The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1901-10-20
THE BATTLE OF
LITTLE MOUNTAIN.

days OF kentucky. hcAC 10 ANNA'AAA9
which stirs and thrills the heart more
than the recital of the brave and dar-
ing deeds of the old pioneer heroes
long passed away. They endured hard
ships impossible to describe; they suf-
fered privations which no tongue can
tell.
On March 20, 1882, occurred one of
the most noted fights with the In
dams, a fight which is always referred
to with pride by the descendants of
those who took part in it. This was
none other than the battle Of Little
Mountain which took place on the
present site of the town of Mt. Ster-
ling.
After the great Indian fight which
took place at the Blue Licks, in which
so many lives were lost by the reck-
lessness of Trigg, Todd and McGary, a
party of twenty-seven Wyandotte
warriors appeared in the neighborhood
of Boonesborough and committed a
number of atrocities. Capt. James Es-
till, who was friend and companion
of Daniel Boone, quickly gathered up
twenty-four men and pursued this band
of Wyandottes until they overlook
them on the exact spot where Mt. Ster-
ling now stands. 1t seems that the In
dams had in some way ascertained
that they were being pursued and had
prepared an ambuscade for Estill and
his men. They did not fall exactly into
the trap, however, but were for short
interval exposed to the deadly fire of
the savages.
The Indians had hidden in a little
ravine and were we'll protected, but the
whites, who had been accustomed to
the Indian mode of fighting, were equal
to the emergency. The forest here was
very thick with the giant naples
which covered the entire Blue Grass
region. The underground was thick
and tangled, but near the entrance of
the ravine, which was not very steep,
was a small open space. The sides were
thick with large forest trees.
The instant that Capt. Estill saw
that he and his men were entrapped he
issued his famous order which has be-
come a byword in the state. Every
man to his man and every man to his
tree"
Both sides were we'll armed and
evenly matched. During the entire
afternoon every possible device was
resorted to, in order to draw the enc
my's fire. Two or three on each side
were killed but it seemed that night
would come on before anything decisive
occurred. Just before sunset Capt.
Estill realized that desperate effort
of some sort would have to be made,
as he did not care to risk a night en-
gagement with the willy savages He
ordered one Lieut.. William Miller and
seven other men to slip around the ra-
vine and come in on the Indians from
the rear. Miller was apparently glad
to do as he had been hidden, but to his
everlasting shame. he and his compan-
ions deserted and left Estill and his
brave band, now weakened by the loss
of nearly half of his men.
About this time James Berry. one oil
Estilrs men. was wounded in the head
by bullet, and crazed and stunned
| he rushed out into the opening. A
| Wyandotte warrior sprang from behind
tree and made an effort to kill Berry
with a big knife, and would have sue
| ceeded in doing so had not Capt Estil
himself dashed out to rescue him. Els
till and the Wyandotte Immediately
engaged in mortal combat. Both the
Indians and whites were afraid L
they feared that they might kill Their
own man.
After the struggle had continued fol
some time, Captain Estills arm, which
had been broken about four month.
before gave away. With a yell of rri
umph the Indian buried his big knife
in the brave old pioneers heart Hi.
triumph was short-lived, however, for
at that very instant, a man named
Proctor, who was standing behind ont
of the big trees near by, poured tn,
contents OF his gun into the Wyandott'
body. Captain Estill and the Indial
| fell to the ground, their bodies makins
the letter x. Berry had already fallel
near by.
After this, none of the combatanti
ventured into the open space at tn
mouth of the ravine. Night drew on
and the savages, not knowing how TIL
whites had been weakened, and think
! ing that there were more of them thar
| there really were, withdrew from tn
scene. The white men were glad T.
abandon the fight temporarily, as the,
| did not know the number of the In
| dams and they knew their own weak
ness after Lieut. Miller and his com
panions had deserted. 1t was not unit
a long time afterwards that tn
whites found out that they had tough
a battle with but twenty-seven me-
against twenty-five, so cunning ha'
the savages been in concealing thei
own weakness.
Among the twenty Eve men VIII
composed Estills band was slav
named Monk who belonged to Estil
himself. After the Indians had retire'
and 1t had grown too dark for maj
to appear as a target for the bullet
of the savages. this brave negro crawl
ed out to where James Berry was lynn
and ascertaining that he was not quit
dead, picked him up and carried tn
wounded man on his back for dis
lance of more than thirty mile
| through the woods. For such a nobl
act he was rewarded with his freedom
Capt. Estill's body was eaten by tn
wolves.
Lieut.. Miller and the seven other
who deserted were never afterward
heard of again in Kentucky. The
may have been captured and killed b
the Indians, or they may have mad
their way back into some of the town
near the Atlantic. The truth is des
tined to remain forever a mystery
David Cook one of the men who ha
| remained with the brave Capt. Estil
settled in Richmond, Ky. where
watched for Lieut.. Miller for twent
years, swearing that he would shoe
him on sight, but the opportunity new
| er came.
Capt James Estill was but 80 year
old when he was killed. He left
widow and five small children. Som