Robert Kirkwood

Robert Henry Kirkwood (1746 – November 4, 1791) was a soldier who fought in the American Revolutionary War and the Battle of the Wabash (also known as St. Clair's Defeat).

He was named a lieutenant of the 1st Delaware Regiment in the Continental Army on December 9, 1775. In 1776, the Delaware Battalion, under the command of Colonel John Haslet, was assigned to Mifflin's Brigade under Gen. Thomas Mifflin of Pennsylvania. He participated in every battle in which George Washington fought in 1777. In the August 16, 1780 Battle of Camden, Kirkwood's troops won fame and were called "The Blue Hen's Chickens" after that. This battle reduced his regiment from eight companies to two by reason of death and capture. At the Battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, Captain Kirkwood repulsed the British cavalry, and made a famous bayonet charge ordered by Colonel John Eager Howard. He was with General Washington in his pursuit and defeat of Cornwallis.

As a captain in the regular army, he joined a 1791 military expedition led by Arthur St. Clair, the governor of the Northwest Territory. In November 1791, Kirkwood was killed by Native Americans from the Miami people in a major defeat at present-day Fort Recovery, Ohio, after having survived 32 Revolutionary battles without a disabling wound.

He was a graduate of Newark Academy (later renamed the University of Delaware), which chose the Blue Hen as its mascot to honor Captain Kirkwood. Kirkwood also held a certificate of membership in the Society of the Cincinnati.

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