offered by the garrison. He assured them, however, that further
resistance would be worse than useless. He promised, “upon his honor,”
to secure the life and safety of every soul in the stockade in case
they should capitulate at once. Otherwise, he would abandon them to the
fury of the savages. He declared that a large reinforcement of Indians
and a detachment of artillery was within a day’s march of his camp, and
should it arrive to find the settlers in arms, nothing that he could do
would save them from massacre and torture.
Girty demanded an immediate answer to his proposal. Captain Patterson
turned on his heel and walked back into the fort without deigning to
reply. But a young fellow named Reynolds had something to say to the
renegade which sufficiently indicated the temper of the garrison.
“Say, do you see this cur?” cried Reynolds, holding up a wriggling,
yelping nondescript by the slack of its neck. “He ain’t fair bird,
beast, nor fish. He’s just the meanest, ugliest mongrel that ever
walked on four legs. See him, do you? Well, he’s called Simon Girty. We
couldn’t think of a better name for him.”
A loud laugh followed Reynolds’ sally and, with derisive gestures
towards the discomfited Girty, the settlers moved into the stockade.
The renegade crawled away towards the camp of his followers, uttering
the most horrible imprecations and threats against the defenders of
Bryan’s Station. He was soon to be glutted with revenge.
Captain Patterson and his men were not at all disturbed by Girty’s
vauntings. They felt confident of withstanding the present besiegers
and were satisfied that the boast of an artillery accession was a lie.
In fact, Captain Patterson’s chief anxiety now was lest the Indians
should leave before the arrival of the heavy reinforcements which he
felt sure were upon their way to Bryan’s. He regretted that he had not
parleyed with Girty and feigned uneasiness with regard to his situation
and ability to hold out.
The day passed without an attack by the Indians. This did not greatly
surprise the garrison, but led them to look for an attack in force
under cover of darkness. Patterson kept every man standing at his post
throughout the night. From their positions they could see the fires
of the Indians about half a mile away, and momentarily expected their
advance. But the day dawned without any change having occurred in the
situation.
Captain Patterson sent out scouts to reconnoitre. These soon returned
to report that the Indians had departed, evidently having taken the
great buffalo trace which passed by Ruddle’s and Martin’s and so to the
Lower Blue Licks.
XX.
BATTLE OF THE BLUE LICKS
Reinforcements reach Bryan’s Station--Unwise counsel rules the
leaders--Boone’s warning is not heeded--The force starts in pursuit
of the Indians--“All who are not cowards, follow me!”--The terrific
fight on the banks of the Licking--The whites are beaten and
dispersed--Israel Boone is wounded and falls--The father’s fierce fight
for his son--Boone and Hardy swim to safety--Reynolds’ heroic rescue
of his captain--His capture and dashing escape--Colonel Logan arrives
with reinforcements--But the Indians escape to their own country--Boone
and Hardy revisit the scene of carnage--The blackest day in Kentucky’s
history.
Thanks to the timely warning of Hardy Goodfellow, and the expedition
employed in spreading the news, information of the attack upon Bryan’s
Station quickly reached every settlement within sixty miles of that
place. The day after the retreat of the Indians, reinforcements began
to come in from various directions. Before the fall of night one
hundred and eighty-two men were mustered in the fort. Daniel Boone
arrived with a strong party from Boonesborough, which included his
brother Samuel and his son Israel. The latter had been almost a baby
when the family lived in Clinch Valley and had only recently come into
his backwoods heritage of rifle and axe. Colonel Stephen Trigg brought
in a force of men from Harrodsburg, and Colonel John Todd an additional
levy from Lexington. This party included Majors Harlan, McGary,
McBride, and Levi Todd. A considerable proportion of the newcomers were
mounted.
Colonel Todd, as senior officer present, assumed command of the entire
forces. Early in the afternoon a council of officers was held. The
deliberations were far from cool, and the opinions expressed were of
the most contradictory character. The majority, however, agreed in
advocating immediate pursuit. This proposal met with the approval of
Colonel Todd, although it was not consistent with his reputation for
prudence and circumspection.
Colonel Todd’s decision is believed to have been influenced by a rather
selfish and short-sighted consideration. A messenger had arrived with
the tidings that Colonel Benjamin Logan had raised a body of four
hundred and fifty men and would hurry forward with them. A proper
soldierly spirit would have prompted the commander to wait for this
reinforcement, but he and others seem to have been jealous of Logan,
whose reputation as a leader was growing apace. It is said that the
determination to advance at once was largely due to a hope that Logan
might be shut out of participation in the affair.
Colonel Boone had not been present during the long wrangle between the
leading officers. With them, he had gone out to the late camp of the
Indians, immediately on arriving at Bryan’s, but, unlike them, he had
not contented himself with a cursory survey of the surroundings. Whilst
the officers were debating, Boone and Hardy were engaged in a careful
examination of the ground occupied by the warriors on the previous
night and the trace left by them in their retreat.
The first thing noticed by Boone was that the fires in the camp had
been very few, indicating a desire on the part of the Indians to create
the impression that their numbers were less than was actually the case.
Such deception was not consistent with flight in fear, because it
courted pursuit.
No attempt had been made to cover the trail, or disguise the
direction taken by the war-party. On the contrary, their path was
plainly marked and strewn with a variety of articles. These signs were
readily accepted by the less experienced as evidences of a hurried
and panic-spurred retreat. But Boone discerned in them a very thin
deception, designed to draw the whites to their destruction. Indeed,
the entire tactics of the Indians on this occasion were such as they
commonly resorted to, and no backwoods officer claiming any degree of
experience should have been outwitted by them.
When Boone returned to the fort, after having followed the Indian
trail for several miles, the council had arrived at its conclusion and
preparations were on foot to act upon it without delay. Nevertheless,
Colonel Todd was anxious to have the opinion of the man whom all
acknowledged--secretly, at least--to be superior to themselves in
knowledge of the Indians.
“Well, what do you think, Boone?” the commander asked, accosting the
pioneer as he entered the stockade.
“Why, Todd, it’s as clear a case of hocus-pocus as ever I saw. It
isn’t a trace they’ve left. It’s a road marked with sign-posts every
few yards. They’re afraid that we might miss ’em and they’ve actually
blazed the trees. They’re headed for the Blue Licks. You know the lay
of the country thereabouts, Todd. We’re invited to walk into an ambush
just as plainly as if they had put it in a printed paper.”
This was a long speech for Boone and there was no mistaking its
purport. Todd was visibly disconcerted. Like every other leader in
Kentucky, he had learned to value Boone’s opinions highly. However, he
had not the moral courage to adopt the course which his secret judgment
told him was the proper one. It must be remembered, too, that the
control of backwoods levies by their officers depended upon the most
slender thread of discipline. A large proportion of the men assembled
at Bryan’s were volunteers who might decline to act further if thwarted
in their wishes.
“I’ve no doubt you are right, Boone, but my officers seem set on going
forward at once,” said Todd, weakly. “And, if we don’t get on their
trace soon, the Indians may get away from us.”
“They won’t get away from you, Todd; never fear,” answered Boone, with
a grim smile, as he turned to assemble his men for the march.
Boone was a loyal subordinate. After having expressed himself to his
commander, he had no further word to say on the subject until again
appealed to. He briefly informed his men that the orders were to pursue
the enemy without delay, and he saw to it that they were ready and in
their places when the column formed.
Colonel Todd marched out of the stockade at Bryan’s Station, before
dark, at the head of one hundred and eighty men. The force pushed on
with all possible speed and on the morning of the third day, after
having travelled forty miles, reached the bluffs of the Licking,
opposite the lower Blue Licks.
The country round about was unusually wild and rugged. The licks had
been for ages the resort of buffalo and other animals which cropped the
surrounding herbage, and the rains had washed the ground clear of soil,
leaving bare rocks over a large area. At this point, the river curved
southward, forming a U-shaped loop. Through the centre of the enclosed
area ran a ridge and from either side of it a ravine extended down
to the river. Each of these ravines was filled with thick brushwood,
affording ideal cover.
As the band of frontiersmen approached the place, several Indians were
seen marching over the ridge. They took a leisurely survey of the
whites and disappeared.
On the bank of the river, Colonel Todd ordered a halt and again went
into consultation with his chief officers. He sought another expression
from Boone, and this time it was delivered in the presence of all the
leaders.
Boone was quite familiar with the country in which they were. Many a
time he had hunted in it, and here he had been taken prisoner by the
Shawnees in 1778. It was, as he explained to his companions, admirably
suited for an ambuscade, and he expressed his opinion that Girty’s
force was even now secreted somewhere in the neighborhood. He reminded
the officers that the trace had led so pointedly to the spot on which
they stood that it was impossible to escape the conclusion that the
Indians had wished to lure them to it.
In conclusion, Boone said frankly that he considered their situation
a precarious one. He believed that it would be hazardous to advance
and that the prudent course would be to await the arrival of Logan,
who could not be more than a day’s march distant. If, however, it was
decided upon to cross the river, he would advise a division of the
force, one half being sent round to approach the ravines from the rear,
whilst the other made a direct attack upon the enemy, whom he strongly
suspected of being concealed there.
Colonel Boone’s calm statement made a noticeable impression on his
hearers and it is probable that his advice would have been followed but
for the insubordinate action of a hot-headed officer. Boone had hardly
finished speaking when Major McGary shouted:
“All who are not cowards, follow me! I will show you where the redskins
are.” With that he raised the war-whoop and urged his horse into the
river.
The men, who had impatiently awaited the conclusion of the conference
and could not have known that McGary’s action was entirely unauthorized,
rushed in a body after him and, of course, the officers were obliged to
fall in with the movement. By the time the force reached the other side,
discipline was once more restored and Colonel Todd ordered a halt.
Retreat was now out of the question, for in case the enemy lay hid on
the peninsula they would descend upon the rear of the whites recrossing
the stream and cut them to pieces.
But before advancing, Colonel Todd, at the suggestion of Boone,
sent forward two scouts with instructions to carefully examine the
country on each side of the trace which led over the ridge. The scouts
performed the hazardous service in safety. They passed along the ridge
to the head of the loop and returned without having seen an Indian.
The order to march was given, fifteen men under Major Harlan forming
the advance guard. Colonel Todd commanded the centre, Colonel Trigg the
right, and Colonel Boone the left. The vanguard had passed the ravines
and the main body was within forty yards of them, when five hundred
Indians suddenly issued and fired a withering volley into the surprised
frontiersmen.
A terrific combat ensued. A more disadvantageous position than that
in which Colonel Todd’s force found itself could hardly be imagined.
Across their front stretched the Indians. On every other side the river
enveloped them. They made a gallant stand, however, until the greatest
havoc had been wrought in their ranks.
The advance guard was quickly surrounded by savages. Major Harlan and
his men fought desperately until he and twelve of them fell covered
with wounds. The other three contrived to make their way through the
horde of howling redskins and escaped by continuing onward over the
ridge and into the country beyond the loop in which the battle raged.
Colonel Trigg and many of the Harrodsburg men fell under the fierce
onslaught, and shortly afterwards Colonel Todd received a mortal wound
and was seen to fall from his horse. Only Boone, on the left, was
holding his own. But when the right crumbled up and the men in the
centre, dismayed by the death of their commander, began to give way,
the situation of Boone’s force became precarious.
Seeing the disruption of the ranks, the Indians now rushed forward with
uplifted tomahawks, uttering the most fiendish yells. Two-thirds of
the troops broke into flight and made for the ford, with the redskins
in close pursuit. Boone strove to keep his men together, urging them
to retreat in a compact body and to present a front to the enemy. The
calm demeanor of the pioneer influenced his men for a while after all
the others had broken into disorderly rout, but unfortunately Boone’s
horse, which had been wounded some time before, suddenly fell to its
knees, bringing the rider to the ground. The men, imagining that their
leader was killed, immediately took to flight.
When Boone gained his feet, his son Israel and Hardy Goodfellow alone
of all his followers were beside him. Savages were advancing from every
side, and down at the ford a raging mass of humanity contested the
passage. Boone was an indifferent swimmer, but he instantly decided
that the best chance of safety for his little party depended upon
taking to the stream at its nearest point.
Boone and his young companions turned towards the bank on the western
side of the loop. They had progressed but a short distance when five
savages attempted to intercept them. Two of these lacked firearms. The
aim of the white men was directed at the others, two of whom fell, when
Boone and Hardy rushed upon the remaining three with drawn tomahawks.
The redskins fled without awaiting the attack, and when Boone turned
it was to see his son stretched upon the ground. Israel had received a
bullet in his breast.
Without waiting to reload his rifle, Boone picked the boy up in his
arms and resumed the road to the river. They were nearing the bank when
three Indians came down upon them. One of these Hardy disposed of when
they were within twenty yards, but the other two continued to advance.
They were extremely big men and unusually courageous. Armed only with
their tomahawks they rushed upon the whites without faltering.
Boone laid the boy upon the ground. His form was convulsed in the
agonies of death. As the father rose erect his face was calm and
his lips close-set, but a tempest raged in his heart. Hardy stood
transfixed by the awful gleam of the eyes. Thus he had never seen the
man before, nor ever did again.
Boone drew his tomahawk and turned on the savages, who were now almost
within arm’s length. He sprang at them like a panther robbed of its
whelps. His weapon whizzed through the air and buried itself in the
skull of the foremost. Springing aside he avoided a blow from the
tomahawk of the second savage, and the next instant gripped his throat
and bore him to the ground.
[Illustration: HIS WEAPON WHIZZED THROUGH THE AIR AND BURIED ITSELF IN
THE SKULL OF THE FOREMOST]
Hardy ran to the spot and raised his tomahawk but, as he was about to
strike, Boone glanced up, and at his look Hardy dropped his arm.
The Indian was a powerful man, but in the hands of the grief-stricken
father he was as a child. Boone struck the savage’s head upon the rocks
until he was stunned, and then drew his knife and plunged it into his
heart.
This whirlwind combat had occupied less time than it takes to tell, but
when Boone turned again to his son the boy was dead. The father looked
around. From three directions new enemies were approaching. There
was nothing for it but to leave Israel’s body to be mutilated by the
savages.
Together, Boone and Hardy gained the bank and, plunging into the river,
succeeded in reaching the other side in safety. They were almost the
last to leave the battle-field, and by the time they landed upon the
south side of the Licking the expiring flames of the fatal fight were
flickering out.
Half of the force that rashly pursued Girty’s warriors lay dead upon
the peninsula or at the ford. There the carnage had been fearful and
would have been much worse but for the presence of mind of a man named
Netherland, who on a former occasion had been taxed by his companions
with cowardice. With twelve or fifteen other horsemen, Netherland
crossed the river. The others were about to consult their own safety by
riding off, when Netherland called upon them to halt and protect their
comrades by firing upon the Indians. They did so, with the result of
enabling many to escape who would otherwise have been slain.
Among many acts of conspicuous bravery that marked that day, was a
deed of daring performed by young Reynolds, who had taunted Girty at
Bryan’s. Reynolds was making a retreat on horseback to the ford when
he overtook Captain Patterson staggering along under a painful wound.
A party of Indians were close behind, but the young man stopped and
dismounted, insisting upon the officer taking his place in the saddle.
When he had seen the wounded man safely mounted, Reynolds ran to a
place below the ford and swam to the other side of the river. He was,
however, pursued by a band of Indians and captured. After a while the
redskins left him in the hands of one of their number and started in
pursuit of other victims. Seizing a favorable opportunity, Reynolds
knocked his captor down with his fist and escaped. When he arrived at
Bryan’s it was to find Captain Patterson there.
The fugitives from the Blue Licks met Colonel Logan and his reinforcement
on the way to the scene of action. Boone and Hardy returned with them. A
forced march was made to the battle-field, but when they arrived there
was no sign of the Indians. It was almost certain that they had made a
rapid retreat to their own country and so Colonel Logan dismissed his
men.
The Battle of the Blue Licks impressed Boone, perhaps, more than any
other incident of his life. In after years the mere mention of it
brought tears to his eyes.
XXI.
AN OLD BIRD
Clark heads a great invasion of the Indian country--And devastates the
fields and villages--A period of peace and prosperity--Boone takes
up the life of the farmer--He receives a visit from old friends--The
Indians learn that “an old bird is not to be caught with chaff”--The
farmer turns his tobacco to good account--Boone finds himself
beggared--And determines to leave Kentucky--He emigrates to the Spanish
possessions--And finds land and honors--His life is rounded out in
the performance of important duties--He dies at the ripe old age of
eighty-six--Under the American flag.
The defeat at the Blue Licks was the heaviest misfortune that had ever
befallen the settlers of Kentucky. They did not learn until afterwards
that the loss of the Indians had been even greater than that they had
inflicted, and that the chiefs had returned to their villages bemoaning
the victory which had cost so many warriors. The Kentuckians were
possessed by dread of another such invasion, and not a few of them
displayed a disposition to leave the country. Almost immediately after
the battle at the Licks, Boone wrote to Governor Benjamin Harrison, of
Virginia, saying: “The inhabitants of this county are very much alarmed
at the thought of the Indians bringing another campaign into our
country this fall. If this should be the case, it will break up these
settlements. I hope, therefore, your Excellency will take the matter
into your consideration, and send us some relief as quick as possible.”
No sooner had the news of the disaster reached General Clark than he
determined upon reprisals and immediately summoned Colonels Boone,
Logan, and other officers, as well as Kenton and two or three more
scouts, to a council at Fort Nelson. All agreed that a blow should be
struck at the Indians before they could recover from the effects of the
recent campaign. Their force, which had been drawn from several tribes,
would be disbanded and scattered and, if surprised, their country would
probably be found in a comparatively defenceless condition. The main
object was to strike hard and quickly.
General Clark issued an urgent call for volunteers and supplies and
disseminated it throughout the country with all possible despatch.
The response was instantaneous. One thousand mounted riflemen soon
assembled at the two places of rendezvous, Bryan’s Station and the
Falls of the Ohio. Those who could not come contributed generously to
the equipment and supply of the expedition, which had an ample number
of pack-horses, beeves, and spare mounts. The two divisions marched to
the mouth of the Licking, where General Clark assumed the command.
Desiring to move with all possible secrecy and speed, Clark declined to
be burdened with the extensive supplies. He required each man to carry
a liberal quantity of “jerk” and corn, and left the cattle and other
material behind. Although game abounded at this time of the year, it
was not deemed prudent to send out hunting parties, and the expedition
felt the pinch of hunger before reaching Chillicothe, which was the
first point of attack. Here they surprised the Indians so completely
that when they entered the place, from which the inhabitants fled
without offering resistance, the pots were upon the fires. The troops
were very glad to fall to upon the meals that the squaws had been
preparing for their men.
Clark’s force spread desolation through the Indian country. Villages
were razed to the ground and crops destroyed. Horses and cattle were
driven off and the inhabitants dispersed in the forest. The blow
paralyzed the redskins and made the greater impression as coming
immediately after a decisive defeat of the whites. Nothing could have
more effectually convinced them of the futility of waging war against
the settlers. Their chiefs became disheartened and their confederacy
was disbanded. At the same time, they lost the support of the British,
which had constituted a very important element of their strength.
Although small parties of Indians continued for years to attack
families in exposed parts of the country, a formidable invasion of
Kentucky was never attempted after the year 1783.