Portal:Biography/Selected article/July 13

Headstone at Blue Licks Battlefield State Park marking the burial place of Trigg and his men.

Stephen Trigg (c.1744–August 19, 1782) was an American pioneer and soldier from Virginia. Colonel Trigg was killed ten months after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in one of the last battles of the American Revolution while leading the Lincoln County, Virginia militia unit at the Battle of Blue Licks in present-day Kentucky. He was one of the wealthiest men on the frontier at the time. He was a delegate to the first Virginia Revolutionary conventions and was a member of the Fincastle Committee of Safety that drafted the Fincastle Resolutions, which was the precursor for the U.S. Declaration of Independence made by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. He was also elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1782, when Native American tribes, in conjunction with British forces, attacked Bryan Station in Kentucky, several Kentucky militia companies converged to go after the attackers. Trigg commanded one wing, Daniel Boone another. However, it was part of a planned ambush, and Trigg, along with many other men, including Boone's son, were killed. After the battle, Trigg's body was found quartered. In recognition of his role in the formation of Kentucky, Trigg County, Kentucky was named in his honor. (Read more...)