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1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

AMERICA 250 THE FIGHT FOR BRYAN'S STATION (PT 2): SIMON GIRTY'S REVENGE

1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries Podcast

Jon Hagadorn

History, Society & Culture

4.51.7K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

 Summary of the Fight for Bryan's Station & Simon Girty's Revenge
🌾 The Fight for Bryan's Station (August 15–17, 1782)
Bryan's Station, a frontier fort in Fayette County, Kentucky, came under attack when Capt. William Caldwell led a combined force of Shawnee and Delaware warriors along with Canadian Rangers. The defenders—frontier families and militia—held out under constant skirmish fire. Reinforcements from Lexington arrived later that day, helping secure the fort.
The attackers, unable to break the defense, burned crops and killed livestock before withdrawing. Though the fort survived, the withdrawal was a trap: Caldwell's force moved north and set an ambush that would lead directly to the Battle of Blue Licks.

🔥 Simon Girty's Revenge (Battle of Blue Licks, August 19, 1782)
In the aftermath, Simon Girty, the infamous Loyalist frontiersman allied with Native forces, finally got the revenge he had been waiting for.
According to the historical narrative preserved in the 1001 Heroes, Legends, Histories & Mysteries podcast, the settlers at Bryan's Station knew an attack was coming—but the real blow fell days later. At Blue Licks, one of the final battles of the American Revolution, Girty and the allied Native force decisively defeated the pursuing Kentucky militia, delivering a crushing loss to the frontier settlers.
This defeat is often described as Girty's moment of "revenge," as he had long been vilified by Kentucky settlers and had suffered personal grievances during the war. A monument was erected in 1896 to commemorate the battle, later restored in 2019.

 

Transcript

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0:00.0

Thank you.

0:01.0

I'm going to be.

0:02.0

I'm Welcome back, everyone to one thousand one heroes, legends, histories, histories,

0:34.5

podcast.

0:35.4

This is your host, John Hagedne, and this is part two of the

0:38.4

story of Brian Station, titled Simon Gertie's Revenge. As you recall from part one, the British

0:46.0

attack on Brian's Station, led by the ruthless Simon Gertie and his Indians, failed to breach the

0:51.0

walls and left over 30 dead Indians outside the fort.

0:57.6

The Indians, realizing that all this was costing them many lives and costing the British and their Canadian Rangers nothing,

1:00.7

were deciding whether or not to pull out.

1:03.0

The settlers inside Bryan Station were expecting another attack

1:06.4

and praying that the British would not be receiving cannons

1:09.0

because if they did, that would mean the end of their settlement, and for many of them, their lives.

1:15.2

Their one hope was reinforcements.

1:18.6

Our story continues now, the story of Brian's Station, Part 2, Simon Gertie's Revenge.

1:25.1

As the hours passed, they poured more rifle balls, and wondered if the messengers

1:29.9

they sent had made it out. They did not know that the messengers had made it to Lexington,

1:34.9

but that Lexington's force had been decoyed out and was on its way to Hoy's station.

1:40.5

The messengers had continued on to Boone Station, which was near the site of present-day Athens.

1:45.7

That site, located on Gentry Road outside of Athens, was abandoned around 1786 when Boone moved to Mayville.

1:53.0

They were able to alert a force of 16 mounted men and 30 footmen under the command of Captain Ellis,

1:58.4

and they made haste toward Bryan Station.

...

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