined efforts upon the part of Kentucky's noble leaders that she was at last separated from her parent State and admitted into the Union. In December, 1790, President Washington strongly recommended her admission to Congress, and on the 4th of February, 1791, an act for that purpose had passed both Houses and received the signature of the President. In April, 1791, a convention assembled at Danville and formed the first Constitution of Kentucky. This Constitution abandoned the aristocratic features of Virginia so far as representation by counties was concerned, and established numbers as the basis. Suffrage was universal, and sheriff's were elected triennially by the people. The Executive, Senate and Judiciary were entirely removed from the direct control of the people. The Governor was chosen by electors, who were elected by the people for that purpose every fourth year. The members of the Senate were appointed by the same electoral college which chose the President, and might be selected indifferently from any part of the State. The Judiciary were appointed as at present, and held their offices during good behavior. The Supreme Court, however, had original and final jurisdiction in all land cases. The Constitution was adopted and the officers elected in May, 1792. Isaac Shelby, a brave officer who had served in the Revolutionary war, was elected Governor; Alexander Bullitt was chosen Speaker of the Senate, and Robert Breckenridge, of the House of Representatives; James Brown was
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the first Secretary of State, and George Nicholas the first Attorney General. John Brown and John Edwards were elected, by joint ballot, Senators to Congress; Frankfort was fixed upon as the future seat of Government. During its first session, the Legislature was engaged in organizing the Government. Acts passed estab- lishing the Supreme Court, County Court and Court of Justice. Taxes were imposed upon land, cattle, carriages, billiard tables, ordinary licenses and retail stores.
In the meantime Indian depredations were incessant, and Gen- eral Washington, to the infinite distress of Kentucky, persevered in the employment of a regular force in the Northwest instead of mounted militia. St. Clair was superseded and General Wayne became his successor. A regular force aided by militia was again organized, and a final effort made to crush the hostile tribes. Indian murders increased; boats were intercepted at every point on the Ohio, from the mouth of the Kanawha to Louisville, and in some cases their crews murdered. Stations upon the frontiers were boldly attacked, and were kept perpetually on the alert. Yet the President was compelled by public opinion in the East to make another effort for peace with these enraged tribes, and all hostility from Kentucky was strictly forbidden.
But these efforts were as fruitless as all former ones had proven to be, and in the summer of 1793 preparations for another cam- paign against the Indians was urged by the President. A powerful regular force had been concentrated at Cincinnati, and a requi- sition on Governor Shelby was made for 1,000 mounted riflemen. None would volunteer, and a draft was resorted to.
In the following spring 1,500 volunteers took the field with alacrity, under the command of General Scott, and joined the regu- lar force under Wayne. That intrepid commander marched into the heart of the hostile country, and on the 20th of August at- tacked them in a formidable position near the rapids of the Miami. A bloody battle was fought, in which the enemy was completely routed. Never was victory more complete. This brilliant suc- cess was followed by the most decisive results. A treaty was made with the hostile tribes, which was observed until the war of 1812.
In October, 1795, a treaty with Spain was concluded, by which the right to navigate the Mississippi to the ocean was conceded to the United States, together with a right of deposit at New Orleans, which embraced all that Kentucky desired.
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In 1802 Kentucky, in common with the whole Western country, was thrown into a ferment by the suspension of the American right of deposit at New Orleans, which had been guaranteed for three years, with the further provision, that at the end of three years, should the right of this deposit be withheld, some other place should be afforded near the mouth of that river. The right was refused by Morales, the Spanish Intendant, and no equivalent place of deposit was granted. The excitement increased when it was understood that Louisiana had been ceded to France, and that this important point was held by Napoleon, then First Consul of the republic. A motion was made in the Senate of the United States to authorize President Jefferson to take and hold possession of New Orleans; but milder counsels prevailed, and Mr. Monroe was dispatched to France in order to arrange this difficulty with the Consul. The American Minister expected to negotiate for a place of deposit at the mouth of the river, and was informed that for the trifling sum of 15,000,000 francs he could purchase a magnificent empire. No time was lost in closing this extraordinary sale; and thus the first great annexation of territory to the United States was accomplished.
No circumstances of domestic interest claim the attention of the historian, except the trial of Aaron Burr for itreason (a brief out- line of which is given in the biography of Jo Daveiss, in the chap- ter entitled "Sketches of Public Men"), until the war which broke out between the United States and Great Britain in 1812. The general history of that war belongs to the history of the United States, but no history of Kentucky, however brief and general, can pass unnoticed those stirring incidents in the Northwest and South- west, in which Kentucky acted so prominent a part.
The victory gained by the Americans at the battle of Tippe- canoe, which took place in Indiana the year previous, insured peace only a short time, as the schemes of the British had so far ripened as to compel the United States to again declare war against them. This war was declared June 18, 1812. The Indians imme- diately commenced to commit depradations, and during the snm- mer of 1813 several points along the lake region succumbed to the British.
The first events of the war, upon land, were such as might naturally be expected from a nation essentially pacific, mercantile and agricultural. An invasion of Upper Canada by Hull resulted in the surrender of his army, and the loss of the whole Territory of
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Michigan. An attempt to invade Canada upon the Niagara fron- tier resulted in a total failure, attended with some disgrace and an immense clamor. By the loss of Michigan, all American control over the numerous tribes of Indians of the Northwest was lost, and they poured down from the great lakes upon our extended frontier in great numbers. The war spirit in Kentucky blazed forth with unprecedented vigor. Seven thousand volunteers at once offered their services to the Government, and 1,500 were on the march to Detroit, when the intelligence of Hull's surrender induced them to halt. This disastrous news was received with a burst of in- dignant fury, such as no event ever excited in Kentucky. The mili- tary ardor of the men seemed rather increased than diminished, and a call of the Governor for 1,500 volunteers, to march against the Indian villages of Northern Illinois, was answered by more than 2,000 volunteers, who assembled at Louisville under General Hopkins, and inarched into the Indian country, until their provis- ions became scarce, and their ardor had become cooled by the protracted hardships they had endured, when, without having en- countered the enemy, they suddenly abandoned their General and returned home in defiance of all remonstrances. The remainder of the Kentucky volunteers were placed under the orders of Gen- eral Harrison, the Governor of Indiana Territory, and afterward elected to the Presidency. This gentleman had fought many successful battles, and the last act of Governor Scott's administra- tion was to confer upon him the rank of Major-General in the Ken- tucky militia, and shortly after the same rank was given him by the President, in the regular service, with the chief command in the Northwest.
The plan of the campaign, as laid at Washington City, was to assemble under the General the militia of Ohio, Kentucky, Vir- ginia and Pennsylvania, witli such regular troops as could be raised, to retake Detroit, overawe the Northwestern tribes, and conquer Upper Canada. The Secretary of War evidently regarded this as a very simple undertaking, and the autumn and winter of 1812-'13 was spent in unsuccessful efforts to carry out this plan. The face of the country presented obstacles to the march of an army with necessary baggage and supplies, which the Secretary seems to have overlooked. The command of the lake was entirely overlooked, and was in the possession of the enemy. Volunteers were furnished in great numbers; they were full of courage and ardently desired to fight. The Government was anxious to furnish
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everything necessary, but every department was inefficient and inexperienced; blunders, delays and disappointments occurred without number; the ardor of the volunteers expended itself in inglorious struggles with hunger, disease, intolerable hardships and privations, and one of the finest of the Kentucky regiments, commanded by the brave and unfortunate Allen, was with much difficulty restrained from disbanding and returning home. The money expended in efforts to drag provisions and ammunition through a marshy wilderness of nearly 200 miles, would have equipped a fleet sufficient to maintain the command of the lake, and the sums wasted in the Quartermaster's department would nearly have furnished transports for a sufficient force to have seized Malden. But the campaign was planned as though the swampy wilderness was a high and healthy region, traversed by the best turnpike roads; and the Secretary seemed ignorant that such a body of water as Lake Erie was in existence.
After untold hardships, forced marches through horrible roads, sometimes upon half rations, Jan. 1 found the army with the left wing at Fort Defiance, under General Winchester, and the right at Upper Sandusky, under Harrison. The left wing was composed almost entirely of Kentucky volunteers, and the right of militia from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The object was to ad- vance to the Rapids, thence to make a march upon Detroit. The left wing took the lead and reached the Rapids on the 10th, where they halted to wait the arrival of General Harrison. On the 14th they received intelligence that two companies of Canadian militia and about 200 Indians were at Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, and in- stantly a burning thirst for battle seized both officers and soldiers. Frenchtown was abont thirty-eight miles from the Rapids, and only eighteen miles from the British garrison of Malden. The lake was frozen hard, and the march over the ice from Malden could be made in a few hours. The British could in a short time throw 2,000 men upon Frenchtown, and no support was nearer than Up- per Sandusky, at least five days march distant. Yet a detachment of 990 Kentucky militia was thrust forward within the very jaws of the British garrison, to strike at this detachment of Indians aud Canadians. Colonel Lewis commanded the detachment, and under him were Colonel Allen, Majors Graves and Madison.
The battle was fonghit on the 18th of January. Major Reynolds commanded the British and made a spirited defense, but was driven from all his defenses, under a continual charge, for more than two
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miles, with some loss. Prompt intelligence of the action was sent to General Winchester on the night after the battle, and on that even- ing he commenced his march with a reinforcement of 250 regulars under Colonel Wells, leaving 300 men to guard the camp. He reached- Frenchtown the evening of the 20th, and found Colonel Lewis still in possession of the town. On the evening of the 21st General Win- chester learned that a large force was at Malden, apparently preparing for a march-yet he slighted the intelligence, and on that evening gave permission to Colonel Wells to return to the Rapids and fixed his own headquarters nearly a mile from the camp, at the house of Colo- nel Navarre. At daylight the next morning the camp was suddenly attacked by about 2,000 British and Indians in two divisions. The British regulars under Proctor advanced against the picketing, andu nder a heavy fire'of cannon and musketry. They were re- ceived by the Kentuckians with a torrent of fire which did vast exe- cution. Thirty of the British regulars fell dead within musket-shot of the lines, and three times that number of wounded were borne to the rear. The anrvivors retreated in great disorder. In the meantime the Indians and Canadians attacked Wells' regiment, and after a brief action this regiment gave way in confusion. Win- chester came up from his distant quarters in time to witness the flight of the regiment, and strove to rally it within cover of the pick- eting occupied by the Kentuckians, but the panic was so complete that no order could be heard, and these unhappy men fled through a deep snow along the road by which they had advanced from the Rapids thirty-six hours before. They were pursued by four times their number of Indians, and an indiscriminate and almost total butchery ensned. Colonels Allen and Lewis exerted them- selves bravely to rally and re-form the fugitives, but Allen was killed and Lewis taken, as was also the Commander-in-chief. Many Kentuckians united in the effort to rally the fugitives and bring them within the shelter of the picketing, among whom were Wool- folk, Simpson and Meade, all of whom were killed. Scarcely a man of the fugitives escaped death or captivity, and not a Kentuckian who had sallied from the picketings returned.
While this dreadful butchery was enacted within sight and hear- ing of both armies, the Kentuckians, now commanded by Majors Madison and Graves, remained within their enclosure, and for four hours kept the enemy at bay. During this time six field pieces played upon them incessantly, and at length their ammuni- tion was reduced to a single keg of cartridges. Proctor then snin-
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moned them, through General Winchester, to surrender, offering honorable conditions and ample protection to the wounded. After considerable parley the terms were accepted, and the whole de- tachment became prisoners of war. The conditions were faithfully kept so far as men and officers were concerned, but inhumanly violated with regard to the wounded. These wereleft in Frenchtown, without a guard, as had been stipulated, under the care of the American surgeons, attended by a single British officer and a few interpreters. A number of drunken Indians entered the town on the morning after the battle, and the helpless wounded were mur- dered with circumstances of shocking barbarity. The wounded officers, Major Graves, Captains Hart and Hickman, were toma- hawked, and two houses, crowded with wounded officers and men, were set on fire, and consumed, with their helpless inmates. This. dreadful crime is chargeable to the gross negligence, if not willful connivance, of Proctor, and is an indelible stain upon the honor of the British arms.
The brave and veteran Shelby had succeeded Scott as Governor of Kentucky, and, upon the intelligence of the dreadful disaster at Raisin, was authorized and requested by the Legislature of Ken- tucky, to take the field in person, at the head of the reinforce- ments which volunteered their services in profusion, to supply the places of their countrymen who had fallen, or been led into cap- tivity. Four regiments instantly tendered their services, com- manded by the Colonels Dudley, Boswell, Cox and Caldwell, the. whole forming a strong brigade nnder General Clay. A portion of this force was pushed forward by forced marches, to reinforce Harrison, who was now nearly destitute of troops (the term of service having expired), and was lying at the Rapids, exposed to a coup de main from the enemy, who lay within striking distance at Malden, and might by a little 'activity repeat the terrible blow of the Raisin, upon the banks of the Maumee. The war had not lasted six months, there was but one regular British regiment in Upper Canada, and the United States had already lost the whole Territory of Michigan, and instead of taking the offensive, was occupying a weak, defensive position, within her own territory, the enemy being strongest upon the point of operation, and having complete command of the lake.
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