Only in Kentucky can the last battle of the American Revolution happen ten months after the war was supposed to be over. Hi, I'm Michael. And I'm learning a little bit more about Kentucky. One county at a time. All 120 of them. And today, I'm learning about Robertson County. Robertson County sits in the Outer Bluegrass region of north-central Kentucky, bordered by Bracken, Mason, Fleming, Nicholas, and Harrison counties. The Licking River defines much of its southern and western edges. The terrain consists of rolling hills, limestone bedrock beneath, and elevations ranging from about 550 feet along the river to just over 1,000 feet at the ridgelines. It covers exactly 100 square miles. Robertson County is the smallest county in Kentucky by area. It is also the least populous county in Kentucky, with a population of 2,193 recorded in the 2020 census. That works out to about 22 people per square mile. The county was formed on February 11, 1867, taken from portions of Bracken, Harrison, Mason, and Nicholas counties. It became the 111th county in Kentucky. It was named for George Robertson, who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1817 to 1821 and later as Chief Justice of the Kentucky Court of Appeals. Robertson himself never lived in the county that bears his name. He lived in Richmond and died in Lexington in 1874, three years after the county had been fully organized. He was a distinguished jurist and legislator, and the legislature honored him while he was still alive so he could know about it. The county seat is Mount Olivet, founded in 1820 and incorporated in December 1851. The town sits at the junction of U.S. Route 62 and Kentucky Route 165. Its name comes from the biblical Mount of Olives. Population at the 2020 census: 347 people. The courthouse square, a two-story brick Italianate building completed in 1870, anchors the town center. A local builder named G.M. Williams designed and built it. It has been in continuous use as the county courthouse ever since. That courthouse has been standing longer than most things in Robertson County. Now. August 19, 1782. The Treaty of Paris had not yet been signed, but the major fighting of the American Revolution was effectively over. Lord Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown in October 1781. Ten months later, the war was still technically ongoing on the western frontier, where British forces and their Indigenous allies continued to press hard against American settlements in Kentucky. In August 1782, a British officer named Captain William Caldwell led a force of about 50 Butler's Rangers and roughly 300 Indigenous warriors, mostly Shawnee, Wyandot, Mingo, and others, south from Ohio into Kentucky. Their target was Bryan Station, a fortified settlement near present-day Lexington. They laid siege for two days, burned crops, killed livestock, destroyed outlying buildings, and then withdrew when they learned Kentucky militia reinforcements were approaching. The militia arrived at Bryan Station on August 18. About 182 men assembled, including Colonel John Todd, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Boone, and Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Trigg. There was debate about whether to pursue Caldwell immediately or wait for additional forces under Benjamin Logan, who was only a day behind. Boone recommended waiting. He was overruled. The militia set out in pursuit the following morning. On August 19, they reached a ford on the Licking River near a spring and salt lick called the Lower Blue Licks, in what is now Robertson County. Across the river, a few Indigenous scouts were visible on a hill, watching. Boone called a council. He said the trail was too obvious. The scouts were meant to be seen. He believed they were being lured into an ambush. #learningontiktok #TikTokLearningCampaign #LearnOnTikTok - @michaelmoeller