hness, it becomes our duty,
according to the established usage of historians, to attempt to show
where the fault lies. The conduct of McGary, which brought on the
action, appears to be the most culpable. He never denied the part which
is generally attributed to him, but justified himself by saying that
while at Bryant's Station, he had advised waiting for Logan, but was
met with the charge of cowardice. He believed that Todd and Trigg were
jealous of Logan, who was the senior Colonel, and would have taken the
command had he come up. This statement he made to a gentleman several
years after the battle took place. He said also to the same person, that
when he found them hesitating in the presence of the enemy, he "burst
into a passion," called them cowards, and dashed into the river as
before narrated. If this account be true, it may somewhat palliate, but
certainly not justify the action.

Before the fugitives reached Bryant's Station, they met Logan advancing
with his detachment. The exaggerated accounts he received of the
slaughter, induced him to return to the above-mentioned place. On the
next morning all who had escaped from the battle were assembled, when
Logan found himself at the head of four hundred and fifty men. With this
force, accompanied by Colonel Boone, he set out for the scene of action,
hoping that the enemy, encouraged by their success, would await his
arrival. But when he reached the field, he found it deserted. The bodies
of the slain Kentuckians, frightfully mangled, were strewed over the
ground. After collecting and interring these, Logan and Boone, finding
they could do nothing more, returned to Bryant's Station, where they
disbanded the troops.

"By such rash men as McGary," says Mr. Peck,[45] "Colonel Boone was
charged with want of courage, when the result proved his superior wisdom
and fore-sight. All the testimony gives Boone credit for his sagacity
and correctness in judgment before the action, and his coolness and
self-possession in covering the retreat. His report of this battle to
Benjamin Harrison, Governor of Virginia, is one of the few documents
that remain from his pen."

"Boone's Station, Fayette County, August 30th, 1782.

"Sir: Present circumstances of affairs cause me to write to your
Excellency as follows. On the 16th instant, a large number of Indians,
with some white men, attacked one of our frontier Stations, known by the
name of Bryant's Station. The siege continued from a