USA > Kentucky > The history of Kentucky, from its earliest discovery and settlement, to the present date, V. 1 > Part 29
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"The barrier of the river in front had been abandoned. The flanking hills and the narrow ford, that forbade attack so long as the river inter- vened, could no longer afford protection to the little band.
"The river and its difficult passage was now in their rear. No kindly shelter covered either flank. In front was the rocky acclivity rising with rugged ascent to the point where the buffalo-trace disappeared over the hill- top, its nakedness relieved only by the thick-branched and stunted cedars, that made it the more difficult to surmount.
"To recross the river was impossible. McGary's insubordination had so infected the men that it was not to be thought of. To remain in the new position was madness, even had the contest been one of equal numbers. No choice was left but to advance to where fortune should offer a new and safer halting-place. With customary prudence, Boone advised a careful examination toward the front. The bold men sent forward to reconnoiter passed up the ridge, inspecting as they went either side of the road. They examined with care those converging ravines, and the narrow way between them at the crest. Still further they went, until they had explored a half
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
mile or more beyond. They were faithful men and brave; they were chosen because of their experience. How came it that they made report that no- enemy was to be found?
"Girty handled his Indians with ability and firmness. His clear judg- ment appreciated the prospect for a victory that the locality afforded him. He had enough of authority to cause his Indians to fall back noiselessly and rapidly on either side-back from the sides of the trace and from the ravines, into the dense and secure cover of the adjoining hills. There they lay in perfect silence and secrecy while the reconnaissance was made. As the scouts passed in return toward the river, the Indians, in perfect order and in dead silence, moved back to their chosen positions.
" It was a masterly move, most difficult of performance, and most com- pletely executed. It stamps Girty as a soldier, and his powers of command as extraordinary.
"The report of the reconnoitering party was explicit and satisfactory. All had right to accept it; none discredited it. Even Boone's caution. seems to have been satisfied, and his apprehension allayed. The advance commenced.
"Ranged in a single line, its center pursuing the trace, while on either hand the flanks extended beyond it, the little army was told off into three- divisions. Boone was on the left, there toward the west, and with him Patterson; 1 Trigg was on the right, and with him the Harrodsburg men ;. Todd remained in the center in general command, while Major McGary had charge of that part of the line. In front of all, Harlan, with twenty- five mounted men, moved up the trace as an advanced guard. The difficult march up the hill continued until Harlan had reached the crest, where the ravines converge. The main body was just surmounting the slope. The Kentuckians were well within the net, and the murderous fire began.
"The Indians, from their secure cover, and at short range, began their battle on the right. Trigg and nearly all the men from Harrodsburg fell in a brief space. Instantly Harlan was fired upon from both flanks, and he and all his men but three were killed. The sudden and effective fire of the enemy checked the advance and threw the line into confusion. Girty instantly extended his line, and turned the flank where Trigg had fallen, and the Indians in overpowering numbers rushed forward with tomahawk and rifle.
"The resistance was desperate but hopeless. Todd rallied his men with voice and example. His white horse made him a conspicuous mark, and it was not many minutes before he received a death-shot through the body. Mounting again, careless of his mortal wound, he renewed his effort to hold the men around the spot where Boone was still contending on the left. But the day was lost. He was seen to reel in his saddle, the blood gushing from his wounds, and he fell.
: Colonel Patterson's Journal.
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COURAGE OF NETHERLAND.
"The defeat became a rout. As may well be seen, the place afforded no shelter for a defeated force. The only hope of safety was in recrossing the river and regaining the ground which had been so rashly abandoned. Last to leave the field was Boone and his young son, mortally wounded, and borne in his father's arms until death ended his agonies."
1 Several hundred Indians were between him and the ford, to which the great mass of the fugitives were bending their flight, and to which the atten- tion of the savages was principally directed. Being intimately acquainted with the ground, he, together with a few friends, dashed into the ravine which the Indians had occupied, but which most of them had now left to join in the pursuit. After sustaining one or two heavy fires, and baffling one or two small parties who pursued him for a short distance, he crossed the river below the ford by swimming, and entering the woods at a point where there was no pursuit, returned by a circuitous route to Bryan's station. In the meantime, the great mass of the victors and vanquished crowded the bank of the ford.
The slaughter was great in the river. The ford was crowded with horse- men and foot and Indians, all mingled together. Some were compelled to seek a passage above by swimming; some, who could not swim. were over- taken and killed at the edge of the water. A man named Netherland, who had formerly been strongly suspected of cowardice, here displayed a cool- ness and presence of mind equally noble and unexpected. Being finely mounted, he had outstripped the great mass of the fugitives and crossed the river in safety. A dozen or twenty horsemen followed him, and, having placed the river between them and the enemy, showed a disposition to con- tinue their flight, without regard to the safety of their friends who were on foot and still struggling with the current.
Netherland instantly checked his horse, and, in a loud voice, called upon his companions to halt, fire upon the Indians, and save those who were still in the stream. The party instantly obeyed; and, facing about, poured a close and fatal discharge of rifles upon the foremost of the pur- suers. The enemy instantly fell back from the opposite bank, and gave time for the harassed and miserable footmen to cross in safety. The check, however, was but momentary. Indians were seen crossing in great numbers above and below, and the flight again became general. Most of the foot left the great buffalo track, and, plunging into the thickets, escaped by a circuitous route to Bryan's station.
But little loss was sustained after crossing the river, although the pursuit was urged keenly for twenty miles. From the battle-ground to the ford the loss was very heavy.
2 An instance of generous self-sacrifice for a friend, which took place on the retreat, is worthy of historic mention here, from its intrinsic moral beauty and for the relief it affords from the repulsive tale of slaughter. Colonel
1 McClung's Sketches.
2 Marshall, pp. 137-143.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
Patterson relates the facts in his journal, recently found at Dayton, Ohio: "Having a number of our best men and officers killed and wounded, and the enemy continuing firm and fast turning our right, we were ordered to fall back slowly, and return their fire to hold them in check, so as to gain and cross the river. By the time we got within one hundred yards of the bank, and that much below the ford, fifteen of the retreating men, together with the writer, could see no way of escaping, yet trying and defending ourselves, the enemy being on every side except the river. At this critical moment Aaron Reynolds rode up to me on horseback, and without asking if I would accept, he dismounted on the right side, saying, 'Get on and make your escape.' I mounted, and he, with others, ran into the river and made his- escape with some of the others, while I rode directly to the ford, passing by two Indians who were behind a tree close to the river, and I was the last of our men that did get across the river.
"I directly fell in with some of our men and a wounded man on horse- back held on by another, who rode behind him, and continued with them. some time, directing them the route to take in order to shun the enemy. Thus making toward the road, two Indians had got abreast of me; the one on horseback dismounted and shot at me at about fifty yards distant, but missed his mark. and I kept on and arrived at home the next day ; but Aaron Reynolds had arrived before I did, and related how he had furnished me with his horse on the retreat, but was not credited, and I was considered among the slain; but my arrival confirmed the story, and I, with all who heard the story, thought it incredible that a man unhurt and well mounted would, without solicitation, calmly dismount and give up his horse. History scarcely furnishes a parallel. At this distant time, in looking back, I con- sider it like Aaron Reynolds giving his life to save mine. The first opportunity I had, in the presence of others, I asked him what was his- motive in giving up his horse. His answer was then, and he repeated the same to others afterward, that from the time I reproved him for swear- ing (done some months before), he felt a singular and continued attachment. for me. As to making my escape, in the most favorable situation of an active body it would have been very doubtful. while I, having been some years before severely wounded, was rendered still more unable to have made my escape; and I look upon it as certain that but for the above interposi- tion of Divine mercy. the bones that are now writing this narrative would have lain among stones that cover the earth on the bare hill about the Blue Licks, with those of many more who never were buried.
"Aaron Reynolds, having safely recrossed the river, sat down on a log to adjust his moccasins ; and, being thus hastily and busily engaged with his head down, before he had any notice of their approach, two Indians had fast hold of him, and, taking his rifle from him, one held him while the other went after another man who was then in view, but trying to escape. Reynolds, seeing the frizen of the Indian's gun up, supposed that it was not loaded;
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LOGAN ARRIVES WITH RE-ENFORCEMENTS.
he sprang from his grasp and made his escape through the underbrush, and to the discomfiture of his dusky guard."
The loss in this battle was heavier than had been experienced in any contest that had ever taken place with the savages on Kentucky soil before, and carried distress and mourning into almost half the homes in Kentucky. Of the one hundred and eighty men engaged, sixty were killed and seven taken prisoners. Colonels Todd and Trigg were especially deplored for their eminent social and private, as well as their public, worth. Of Major Harlan, it was the common sentiment that no officer was braver and none more beloved in the field.
The action of Major McGary in precipitating the battle seems unpar- donably reckless. It is due to his memory to say that he is reported to have counseled a delay at Bryan's until Logan could arrive with his power- ful re-enforcement. This was tauntingly rejected by others superior in command, on the plea that such delay would enable the Indians to place themselves over the Ohio river before they could be overtaken. The impetuous McGary fiercely resented the taunt, and, in a spirit of retalia- tion, determined to force the battle at the hazard of any consequence to his country. The inconsiderate rashness was atoned for in the fearful sacrifice. His excuses severely condemn but offer no mitigation for his folly.
While all this was happening, Logan's command of nearly four hundred men were pushing forward, within less than a day's march of the fated field of battle. The vanguard of this force had passed Bryan's, on its way in pursuit, when it was met by the fugitives with the full intelligence of the disaster. They fell back on Bryan's until the rear came up, and then, late in the evening, began a march for the battle-ground to meet the enemy, if there; if not, to bury the dead. At noon the next day, they arrived at the spot. The savages were gone, and only the dead bodies of the slain com- rades, some mangled by tomahawk and scalping-knife, some torn by wild beasts, and others the prey of vultures, signalized the carnage of the 19th. Each man had his friends and kindred among the slain, and sought them for the solemn rites of burial, and for some memento of recognition for the disconsolate at home.
1 There was a traditional report commonly credited, the authority for which is sustained by Boone in his autobiography, that the Indians, on counting the dead on either side, found four more of their number slain than of the whites, and, therefore, ordered four of their prisoners out of seven to be murdered in a very barbarous manner, to make the loss of life even. The remaining prisoners, Yocum. Rose, and McMurtry, were borne across the river and subjected to incredible hardships, being forced to run the gauntlet several times. They were at last condemned and tied to the stake, and the fagots kindled to burn them. A furious storm of thunder and lightning, with rain, came on just in time to quench the fire and save
I Boone's Narrative.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
them. The savages believed the offended Great Spirit to have interposed, and, struck with awe and reverence, dared not rekindle the fire. There- after they were treated more kindly.
The main body of the Indian army recrossed the Ohio with a few prisoners, many scalps, and some booty; but some of the allies, taking their route through the settlements in Jefferson county, could not forego the temptation to increase their scalps and prisoners. Their sign was seen before they struck the intended victims a blow. From Collins we learn that :
"Intelligence was promptly communicated to Colonel Floyd, who in- stantly ordered out a party of militia to scour the country where the savages were suspected to be lurking. Some of the party were from Kincheloe's station, on Simpson's creek, in Spencer county, which consisted of six or seven families. On the Ist of September, the militia, unable to discover any Indians, dispersed and returned to their homes. There had been no alarm at Kincheloe's station during the absence of the men, and upon reaching home late in the evening, greatly fatigued and without appre- hension of danger, they retired to rest. At the dead hour of night, when the inmates of the station were wrapt in the most profound sleep, the In- dians made a simultaneous attack upon the cabins of the station, and, breaking open the doors, commenced an indiscriminate massacre of men, women, and children. The unconscious sleepers were awakened but to be cut down, or to behold their friends fall by their side. A few only, availing themselves of the darkness of the night, escaped the tomahawk or captivity. Among those who effected their escape was Mrs. Davis, whose husband was killed, and another woman whose name is not given. They fled to the woods, where they were fortunately joined by a lad by the name of Ash, who conducted them to Cox's station.
"William Harrison, after placing his wife and a young woman of the. family, under the floor of the cabin, made his escape under cover of the darkness. He remained secreted in the neighborhood until he was satisfied the Indians had retired, when he returned to the cabin and liberated his wife and her companion front their painful situation.
"Thomas Randolph occupied one of the small cabins, with his wife and two children, one an infant. The Indians succeeded in breaking into his house, and, although they outnumbered him four or five to one, he stood by his wife and children with heroic firmness. He had succeeded in killing several Indians, when his wife and the infant in her arms were both mur- dered by his side. He instantly placed his remaining child in the loft, then mounting himself, made his escape through the roof. As he alighted on the ground from the roof of the cabin, he was assailed by two of the savages whom he had just forced out of the house. With his knife he inflicted a severe wound upon one, and gave the other a stunning blow with the empty gun, when they both retreated. Freed from his foes, he snatched up his
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KINDNESS OF AN INDIAN.
child, plunged into the surrounding forest, and was soon beyond the reach of danger.
"Several women and children were cruelly put to death after they were made prisoners, on the route to the Indian towns. On the second day of her captivity, Mrs. Bland, one of the prisoners, made her escape in the bushes. Totally unacquainted with the surrounding country, and destitute of a guide, for eighteen successive days she rambled through the woods, without seeing a human face, without clothes, and subsisting upon sour grapes and green walnuts, until she became a walking skeleton. On the eighteenth day she was accidentally discovered and taken to Linn's station, where, by kind attention and careful nursing, her health and strength were soon restored."
The situation of Mrs. Polk, another prisoner, with four children, was not less pitiable. She was in a state of extreme delicate health, and com- pelled to walk until she became almost incapable of motion. She was then threatened with death, and the tomahawk brandished over her head by a ferocious Indian, when another, who saw it, interposed and begged her life, took her in his care, mounted her on a horse, with two of her children, and conducted her safely to Detroit. Here she was purchased by a British trader, well treated, and permitted to write to her husband, who was absent from the station at the time of her capture. On receipt of her letter, he immediately repaired to Detroit, obtained his wife and five children, and returned with them safe to Kentucky. After the peace of the ensuing year, the other prisoners were also liberated and returned home.
The deadly fight of Estill near Mount Sterling, Holder's defeat, the siege at Bryan's, Blue Licks, Kincheloe's, and other scenes of conflict, evinced the aggressive temper of the Indians for the year 1782.
The catastrophe of Blue Licks bore with it a profound significance, far beyond the ordinary wage of the battle itself. The terminus of the Revo- lutionary war in view, and peace assured, the transmontane Americans plausibly hoped for an era of undisturbed security, and of domestic tran- quillity, which, since their first advent to the forest wilds, had been denied them. Surely, in good faith would the English aim to establish amicable relations upon the borders; and now that all motive to incite the Indians to indiscriminate murder and pillage of the whites was apparently removed, the savages would find it to their best interests to cultivate the friendship of the Kentuckians. As is well said by an able authority : 1
"The spring of the year 1782 opened upon what, indeed, seemed an era of prosperity and security for the West. The surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in the preceding autumn had ended the War of Independence. Peace with England brought with it a recognized American title to the great North-west as far as the lakes and beyond Detroit. The splendid dream of Clark, which none but Jefferson seemed fully to comprehend, was fulfilled
I Colonel Brown's oration at Blue Licks.
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HISTORY OF KENTUCKY.
in the cession of an empire. Strong men had come in numbers to seek fortune and adventure in the brakes and forests of Kentucky. Brave women encountered the hardships of the frontier, and followed husbands and fathers into the wilderness. Families had been established, and children had been born to the pioneers. Already was cradled the generation of Kentucky riflemen destined to crush, in after years, the great confederation of Tecumseh, and to assure the northern boundary of the Union."
The hope of peace seemed to wither in the budding over the invasion of Girty's army and the dire results. It was well nigh an agony of suspense, as anguish and wail went up from bereaved hearts in almost every cabin in the bluegrass of Kentucky. The feeling akin to despair followed the reaction from buoyant hope to sorrowful disappointment.
The following memorial letter, of date September 11th, was addressed to Governor Harrison, of Virginia : 1
"The officers, civil as well as military, of this county, beg the attention of your Excellency and the honorable council. The number of the enemy that lately penetrated into our county, their behavior, and, adding to this, our late unhappy defeat at the Blue Licks, fill us with the greatest concern and anxiety. The loss of our worthy officers and soldiers who fell there, the 19th of August, we sensibly feel, and deem our situation truly alarming. We can scarcely behold a spot of earth but what reminds us of the fall of some fellow-adventurer massacred by savage hands. Our number of militia decreases. Our widows and orphans are numerous; our officers and worthiest men fall a sacrifice. In short, sir, our settlement, hitherto formed at the expense of treasure and much blood, seems to decline, and, if some- thing is not speedily done, we doubt not will wholly be depopulated. The executive, we believe, thinks often of us, and wishes to protect us; but, sir, we believe that any military operations that for eighteen months have been carried on, in consequence of orders from the executive, have rather been detrimental than beneficial. Our militia are called on to do duty in a matter that has a tendency to protect Jefferson county, or rather Louisville, a town without inhabitants, and a fort situated in such a manner that an enemy coming with a design to lay waste our country would scarcely come within one hundred miles of it, and our own frontiers open and unguarded. Our inhabitants are discouraged. It is now near two years since the division of the county, and no surveyor has ever appeared among us but has, by appointment from time to time, deceived us. Our principal expectation of strength is from him. During his absence from the county, claimants of land disappear, when, if otherwise, they would prove a source of additional strength.
"We entreat the executive to examine into the cause and remove it speedily. If it is thought impracticable to carry the war into the enemy's country, the plan of building a garrison at the mouth of Limestone and
1 Virginia Calendar, Vol III., p. 301.
1
بحلاة
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LOGAN'S LETTER TO GOVERNOR HARRISON.
another at the mouth of Licking, formerly prescribed by your Excellency, might be again adopted and performed. A garrison at the mouth of Lime- stone would be a landing place for adventurers from the back parts of Pennsylvania and Virginia, adjacent to a large body of good land which would be speedily settled. It would be in the enemy's principal crossing- place, not more than fifty miles from Lexington, our largest settlement, and might be readily furnished with provision from above till they would be supplied from our settlements here. Major Netherland, we expect, will deliver this. He will attend to give any particular information that may be deemed necessary. Humanity toward inhabitants, destitute of hope of any other aid, will surely induce your Excellency to spare from the interior parts of the State two hundred men and a few pieces of artillery for those pur- poses above mentioned."
This was signed by Daniel Boone, Levi Todd, Robert Patterson, R. Netherland, William Henderson, John Craig, and others.
Of the same tenor and in the like spirit, in a letter of August 31st, Colonel Benjamin Logan writes Governor Harrison : 1
"From the situation of the ground on which our men were drawn (the plan whereof I have taken the liberty to inclose), I hardly know how it was possible for any to escape. I am inclined to believe that, when your Ex- cellency and council become acquainted with the military operations in this country, that you will not think them so properly conducted as to answer the general interest of Kentucky. From the accounts we had received by prisoners who had escaped this spring, we were confident of an invasion from the Detroit Indians. Common safety then made some scheme of defense necessary. For this purpose, I was called upon by General Clark to attend a council, and, after consulting over matters, it was determined to build a fort at the mouth of Licking. Shortly, I received his orders for one hundred men to attend this business, with a certain number from Fayette. Before the day of the rendezvous, I was instructed to send the men to the Falls of the Ohio, in order to build a strong garrison, and a row-galley, thus by weakening one end to strengthen another. The upper part of the country was left exposed, and the enemy, intercepting our designs, brought their intended expedition against the frontiers of Fayette. The immense expenses incurred by the State in this western country we know are enough to prevent the Government from giving us any further aid; but when your Excellency and council are informed that the people have never been bene- fited by those expenditures, we still hope your compassion will be extended to a detached and distressed part of your country, as it is not in the power of the people to answer the misapplication of anything by a proper officer. General Irwin, commanding at Fort Pitt, as a continental officer, might probably be more assistance to this country, could he receive proper supplies from the State of Virginia, than any other measure that could be adopted,
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