Battle of Little Mountain

Infobox Military Conflict


caption=
conflict=Battle of Little Mountain
partof=the American Revolutionary War
date=March 22, 1782
place=near Mount Sterling, Kentucky, Kentucky
result=Wyandot victory
combatant1=Wyandots
combatant2=Kentucky militia
commander1=SourehoowahKIA
commander2=Captain James EstillKIA
strength1=Unknown
strength2=25
casualties1=17 warriors killed; 2 warriors wounded
casualties2=7 militiamen killed; 6 militiamen wounded

The Battle of Little Mountain, also known as Estill's Defeat, was fought on March 22, 1782 near Mount Sterling in what is now Montgomery County, Kentucky. One of the bloodiest engagements of the Kentucky frontier, the battle has long been the subject of controversy resulting from the actions of one of Estill's officers, William Miller, who ordered a retreat leaving the rest of Estill's command to be overwhelmed by the attacking Wyandots.

Background

On March 19, 1782, Captain James Estill received a message from Colonel Benjamin Logan requesting assistance after signs of a Wyandots war party had been seen near Boonesborough, empty canoes having been seen floating down the Kentucky River. Gathering around 40 men from nearby settlements, he began searching the area.

While he was gone, the Wyandots attacked a number of nearby settlements including Estill's Station killing 14-year-old Jennie Glass and capturing Munk or Monk Estill, a slave belonging to James Estill. While under interrogation, Monk was able to persuade the Wyandots to hold off their attack on Estill's Station believing the garrison to be at full strength (with the exception of one man on the sick list, only woman and children were present at the fort). After killing a number of cattle, the Wyandots fled across the river.

Returning to his station on March 21, James Estill was informed of the incident which had occurred and ordered five men to return to Estill's Station while he led the rest of his men in pursuit of the raiding party. He and his men would set up camp at Little Mountain, near present-day Mt. Sterling, Kentucky. Picking up the chase the following morning, Estill was forced to leave 10 more men behind after their horses were too tired to continue. Finding fresh tracks, they soon overtook the Wyandots at Little Mountain Creek. [Frost, John. "Heroes and Hunters of the West". Philadelphia: H.C. Peck & Theo Bliss, 1858. (pg. 147-153)] [Flint, Timothy. "The Life and Adventures of Daniel Boone: The First Settler of Kentucky". Cincinnati: U.P. James, 1868. (pg. 253-256)] Kleber, John E. "The Kentucky Encyclopedia". Louisville: University Press of Kentucky, 1992. (pg. 298-299) ISBN 0-8131-1772-0]

Battle

On the night of March 22, 1782, Estill and his remaining twenty-five militiamen encountered the Wyandot raiding party. Separated by Little Mountain Creek, they were only a mile and a half south of Little Mountain. Over an area of only a few acres, the two sides fought in a violent, pitched battle for nearly two hours. The Wyandot leader, Sourehoowah, was reportedly shot during the first volley and urged his men to continue fighting while mortally wounded.

After firing at each other from across the creek for some time, both sides began suffering heavy casualties. When the Wyandots began fording Little River Creek, Estell countered by dividing his forces into three units. Estill took the right flank, the left being given to Lieutenant William Miller while another officer held the center.

Miller was ordered to flank the rear of the Wyandots from the left. As Miller prepared to lead his men into battle, a bullet apparently hit his gun knocking the flint from the jaws of the lock. At this point, he allegedly shouted to his men that "it was foolhardy to stay and be shot down" and he fled the battle with his men following after him.

With Estill's left flank now open, the creek defended by only four men, the Wyandots easily rushed in killing seven men including Estell himself before the militiamen retreated. Estill had been wounded three times during the battle and, as he attempted to retreat with his men, he was attacked and killed in hand-to-hand combat by a pursuing Wyandot. One of his men, Joseph Proctor, witnessed Estill's death killing his attacker with his rifle.

Only a handful of men remained on each side and, with both commanders now dead, the battle ended with the Kentuckians withdrawing from the field. Those who were captured later reported that the Wyandots had suffered around 20 casualties. Monk, who had escaped from the Wyandots during the battle, claimed 17 Wyandots had been killed and two had been wounded. This was later confirmed by another prisoner who escaped. Of the 18 men who returned from the Little Mountain, frontiersman James Anderson, ["Tyler's Quarterly Historical and Genealogical Magazine". "Towles and Clark Families". XIII.1 (1931): 52. ] David Lynch [Hines, Lois Davidson and Dorothy Ford Wulfeck. "Lynch Families of the Southern States: Lineages and Court Records". Naugatuck, Kansas: D.F. Wulfeck, 1966. (pg. 87)] and William Irving [McDowell, John Hugh. "History of the McDowells and Connections". Memphis: C.B. Johnson & Co., 1918. (pg. 175)] were among the survivors. Adam Caperton, the father of US Congressman Hugh Caperton, was killed at the battle. [Miller, James H. "History of Summers County from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time". Hinton, West Virginia: James H. Miller, 1908. (pg. 29) ]

Aftermath

William Miller became a scapegoat for both the Kentuckians defeat as well as the death of Estill. One of the survivors, David Cook, reportedly threatened his life twenty years after the battle. Miller apparently never returned to Estill's Station to defend himself against his accusers.

Monk Estill won particular distinction for bravery during the battle and carried a wounded militiaman, James Berry, almost convert|25|mi|km back to Estill's Station. He was granted his freedom soon after by Wallace Estill, becoming the first slave to be freed in the state of Kentucky. [Pipkin, J.J. "The Story of a Rising Race: The Negro in Revelation, in History, and in Citizenship". St. Louis: N.D. Thompson Publishing, 1902. (pg. 45-47)]

The last survivor of the battle, Joseph Proctor, died at his home in Irvine, Kentucky on December 2, 1844. He was 90 years old. [Redford, A.H. "The History of Methodism in Kentucky, Vol. II". Nashville: Southern Methodist Publishing House, 1870. (pg. 543-548)]

The traditional site of Estill's death, where he was killed in hand-to-hand combat with the Wyandot warrior, is marked by a millstone marker pointing to an old sycamore tree on Kingston Creek. [Federal Writers' Project. "Kentucky: A Guide to the Bluegrass State". New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1939. (pg. 392)]

In 1808, Estill County, Kentucky, was named for James Estill.

References

Further reading

*Belue, Ted Franklin. "Death in the Bluegrass: The Battle of Little Mountain." "Dixie Gun Works Blackpowder Annual" (1995): 66-69.
*Belue, Ted Franklin. "Wyandot Braves Proved Too Strong at The Battle of Little Mountain". "The Kentucky Explorer" (January 1997): 23-26.
*Conkright, Bessie Taul. "Estill's Defeat; or, The Battle of Little Mountain." "RKHS 22" (1924): 311-22.