We're missing Abraham Scholl
THE BATTLE OF BLUE LICKS
The Battle of Blue Licks was fought near the Licking River in what is now Blue Licks Springs, Kentucky. It was the desire of the Indians to make the territory of Kentucky uninhabitable for the white men. Their strategy was to draw the settlers out into the wilderness, catch them on unfavorable grounds, and destroy them. They did this by leaving an obvious trail for the while men to follow. Against the advise of Daniel Boone, the 182 Kentuckians decided to cross the river at the horse shoe bend in the river, which would make meeting the estimated 30 Canadian Rangers under Captain Caldwell, and 200 Indians a difficult task. They were caught in an ambush, and the battle lasted only five minutes: The rest was a panic stricken rush for the river which was more than a mile away.
The retreat was in open country where the Indians savagely attached with tomahawks, knives, and guns. The Wyandott Indians were not good marksmen, but after a few shots, were willing to throw down their guns and close in with tomahawks. They also took captives that would later be tortured. Daniel Boone wanted his son Israel to get on a horse and ride out, but he would not listen to his father. At the instant the son was shot, Daniel tried to carry his dying son to safety, but the Indians were in hot pursuit. Of all the horrors of his long life, this episode made the deepest impression on Boone. Thirty years afterward, he could not describe it without tears.
Boone's son-in-law Joseph Scholl reached the river so weak that he turned to a companion Andrew Morgan with the words, "I'm afraid I can't get over the river with my rifle. I can't part with it".
These 182 frontiersmen knew little of Army discipline or following orders. Their only experience was in wilderness war. In many instances there was nothing to fall back on but male impulse. These Kentucky woodsmen were fierce, but not especially enthusiastic fighters. They wanted lands, homes, and security and were willing to fight anyone for it.
The Indians, on the other hand, were determined to keep what had been their land, and were a perpetual terror for the white inhabitants at this time. They massacred their victims with unprecedented cruelty. The country was full of widows and orphans.
Note: The monument commemorating the battle at Blue Licks lists
70 officers and men killed. Among the privates who survived
the battle were: Joseph Scholl, Abraham Scholl and Peter Scholl.
Source: The book entitled Daniel Boone by John Blakeless, first copyrighted in 1939.