The Battle of Blue Licks

In August 1782, Loyalist Captain William Caldwell led three hundred warriors into Kentucky and attacked Bryan’s Station. Caldwell’s men could do little against the palisaded walls of the stockade and withdrew towards the Ohio when they learned of the approach of a relief force led by Colonel John Todd and Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Boone. The Kentuckians surprisingly caught up with Caldwell at a river crossing known as Lower Blue Licks, but Daniel Boone sensed an ambush. A hotheaded Major named Hugh McGary accused Boone of cowardice, jumped on his horse, and yelled for all to hear, “Them that ain’t cowards follow me.”
Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, explores how the Battle of Blue Licks became the worst defeat suffered by Americans west of the Appalachians during the Revolutionary War, and why it still matters today.
Photo Credits:
New York Public Library
Library of Congress
Commonwealth of Kentucky
Kentucky Historical Society
University of Kentucky