Posted on 04/12/2005 9:52:25 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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![]() are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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Against the good advice of Daniel Boone, a hotheaded major caused the bloodiest tragedy ever for the Kentucky frontier militia. ![]() Meanwhile, Americans in the East halted even the scant assistance they had been sending west. With no resources but their own, the new Westerners were left to confront a highly mobile, skilled and dedicated enemy. For 13 years after Yorktown their obscure war dragged on. In thinly settled Kentucky alone, estimates of settlers killed or captured between 1782 and 1790 range up to 1,500. Meanwhile, perhaps an equal number of migrants were slain while boating down the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Kentucky. So bloody, in fact, was the first year after Yorktown that the frontier people called 1782 "the Year of Sorrow." Especially sorrowful for them was the battle fought at the Blue Licks in northeastern Kentucky. The drama enacted there on August 19, 1782, unfolded like a Greek tragedy. In the predawn hours of August 16, 1782, 300 warriorsShawnees and a few Wyandotsarrived at Bryan's Station, a stockaded settlement on the Elkhorn River, six miles north of the recently established settlement of Lexington, Ky. They were nominally under the command of British officers William Caldwell, Matthew Elliott and Alexander McKee. The three were tough American woodsmen who had been secret Tories before officially entering the king's service. All three, moreover, were well respected by Britain's Indian allies. Another American Tory and woodsman, the magnetic Simon Girty, was the de facto leader of this Indian force. Girty was accompanied on this expedition by his youngest brother, George. Simon, George and the middle Girty brother, James, were great friends of the Indians. In fact, they were very nearly Indians themselves, having been captured on the Pennsylvania frontier while teenagers and raised by the Senecas, Delawares and Shawnees, respectively. Freed after several years of captivity, the Girtys intimately knew the ways of both races, but finally chose the Indian ways. Early in the Revolutionary War, they defected from American service, resumed their former life among the tribes and became leaders of war parties attacking the Western pioneer settlements. Simon in particular had won a name for himself among the Indians for his skill as a tactician. On more than one occasion he is said to have aided white captives, but his role in leading bloody scalping expeditions assured that, like his brothers, he was universally hated by the settlers. ![]() At Bryan's Station, Simon Girty intended to surprise the garrison. When the men left the stockade to perform their daily chores, the warriors would catch them unawares. Fortunately for the men at Bryan's Station, they had no intention of leaving the stockade that morning. A day earlier they had learned that Hoy's Station, south of them, was under attack, and they were busy inside the stockade with preparations to ride to the aid of Hoy's. Unknown to the settlers, Girty had arranged the attack on Hoy's as a diversion to draw off strength from Bryan's, his main target. Had he arrived at Bryan's a few hours later, his plan might have worked, for the bulk of its defenders might already have departed, and he could easily have overwhelmed the weakened garrison. August 16 was not Girty's day, but a better one was fast approaching. In a second turn of luck, the settlers spotted the Indians beforehand without their knowledge. As a result, couriers from Bryan's Station galloped at once to fetch reinforcements from nearby stockades. Seeing them ride off, Girty suspected their purpose. Uncertain where they were riding, he acted on the hope that the Indians still would have the advantage of surprise. Accordingly, he kept his warriors under cover and let the horsemen pass. Meanwhile, the garrison stationed concealed riflemen on the walls. If the Indians mounted an assault, the surprise would be on them. ![]() Layout of Bryon's Station The station's Achilles' heel was its spring, located outside the stockade. Now lurking Indians controlled the access to water, and without water in parched August, the settlers had no hope of withstanding a siege. After a parley, the leaders at Bryan's reluctantly approached the women of the station with a grave proposal. Within minutes the women determined to stake their lives on a desperately risky ruse. Without delay, they gathered within the stockade and said a brief prayer. Then, as they did every morning, by twos and threes they strolled outside the fence, carrying their pails to the spring, then filled them with water and sauntered back into the stockade. Behind a bluff of chattering insouciance the women hid their dread. As they had hoped and prayed, the Indians held their fire and continued to wait for the men to emerge. The women had brought Bryan's Station a fighting chance to survive. A short time later, Girty's patience wore thin, and he ordered an assaultbut true to type, he employed a cunning ruse. At his signal, a few loudly whooping warriors designated as decoys raced toward one wall of the stockade. Meanwhile, he held his main force under cover but deployed to assault the opposite wall. When the decoys fled at the first sound of gunfire from the wall, the militiamendubbed "Long Knives" by the Indianssallied to pursue them. Girty assumed that his plan was working and that the entire garrison was chasing the decoys. Now he threw his main force against the presumably undefended opposite wall. But the seasoned Long Knives had been wise to his ruse and had stealthily moved some 30 riflemen to the wall facing the main attack. When the massed braves charged blindly into range, the Long Knives poured rifle balls into them. As the stunned warriors turned tail, the women of Bryan's Station passed loaded rifles to the sharpshooters, then reloaded the empties and handed them back. Until the braves passed beyond range, the militiamen continued to mow them down. ![]() When notorious Indian leader Simon Girty threw his main force at what he thought was an undefended wall of Bryan's Station, 30 seasoned Kentucky sharpshooters fired into the charging braves while the women of the fort reloaded rifles. HARPER'S NEW MONTHLY MAGAZINE A quick tally told Girty that the stockade's defense numbered 44 riflemen. Hours later, 16 pioneer reinforcements galloped into Bryan's through a hail of Indian musket balls. Now 60 rifles guarded the stockade. Girty was disappointed but not nonplussed. Again he resorted to craft. From a safe distance, he yelled to the garrison that artillery would reach him that night, after which he would smash the palisades. Surrender now and live, or die later was his offer to the garrison. No artillery was actually en route, yet Girty's threat seemed real enough to the beleaguered settlers. The defenders bitterly remembered how British cannons had smashed the walls of nearby Ruddle's Station two years earlier. Yet they also recalled how the Indian allies of the British had massacred the settlers as soon as they had laid down their arms on the promise that their lives would be spared. That stark truth gave the lie to Girty's promise to spare the garrison at Bryan's. After a nervous silence, a young militiaman, Aaron Reynolds, took it upon himself to call Girty's bluff. With a volley of fluent profanity, Reynolds declared that the garrison would fight.
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The 50 men immediately under Boone came from around Boonesborough and from Boone's Station, near the frontier legend's homestead on Marble Creek. Suggesting the clanlike makeup of units common in frontier armies, Boone's command included three nephews, three cousins and Israel, his 23-year-old son. Israel happened to be sick when the men mustered to ride to Bryan's, and a family tradition has it that young Boone dragged himself from bed and accompanied the army only after his father had sternly reminded him of his duty.
Word had come that Colonel Benjamin Logan was en route from Logan's Station (present-day Standford, Ky.) with 400 more Long Knives. Even in Logan's absence, upon finding the enemy gone, Todd and the other officers began laying a plan of pursuit. During their conference, Major McGary suggested that they remain at Bryan's until Logan came up. McGary was known to be unstable and hotheaded, but he was an intrepid Indian fighter. Cautious advice from him may have struck Colonel Todd as being out of character. In any case, Todd called McGary's suggestion "timid" and proposed that the force set out at once, lest the Indian raiders escape. It was not the militia's habit to permit raiders to escape unharried, Todd reminded the officers. The reinforcements on hand, together with men from Bryan's, rode in pursuit. In all, they numbered fewer than 200. No one seems to have noticed that Todd's mild rebuke had stuck in McGary's craw, and as the pursuit advanced, the major's mercurial temper continued to rise.
As the march progressed, the trail grew fresher. Early on August 19, two days after they had set out, the militiamen approached the salt deposits in northeastern Kentucky known as the Upper Blue Licks, in present-day Robertson County, some 48 miles northeast of Lexington (via U.S. 68). On a hilltop a half-mile beyond a ford over the Licking River, the pioneers spotted two warriors lounging in the open. The officers dismounted and conferred. Some concluded that the braves were stragglers lagging in the wake of the fleeing warriors, but Boone thought they were decoys. He was closely acquainted with the tangled landscape and knew danger lay ahead. The crest of the hill was, he warned, cut by gullies large enough to conceal the host of braves that was no doubt lurking there. The pursuers would do well to wait for Logan, he advised. Failing that, he added, they should at least send half their force upriver and take the Indians in a pincers movement.
Colonel Todd agreed with Boone. So did some of the junior officers, but not Major McGary, who truculently called Boone's courage into question. While Boone was angrily protesting, "I guess I can go as far in an Indian fight as any man," McGary remounted, brandished his rifle and spurred his horse into the water. "Them that ain't cowards follow me," he yelled, "and I'll show where the yellow dogs are!"
On the far bank the officers succeeded in forming the men into columns under Trigg, Todd and Boone. Then, except for a few officers who remained mounted, they left their horses at the river and pressed quickly up the hill on foot. The moment McGary and a score of Harrodsburg men in the van reached the crest, the "yellow dogs" sprang the trap. Braves concealed behind rocks and trees on both flanks and in their front raised the war cry and opened fire. Of the entire van, only three men escaped the sudden fusillade.
By then, the three columns following had separated and lost sight of each other. The left-hand column was Boone's. As he pushed forward, a brave leapt from cover to get a clear shot a him. Boone snapped off a round, and the warrior fell. At this point, Boone later recounted, he experienced a surge of confidence. The feeling was only momentary. Just then Hugh McGary galloped up, having been left miraculously untouched by the volleys that had cut down the van. He brought a stunning report: The columns under Todd and Trigg had been routed. They were racing back toward the ford and their horses.
Without the initiative of militiaman Benjamin Netherland, still more Long Knives would have died. Even in defeat, Netherland stood his ground. After fighting through the braves and crossing the Licking River, he could have continued his flight. Instead, he organized a dozen or so riflemen who had likewise reached the south bank. Their determined defense felled enough warriors to break up the huggermugger on the opposite shore and enable some of their companions to cross to safety.
Netherland's timely show of fortitude mitigated the disaster, but at that juncture nothing could have reversed it. By now, warriors were heavily pressing Boone's own column, and men all around him were beginning to fall. The prudent thing was to get them out of harm's way. He sent them into dense woods to the left, with orders to recross the Licking downstream, beyond range of the warriors' muskets. To cover their escape, Boone stayed behind, with Israel beside him. Daniel ordered his son to run for it, but out of love, Israel disobeyed. "Father, I won't leave you," he insisted. A moment later, a musket ball caught him in the neck. He groaned and fell, then started convulsing, blood gushing from his mouth. Daniel stooped over him and watched the light fade from his eyes. He must have recalled that his son was at the Blue Licks only at his insistence. Later, Boone would call Israel's death the hardest blow he ever felt.
www.lucidcafe.com
earlyamerica.com
www.dnr.state.oh.us
www2.truman.edu
www.ficklin.org
www.military.state.ky.us
www.logansfort.org
domfree.de
www.ket.org
www.lawbuzz.com
'I have never been lost, but I will admit to being confused for several weeks.' Daniel Boone
American Pioneer and Trailblazer 1734 - 1820 Daniel Boone was born November 2, 1734 in a log cabin in Berks County, near present-day Reading, Pennsylvania. Boone is one of the most famous pioneers in United States history. He spent most of his life exploring and settling the American frontier. Boone had little formal education, but he did learn the skills of a woodsmen early in life. By age 12 his sharp hunter's eye and skill with a rifle helped keep his family well provided with wild game. In 1756 Boone married Rebecca Bryan, a pioneer woman with great courage and patience. He spent most of the next ten years hunting and farming to feed his family. In 1769 a trader and old friend, John Findley, visited Boone's cabin. Findley was looking for an overland route to Kentucky and needed a skilled woodsman to guide him. In 1769 Boone, Findley and five men traveled along wilderness trails and through the Cumberland gap in the Appalachian mountains into Kentucky. They found a "hunter's paradise" filled with buffalo, deer, wild turkey and meadows ideal for farming. Boone vowed to return with his family one day. ![]() In 1775 Boone and 30 other woodsmen were hired to improve the trails between the Carolinas and the west. The resulting route reached into the heart of Kentucky and became known as the "Wilderness Road." That same year Boone built a fort and village called Boonesborough in Kentucky, and moved his family over the Wilderness Trail to their new home. Boone had numerous encounters with the native people of Kentucky during the Revolutionary War. In 1776, Shawnee warriors kidnapped his daughter and two other girls. Two days later Boone caught up with the Indians and through surprise attack rescued the girls. In 1778, he was captured by another band of Shawnee. Boone learned that the tribe was planning an attack on Boonesborough. He negotiated a settlement with Chief Blackfish of the Shawnee, preventing the attack. The Indians admired their captive for his skill as a hunter and woodsman and adopted him into their tribe as a son of Blackfish. He escaped when he learned the Shawnee, at the instigation of the British, were planning another attach on Boonesborough. The settlement was reinforced and provisioned in preparation for the assault. When British soldiers and the Indians attacked, Boonesborough withstood a ten-day siege and Chief Blackfish and the British finally withdrew. ![]() After the Revolutionary War, Boone worked as a surveyor along the Ohio River and settled for a time in Kanawha County, Virginia (now West Virginia). In 1792, Kentucky was admitted into the Union as the 15th state. Litigation arose that questioned many settlers' title to their lands. Boone lost all his property due to lack of clear title. In 1799, he followed his son, Daniel Morgan Boone, to Missouri which was then under the dominion of Spain. Traveling by canoe, he and his family paddled down the Ohio River to St. Louis. In 1800, Boone was appointed magistrate of the Femme Osage District in St. Charles County, Missouri. He received a large tract of land for his services. When Missouri was transferred to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase, Boone once again lost all his land, most of which was sold to satisfy creditors in Kentucky. Boone's wife Rebecca died on March 18, 1813. He spent his remaining years living in his son Nathan's home in the St. Charles area. He went on his final hunting trip at the age of 83. ![]() Daniel Boone died on September 26, 1820 at the age of 85. In 1845 the remains of Boone and his wife were moved to Kentucky to rest in the great pioneer's "hunter's paradise." There is some controversy surrounding the final disposition of Boone's remains. Some say that Daniel and Rebecca are still in Missouri, and that the wrong remains were removed and re-buried. Others have demanded the return of the bodies to Missouri. |
Thank you for this evenings thread. It is evident the work that goes into it!
Wednesday AM Bump for the Freeper Foxhole
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
And now, while others are enjoying your thread, I'll help myself to a cold brew from your cooler and put my feet up on your desk ... :)
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"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty." Toward FREEDOM
I'm starting a Military/Veteran's Affairs ping list. FReep mail me if you want ON/OFF the list.
thanks for pinging me... last time I studied American history was in high school.
I would like to be on your ping list!!!!
Good morning, Snippy((HUGS))and everyone at the Foxhole.
Good Kentucky read today. Blue Licks is one of the few places in Kentucky that I haven't been to.
Near the end of the Passover meal, the second half of these Hallel psalms are sung. According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn and "went out to the Mount of Olives" after celebrating their last Passover together (26:30). They may well have sung this psalm:
Regardless of which hymn they sang, the confidence Jesus had in the goodness of His heavenly Father is astounding. He was able to praise His Father even though He knew He was about to experience His darkest day. -Julie Link
My heart sings in joyful praise, Not because God says I should But because I know He's good. -Link Praise has the power to lighten our heaviest burden.
Why Did Christ Have To Die? |
Good morning ALL.
Well after working a couple of unexpected nights of O/T the last week, I only have two more nights to go. Last weekend while I was sleeping Mrs alfa6 and our oldest daughter painted up the rooms. First pic will be of War Zone 1 aka the sewing room. This pic was taken from inside similar to the one I took a couple weeks ago that showed the framing for the pocket door.
Second pic is of War Zone 2, aka the naster bedroom. The pic was taken from across the hall in the bathroom doorway. It has a deep blue paint, Mrs alfa6 thinks it will help me sleep day when I have to work nights. One can hope :-)
Sorry for the poor quality on this pic but it is cloudy this AM and my little strip light can only do so much with the paint job.
I am off to pick up the new oak flooring in a little while. Mrs alfa6 over the next two nights will start getting the floors prepped so that we can start installing the flooring this weekend. Should have the floors down, stained and at least one coat of finish on them by Monday night.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
"SlickWillie FOOLS!!"
(To be sung to Eric Clapton's "BellBottom Blues")
SlickWillie FOOLS, you make US fight...
Right ain't gonna lose this feeling!!
And FReepers shall choose...a rage to ignite...
It shall be 'gainst YOU, Bubba!!!!
Do you wanna help Right Dethrone Left's Whore?!! Do You?!!
Are ya gonna FReep Slick ev'ry time ya can?!
I dare ya!! DO IT!! 'Cuz...
We can't let Slick git away!!
Right SHALL Indict Left's Sleaze!!
We can't let Clinton Sanction RAPE!!
In their hearts, Libs don't like RAPE!!
Left's all Wrong, but we're alRight!!
OUR Nation's still healthy, Patriots!! Ahh-hmmmm...
RightWing is Strong, and We'll Win the Fight!!
Lib'rals best git usedta LOSIN'!!
Do you wanna help Right Dethrone Left's Whore?!! Do You?!!
Are ya gonna FReep Slick ev'ry time ya can?!
I dare ya!! DO IT!! 'Cuz...
We can't let Slick git away!!
Truth SHALL Indict Left's Sleaze!!
We can't let Clinton Sanction RAPE!!
In Slick's Cell, RATbi+c# shall be RAPED!!
(Purty jammin' by TheBigMan)
Are ya gonna Help US Win the Culture War?!! Will YOU?!!
Are ya gonna TEACH Libs ev'ry time ya can?!
I dare ya!! DO IT!! 'Cuz...
We can't let Slick git away!!
Right SHALL Indict Left's Sleaze!!
We can't let Clinton Sanction RAPE!!
RATS're DOLTS...but Left's Minds We'll Save!!
SlickWillieFOOLS, tell Slick "Good-Bye!!"
We're surely gonna FReep as "FRiends"...
And when we do, don't act surprised...
When you hear Slick loves his CellMateBuggerin'!! OOOOOOOH!!
FReepers Gonna Help US Win the Culture War!! Are YOU?!!
Are ya gonna FReep Slick ev'ry time ya can?!
I dare ya!! DO IT!! 'Cuz...
We can't let Slick git away!!
Right SHALL Indict Left's Sleaze!!
We can't let Clinton Sanction RAPE!!
Slick's a BUM...Young girls Bill RAPES!!
We Shan't Let RacistWillie Skate!!
RATS, yer dumb...but Slick's a Snake!!
Mudboy Slim
Bill Clinton Shall Be Dethroned When Leftist RATS Reject His Faux Populism!!
RE-IMPEACH. CONVICT. DETHRONE.
DISBAR. DE-PENSION. DE-LEGITIMIZE.
INDICT. CONVICT. IMPRISON. DISCARD KEY.
Quite Sincerely...MUD
1 posted on 11/20/2002 5:45 AM EST by Mudboy Slim
This is my new favorite quote! Thanks for the Pings kids. Another interesting thread! I learned a good deal reading it.
I want to take this opportunity to thank all of the Veterans of the United States- and I hope everyone remembers that Patriot's day is just around the corner. Anyone who is near Concord MA should think about attending the Patriot's Day parade on Monday-in Concord, near the Minute Man Park.
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