page_title: Battle of Blue Licks
section_title: Bryan Station
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Blue Licks / Background / Bryan Station
caption_attribution_description: Oil sketch of Daniel Boone by Chester Harding, the only portrait of Boone painted from life. This was painted when Boone was 84 years old, a few months before his death. Harding painted Boone in June 1820 while Boone was living with his daughter Jemima Boone Callaway in Missouri. According to historian Ted Franklin Belue, "from this original oil portrait Harding made three copies: two busts and a full-length." (The Life of Daniel Boone by Lyman Draper, edited by Ted Franklin Belue. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1998, p. 2.)
context_page_description: The Battle of Blue Licks, fought on August 19, 1782, was one of the last battles of the American Revolutionary War. The battle occurred ten months after Lord Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, which had effectively ended the war in the east. On a hill next to the Licking River in what is now Robertson County, Kentucky, a force of about 50 Loyalists along with 300 American Indians ambushed and routed 182 Kentucky militiamen. It was the last victory for the Loyalists and Indians during the frontier war. British, Loyalist and Native Indian forces would engage in fighting with American forces once more the following month in Wheeling, West Virginia, during the Siege of Fort Henry.
context_section_description: Caldwell and about 50 Loyalists, supported by 300 Indians, crossed the Ohio River into Kentucky. They meant to surprise and destroy the settlement of Bryan Station, but the settlers discovered them and took shelter within their stockade. Caldwell and McKee's force laid siege to Bryan Station on August 15, killing all of the settlers' livestock and destroying their crops, but withdrew after two days when they learned that Kentucky militiamen were on the way. Caldwell had lost five Indians killed and two wounded during his short siege.
  The militia arrived at Bryan Station on August 18. The force included about 47 men from Fayette County and another 135 from Lincoln County. The highest-ranking officer, Colonel John Todd of Fayette County, was in overall command, assisted by Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Boone, the famed frontiersman. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Trigg and Major Hugh McGary led the Lincoln County contingent. Benjamin Logan, colonel of the Lincoln militia, was gathering men and had not yet arrived.
  The militiamen could pursue the raiders immediately, to keep them from escaping, or they could wait for Logan to arrive with reinforcements. Daniel Boone advised waiting for Logan, who was only a day away, but others urged immediate action, pointing out that the enemy force had a 40-mile (60 km) lead on them. Boone felt compelled to go along. The Kentuckians set out on horseback over an old buffalo trail before making camp at sunset.
caption: This 1820 oil painting by Chester Harding is the only portrait of Daniel Boone made from life. Boone, 85 years old and just months away from death, had to be steadied by a friend while the artist worked.[2]
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