Bryan Station

Siege of Bryan Station

Illustration of the women of Bryan Station getting water while Native Americans watch, just before besieging the settlement. A famous story of the American Revolution in Kentucky, the women's bravery may be folklore.

Date	August 15–17, 1782
Location	Lexington, Kentucky
Result	American Indian siege unsuccessful

Belligerents

Kentucky settlers

American Indians and allies

Commanders and leaders

William Caldwell,
Alexander McKee,

Casualties and losses

5 killed
2 wounded

Western theater

1st Fort Henry Boonesborough Kaskaskia & Vincennes Fort Pitt treaty Fort Laurens Chillicothe St. Louis Bird's expedition La Balme's Defeat Piqua Coshocton Lochry's Defeat Long Run Gnadenhütten Little Mountain Crawford expedition Bryan Station Blue Licks 2nd Fort Henry

Bryan Station (also Bryan's Station, and often misspelled Bryant's Station) was an early fortified settlement in Lexington, Kentucky. It was located on present-day Bryan Station Road, about three miles (5 km) north of New Circle Road, on the southern bank of Elkhorn Creek near Briar Hill Road.

The settlement was established circa 1775-76 by brothers Morgan, James, William and Joseph Bryan from North Carolina. The occupants of this parallelogram of some forty log cabins withstood several American Indian attacks. The most important occurred in August 1782 during the American Revolutionary War, when they were besieged by about 300 Shawnee Indians and British Canadians under Captain William Caldwell and Simon Girty. The attackers lifted the siege after Indian scouts reported that a force of Kentucky militia was on the way. The militiamen pursued Caldwell's force but were defeated three days later at the Battle of Blue Licks, about 60 miles (100 km) northeast.

The Lexington chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument in August 1896 to commemorate the importance of a nearby spring in helping preserve the fort from the attack by Indians and Canadians. The pioneer women, led by Mary "Polly" Hawkins Craig (wife of "Traveling Church" patriarch Toliver Craig, Sr.), fetched water from the spring to defend against the use of burning arrows by the attackers. If the fort had burned, the attackers could have reached the women and children sheltering there.

Located a couple of miles south of the fort's site, Bryan Station High School was named in its honor. The athletic teams compete under the name "Defenders".

References

James Truslow Adams, Dictionary of American History, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940