The American Revolutionary War may have officially ended with the siege of Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781, when Lord Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington, but west of the Appalachian Mountains fighting continue for almost a year.
The last battle of the American Revolution was actually fought on August 19 in 1782 at a place called the Blue Licks in Kentucky. Here a combined force of British soldiers and Indians routed the Kentucky militia led by Daniel Boone. The infamous villain Simon Girty orchestrated the British victory, earning him lasting infamy as “Dirty Dirty Simon Girty.”
The British may have lost the war, but they decisively won the last battle.
“Blue Licks is desolate country,” writes Richard Taylor in his fictionalized biography of Girty. “Forsaken because it is the only wilderness for miles inhospitable to life. Situated in a craggy basin, it is the site of an ancient animal graveyard from the time when mammals came to lick salt and were preyed on by other mammals, hunters coming only later. The air is stale and salty like the inside of a meathouse and smells faintly of rancid flesh. Nothing blooms or prospers here.”
Even though the Americans secured victory in the 13 colonies, the British still controlled Canada and the Great Lakes region. Assisted by Girty, a band of English rangers under the command of Capt. William Caldwell and native Indians in the area, set a trap for the Kentucky militia at Blue Licks.
First, the Indians attacked a settlement called Bryan’s Station with half their force, allowing some of the settlers to escape and go for help. The Kentucky militia quickly responded with 182 men that included 44 men under command of Lt. Col. Daniel Boone, who brought along his son, Israel. Rather than wait for reinforcements dispatched with Col. Ben Logan, the militia charged ahead after what they thought were Indians in retreat.
At Blue Licks, the second half of the British force lay in wait. As the militia crossed the Licking River and approached the top of a hill some 300 Indians and 50 British rangers opened fire. Most of the militia’s leaders were killed in the opening volley.
“In seconds the whole ridge is mantled in blue smoke, so thick the eyes of the combatants run with powder burns. Everyone loses his bearings. Those not killed in the first exchange fire aimlessly into the maze of thickets which faces the ravines.”
Boone’s company, of the left flank, fared better but were soon being surrounded. He ordered his men into the trees on their left and to run for the river. Boone and his son Israel covered their retreat until Israel was shot through the neck and died.
Surviving members of the militia from Boonesborough, including Boone, returned to Bryan’s Station and prepared defenses, but there was no attack as Logan and his force of 500 had arrived.
The last major battle of the American Revolution cost the Kentucky militia 72 dead and 11 captured out of 182. The British and the Indians led by Girty had 11 casualties.
