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Research notes

Battle of Blue Licks, 1782: research notes

Sourced fact outline behind the Battle of Blue Licks article: each side's aims, a dated timeline, casualties, people, contested claims and open questions.

Updated

British and Detroit Indian Department aims

  • Britain ran its western war from Detroit through the Indian Department, whose officers supplied, advised and often accompanied allied warriors. DCB: McKee
  • Caldwell was sent west with about 50 Rangers after Clark took Vincennes; his commandant called him a very active partisan. In June 1782 his force defeated Crawford on the upper Sandusky. DCB: Caldwell
  • Caldwell first meant to strike Wheeling, turned toward Kentucky after a false alarm that Clark was marching, and crossed the Ohio with three hundred Indians and Rangers. Caldwell report, 1782
  • McKee, a captain and interpreter with extensive influence among the Indians, took part in the attack on Bryan's Station. DCB: McKee
  • Simon Girty was captured as a boy, raised among the Senecas and joined the British at Detroit in 1778. The DCB notes that a white savage legend grew from distortions of fact. DCB: Girty
  • James and George Girty served Britain's Indian allies as interpreters, but no source in hand places either at Blue Licks. Butterfield, 1890 DCB: Girty

Native nations' aims

  • Caldwell wrote that his warriors were Wyandots and Lake Indians and that the Wyandots supplied his provisions. Caldwell report, 1782
  • Kentucky and battlefield sources also name Shawnee and Delaware (Lenape) warriors. ExploreKYHistory Battlefield Trust: Blue Licks
  • In 1780 Indian leaders insisted that Bird's expedition turn up the Licking into Kentucky to face their old enemies the Kentucky settlers. DCB: Girty
  • At Gnadenhutten in March 1782 Pennsylvania militia killed some 90 Christian Delawares; American Battlefield Trust says the massacre fed a desire for revenge in the Sandusky region. It is context for 1782, not a documented direct cause of Blue Licks. Battlefield Trust: Gnadenhutten DCB: Girty

Kentucky militia aims

  • Bryan's Station had just been besieged; buildings were burned and more than 300 hogs and 150 cattle killed. Caldwell report, 1782
  • Todd commanded; Trigg had the right, Boone the left, McGary the center and Harlan the advance. Boone letter, 1782
  • Boone advised caution and a flanking move because of the ravines; the Kentuckians ignored his advice. ExploreKYHistory
  • The tradition that McGary dared the men across shouting about cowards comes from later recollections and is not in Boone's 1782 letter or 1784 narrative. HistoryNet Boone letter, 1782 Filson, 1784

Casualties and strength (ranges)

Outcome and legacy

  • Caldwell's Rangers returned to Detroit hardly capable of taking the field again, and the war moved to diplomacy. DCB: Caldwell
  • In November 1782 Clark led Kentucky militia against the Shawnee towns on the Great Miami; the inhabitants left and five towns were burned. Filson, 1784
  • The Treaty of Paris recognized U.S. independence and western bounds to the Mississippi; Native nations were not party to it. Office of the Historian: 1783 treaty
  • A 32-acre battlefield tract became a state park and a 40-foot obelisk was unveiled August 19, 1928; it names the opposing nations but lists only Kentucky dead. Carlisle Mercury, 1928 HMdb monument
  • Trigg County (1820) and Todd County (1819) are named for the two fallen colonels. Trigg County act Todd County act
  • Lack of means and authority to defend the district led Benjamin Logan to call the 1784 Danville meeting that began the conventions leading to statehood in 1792. KHS Register: boundary JSH 1935: convention

Timeline

  1. 1782 Mar. 8: Gnadenhutten massacre in the Ohio country Battlefield Trust: Gnadenhutten
  2. 1782 June: Caldwell and allies defeat Crawford on the upper Sandusky DCB: Caldwell
  3. 1782 Aug. 15 or 16: Caldwell's force surrounds Bryan's Station (Caldwell gives the 15th, Kentucky accounts the 16th) Caldwell report, 1782 Boone letter, 1782 Battlefield Trust: Bryan's Station
  4. 1782 Aug. 17: Attackers withdraw and camp at the Blue Licks Caldwell report, 1782
  5. 1782 Aug. 18: About 180 militia pursue from Bryan's Station Filson, 1784 Boone letter, 1782
  6. 1782 Aug. 19: Battle of Blue Licks, about 15 minutes; militia routed (Caldwell dates it the 18th) Boone letter, 1782 Filson, 1784 Caldwell report, 1782 Battlefield Trust: Blue Licks
  7. 1782 About Aug. 24: Logan's force of about 460 buries the dead; 43 found on the ground Boone letter, 1782
  8. 1782 Aug. 30: Boone asks Gov. Harrison for 500 men Boone letter, 1782
  9. 1782 Nov.: Clark's campaign burns five Shawnee towns on the Great Miami Filson, 1784
  10. 1783 Sept. 3: Treaty of Paris signed Office of the Historian: 1783 treaty
  11. 1784 Logan's Danville meeting on frontier defense begins the statehood conventions JSH 1935: convention
  12. 1928 Aug. 19: Blue Licks monument dedicated Carlisle Mercury, 1928

People

Open questions

  • Names of the Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape and Lake nations leaders at Blue Licks, and an Indigenous-perspective source.
  • Whether James or George Girty was present at the battle.
  • A working Kentucky State Parks page for Blue Licks Battlefield State Resort Park.
  • Whether a full battle reenactment is held annually; sources found describe only the August memorial ceremony.
  • Roles of Benjamin Netherland and Aaron Reynolds, known mainly from later tradition.
  • Caldwell's dates run one day earlier than the Kentucky accounts; the article follows the Kentucky dates.

Sources

Primary sources

Secondary sources