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Ca'ainrt listaritB nf \^t Italrs, 
 
 TENNESSEE. 
 
THE 
 
 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE, 
 
 FROM ITS 
 
 (gnrlhst Irftlmnit tn tljB ^ktmi € imr. 
 
 f 
 
 ^ 
 
 BY 
 
 W. H. CARPENTER. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 CLAXTON,REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, 
 
 819 & 821 MARKET STREET. 
 
 1868. 
 
^\ 
 
 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1854, by 
 
 T. S. ARTHUR A\D W. II. CARPENTER, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern Dlsti'-ict of 
 Pennsylvania. ' 
 
 STEREOTYPED BT L. JOHNSON AND CO. 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 V 
 
 
2^1 ^ 
 
 PUBLISHERS' PREFACE. 
 
 There are but few persons in this country who 
 have not, at some time or other, felt the want of an 
 accurate, well written, concise, yet clear and reliable 
 listory of their own or some other state. 
 
 The want here indicated is now about being sup- 
 plied ; and, as the task of doing so is no light or 
 aperficial one, the publishers have given into the 
 iiands of the two gentlemen whose names appear in 
 the title-page, the work of preparing a series ot Cabi- 
 net Histories, embracing a volume for each*state in 
 the Union. Of their ability to perform this well, we 
 need not speak. They are no strangers in the literary 
 world. What they undertake the public may rest 
 assured will be performed thoroughly ) and that no 
 sectarian, sectional, or party feelings will bias their 
 judgment, or lead them to violate the integrity of 
 history. 
 
 The importance of a series of state histories like 
 those now commenced, can scarcely be estimated. 
 Being condensed as carefully as accuracy and interest 
 of narrative will permit, the size and price of the 
 volumes will bring them within the reach of every 
 family in the country, thus making them home-read- 
 ing books for old and young. Each individual will 
 
 1* 5 
 
6 publishers' preface. 
 
 in consequence, become familiar, not only with the 
 history of his own state, but with that of other states : 
 — thus mutual interest will be re-awakened, and old 
 bonds cemented in a firmer union. 
 
 In this series of Cabinet Histories, the authors, 
 while presenting a concise but accurate narrative of '"^ 
 the domestic policy of each state, will give greater 
 prominence to the personal history of the people. 
 The dangers which continually hovered around the 
 early colonists; the stirring romance of a life passed 
 fearlessly amid peril; the incidents of border war- 
 fare ; the adventures of hardy pioneers ; the keen 
 watchfulness, the subtle surprise, the ruthless attacl?, 
 and prompt retaliation — all these having had an im- 
 portant influence upon the formation of the American 
 character, are to be freely recorded. While the progres- 
 sive development of the citizens of each individual state 
 from the rough forest-life of the earlier day to the 
 polished condition of the present, will exhibit a pic- 
 ture of national expansion as instructing as it is inte- 
 resting. 
 
 The size and style of the series will be uniform 
 with the present volume. The authors, who have 
 been for some time collecting and arranging materials, 
 will furnish the succeeding volumes as rapidly as their 
 careful preparation will warrant. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Perhaps the history of no State in the Union 
 contains more events of romantic interest than 
 that of Tennessee. Settled originally by a 
 rough border population, surrounded by vindic- 
 tive and subtle enemies, upon whose territory 
 they had established themselves in defiance of 
 opposition and in contempt of danger, the long 
 and bloody wars which followed encroachments 
 repeatedly renewed have no parallel except in 
 the annals of Kentucky. Yet this sturdy peo- 
 ple, separated from the older States by inter- 
 vening mountains, not only sustained themselves 
 against the incessant assaults of their adversa- 
 ries, but righted their own wrongs, assisted to 
 repel invasion, and finally evolved order and 
 prosperity out of tumult and disaster. 
 
8 PREFACE. 
 
 Possessing more than ordinary facilities for 
 blending the science of manufactures with the 
 pursuits of agriculture, it is not difficult to ima- 
 gine the future greatness of a state so happily 
 situated both as respects fertility of soil and 
 variety of climate. At the present period, as 
 the following pages will show, Tennessee ranks 
 first among the St^ites of the Union in the value 
 of her domestic fabrics, fourth in the production 
 of Indian corn, and fifth in the scale of popu 
 jution. 
 
 I 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Romantic character of Spanish adventure — The Fountain of 
 Youth — Ponce de Leon — Discovery of Florida — Warlike op- 
 position of the natives — Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon — Lands 
 in Carolina — His treacherous conduct to the natives — Second 
 voyage of De Ayllon — Its disastrous termination — Expedi- 
 tion of Pamphilo de Narvaez — Lands in Florida — Attacked 
 by natives — Sufferings and privations of his followers — They 
 reach Apalachee — The village of Ante — They re-embark at 
 Tampa Bay — Successive loss of the flotilla — Captivity of 
 Alvar Nunez — His escape and return to Spain — His my.<te- 
 rious reports — Hernando de Soto — His early career — His 
 marriage — Entreats permission to conquer Florida — Is in- 
 vested with the government of Cuba — Sailing of the expedi- 
 tion — Arrival at Cuba — Liberality of Vasco Porcallo...Pa^e 
 
 CHAPTER IL 
 
 Embarkation of the Spaniards at Havana — Arrival at Tampa 
 Bay — Skirmish with the natives — Capture of Juan Ortiz — 
 His romantic adventures — The march through Florida — The 
 troops constantly attacked by the natives — Take up their 
 winter quarters at Apalachee — Continued hostility of the 
 natives — The march resumed — De Soto reaches the province 
 of Cofachiqui — His reception by an Indian princess — Enters 
 northern Georgia and encamps at Chiaha — Fruitless search 
 for gold — The province of Coosa — The Spaniards welcomed 
 by its chief — The arrival at the province of Tuscaloosa — 
 Haughty speech of Tuscaloo.-a — He accompanies De Soto 
 to Mobile — The battle of Mobile — Condition of the victo- 
 rious Spaniards — De Soto returns to Cbickasa — His encamp- 
 ment burned by the natives — Discovery of the Mississippi 
 — The Spaniards cross the river into Arkansas — Encamp at 
 the mouth of the Red River — Sickness and death of Do 
 Sotu — Wandering of the Spaniards under Moscoso — Their 
 rtturu to Mexico 31 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Spanish settlements restricted to Florida — French, Eng- 
 lish, and Dutch colonies in North America — The Jesuit 
 mission in Illinois — Marquette ordered to explore the Mis- 
 sissippi valley — The Illinois entreat him not to venture — • 
 His noble reply — Sets out on his journey — IIow attended, 
 and by whom — Reaches Maskoutens — Rude evidences of 
 Christianity among the natives — Speech of Jolliet — The 
 voyngenrs descend the Wisconsin — Their reception at tho 
 Des Moines villages — Marquette's address — Response of the 
 chief — Description of the monstrous Piasau — The voyage 
 down the Mississippi — False alarm of the travellers — They 
 reach the cotton-wood region — Approach the village of 
 Michigamea — Hostile preparations by the natives — Rescue 
 of Marquette and his party — Escorted to Arkansas, and 
 hospitably entertained — The return to Canada Paje 48 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Robert Cavalier de la Salle — His emigration to Canada — Be- 
 comes a fur-trader — Establishes a trading-post at La Chine 
 • — His explorations — Made commandant of Fort Frontenac 
 — Returns to France — Obtains a patent of nobility and a 
 grant of land — Resolves to explore the valley of the Missis- 
 sippi — Obtains a monopoly of the traffic in buffalo skins — 
 Builds a brigantine on the upper waters of the Mississippi 
 — Crosses the great Lakes to Mackinaw — Sails for Green 
 Bay — Sends back the Griffin to Niagara, freighted with 
 furs — Proceeds to the mouth of the St. Joseph — Builds the 
 fort of the Miamis — Descends the Kankakee — Builds forts 
 — Crevecoeur and Rock Fort — Returns to Fort Frontenac— 
 Reappears in Illinois — Again returns to Canada — Prose- 
 cutes his voyage to the Mississippi — Reaches the mouth of 
 the Illinois — Descends the Mississippi to the Chickasaw 
 bluff — Loss of a hunter — Builds Fort Prudhomme 67 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Discovery of Old Virginia by Amidas and Barlow — Attempts 
 at settlement — The James River colony — Its reverses and 
 eventual prosperity — Extension of settlements — The Albe- 
 marle region — A patent granted by Charles 11. for the pro- 
 vince of Carolina — Locke's constitution — Its rejection in 
 Albemarle — Culpepper's insurrection — Governor Sothel — 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 Ludwell's arlniinistration — The Carolinas under sep.arate 
 jurisdictions — Gary's insurrection — Arrival of Hyde — War 
 with the Tuscaroras — Indian war with South Carolina — 
 French in Louisiana — D'Iberville establishes a colony at 
 Biloxi — Its removal to Mobile Bay — Crozat's grant — Charle- 
 vilie's trading-house on the Cumberland — French forts in 
 the Tennessee country — New Orleans founded — Massacre 
 of the French by the Natchez — Province of Georgia settled 
 by Oglethorpe — French expedition against the Chickasas — 
 Its disastrous failure Pci'je 65 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Waning influence of the French — Progress of Georgia — War 
 between England, France and Spain — Virginia boundary 
 extended— Settlements on the Ilolston, Yadkin and Catawba 
 — French in the valley of the Ohio — Mission of George 
 W^ashington — Fort Duquesne — Skirmish at Great Meadows 
 —Surrender of Fort Necessity — Arrival of Braddock — His 
 defeat and death — Earl of Loudoun — Forts Prince George, 
 Dobbs and Loudoun built — Campaign of 1758 — Capture of 
 Fort Duquesne — Trouble with the Cherokees — Indian nego- 
 tiations for peace — Conduct of Lyttleton — Massacre of 
 Indian hostages — Cherokee war — Montgomery marches 
 against the Indian towns — Relieves Fort Prince George — 
 Battle of Etchoe — Surrender of Fort Loudoun — Massacre 
 of i^risoners — Generosity of Attakulla-kulla — Advance of 
 Grant — Second battle of Etchoe — Peace 82 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 Pressure of borderers upon the Cherokee country — Exploring 
 parties in Tennessee — Wallen's hunters — Boone's — Hender- 
 son employs Boon to explore Eastern Tennessee — Disco- 
 very of Kentucky — Indian complaints — Royal proclamation 
 ■ — Disregarded by the pioneers — Scaggins explores the Lower 
 Cumberland — Remonstrance by the Iroquois — Council at 
 Fort Stanwix — Cession of lands so«th of the Ohio — Chero- 
 kee council at Hard Labour — Settlements on the Holston — 
 The Long Hunters explore Kentuckj' — Increase of settlers 
 at Watauga — They establish a local government — The 
 commissioners for AVatauga — John Sevier — Extension of 
 Virginia boundary — The Watauga lands leased of the 
 Cherokees — An Indian murdered — Danger of the settlers 
 • — Heroism of Ptobertson — The north-western tribes — Trou- 
 bles with the borderers — The massacz-e on the Ohio by 
 Cresap and Greathouse — Indian war — Dunmore's campaign 
 — Battle of Point Pleasant — Treaty of peace 96 
 
12 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Cherokee council at Sycamore Shoals — Purchase of the Wa- 
 tauga territory — Other grants — The Transylvania grant 
 anrmlled by Dunmore — Colonial troubles — Instructions to 
 the royal govei'nors — Seizure of stores at Concord — Battle 
 of Lexington — Difficulties with Dunmore — Patrick Henry 
 marches on Williamsburg — Flight of Dunmore — Action of 
 the Federal Congress at Philadelphia — Spirited conduct of 
 
 . North Carolina — Increased excitement in the province — 
 Flight of Governor Martin — The legislature of North Caro- 
 lina advocates a declaration of independence — Annexation 
 of the Watauga settlement to North Carulina — Indian hos- 
 tilities — Skirmish at Long Island — Defence of Watauga 
 Fort — Anecdote of Catherine Sherrill — South Carolina me- 
 naced by a British fleet — Provincial expeditions against the 
 Cherokees ..I'aje 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Washington county established — Liberality of the North 
 Carolina legislature — Special enactment in favour of the 
 Watauga settlers — Increase of emigration — Military service 
 — Assistance sent to Kentucky — Relief of Logan's Fort — 
 Militia disbanded in Tennessee — Lawlessness of the Tories 
 and Refugees — Committee of safety organized — Summary 
 punishment of obnoxious persons — Hostility of the Chicka- 
 maugas — The Nick-a-jack towns — Description of the Nick- 
 ajack cave — Expedition against the Chickamaugas — De- 
 struction of their towns — Jonesborough founded — Sullivan 
 county established — Exploration of the Lower Cumberland 
 — Robertson's settlement on the Blutf at Nashville — Do- 
 naldson's remarkable voyage — Joins Ptobertson at the Bluff.. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 War of independence — Evacuation of Boston — Declaration of 
 independence — Battle of Long Island — Of White Plains — 
 Washington retreats across the Jersey's — Battle of Trenton 
 — Buttle of Princeton — Howe advances on Philadelphia — 
 Battle of Brandywine— Of Germantown — Burgoyne's inva- 
 sion — His defeat at Saratoga — Conquest of Georgia — Sub- 
 jugation of South Carolina — Defeat of Gates at Camden — 
 Activity of the mountaineers — Shelby and Sevier join 
 
CONTENTS. IS 
 
 McDowell — Capture of a iory garrison on Paeolet River — 
 Advance of the British and Tories under Ferguson — Battle 
 of Musgrove Mill — Rapid retreat of the mountaineers.. Pa(/e 129 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Mountaineers disbanded — Advance of Ferguson — His message 
 to Shelby — The mountaineers called to arms — Assemble at 
 Watauga — Advance against Ferguson — The latter retires 
 from Gilbert-town — American reinforcement — Conference of 
 the partisan leaders at the Cowpens — Pursuit of Ferguson 
 — Campbell selected to commancTthe mountaineers — Ap- 
 proach to King's Mountain — Order of battle — Sevier comes 
 under fire of the enemy — The attack commenced — Cou- 
 rageous conduct of Ferguson — Effect of his bayonet charges 
 — Resolute perseverance of the mountaineers — Flag of sur- 
 render twice torn down by Ferguson — His defiant conduct 
 — His death — Surrender of the British and Tories — Tarle- 
 ton sent to relieve Ferguson — His recall — Retreat of Corn- 
 wallis — His subsequent movements — Battle of Guilford 
 Court House — Capitulation at Yorktown 13° 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Return of the mountaineers — Indian hostilities — Battle of 
 Boyd's Creek — Expedition into the Cherokee country — 
 Destruction of Indian towns — Greene calls for reinforce- 
 ments — Response of Shelby and Sevier — They join Marion 
 — Capture two British posts at Monk's Corner — Shelby ob- 
 tains leave of absence — The mountaineers return home — 
 Prosperity of Tennessee — Death of Unatoolah — Alarm of 
 the settlers — A new station constructed — Pacific overtures 
 made to the Cherokees — Council at Gist — Land-ofiQce closed 
 by North Carolina — Re-opened — Arbitrary extension of 
 the western boundary — Greene county established — Explo- 
 rations — Land-ofiSce opened at Hillsborough — Rapid sale 
 of land — Expansion of the settlements west of the moun- 
 tains 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Recognition of American independence — Difficulties of the 
 federal and state governments — Cession of public lands by 
 North Carolina — Alarm of the mountaineers — Convention 
 at Jouesborough — Declaration of independence — State of 
 
 3 
 
14 CONTENTS. 
 
 Pranklin — North Carolina annuls her deed of cession — The 
 mountaineers form a separate jurisdiction — Proclamation 
 of Governor Martin — Its effect in the western counties — 
 Political antagonisms — Increaro of the party favourable to 
 North Carolina — Tipton and Sevier — Outrages committed 
 on both sides — Reactionary spirit — Return to the jurisdic- 
 tion of North Carolina — Execution issued against the pro- 
 perty of Sevier — Its seizure — Rash conduct of Sevier — His 
 arrest — Escape — Election to senate of North Carolina.Po^e 159 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Robertson's colony on the Cumberland — Increase in popula- 
 tion — Hostility of the Indians — Keywood and Kay killed — 
 Freeland's station attacked— The settlers take refuge in 
 block-houses — Cause of Indian hostility — Settlement on 
 Red River broken up — Donaldson's party attacked — Panic 
 among the settlers — Robertson's resolute advice — Freeland's 
 station surprised — Repulse of the Indians — Desultory war- 
 fare — Robertson's fort at the Bluff invested — Eight of the 
 garrison killed by a stratagem — Custom of the country — 
 Close of Revolutionary war- — Temporary cessation of hos- 
 tilities — Indian council at the Bluff — Spanish intrigues — 
 Renewal of Indian incursions — Desperate skirmishes — 
 Treaty of Hopewell — Continuance of hostilities — Robert- 
 son's expedition — Attack on Hay at the mouth of Duck 
 River — Surprise of Indian village by Robertson, and cap- 
 ture of traders — Capture of French trading boats — Division 
 of the spoils 169 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Desultory Indian warfare continued — American attempts at 
 retaliation — Robertson and Bledsoe remonstrate with McGil- 
 livray — Death of Colonel Bledsoe — Robertson's negotiations 
 with the Creeks — Hostilities continue — Increase of emigra- 
 tion — Causes which influenced it — State grants and reserva- 
 tions — District of Morgan established — Courts of law — Da- 
 vidson county established — Nashville receives its name — 
 Partial cessation of hostilities— ^Road opened through the 
 wilderness — Sumner and Tennessee counties established — 
 Voyage of Colonel Brown down the Tennessee — Massacre 
 of his party by the Chichamauga Indians — Captivity of 
 Mrs. Brown and the younger children — Their release — 
 North Carolina cedes her western lands to the United 
 States 181 
 
CONTENTS. 15 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Territorial government formed — Blount appointed governor 
 — Difficulty with Spain — Instructions to Mr. Jay — Indigna- 
 tion of the western people — Instructions rescinded — Unpo- 
 pularity of the Federal government — Intrigues of Spain — 
 Activity of Governor Blount — Indian hostilities — Campaigns 
 of Harman and St. Clair — Restlessness of the Cherokees — 
 Treaty of Holston — Depredations by the Creeks — Knoxville 
 founded — The lower Cherokees declare war — Attack on 
 Buchanan's station — Capture of Captain Handly — Captain 
 Beard surprises Hiwassa — Is court-martialed — Hostile 
 movements of the Creeks and Cherokees — Massacre at 
 Cavet's station — Sevier's expedition — Defeat of the Indians 
 — The Nick-a-jaek expedition Page 189 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Organization of a territorial assembly — Congress petitioned to 
 declare war against the Creeks and Cherokees — Colleges 
 established at Grreenville and Knoxville — Washington col- 
 lege established — Convention at Knoxville and adoption of 
 a constitution for the State of Tennessee — Sevier elected 
 governor — Blount and Coxe chosen senators of the United 
 States — Their election declared invalid — Subsequent action 
 of the legislature of Tennessee — Andrew Jackson appointed 
 a member of Congress — His personal appearance — Indian 
 difficulties — Blount expelled the senate — Appointment of 
 Jackson to fill the vacancy — Reception of Blount in Ten- 
 nessee — Chosen a senator of the State — His trial and ac- 
 quittal — His death — Roane elected governor — Prosperity 
 of Tennessee 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Aaron Burr — His duel with Hamilton — His journey to the 
 West — Account of his projects against Spain and the United 
 States — Co-operation of Blennerhasset — Burr publicly wel- 
 comed at Nashville — Becomes the guest of Andrew Jackson 
 — Descends the Mississippi — Returns to Philadelphia — 
 
16 CONTENTS. 
 
 Intrigues with Eaton, Truxton, and Decatur — Eaton's visit 
 to JefiFerson — Reappearance of Burr in the West — Military 
 preparations in the Ohio valley — Burr's correspondence 
 with Wilkinson — Denounced by the latter — Jackson's warn- 
 ing to the governor of Louisiana — Jefferson's proclamation 
 — Arrest of Burr in Kentucky — His acquittal — Suddenly 
 appears at Nashville — Frustration of his schemes — Burr 
 descends the Cumberland — Encamps on the west bank of 
 the Mississippi — His arrest, trial and acquittal — His subse- 
 quent fortunes Page 210 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Difficulties with Great Britain and France — Action of Con- 
 gress — Increase of popular indignation against Great Britain 
 — Congress declares war — Disastrous issue of the campaiga 
 at the north — Naval victories — Wilkinson calls on Tennes- 
 see for volunteers — Prompt response — Reach Natchez under 
 Jackson and Coffee — Ordered to be disbanded — Conduct of 
 Jackson — Return to Nashville — Tecumseh — His attempt to 
 form an Indian confederacy — Effect of his visit to the 
 southern tribes — The Creeks become hostile — Massacre of 
 Fort Mimms — Jackson reassembles the militia of Tennessee 
 — Battle of Tallasehatche — Battle of Talladega — Successes 
 of the Georgians and Mississippians 220 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Jackson's difficulties at Fort Strother — Arrival of fresh troops 
 — Jackson marches toward the centre of the Creek country 
 — Battle of Emuckfau — Repulse of the Red Sticks — Return 
 of the army toward Fort Strother — Battle of Enitachopeo 
 — Gallant conduct of Constantine Perkins and Craven Jack- 
 son — Defeat of the Indians — Volunteers discharged — Jack- 
 son marches from Fort Strother with a new army — Battle 
 of Cholocco Litahixee — Terrible slaughter of the Red Skins 
 — Anecdote of Jackson — Submission of the Indians — Wea- 
 therford surrenders to Jackson — His speech — West Tennes- 
 see volunteers ordered home 232 
 
CONTENTS. 1 
 
 w 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 Jackson appointed a major-general — He negotiates a treaty 
 with the Creeks — The British at Pensacola — Jaclison's cor- 
 respondence with the Spanish governor — His project for 
 the reduction of Pensacola — He calls upon Tennessee for 
 volunteers — Fort Bowyer attacked — Repulse of the British 
 — They take refuge at Pensacola — Jackson determines to 
 attack that place — Arrival of volunteers from Tennessee — 
 Jackson marches upon Pensacola — Unsuccessful negotia- 
 tions — Americans attack the town — Submission of the Spa- 
 nish governor — Escape of the British — Indians driven oflF 
 — Jackson resurrenders Pensacola — He proceeds to New 
 Orleans Page 243 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Jackson calls again for volunteers — Patriotism of the Tennes- 
 seeans — Disaffection at New Orleans — British forces under 
 Packenham threaten that city — Difficulty with the Loui- 
 siana militia — Martial law proclaimed — Vanguard of the 
 enemy encamp on the Mississippi — Night attack by Jack- 
 son and Coffee — Dilatory movements of the British — De- 
 struction of the schooner Caroline — First repulse of the 
 enemy — Jackson's difficulty with the Louisiana legislature 
 — Battle of the 8th of January — Packenham slain — Final 
 repulse of the British 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXIIL 
 
 Return of Jackson to New Orleans — Opposition of the citi- 
 zens to the continuance of martial law — Imprisonment of 
 a member of the legislature by order of Jackson — Arrest of 
 Judge Hall — Intelligence of peace — Return of Hall to New 
 Orleans — Arrest and trial of Jackson for contempt of court 
 — A fine imposed — Demonstration of popular sympathy — 
 Dismissal of the Tennessee volunteers — Honours awarded 
 Jackson by Congress — McMimm elected governor — Diffi- 
 culties with the Cherokees — With the Florida Indians — 
 Jackson ordered to take the field — Tallahassee towns 
 
 2* 
 
18 CONTENTS. 
 
 burned — Seizure of the Spanish fort at St. Mark's — Skir- 
 mishes with the Indians — Execution of Arbuthnot and 
 Ambrister — Jackson takes possession of Pensacola — Pro- 
 test of the Spanish minister — Execution of Arbuthnot and 
 Ambrister discussed by Congress — Jackson sustained by 
 the House of Representatives — Florida ceded to the United 
 States PuQe 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Statistics of Tennessee according to the census of 1850— 
 IT orm of government, &c. — Conclusion 278 
 
HISTORY OF TEMBSSEE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Romantic character of Spanish adventure — The Fountain of 
 Youth — Ponce de Leon — Discovery of Florida — Warlike 
 opposition of the natives — Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon — Lands 
 in Carohna — His treacherous conduct to the natives — Second 
 voyage of De Ayllon — Its disastrous termination — Expedi- 
 tion of Pamphilo de Narvaez — Lands in Florida — Attacked 
 by natives — Sufterings and privations of his followers — They 
 reach Apalachee — The village of Ante — They re-embark at 
 Tampa Bay — Successive loss of the flotilla — Captivity of 
 Alvar Nunez — His escape and return to Spain — His myste- 
 rious reports — Hernando de Soto — His early career — His 
 marriage — Entreats permission to conquer Florida — Is in- 
 vested with the government of Cuba — Sailing of the expe- 
 dition — Arrival at Cuba — Liberality of Vasco Porcallo. 
 
 Nothing in the whole range of history is more 
 singularly romantic than the remarkable series 
 of exploration and adventure which ushered in 
 the sixteenth century. The discovery of an un- 
 known continent by Columbus, and the heroic 
 yet half barbaric exploits of Cortez and Pizarro, 
 extended the dominions of Spain over a vast 
 region, reaching from the Mexican Gulf to the 
 
 Pacific Ocean, had poured into the royal treasury 
 
 19 
 
20 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1512. 
 
 at Madrid an almost fabulous amount of wealth, 
 and correspondingly enriched all those daring 
 soldiers of fortune, whose ambitious spirits led 
 them to embark in perilous enterprises, the 
 splendid results of which were owing, not less 
 to their great powers of endurance than to 
 their acknowledged courage. 
 
 Successes so astonishing, achieved by a mere 
 handful of men, when compared with the num- 
 bers by whom they were opposed, animated 
 others to undertake enterprises of a similar cha- 
 racter. And though the field of conquest was, 
 at the period to which we refer, confined to the 
 southern shores of the American continent and 
 the islands adjacent, it was already rumoured 
 that to the north of Cuba lay lands as rich in 
 gold and jewels as those over which the Spanish 
 flag already floated, and nations as easy to be 
 overcome. 
 
 But it was a more romantic feeling than either 
 the desire of wealth, or the ambition of renown, 
 which led to the discovery of Florida. Juan 
 Ponce de Leon, the aged governor of Porto Rico, 
 a brave soldier in the old Moorish wars, and one 
 rho had acquired honour and distinction as a 
 companion of Columbus, had heard from the na- 
 tives of the Caribbee Islands of a wonderful 
 fountain, which possessed the miraculous property 
 of restoring the aged and the feeble to all the 
 bloom and vigour of early youth 
 
1512.] DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA. 21 
 
 Stimulated by reports which -wore confirmed 
 by Indian traditions, and credited at the court 
 of Castile and Arragon, Juan Ponce, in March, 
 1512, set sail in search of the Fountain of 
 Youth ; and after seeking it in vain among the 
 Bahama Islands, sailed to the north-west, and 
 crossing the Gulf Stream, fell in with a beauti- 
 ful country, whence the soft airs came laden 
 with the fragrance of unknown flowers, and to 
 which, from that cause, and from its having been 
 first discovered on Palm Sunday — Pasoua de 
 Flores — he gave the name of Florida. Return- 
 ing presently to Spain, he obtained authority to 
 conquer and govern this hitherto unknown land; 
 but all his glowing anticipations terminated dis- 
 astrously. He found the natives far more war- 
 like than those of the islands ; and in his attempts 
 to subdue them, he received a severe wound, which 
 compelled him to return with the shattered re- 
 mains of his expedition to Cuba, where he lan- 
 guished for a short time, and then died. 
 
 A few years later, a small quantity of silver 
 and gold, brought from the same coast to San 
 Domingo by the captain of a caravel, stimulated 
 Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, in connection with 
 several other wealthy persons, owners of gold 
 mines in that island, tp fit out tAvo vessels, for 
 the double purpose of exploring the country and 
 of kidnapping Indians to work in the mines. A 
 tempest driving these ships northward, to Cape 
 
22 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1520. 
 
 Helena, in South Carolina, they finally anchored 
 at the mouth of the Carabahee. The guileless 
 Indians had no sooner recovered from their fears 
 than they came flocking on board, bringing with 
 them presents of valuable furs, some pearls, and 
 a small quantity of silver and gold. Their ge- 
 nerosity was requited with the foulest treachery. 
 They were made prisoners, and carried to San 
 Domingo. One of the vessels was lost during 
 the voyage, the other returned safely ; but the 
 poor captives were found useless as labourers, 
 and pining for their lost liberty, the greater 
 portion of them speedily died, either of grief or 
 voluntary starvation. 
 
 In 1520, while Cortez and his companions 
 were marching to the conquest of Mexico, Vas- 
 quez de Ayllon undertook a second voyage to 
 Carolina. His largest vessel being blown ashore, 
 a total wreck, he sailed with the other two a 
 short distance to the eastward, where he landed 
 in a delightful country, and was welcomed with 
 such an appearance of frank hospitality by the 
 Indians, that, wholly beguiled of his suspicions, 
 he suffered the greater portion of his men to ac- 
 company their entertainers to a large village 
 about nine miles in the interior. After being 
 feasted for three days with the utmost show of 
 friendship, the Spaniards were suddenly assault- 
 ed as they slept, and massacred to a man. Early 
 the next morning, Yasquoz de Ayllon. and the 
 
1528.] EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ. 25 
 
 Bmall party left to guard the ships were sur- 
 prised in like manner, and very few escaped to 
 carry back to San Domingo tidings of the fate 
 which had befallen their comrades. 
 
 Undeterred by the fatality which seemed to 
 attend all attempts to subjugate the warlike na- 
 tives of Florida, Pamphilo de Narvaez, the weak 
 rival of Cortez, gathered about him a large 
 number of resolute spirits, and bearing the royal 
 3ommission as Adelantado, or military governor 
 of the country, set sail on an expedition of con- 
 quest and colonization. With four hundred men 
 and forty-five horses, he landed on the eastern 
 3oast of Florida, on the 12th of April, 1528. 
 After taking unmolested possession of the coun- 
 try in the name of his sovereign, he ordered hia 
 ships to sail along the coast to the northward, 
 while he penetrated inland in the same direction, 
 attended by two hundred and sixty footmen and 
 forty cavalry. 
 
 The progress of the Spaniards did not long 
 remain undisputed. They had scarcely com- 
 menced their march before they began to be an- 
 noyed by fierce, though desultory attacks from 
 the natives. Brushing these off with increasing 
 difficulty as they proceeded, they resolutely 
 pressed forward through the tangled wilderness; 
 now cutting a pathway through dense canebrakes, 
 now crossing with uncertain footing broad reaches 
 of treacherous swamps, and at times halting on 
 
24 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1528. 
 
 the banks of rivers too deep to ford and too 
 rapid to swim, until rafts could be constructed 
 to carry them over. Though suffering from 
 hunger, debilitated by sickness, and at all times 
 exposed to the arrows of outlying foes, the re- 
 port of abundance of gold in the province of 
 Apalachee encouraged them to persevere. They 
 well knew that the early sufferings of Cortez 
 and his heroic followers had been compensated 
 by the wealth of Mexico, and in the midst of 
 their sufferings were sustained by the hope of a 
 similar reward. After struggling through the 
 wilderness for fifteen days, they reached the 
 long desired town of Apalachee, which, to their 
 intense mortification, they found to be a mere 
 collection of ordinary Indian wigwams. The 
 inhabitants had fled before the advance of the 
 Spaniards, but they indicated their presence in 
 the vicinity, and their determined hostility, by 
 lurking in the w^oods and cutting off all strag- 
 glers, and by a series of pertinacious assaults, 
 which gave the invaders no rest either by day or 
 night. At this place Narvaez- remained nearly 
 a month, recruiting the strength of his weaker 
 companions, and awaiting the return of parties 
 sent out to examine the country for gold. Find- 
 ing none, and having reports of a more peace- 
 ful people nine days' journey to the southward, 
 where abundance of provisions could be obtained, 
 Narvaez departed from Apalachee, and took up 
 
1528.] EXPEDITION OF NARYAEZ. 2o 
 
 his line of march for the village of Aute on the 
 Bay of St. Mark's, which he finally reached after 
 encountering many perils by the way, and suf- 
 fering considerable loss both in men and horses. 
 On the approach of the Spaniards the village was 
 found to have been abandoned, and the houses 
 burned ; but sufficient corn remained in the 
 granaries to satisfy their most pressing wants. 
 Having lost one-third of their number, the dis- 
 consolate survivors, broken down by disease, by 
 weary and painful marches, and by the neces- 
 sity of unintermitted w^atchfulness, concluded to 
 return to Hispaniola. Too feeble to prosecute 
 their journey by land, they adopted the scarcely 
 less desperate expedient of building a few open 
 barges, in which they proposed to- cruise along 
 the shore, until ihej met with the squadron from 
 which they had disembarked in the spring. 
 
 They at once set about their task. AVith sin- 
 gular ingenuity, they constructed a bellows of 
 deer hide; and by the aid of charcoal and a rude 
 forge, the iron of their spurs, crossbows, stir- 
 rups, and superfluous armour, was speedily con- 
 verted into nails, and such necessary tools as 
 their exigencies required. Trees were felled, 
 and laboriously hewn into shape. For ropes 
 they used the fibres of the palm, strengthened 
 by hair from the tails and manes of their horses. 
 Their shirts, cut open and sewed together, served 
 for sails ; while the skins of horses which had 
 
 3 
 
26 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1528. 
 
 been slain for food, were converted into vessels 
 to contain the water required during the voyage. 
 In six weeks five boats were completed, into 
 each of which from forty to fifty men were 
 crowded. Freighted so heavily that the gun- | 
 wales of their barks touched the water's edge, 
 Narvaez and his followers quitted the Bay of St. 
 Mark's on the 22d of September, and, bearing 
 westward, sailed for many days along the coast, 
 anding occasionally to do battle with the natives 
 for food and water. The water-skins proving 
 iefective, some of the troops least capable of 
 endurance expired of thirst. Others fell by the 
 hands of the savages. Overtaken by a tempest, 
 :wo of the boats were driven out to sea, and 
 never heard of after. The remaining three 
 foundered subsequently ; and of all that gallant 
 sompany, only Alvar Nunez and four companions, 
 after enduring ten years of cj^ptivity among the 
 Indians, succeeded in returning to Mexico. These 
 poverty-stricken wanderers, encouraged by the 
 credulity of their listeners, narrated such mar- 
 vellous legends of the countries through which 
 they had passed, that when Alvar Nunez crossed 
 over to Spain, bearing with him the first reliable 
 tidings of the fate of Pamphilo de Narvaez, men 
 turned aside from his tale of peril and suffering 
 to question him concerning the reputed wealth 
 of those lands wherein he had remained so long 
 a prisoner. 
 
1530.J HERNANDO DE SOTO. 2T 
 
 Conjecturing from his aifectation of mysteri- 
 ous secrecy, that Florida was a second Peru ; 
 the assertion of another of the wanderers, that 
 it was "the richest country in the world," gained 
 implicit credence, and imaginative minds became 
 easily convinced of the existence of a new region, 
 where daring men might yet win a golden har- 
 vest and a glorious renown. 
 
 Foremost among those who entertained this 
 belief was Hernando de Soto, a native of Xeres, 
 and a gentleman by "all four descents." As a 
 youthful soldier of fortune, possessing no pro- 
 perty beyond his sword and buckler, he had 
 joined the standard of Pizarro, under whom he 
 soon won a distinguished military reputation. 
 Rendered famous by the courage he displayed in 
 the storming of Cuzco, and no less admired for 
 his boldness in action than for his prudence in 
 council, he speedily rose to the rank of second 
 in command. Returning to Spain in the prime 
 of life, with a fortune of one hundred and eighty 
 thousand ducats, he assumed all the magnificence 
 of a wealthy noble. He had his steward, gen- 
 tleman of the horse, his chamberlain, pages, and 
 usher. Already renouned for those heroic quali- 
 ties which women so much admire, his riches 
 and his noble person gained for him the hand 
 of Isabella de Bobadilla, a lady of high rank, 
 and connected by blood with some of the most 
 powerful families in the kingdom. Elevated by 
 
28 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1538. 
 
 these advantages, he repaired in great state to 
 Madrid, attended by Luis Moscoso de Alvarado, 
 Nuno de Tobar, and others, his friends and com- 
 panions in arms, all of whom were gorgeously 
 apparelled, and scattered their wealth on every 
 side with a reckless prodigality. 
 
 Rendered more than ordinarily credulous by 
 his previous successes in Peru, De Soto inter- 
 preted the vague replies of Alvar Nunez according 
 to his own wishes; and aspiring to increase the 
 fame he had already acquired as a subordinate, 
 by the honours to be derived from an inde- 
 pendent command, he petitioned the Emperor 
 Charles Y. for permission to conquer Florida 
 at his own expense. It was not difficult to ob- 
 tain the royal consent to an enterprise which, 
 while it occasioned no outlay to the government, 
 might be the means of bringing great wealth to 
 the treasury. De Soto was appointed civil and 
 military commander of Florida and governor of 
 Cuba. He was also invested with the rank and 
 title of marquis, with authority to select for him- 
 fielf an estate thirty leagues long and fifteen 
 broad, in any of the territories to be conquered 
 by his arms. It was no sooner made known that 
 Hernando de Soto, Pizarro's famous lieutenant, 
 was organizing an expedition for the conquest 
 of Florida, than numerous young Spanish and 
 Portuguese nobles, burning for wealth, adventure, 
 %nd distinction, sold their possessions, and hast- 
 
1538.] EXPEDITION OF DE SOTO. 29 
 
 ened to join the standard of so renowned a leader. 
 Men of all ranks speedily followed their example ; 
 and disposing of houses and lands, of vineyards 
 and olive groves, assembled at Seville, in which 
 city De Soto had taken up his abode to arrange 
 the details of his magnificent enterprise. After 
 being joined at Seville by the Portuguese volun- 
 teers, he departed for the port of San Lucar de 
 Barrameda, where he ordered a muster of the 
 troops, for the purpose of enrolling such as were 
 most capable of enduring the privations and 
 hardships with which he knew the adventure 
 would be attended. To this muster the Span- 
 iards came gaudily apparelled in silks and satins, 
 daintily slashed and embroidered ; while the 
 Portuguese made their appearance in burnished 
 armour, excellently wrought, and with weapons 
 to correspond. Chagrined that his own coun- 
 trymen should have presented themselves in 
 attire so wholly unfitted for the purpose in which 
 they proposed to engage, De Soto ordered a 
 second muster, at which all were to attend in 
 armour. The display was still in favour of the 
 Portuguese, who came equipped with the same 
 soldierly care as before ; while most of the Span 
 iards, having spent the greater part of their 
 fortune upon their silken gauds, made their ap- 
 pearance in rusty and defective coats of mail, 
 battered head-pieces, and with lances neither 
 well made nor trustworthy. From the choicest 
 
 3* 
 
30 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1538. 
 
 of these, however, De Soto selected six hundred 
 men, with whom he put to sea in six hirge and 
 three small vessels, on the 6th of April, 1538. 
 This fleet, having also on board twenty-four 
 priests and monks for the conversion of the 
 heathen, reached Gomera, one of the Canaries, 
 on the 21st of April. At this port De Soto re- 
 mained a few days, the welcome guest of the 
 governor, of whose lavish hospitality all those 
 on board the squadron were likewise made par- 
 takers. 
 
 Having refreshed his men, De Soto again set 
 sail, and finally anchored off the island of Cuba 
 toward the close of May. His arrival was made 
 the occasion of great festivity and rejoicing. 
 Tilts and jousting matches, feats of horseman- 
 ship and skilful displays with sword and lance, 
 revived the gorgeous and chivalric pastimes of 
 previous centuries ; while games of chance, bull- 
 fights, dances, and masquerades developed in a 
 striking degree a not less peculiar phase of 
 Castilian character. Billeting his men on the 
 inhabitants of the city and surrounding country, 
 De Soto spent a year in arranging the affairs of 
 his government, and in gleaning information 
 respecting the region he had undertaken to con- 
 quer. In the mean time he was joined by Vasco 
 Porcallo de Figuera, a wealthy cavalier, of 
 mature age, whose long dormant ambition was 
 again stirred to emulate the younger adventurers 
 
1538.] EMBARKATION AT HAVANA. 31 
 
 m exploits of arms. By the newly-awakened 
 liberality of this ancient soldier, De Soto was 
 supplied, not only with provisions for present 
 use, but with a large herd of live swine to furnish 
 meat to the troops while on their march. Grati- 
 fied by this evidence of good-will, De Soto ap- 
 pointed Vasco Porcallo his lieutenant-general, a 
 station from which Nuno de Tobar had lately 
 been deposed for certain irregularities which he 
 subsequently most nobly repaired. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Embarkation of the Spaniards at Havana — Arrival at Tampa 
 Bay — Skirmish with the natives — Capture of Juan Ortiz — 
 His romantic adventures — The march through Florida — The 
 troops constantly attacked by the natives — Take up their 
 winter quarters at Apalachee — Continued hostility of the 
 natives — The march resumed — De Soto reaches the province 
 of Cofachiqui — His reception by an Indian princess — Enters 
 northern Georgia and encamps at Chiaha — Fruitless search 
 for gold — The province of Coosa — The Spaniards welcomed 
 by its chief — The arrival at the province of Tuscaloosa — ■ 
 Haughty speech of Tuscaloosa — He accompanies De Soto 
 to Mobile — The battle of Mobile — Condition of the victo- 
 rious Spaniards — De Soto returns to Chickasa — His en- 
 campment burned by the natives — Discovery of the Mis- 
 sissippi — The Spaniards cross the river into Arkansas — 
 Encamp at the mouth of the Red River — Sickness and 
 death of De Soto — Wandering of the Spaniards under 
 Moscoso — Their return to Mexico. 
 
 All the necessary preparations being at 
 length completed, De Soto embarked his troops 
 
82 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1539. 
 
 on board eleven vessels, amply freighted with 
 provisions and military stores. He set sail from 
 the port of Havana, on the 12th of May, 1539, 
 and on the 25th of the same month the squadron 
 cast anchor in Tampa Bay. Landing his army, 
 increased by Cuban volunteers to one thousand 
 men, he took formal possession of the country 
 in the name of his sovereign, and was imme- 
 diately engaged in a skirmish with the natives. 
 Eoremost in the melee was the aged soldier Por- 
 callo ; but being roughly handled, and having 
 his horse killed under him, the veteran "beqame 
 disgusted with an enterprise whfch promised 
 more hard blows than profit, and entreated per- 
 mission to return in the ships which De Soto had 
 resolved to send back to Cuba. His request was 
 coldly granted. The first effort of the adelan- 
 tado was to gain the friendship of the hostile 
 chief whose territories he had so unceremoniously 
 invaded. " I want none of their speeches, nor 
 promises," said the haughty cacique. <' Bring 
 their heads, and I will receive them joyfully." 
 
 In the midst of these attempts at negotiation, 
 Balthazar de Gallegos, a bold and hardy soldier, 
 was despatched with a body of horse and foot 
 to scour the country in search of guides. While 
 charging a small body of Indians, one of his men 
 was arrested in his career by the voice of a fu- 
 gitive, who cried out in broken Spanish, " Seville ! 
 Seville !" and making the sign of the cross, add- 
 
1539.] JUAN ORTIZ. 33 
 
 ed, «^ Slay me not, I am a Christian!" Stout 
 Alvaro Nietro, the trooper thus invoked, imme- 
 diately dropped the point of hi^ lance, and joy- 
 fully mounting his captive behind him, rode off 
 with him to his leader. 
 
 The stranger proved to be Juan Ortiz, a gentle- 
 man of Seville, who, at the age of eighteen, had 
 joined the expedition of Pamphilo Narvaez. 
 Returning to Cuba with the fleet, he subsequently 
 set sail for Florida With a score of companions, 
 despatched to ascertain the fate of that unfortu- 
 nate commander. Lured on shore by pacific 
 signs from the Indians, he was taken captive with 
 three others, and ca-rried to the presence of 
 Hurrihigua, the same chief who had lately re- 
 turned so defiant an answer to the messengers 
 from De Soto. The companions of Ortiz were 
 speedily massacred, and he himself, doomed to a 
 similar fate, was rescued with difficulty by the 
 daughter of Hurrihigua, but condemned to per- 
 form menial offices of the most ignominious and 
 revolting character. Several attempts being 
 subsequently made upon his life, his preserver 
 aided him, finally, in escaping to the village of a 
 neighbouring chieftain to whom she was betroth- 
 ed. Ortiz was kindly received, and under the 
 care of his hospitable protector he remained nine 
 years, having learned, in the mean while, the 
 language of the Indians, and nearly forgotten 
 his own. Exceedingly rejoiced at obtaining so 
 
34 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1539 
 
 efficient an interpreter, De Soto welcomed Ortis 
 with great heartiness. He caused him to be di- 
 vested of his savage garb, and arrayed in gar- 
 ments more befitting his birth and former con- 
 dition. 
 
 Leaving Pedro Calderon, with one hundred 
 horse and foot, in charge of the camp, and a 
 caraval and two. brigantines to command the 
 harbour, De Soto commenced his march inland. 
 His troops were cased in armour of plate, or 
 chain mail, the weapons of the cavalry being 
 swords and lances; the footmen were equipped 
 with cross-bows and arquebusses, and further 
 protected by targets. It was a gorgeous yet 
 cruel spectacle to see this army, splendidly array 
 ed, set out on its wanderings through the swamps 
 and tangled forests of an unknown land, attend- 
 ed by bloodhounds trained to hunt down the 
 savages, and bearing with them chains to fetter 
 the limbs of their captives ; implements of tor- 
 ture strangely contrasting with the sacerdotal 
 dresses, the chalices and other ornaments re- 
 quired in their devotional exercises, and with the 
 tvine and the wheaten flour consecrated to the 
 solemn service of mass. 
 
 But though they went forth thus gallantly ca- 
 parisoned, and with the assured port of pre- 
 destined conquerors, they were soon to learn the 
 difference between the prowess of the Indians 
 inhabiting the region north of the Gulf Stream, 
 
1539.] MARCH THROUGH FLORIDA. 35 
 
 and the languid courage of the natives of Mexico 
 and Peru. 
 
 Day after day, week after week, encumbered 
 with baggage and by a large herd of swine, the 
 troops moved slowly forward, cutting their way 
 through almost impervious thickets, wading with 
 great labour the treacherous morasses ; now 
 swimming the numerous streams which inter- 
 sected their line of route, and now halting to 
 build rafts where the swift rivers forbade any 
 less practicable mode of passage. After wander- 
 ing for one hundred and fifty leagues through 
 the forests and everglades of Florida, constantly 
 attacked by hordes of ambushed savages, and 
 suffering great loss both in men and horses, the 
 weary and half- famished soldiers reached the 
 fertile province of Apalachee, where, toward the 
 close of October, a camp was formed, and the 
 army went into winter- quarters. More than 
 four months had been consumed in this harass- 
 ing and perilous march, and, as yet, neither gold 
 nor jewels had been discovered; although the 
 accounts given by their captives of the existence 
 of precious metals, in provinces yet distant, in- 
 flamed their hopes, and enabled them to sustain 
 their privations and disappointments with some 
 degree of equanimity. 
 
 But the period of repose which De Soto re- 
 quired to recruit the strength of his army was 
 m a great measure denied him. Everywhere 
 
S6 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540. 
 
 his exploring parties were attacked, and strag- 
 glers cut oif. Even his camp was the scene of 
 constant alarms. But in the midst of their 
 growing disgust with the country and its warlike 
 inhabitants, the troops were again cheered by 
 information received Irom two young Indian 
 prisoners, of the existence of gold and silver in 
 the greatest abundance in the remote eastern 
 province of CofachJqui. Breaking up his can- 
 tonment in the early part of March, 1540, De 
 Soto put his troops in motion, in search of a 
 region so promising. On his entering the terri- 
 tory which is now called Georgia, he was met by 
 two warriors, who demanded haughtily, " What 
 seek you in our land? Peace or war?" "We 
 seek a distant province," responded De Soto, 
 «' and desire your friendship and food by the 
 way." It was granted. Passing through a 
 pleasant and fertile country, the army finally 
 halted on the bank of the Savannah Biver. 
 Here De Soto was visited by the beautiful prin- 
 cess of Cofachiqui, whose town was on the oppo- 
 site bank, now known as the Silver Bluff. She 
 came to the water side in a litter, borne by four 
 men, and entering a canoe richly-carved and orna- 
 mented, seated herself upon a Cushion over- 
 shadowed by a canopy. She was attended by 
 six councillors, grave men of mature age, and 
 by a numerous retinue. On reaching the pre- 
 sence of De Soto, the youthful cacique took from 
 
1540.] ENCAMPMENT AT CHIAHA. 37 
 
 her person a long string of pearls, and placed 
 them about the neck of the Spanish leader. 
 Responding gallantly to this courtesy, De Soto 
 drew from his finger a gold ring, set with a ruby, 
 and presented it to her as a memorial of his 
 friendship. The next day the army crossed the 
 river and entered the village. On the 3d of 
 May, De Soto again took up his line of march. 
 Proceeding through northern Georgia, he cross- 
 ed the Oostanaula; and, at the invitation of its 
 young chief, took up his quarters early the fol- 
 lowing month in the island town of Chiaha. 
 Here the troops found vessels containing large 
 quantities of walnut and bears' oil, and pots of 
 wild honey. 
 
 After spending a month at Chiaha, greatly to 
 the advantage both of men and horses, De Soto 
 marched down by the west bank of the Coosa, 
 and entered Alabama. He had heard of gold 
 and copper in the mountains to the north, and 
 having sent two fearless troopers to explore that 
 region, he waited at the town of Costa until they 
 returned. The hardy adventurers brought back 
 tidings of copper, but could find no gold. The 
 march was now resumed. Passing through 
 the beautiful province of Coosa, De Soto was 
 met, on the 26th of July, by the chief of that 
 region. Pie came to him, seated on cushions, in 
 a chair of state, sustained by four of his princi- 
 pal men. He was arrayed in a magnificent 
 
 4 
 
38 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540. 
 
 mantel of marten skins, and wore upon liis head 
 a gay tiara of many-coloured feathers. He was 
 attended by a band of choristers and musicians, 
 and by a thousand noble-looking warriors vari- 
 ously plumed and ornamented. 
 
 The chief welcomed De Soto with gi*eat warmth, 
 invited the troops to partake of the hospitality 
 of his town, and placed all he had at their ser- 
 vice. At the capital of Coosa, De Soto remain- 
 ed for nearly a month, after wdiich he proceeded 
 to the southward, and entering the frontier town 
 of Tallase, situated upon the Tallapoosa River, 
 again encamped. Leaving this place, he entered 
 next the province which received its name of 
 Tuscaloosa from a powerful chief whom, the third 
 morning of their march, the Spaniards found 
 waiting for them in state, seated upon the crest 
 of a high hill, overlooking an extensive and 
 lovely valley, and surrounded by his principal 
 warriors, dressed in rich mantles of furs, and 
 ornamented with gayly-coloured plumes. Forty 
 years of age, and of large stature, yet nobly 
 proportioned, the haughty chief of the Mobilians 
 regarded with calm indifference the military dis- 
 play which was intentionally made by the Spa- 
 niards for the purpose of eliciting his notice. 
 
 "You are welcome," said he to De Soto. ''It 
 is needless to talk long. What I have to say 
 can be said in a few words. You shall know how 
 willing I am to serve you." 
 
1540.] VILLAGE OF MOBILE. 39 
 
 They resumed their march, accompanied by 
 Tuscaloosa, who, mounted on a strong hackney 
 belonging to De Soto, was detained under the guise 
 of friendship in a sort of honourable captivity. 
 But no fair speeches or courteous attentions 
 could blind the bold chieftain to the fact that hh 
 liberty was restrained; nor were his people less 
 indignant. While on the route two of the Spa- 
 niards were missed. Suspecting they had been, 
 slain, De Soto demanded tidings of them from 
 Tuscaloosa's followers. <^ Why do you ask us :'* 
 said they. "Are we their keepers?" 
 
 Apprehensive of some latent design, De Soto 
 sent two troopers in advance to reconnoitre Mo- 
 bile, a strongly fortified village, which is supposed 
 to have occupied Choctaw Bluif, on the Alabama 
 River. This village contained eighty houses, 
 each large enough to hold from five hundred to 
 a thousand men. It was surrounded by a high 
 palisade, formed of the trunks of trees, bound 
 together with vines, and covered with a smooth 
 coating of prepared clay, so as to resemble a 
 wall of masonry. As De Soto, accompanied by 
 Tuscaloosa, approached the village with his van- 
 guard, consisting of two hundred horse and foot, 
 large numbers of warriors, clad in furs and de- 
 corated with feathers and other ornaments, fol- 
 lowed by musicians and dancers, and by a body 
 of young and beautiful maidens, came out to 
 welcome them as to a festival. They had 
 
40 ' HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540. 
 
 scarcely entered witliin the walls before Tusca- 
 loosa was engaged in earnest conversation with 
 his people. Presently tidings were brought to 
 De Soto, that within the houses immense num- 
 bers of warriors Avere assembled, amply supplied 
 with their usual weapons and missiles of offence. 
 Orders were at once given to the Spaniards to 
 be on the alert. 
 
 Desirous of avoiding a resort to arms, if 
 possible, De Soto endeavoured to regain posses- 
 sion of the person of Tuscaloosa. He sent 
 several messages to the chief by Juan Ortiz, in- 
 viting him to come and partake of the dinner 
 which awaited him ; but the haughty chief dis- 
 dained to return any reply. At length, one of 
 his principal warriors, wrought to a passionate 
 frenzy by the voices of the Spaniards, rushed 
 from the house in which Tuscaloosa remained 
 surrounded by his people, and fiercely exclaimed : 
 *' Where are these robbers, these vagabonds, who 
 call upon my chief Tuscaloosa to come out with 
 so little reverence ? Let us cut them to pieces 
 on the spot, and so put an end to their wicked- 
 ness and tyranny." 
 
 An Indian placed a bow in his hand. Giving 
 freedom to his motions by throwing back his 
 splendid fur mantle, he directed the arrow, 
 drawn to its head, against a group of Spaniards 
 assembled in the square. At this moment he 
 fell dead, being nearly cleft in twain by the 
 
1540.] BATTLE OF MOBILE. 41 
 
 sweep of a sword wielded by stout Baltasar de 
 Gallegos. A fierce tumult immediately arose. 
 Myriads of armed warriors swarmed from the 
 houses, and commenced an attack upon the Spa- 
 niards with clubs, and arrows, and stones. Taken 
 at a disadvantage, five of the latter were quickly 
 slain ; and it was with great difficulty that De 
 Soto and his companions retreated from the 
 town to where their horses were tied. Some 
 succeeded in mounting before their pursuers ar- 
 rived, others were slain before their eyes, vfith- 
 out the power to rescue them. All the baggage 
 fell into the hands of the enemy. It was carried 
 into the town amid great rejoicings. The mana- 
 cles of the Indian captives, who had been con- 
 strained to bear these burdens, were speedily 
 struck off, and arms placed in their hands. In 
 the mean time, the fight w^as kept up outside the 
 walls, although the gates were shut. A rein- 
 forcement of cavalry from the main body having 
 at len£>;th enabled the foot soldiers to shake off 
 their thronging foes, De Soto now headed a fu- 
 rious charge, and the Indians were driven into 
 the town. Assailed from within by a storm of 
 arrows and other missiles, the Spaniards were 
 compelled to retire from before the walls. Their 
 retreat was the signal for another fierce sally. 
 In this manner the battle raged for three hours 
 with varying success, the Spaniards fighting in 
 
 a compact body, advancing and retreating as one 
 
 4* 
 
4i HISTORY or TENNESSEE. [loiO 
 
 man. A small detachment within the cityy 
 sheltering themselves in a house, defended their 
 post for many hours with a courage bordering 
 on despair. At length the Indians were forced 
 by loss of numbers to retire within their en- 
 closures, and a great portion of the Spanish 
 main body, under Moscoso, coming up at this 
 time, an assault was determined on. 
 
 Obedient to the orders of their leader, two 
 hundred of the cavalry, protected by bucklers, 
 sprang forward, and after repeated repulses 
 dashed in the gates with their battle-axes. At 
 the same time others clambered over the wall, 
 by breaking away the mud plastering for a pre- 
 carious foothold. In the streets, and from the 
 walls and housetops, the Indians, though falling 
 in great heaps, sought desperately, by the crush 
 of numbers, to overwhelm their assailants. None 
 asked quarter, but all fought until they fell. 
 The great pool which supplied the town with 
 water was crimsoned with the blood of the dead 
 and the dying. Yet of this water the Spaniards 
 drank to appease the thirst by which they were 
 consumed, and then, rejoining their companions, 
 continued the battle. To put an end to this 
 fierce and dubious conflict, De Soto mounted his 
 horse, and with lance in hand, and the battle-cry 
 of '' Our Lady of Santiago 1" hurled himself 
 into the midst of the struggling masses, closely 
 followed by the gallant Nuao de Tobar, De Soto, 
 
15-10.] SLAUGHTER OF THE INDIANS. 43 
 
 deeply wounded in the thigh by an arrow, fought 
 standing in his stirrups. Rending through the 
 multitude on every side, trampling some beneath 
 the hoofs of their horses, and thrusting the life 
 out of innumerable others, the two cavaliers 
 maintained their sanguinary supremacy until 
 night and sheer exhaustion terminated the con- 
 flict. 
 
 At this time the town was set on fire, and the 
 flames extending themselves with great rapidity, 
 enveloped with a burning girdle the hapless In- 
 dians who yet held possession of the houses. 
 Conscious of the fate impending over them, 
 those who were at large gathered together, and 
 men and women precipitated themselves upon 
 their foes. But what impression could poorly 
 equipped and ill-disciplined thousands make upon 
 men cased in defensive armour, wielding infinite- 
 ly superior weapons, and directed by consum- 
 mate military skill ? Piled one upon another, 
 they fell clutching at the arquebusses, swords, 
 and lances, to the last. For nine hours this 
 terrible battle continued. When it ceased, the 
 great town of Mobile was a heap of ashes, and 
 six thousand Indians lay slaughtered around. 
 To the Spaniards it was a victory purchased at 
 a fearful price. Eighty-two of their number 
 were killed, or mortally wounded, two of whom 
 were near kinsmen to De Soto ; and not one of 
 the survivors ?^ame out of the battle unhurts 
 
44 HISTURY OF TENNESSEE. [1541. 
 
 Seventeen hundred dangerous wounds attested 
 alike the courage of the Mobilians and the en- 
 durance of the Spaniards. The latter had like- 
 wise to mourn the irreparable loss of a large 
 number of mules, besides the destruction of their 
 baggage, which, with the robes of the priests, 
 the consecrated vessels, and other ornaments 
 sacred to their worship, had been consumed in 
 the flames. Tidings of his ships awaiting 
 him at Pensacola Bay reaching De Soto at this 
 time, caused great rejoicing among the troops, 
 many of whom desired nothing better than to 
 abandon the country. Among the cavaliers a 
 scheme was arranged to desert De Soto, and re- 
 embark for their several homes. Indignant at 
 this contemplated treachery, De Soto turned his 
 back upon his vessels, and marching northward, 
 took up his winter-quarters in the province of 
 Chickasa. Finding here a supply of maize, he 
 remained for several months ; but the natives, 
 who had for some time feigned a friendship for 
 the invaders, became jealous of their prolonged 
 sojourn, and toward the spring of 1541, in the 
 midst of a dark, cold, blustering night, rushed 
 into the village where the Spaniards were en- 
 camped, and set it on fire. Roused suddenly 
 from their slumbers, the troops rushed out and 
 fought in such clothes and with such arms as 
 they could catch up hastily. Forty Spaniards 
 and not less than fifty horses were killed in this 
 
1542.] DISCOVERY or the Mississippi. 45 
 
 sudden onslaught ; while most of the garments 
 of the Spaniards were consumed by the fire, 
 which also injured irretrievably much armour and 
 many weapons. 
 
 Repairing these disasters as best they might, 
 they resumed their wanderings ; and after strug- 
 gling for seven days through a wilderness alter- 
 nating with swamp and forest, entered the 
 village of Chisca, whence De Soto beheld for the 
 first time, from the lower Chickasa Elufi"s, the 
 mighty waters of the Mississippi. Here, on the 
 confines of Tennessee, and not far from the 
 present city of Memphis, the wearied troops, 
 after traversing a dense forest for several 
 days, halted for three weeks to build piraguas. 
 Embarking in them, they crossed the river in 
 detachments, without opposition, and continuing 
 their march along its western bank, finally took 
 up their quarters for the winter in the province 
 of Pacahas, in Arkansas. At this place died 
 Juan Ortiz, the interpreter. In the spring of 
 1542, De Soto, now hopeless of finding gold, 
 and changing from his sterner mood to a pro- 
 found melancholy as he contemplated his losses 
 and continual disappointments, descended the 
 Yfashita and encamped at the confluence of the 
 Red River with the Mississippi. At this place 
 he commenced the building of two brigantines ; 
 sending out, in the mean time, a detachment to 
 ascertain the course of the great river and tlie 
 
46 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1542. 
 
 distance to the sea. In eight days the troopers 
 returned, and reported the route impracticable, 
 by reason of the swamps and rivers by which it 
 was obstructed. 
 
 Hoping to recruit his own failing strength, 
 and that of his followers, in the opposite pro- 
 vince of Quigualtanqui, De Soto sent a messen- 
 ger to the cacique of a tribe whose residence was 
 in the vicinity of the modern town of Natchez, 
 demanding his homage, on the ground that he 
 was the son of the Sun, and as such entitled to 
 worship and obedience. ^^ If he be so," respond- 
 ed the chieftain, <'let him dry up the river be- 
 tween us, and I will believe him. If he visits 
 my town in peace, I will receive him in friend- 
 ship ; if as an enemy, he shall find me ready for 
 battle." 
 
 Already sick of a mortal disease, De Soto was 
 in no mood to retort upon the chieftain his scorn- 
 ful reply. Tortured with anxiety for the safety 
 of his command, his illness daily increased. 
 Confident that his end approached, he convened 
 his officers, and appointed Luis de Moscoso his 
 successor. The poor remains of his once goodly 
 army were next summoned by detachments to 
 liis couch. After taking a solemn leave of them, 
 he humbly confessed his sins, and on the 21st of 
 May, 1542, expired, in the forty-second year of 
 his age. 
 
 Mournfully depositing the body of their be- 
 
1543.] RSTUEN TO MEXICO. 47 
 
 loved commander, wrapped in his mantle, in the 
 trunk of an evergreen oak, hollowed out for that 
 purpose, they reverently lowered it, at midnight, 
 beneath the waves of that magnificent river he 
 had been the first European to discover. 
 
 Resuming their wanderings soon after, the 
 disconsolate adventurers endeavoured to reach 
 Mexico by way of the Red River. Beguiled by 
 their guides, they reached, by a tortuous and 
 difficult route, the prairies of the west, from 
 whence, after great suffering, and beset by innu- 
 merable difficulties, they retraced their steps to 
 the Mississippi ; and, constructing brigantines 
 on its banks, sailed down the river to its mouth. 
 
 On the 10th of September, 1543, three hundred 
 and eleven haggard men, blackened by exposure, 
 shrivelled by famine, some clad in skins of wild 
 beasts, and others in Indian mats, or in the 
 ragged remains of their former gay apparel, after 
 a voyage of fifty days, entered the Panuco, a 
 river of Mexico, flowing into the Gulf Stream, 
 where they were kindly received, and entertained 
 with unbounded hospitality. They were the only 
 survivors of the famous but inglorious expedition 
 of Hernando de Soto. 
 
48 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1650. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Spanish settlements restricted to Florida — French, Eng- 
 lish, and Dutch colonies in North America — The Jesuit 
 missions in Illinois — Marquette ordered to explore the Mis- 
 sissippi valley — The Illinois entreat him not to venture — 
 His noble reply — -Sets out on his journey — How attended, 
 and by whom — Reaches Maskoutens — Rude evidences of 
 Christianity among the natives — Speech of Jolliet — The 
 voyrigeiirs descend the Wisconsin — Their reception at the 
 Des Moines villages — Marquette's address — Response of the 
 chief — Description of the monstrous Piasar — The ^'oyage 
 down the Mississippi — False alarm of the travellers — 'l^hey 
 reach the cotton wood region — Approach the village of 
 Michigamda — Hostile preparations by the natives — Rescue 
 of Marquette and his party — Escorted to Arkansas, and 
 hospitably entertained — The return to Canada. 
 
 But though a fatality attended all those Spa- 
 nish adventurers who attempted to obtain a per- 
 manent foothold on the northern shore of the 
 Gulf Stream, Spain claimed henceforth the sove- 
 reignty of Florida, including within the limits 
 of her new domain the territory on both sides 
 of the Mississippi, extending backward to the 
 prairies of the West. A century and a quarter 
 after the death of De Soto, the only indication of 
 Spanish possession was the small settlement at 
 St. Augustine, founded in 1564: by the bigoted 
 and sanguinary Melendez. But while the co- 
 
1671.] JESUIT MISSIONS. 49 
 
 lonial possessions of Spain on tlie North Ame- 
 rican continent were restricted to a solitary fort 
 and a slender garrison on its southern peninsula, 
 other nations had entered with success upon the 
 field of adventure ; and from Labrador to Caro- 
 lina, the Atlantic coast of the new world was 
 dotted at intervals with thriving colonies. In 
 remote Canada the energetic Champlain had 
 founded a prosperous province. At the East, 
 the sedate, God-fearing men of the New Eng- 
 land provinces were indoctrinating a hardy race 
 in the principles of true political liberty. On 
 the banks of the Hudson, the Dutch of New 
 Netherland had lately taken the oath of allegi- 
 ance to the Duke of York, afterward James II. ; 
 while farther to the south, Maryland, Virginia, 
 and the Carolinas were increasing rapidly in 
 wealth and population. 
 
 Up to this period all traces of De Soto's 
 great discovery appear to have been lost, and 
 the existence of the Mississippi was only con- 
 jectured from imperfect narratives of that un- 
 fortunate expedition, and from reports brought 
 by the Illinois Indians to the members of the 
 Jesuit missions, one of whose stations was at the 
 Saulte de Sainte Marie, a little below the foot 
 of Lake Superior. Here the humble but heroic 
 Marquette first heard of a great river fiowing 
 through the Illinois country, and tracing its way 
 southward for thousands of miles, until it finally 
 
50 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1671. 
 
 poured its immense volume of waters into an 
 unknown sea. 
 
 In 1671 a new missionary station was formed 
 at Point St. Ignatius, to which Marquette was 
 ordered to repair; and here he continued, de- 
 voted to the duties of his calling, until 1673, 
 when he was directed by M. Talon, the Intend- 
 ant in New France, to explore the region west- 
 ward. These instructions realized the most 
 ^Tdent wishes of the pious father, and he imme- 
 diately prepared for the journey, "firmly re- 
 solved to do all, and suffer all, for so glorious 
 an enterprise." The terrified Indians to whom 
 Marquette had preached, and by whom he was 
 greatly beloved, characterized his attempt as 
 reckless and desperate. They told him he would 
 meet with nations who never spared the stranger ; 
 that the great river was full of hidden dangers, 
 and abounded with terrible monsters, who swal- 
 lowed up men and canoes ; that an immense bird, 
 swooping from afar, pounced upon hapless voy- 
 agers, carried them to its inaccessible eyrie 
 among the mountains, and there deliberately 
 tore its victims to pieces with beak and talons. 
 And, lastly, they told him of heats that would 
 dry up the very marrow of his bones. Nothing 
 daunted, the good Marquette thanked them 
 kindly for their counsel, but told them '' that I 
 could not profit by it, since the salvation of souls 
 was at stake, for which object I would be over- 
 
1673.] MARQUETTE AT MASKOUTENS. 51 
 
 joyed to give my life." And so, in the spring 
 of 1673, father James Marquette, the Sieur 
 Jolliet, a French Canadian, who had already now 
 «ome local fame as an explorer, and five boat- 
 men, departed from Mackinaw in two frail birch 
 bark canoes, so light as to be easily borne across 
 portages on the shoulders of four men, crossed 
 Lake Huron into Green Bay, ascended Fox 
 River to the portage of the Wisconsin, and 
 reached Maskoutens on the 7th of June. Beyond 
 this no European explorer had ever ventured. 
 The village of Maskoutens was beautifully situ- 
 ated on an eminence, around which spread 
 prairies on every side, ''interspersed with thick- 
 ets, or groves of lofty trees." But what most 
 cheered the heart of the pious Marquette was to 
 behold a handsome cross planted in the centre 
 of the village, and adorned with skins, belts, 
 bows and arrows, the votive offerings of warriors 
 that had seldom sent out w^ar-parties in vain, 
 to the Christian Manitou, whom Father Allouez 
 had taught them thus rudely to worship. 
 
 "I am sent by our governor to discover new 
 countries, and the reverend father, by the Al- 
 wghty, to illumine them with the light of the 
 gospel," said Jolliet; and he requested of his 
 astonished hearers two guides, to put them in 
 their way. It was granted. 
 
 Nine miles from Maskoutens, the voyageurs^ 
 after carrying their boats across the portage, 
 
52 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [167t^. 
 
 embarked upon the broad shallow waters of the 
 Wisconsin, with its difficult sandbars and its 
 lovely vine-clad islets ; and, on the 17th of June, 
 after descending the river for one hundred and 
 twenty miles, entered the Mississippi ^'with a 
 joy," says Marquette, "that I cannot express." 
 
 For fourteen days they floated down the river 
 without perceiving any sign of human life. At 
 length, on the 25th of June, they discovered an 
 Indian trail, leading westward from the water's 
 edge, until at a distance of two leagues across a 
 beautiful prairie it diverged to three Indian vil- 
 lages. Toward one of these, a village standing 
 on the right bank of the river, Des Moines, Mar- 
 quette, and Jolliet advanced, leaving the canoes 
 m charge of the boatmen. It was a hazardous 
 service, and the two humble yet resolute voya- 
 geurs evinced their knowledge of the risk they 
 ran, by devoutly commending themselves to God. 
 Halting within sight of the village, they raised 
 a low cry ; whereupon, after the confusion occa- 
 sioned by their presence had subsided, four old 
 men advanced toward them, two of whom bore 
 tobacco-pipes handsomely adorned, and orna- 
 mented with many kinds of feathers. "Vv'ho 
 are you?" inquired Marquette. "We are Illi- 
 nois," chey responded; and presenting the peace- 
 pipes, invited their visitors to enter the village. 
 
 "How beautiful is the sun, Frenchman! 
 when thou comest to visit us ! All our town 
 
16T3.] Marquette's addeess. 53 
 
 awaits tliee, and thou slialt enter all our cabins 
 in peace." 
 
 Such was the greeting which met Marquette 
 as he approached the cabin appointed for his 
 reception ; while the crowd which closed respect- 
 fully behind the travellers, occasionally cried 
 out, "Well done, brothers, to visit us !" 
 
 After smoking the calumet, they were invited 
 to attend a council at the great Sachem's village. 
 Crowds thronged the way, all eager to behold 
 the adventurous Frenchmen, and all eager to do 
 them reverence. Assembled in the council-house, 
 Marquette addressed himself to the hushed multi- 
 tude. Dividing his discourse into four heads, 
 closing each part with a present, he declared the 
 object of his mission to be one of discovery, and 
 himself the bearer of tidings of peace and good- 
 will to all the nations on the river. He next 
 preached to them concerning God the Creator, 
 at whose bidding he had come to exhort them to 
 acknowledge and obey him. He spoke also of 
 the governor of Canada ; and after telling them 
 that he had vanquished their enemies the Iro- 
 quois, concluded by asking for all the informa- 
 tion they could give respecting the course of the 
 Great River to the sea, and the nations through 
 which they had yet to pass. 
 
 Then the great chief arose, and thanked the 
 
 voyageurs for having visited them. "Never," 
 
 said he, " has the earth been more beautiful, nor 
 
 5* 
 
54 HISTORY OF TE>TNESSEE. [1672 
 
 the sun so bright as to-day ; never has our river 
 been so calm, nor so free from rocks, which your 
 canoes have removed as they passed ; never has 
 our tobacco had so fine a flavour, nor our corn 
 appeared so beautiful." He closed by present- 
 ing Marquette with a youthful slave in token of ' 
 liis esteem for the governor, and with a calumet 
 ornamented with feathers of various hues, to 
 protect him during a voyage which he earnestly 
 exhorted him to prosecute no farther. 
 
 "I do not fear death," responded Marquette," 
 <' and esteem no happiness greater than that of 
 losing my life for the glory of Him who made all." 
 A festival followed, consisting of hominy, fish, 
 buffalo, and dog-meat, served up in succession; 
 but of the last their visitors would not partake. 
 After passing the night in the dwelling of the 
 principal chief, the travellers were accompanied 
 the following day to their canoes by six hun- 
 dred persons, who took leave of the good father 
 in the kindest manner, and received from him a 
 promise that he would return the next year and 
 instruct them — a pledge which he subsequently 
 redeemed. 
 
 Toward the close of June the little party 
 resumed their voyage ; and as they coasted the 
 rocks above the present town of Alton, they were 
 startled at beholding, painted thereon, rude re- 
 presentations of the fabled Piasau, a monster 
 <'as large as a calf, with horns on the head like 
 
1673.] VOYAGE DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI. 5o 
 
 a deer, a fearful look, red eyes, bearded like a 
 tiger, tlie face somewhat like a man's, the body 
 covered with scales, and the tail so long that it 
 twice makes the turn of the body, passing over 
 the head and down between the legs, and ending 
 at last in a fish's tail." The same day they 
 reached the mouth of the Missouri, and, float- 
 ing downward, passed another beautiful river, 
 known subsequently as the Wabash — the same we 
 now call the Ohio. 
 
 It was the middle of July, and as they ap- 
 proached the region of the cane they became 
 oppressed with the intolerable heat and annoyed 
 by swarms of musquitos. An awning formed 
 from the sails of the canoes afforded an indif- 
 ferent protection both from the insects and the 
 sun. As the voyageurs were thus gliding with 
 the current, they perceived a party of Indians 
 standing on the shore, armed with guns. Mar- 
 quette presented his calumet, and accosted them 
 in Huron, but they replied in what seemed to 
 him the language of defiance. Happil}^ he was 
 mistaken ; and after landing and partaking of 
 their hospitality, the adventurous party re-em- 
 barked, and descended the river, whose banks 
 presently were found clothed with lofty forests 
 of cotton-wood, elms, and other unknown trees, 
 until, in about thirty-three degrees north lati- 
 tude, they came within sight of the village of 
 Michigamea. Marquette and his companions 
 
56 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1673. 
 
 were no sooner discovered by the natives than 
 they assembled in great numbers, armed with 
 bows, arrows, axes, war-clubs, and bucklers ; 
 and while some kept watch upon the shore, 
 others sprang into their canoes, evidently bent 
 on the destruction of the intruders. In vain 
 Marquette displayed the calumet, and made re- 
 peated signals of peace. The danger every 
 instant became more imminent. One war-club 
 had already been hurled at him., and innumera- 
 ble bows were in the act of being bent, when 
 some of the chiefs on shore recognised the calu- 
 met, and commanding their warriors to desist, 
 hastened to throw aside their weapons and wel- 
 come the wanderers to their village. The next 
 morning they were escorted by a deputation 
 eisfht or ten leagues down the river, to the chief 
 village of Akansea, or Arkansa, where they were 
 again entertained with great hospitality, and 
 where, by means of an interpreter, Marquette 
 endeavoured to briDg them to a knowledge of 
 the true God. 
 
 Here, in the region where De Soto breathed 
 his last, and where Moscoso fitted out his crazy 
 brigantines, the adventurous voyage was termi- 
 nated. From the answers of his entertainers 
 Marquette discovered that the Great River emp- 
 tied into the Gulf of Mexico ; and fearful of 
 losing the fruit of his discoveries, resolved to 
 return to Canada. Taking leave of their doubt- 
 
1675.] ROBERT DE LA SALLE. 57 
 
 ful friends, they proceeded slowly up the river ; 
 and after a tedious voyage reached Green Bay 
 in safety toward the close of September, having 
 thus fearlessly accomplished a hazardous journey 
 of more than three thousand miles. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Robert Cavalier de la Salle — His emigration to Canada — Be- 
 comes a fur-trader — Establishes a trading-post at La Chine 
 — His explorations — Made commandant of Fort Fronts- 
 nac — Returns to France — Obtains a patent of nobility and 
 a grant of land — Resolves to explore the valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi — Obtains a monopoly of the traffic in buffalo skins — 
 Builds a brigantine on the upper v^aters of the Mississippi — 
 Crosses the great Lakes to Mackinaw — Sails for Green 
 Ba}' — Sends back the Griiiin to Niagara, freighted with 
 furs — Proceeds to the mouth of the St. Joseph — Builds 
 the fort of the Miamis — Descends the Kankakee — Builds 
 forts Crevecceur and Rock Fort — Returns to Fort Fron- 
 tenac — Reappears in Illinois — Again returns to Canada — 
 Prosecutes his voyage to the Mississippi — Reaches the 
 mouth of the Illinois — Descends the Mississippi to the 
 Chickasaw bluff — Loss of a hunter — Builds Fort Prud- 
 homme. 
 
 The extraordinary success which had attended 
 Marquette and Jolliet in their voyage of ex- 
 ploration opened up a field for commercial ad- 
 venture, of which one energetic man was pre- 
 pared to take advantage. This was Robert 
 Cavalier de la Salle, a native of Rouen in Nor- 
 
58 HISTORY OF TEN2sESSEE. [1675. 
 
 mandy, who had sacrificed his patrimony by 
 entering a religious order, which he subsequently 
 left to engage in enterprises better suited to his 
 restless and energetic nature. To such a mind 
 Canada offered at once a refuge from poverty 
 and the promise of acquiring both fame and for- 
 tune. The hope of finding a shorter passage to 
 China and the East Indies was still entertained 
 by many enthusiastic men, and among them the 
 young but resolute La Salle, who presently 
 established a trading-post near Montreal, and 
 indicated the adventurous bent of his thoughts 
 by calling it La Chine. From this centre of his 
 fur-trading operations he undertook various ex- 
 plorations in the region of Lakes Ontario and 
 Erie, and soon became known to Count Fronte- 
 nac, the governor of Canada, for his intellectual 
 ability and his enterprising spirit. When, 
 therefore, to repress the incursions of the war- 
 like Iroquois, Fort Frontenac was built at the 
 eastern extremity of Lake Ontario, the governor, 
 an excellent judge of men, intrusted its com- 
 mand to La Salle. 
 
 But the latter had a larger ambition than 
 could be circumscribed by the log walls of a 
 fortress in the wilderness. In 1675 he repaired 
 to France, where, supported by the steadfast 
 friendship of Frontenac, and countenanced by 
 De Courcelles and Talon, he obtained a patent 
 of nobility, a monopoly of the fur-trade of Lake 
 
1675.] measup.es of la salle. 59 
 
 Ontario, and a large grant of land around Fort 
 Frontenac, on condition of rebuilding the fort 
 i of stone, of erecting a village in its vicinity, and 
 of supporting, at his own expense, a competent 
 garrison, and a mission of Franciscan friars. 
 
 These conditions were fulfilled ; but difficul- 
 ties with rival fur-traders constantly thwarted 
 the designs of La Salle ; and although a mixed 
 population presently gathered around the armed 
 trading-post, and his possessions rapidly in- 
 creased, the restless Frenchman yearned for a 
 life of adventure and an undisputed field of 
 traffic with the Indians. It was at this period 
 that Jolliet's report of the fertile valley of the 
 Mississippi, and its innumerable herds of elk 
 and buffalo, fired La Salle to attempt some en- 
 terprise of great magnitude, which should make 
 his name famous through all time. 
 
 Embarking for France, he laid his giant 
 scheme of commerce and colonization before 
 Colbert, the prime minister ; and patronized by 
 Seignelay, the son of Colbert, at that time mi- 
 nister of marine, he obtained, "with the mono- 
 poly of the traffic in buffalo skins, a commission 
 for perfecting the discovery of the Great Kiver." 
 
 Returning to Canada in September, he pro- 
 ceeded presently to Fort Frontenac, accompanied 
 by Tonti his lieutenant, and attended by a party 
 of mechanics and mariners, bearing provisions 
 and merchandise, together with such other articles 
 
60 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1675. 
 
 as ^ere necessary to the construction and equip- 
 ment of a brigantine in the wilderness. By the 
 middle of November a vessel of ten tons was 
 finished and freighted; and on the 18th of the 
 same month his company set sail from Fort 
 Frontenac, and entering, for the first time, the 
 Niagara River, commenced the construction of a 
 fort and trading-house above the fails. A small 
 vessel, intended to ply on tlie waters of Lake 
 Erie, was now begun ; and while Tonti and Hen- 
 nepin were penetrating the wilderness on trading 
 and exploring expeditions. La Salle was endea- 
 vouring to maintain pacific relations with the 
 Iroquois, whose jealousy had already been ex- 
 cited by the malevolent intrigues of rival traders. 
 To quiet the apprehensions of the savages, the 
 building of the fort was suspended, and the 
 trading-house surrounded by palisades instead. 
 But although large supplies of furs were ob- 
 tained, La Salle had to contend with many diffi- 
 culties and some reverses, and only waited for 
 an opportunity to extend his discoveries beyond 
 the limits attained by former adventurers, and 
 to reap the advantages to v/hich he was entitled 
 by the royal charter. At length his nevf vessel, 
 the Griiiin, a bark of sixty tons, was completed, 
 and successfully launched on the upper waters 
 of the Niagara PJver ; and on the 7th of August, 
 La Salle, embarking all his company with the 
 exception of a few clerks and labourers, set sail 
 
1675.] PROGRESS OF LA SALLE. 61 
 
 on liis great adventure, the exploration of the 
 Mississippi Valley. Prosperous gales speedily 
 carried the daring voyagers across Lakes Erie 
 and St. Clair, but on entering Lake Huron they 
 encountered so severe a storm that, for a time, 
 they gave themselves up for lost. At length, 
 however, they succeeded in reaching Mackina\Y, 
 a place ''of prodigious fertility," where he or-^ 
 dered a small fortified station to be constructed. 
 Leaving a detachment of his company behind for 
 this purpose, La Salle sailed on the 2d of Sep- 
 tember for Green Bay, from whence he sent 
 back the Griffin to Niagara, richly freighted with 
 furs. Those of his followers whom he had sent 
 round by the opposite shore, he ordered to ren- 
 dezvous at the mouth of the St. Joseph. The 
 same directions were given to the faithful 
 Tonti, who had returned to Mackinaw. With 
 the seventeen men remaining, and accompanied 
 by the Recollect missionaries, Hennepin, Mem- 
 bre, and De la Ribourde, La Salle crossed Lake 
 Michigan in canoes, and halted at the appointed 
 rendezvous until his men should join him. 
 
 During the month he remained on this penin- 
 sula, anxiously waiting for tidings of the Griffin, 
 the men were kept busily employed in erecting 
 another picketed station, which was subsequently 
 called the Fort of the Miamis. 
 
 Receiving no intelligence of the Griffin, La 
 Salle resolved to prosecute his voyage. Leaving 
 
62 HISTORY OF TEXNESSEE. [167G. 
 
 four men in garrison at St. Joseph's, lie crossed, 
 with the rest of his company, some thirty in 
 number, the short but difficult portage to the 
 Kankakee, and descending the river by easy 
 stages, arrived toward the close of December at 
 an Indian village composed of from four to five 
 hundred cabins, each capable of containing seve- 
 ral families. Its usual inhabitants being absent 
 on their winter hunt, La Salle took so much pf 
 their corn as his pressing need required, and 
 proceeding on his journey, reached, on the 4th 
 of January, the Lake of Peoria, where he fell in 
 ■\vith a large camp of Illinois Indians. By a dis- 
 play of his usual spirit and address, he succeeded 
 in forming an alliance with the tribe ; but he had 
 the mortification to find himself still followed by 
 the bitter enmity of his rivals, who influenced 
 the Miamis to send a deputation to the Illinois 
 to denounce him as intrisiuino^ their ruin. In 
 addition to this source of annoyance, he could 
 gain no tidings of the Griffin with its rich cargo 
 of furs. His men, too, had become mutinous, 
 and six of them, deserting the expedition, return- 
 ed to Mackinaw. But these multiplied disasters 
 only served to display with greater force and 
 vividness the heroic nature of the man. Under 
 his orders, those who remained faithful to his 
 fortunes commenced the construction of a fort, 
 to which he gave the pathetic name of Creve- 
 coeur — broken heart. 
 
1680.] RETURNS TO CANADA. 63 
 
 Still resolutely bent upon prosecuting his en- 
 terprise, he sent Hennepin with a small explor- 
 ing party to examine the country of the upper 
 Mississippi, and leaving a garrison at Crevecoeur, 
 directed Tonti to return to the vicinity of the 
 Indian village, and fortify there an eminence, 
 since known as Rock Fort. In this beautiful 
 region he had determined to found a colony; but 
 as both men and means were wanting, he set out 
 on foot for Fort Frontenac, a distance of twelve 
 hundred miles, attended only by three com- 
 panions. Of the particulars of this journey there 
 is no record. On reaching his destination, he 
 found his affairs in the utmost confusion. The 
 loss of the Griffin was confirmed, his agents had 
 proved dishonest, his creditors were clamorous, 
 and his enemies unceasing in their attacks. Sur^ 
 mounting all these obstacles, he collected another 
 band of adventurers, and having with him mate- 
 rials to furnish a brigantine, started again, in 
 the summer of 1680, for the Illinois. 
 
 On his arrival at Rock Fort, a more terrible 
 disappointment awaited him. During his absence 
 the warlike Iroquois had driven the garrisons 
 from their posts in the Illinois, and compelled 
 them to return to the lakes. Making his way 
 back to Canada, the energetic La Salle spent 
 tlie following year in trading to Green Bay, and 
 in reorganizing his scattered bands of followers. 
 
 This being at length effected, he sent an ad- 
 
64 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1682. 
 
 Vance party under Tonti to tlie Chicago River, 
 where he joined them with the remainder of his 
 company, on the 4th January, 1682. The entire 
 party, consisting of twenty-three Frenchmen, of 
 whom father Membre was one, and eighteen Mo- 
 hican and Abnaki warriors, now commenced 
 their journey, travelling on foot over the frozen 
 rivers, and dragging after them their canoes, 
 baggage, and provisions. Finding the Illinois 
 navigable in the vicinity of Fort Crevecoeur, the 
 whole company embarked in the canoes, and on 
 the 8th of February reached the Mississippi. 
 Fearful of encountering with their frail barks 
 the masses of floating ice-which yet encumbered 
 the river, they halted on its banks until the 13th» 
 when they committed themselves to the current, 
 landing occasionally to hunt, or to visit some 
 Indian villasie. Nothino; of interest occurred 
 until the 24th, when they reached the Chickasa 
 Bluffs. Here Prudhomme, one of the hunters, 
 was missed, and apprehensive that he had fiillen 
 into the hands of the India'ns, La Salle ordered 
 an intrenched fort to be constructed, and sent 
 out parties in search of him. Several Indians 
 were taken prisoners, but nothing was heard of 
 Prudhomme until the ninth day, when he was 
 found by the scouting parties and brought to the 
 fort. Here then, near where De Soto embarked 
 his forces to cross the river, and in the vicinity 
 of the present thriving city of Memphis, arose 
 
1682.] rmsT structure erected. 65 
 
 the first structure erected by European hands 
 on the soil of Tennessee. The subsequent ad~ 
 ventures of the unfortunate La Salle, his indo- 
 mitable perseverance, his singular misfortunes, 
 and his shameful assassination by the hands of 
 his own followers, form no part of this history. 
 The honour of having first stood upon the borders 
 of Tennessee belongs to the chivalric Spaniard 
 and the heroic Frenchman ; ,b^^t its exploration 
 and settlement was left for a people more enter- 
 prising than either. 
 
 CHAPTER y. 
 
 Discovery of Old Virginia by Amidas and Barlow — Attempts 
 at settlement — The James river colony — Its reverses and 
 eventual prosperity — Extension of settlements — The Albe- 
 marle region — A patent granted by Charles II. for the pro- 
 vince of Carolina — Locke's constitution — Its rejection in 
 Albemarle — Culpepper's insurrection — Governor Sothel — 
 Ludwell's administration — The Carolinas under separate 
 jurisdictions — Cary's insurrection — Arrival of Hyde — War 
 with the Tuscaroras — Indian war with South Carolina — • 
 French in Louisiana — D'Iberville establishes a colony at Bi- 
 loxi — Its removal to Mobile Bay — Crozat's grant — Charle- 
 ville's trading-house on the Cumberland — French forts in 
 the Tennessee country — New Orleans founded — Massacre 
 of the French by the Natchez — Province of Georgia settled 
 by Oglethorpe — French expedition against the Chickasas — 
 Its disastrous failure. 
 
 One hundred years before La Salle descended 
 the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Illinois 
 
 6* 
 
66 . HISTORY OP TENNESSEE. [1(}65 
 
 river to the gulf, Amidas and Barlow, with two 
 ships fitted out hj Sir Walter Kaleigh, set sail 
 from England, and after exploring the coast of 
 North Carolina and the islands adjacent, re- 
 turned home with an account of their discove- 
 ries. To the country thus visited, Elizabeth, 
 then queen of England, gave the name of Vir- 
 ginia. Various attempts at settlement were 
 subsequently made, but none of them succeeded 
 until 1607, when the first permanent English 
 colony was established on a peninsula formed by 
 the James River, and thirty-two miles afcove its 
 mouth. After many reverses, the province of 
 Virginia overcame all the obstacles to its pro- 
 gress, and increasing steadily in population, 
 numbered, in 1671, forty thousand inhabitants. 
 Consisting principally of planters, who drew 
 their supplies from England, the settlements, 
 during this period, had been extended to the 
 Potomac on the one hand, and to AlViemarle 
 Sound on the other. The delicious climate and 
 fertile soil of the region occupied by the south- 
 ern pioneers, speedily attracted attention in 
 England, and on application to Charles XL, a 
 grant was readily obtained of " all the country, 
 from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean included 
 within the thirty-first and thirty-sixth parallels 
 of latitude." 
 
 In 1665 a second patent was issued, which 
 largely extended the former territorial limits ; 
 
1677.] ENGLISH IN THE CAROLINAS. 67 
 
 and as the Albemarle region already contained 
 quite a number of inhabitants, it was organized 
 into a county. The terms of the patent restrict- 
 ing the lords proprietaries from enacting any 
 laws without the consent of the freemen of the 
 new province, the first grand assembly of the 
 county of Albemarle met soon after, and adopted 
 such regulations as the condition of the people 
 required. Some exertion having been made to 
 encourage emigration, the population of Albe- 
 marle, in 1674, numbered some four thousand 
 souls; and as the settlements now extended 
 southward to the banks of the Ashley River, all 
 the freemen of Carolina were summoned to meet 
 at old Charlestown to elect their colonial repre- 
 sentatives. Six years later the present Charles- 
 ton was founded at the junction of the Ashley 
 and Cooper Kivers, and was presently declared 
 the capital of Carolina. 
 
 The constitution framed at the request of the 
 lords proprietaries by John Locke, so well 
 known as the author of the celebrated treatise 
 on ''the Human Understanding," being utterly 
 unsuited to the wants of the people of Carolina, 
 the inhabitants of Albemarle refused to adopt 
 it ; and finally evinced, in 1677, their abhorrence 
 of its complicated provisions, by breaking out 
 into open rebellion, imprisoning Millar, presi- 
 dent of the council, and the proprietary officers, 
 ijeizing the royal revenue, and setting up an in- 
 
68 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1693. 
 
 dependent government. At tlie head of tliis 
 new organization was placed Culpepper, the 
 chief insurgent, who retained his office for two 
 years. Tlie escape of Millar from durance, and 
 his departure for England, led Culpepper thither 
 also to defend his conduct. He was successful 
 with the lords proprietaries ; but, at the in- 
 stance of Millar, he was arrested on a charge of 
 treason. The influence of Shaftesbury procured 
 his acquittal. In the mean time Sothel, a new 
 proprietary, had been appointed governor ; but 
 being captured on the high seas by corsairs, he 
 did not arrive in Albemarle until 1683. The 
 object of Sothel, like that of most of the colonial 
 governors in those days, was to enrich himself 
 as speedily as possible at the expense of the in- 
 habitants, and for five years his exactions were 
 borne with more or less patience ; but at the 
 end of that time the assembly rose against him, 
 and passing a sentence of deposition, compelled 
 him to depart from the colony. After an inter- 
 regnum of two years, Philip Ludwcll was ap- 
 pointed governor of Albemarle, and the follow- 
 ing year his sway was extended over Southern 
 Carolina also. Unable to control the reckless 
 and independent spirits over whom he had been 
 placed, Ludwell vacated his office in 1693, and 
 the government of the provinces was again 
 divided — that of Albemarle, or North Carolina, 
 being assumed by Thomas Harvey. Under his 
 
1710.] E25GLISH IN THE CAROLINAS. 69 
 
 administration, and that of his immediate succes- 
 sors, the colonists continued to prosper in wealth 
 and increase in numbers. At length, in 1708, 
 Deputy-Governor Gary, who had been removed 
 by the proprietaries for malfeasance in office, 
 stirred up the people to revolt ; and, deposing 
 Glover, the president of the council, again as- 
 sumed the administration of affairs. This vio- 
 lent conduct was productive of numerous feuds 
 in the colony, which Hyde, newly commissioned 
 as governor of the Carolinas, was despatched 
 from England, in 1710, to compose. Denounced 
 presently by the assembly of Albemarle, Gary, 
 Vvdio had previously been willing to defer to the 
 authority of Hyde, now became alarmed, and 
 summoning his adherents, prepared for war. In 
 this emergency Hyde called upon Spotswood, 
 the governor of Virginia, for assistance ; at the 
 approach of which, Gary and his chief abettors 
 fled, first westvv'ard, but returning presently to 
 Virginia, were arrested and sent prisoners to 
 England. 
 
 Soon after this disturbance was quelled, North 
 Garolina became engaged in war with the Tus- 
 carora Indians. At the commencement of hos- 
 tilities the frontier settlements suffered greatly ; 
 but by the prompt aid of a detachment of South 
 Garolina militia, and the assistance of a larcre 
 auxiliary force of friendly Indians, the Tusca- 
 oras were besieged in their place of refuge 
 
70 HICTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1712. 
 
 during the winter of 1712, and compelled to 
 submit to terms of peace. These terms being 
 violated by the conquerors, the Tuscaroras again 
 resumed the hatchet ; but a similar expedition 
 being organized against them during the rvinter 
 of 1713, eight hundred Avere made prisoners and 
 sold into slavery. The remainder of the tribe, 
 finding themselves harassed without intermis- 
 sion, fled northward and joined the Iroquois. 
 
 Scarcely w^ere the frontiers relieved from the 
 presence of the Tuscaroras before the confede- 
 rated tribes, who had aided in their expulsion, 
 were themselves at war with South Carolina. 
 Many barbarities were committed at the outset, 
 and a large amount of property destroyed ; but 
 at length, by the enterprising conduct of Go- 
 vernor Craven, the allied warriors were signally 
 defeated at Salkehachie, the Yemassees driven 
 into Florida, and the Creeks, Cherokees, and 
 Catawbas induced to open negotiations for a 
 peace. 
 
 In the midst of these provincial fluctuations, the 
 French government had been steadily encourag- 
 ing the settlement of a colony at the mouth of 
 the Mississippi. Although the disappointment 
 arising from the failure of the magnificent 
 schemes with which La Salle had dazzled the 
 French ministry, in conjunction with the disas- 
 trous death of that enterprising adventurer, had 
 checked for a season the progress of southern 
 
1712.] FRENCH IN LOUISIANA. 71 
 
 colonization, the project of connecting the terri- 
 ritory of the lakes with that of the Mississippi, 
 by a chain of military posts, had never been 
 abandoned. 
 
 Accordingly, soon after the close of the second 
 French war, Lemoine D' Iberville, an intrepid 
 Canadian officer, was authorized to found a. 
 colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. Select- 
 ing the shores of the Bay of Biloxi as the site 
 of his new settlement, he landed his colonists, 
 some two hundred in number ; and after erecting 
 some tlweliings and a fort, left his brothers Bien- 
 ville and Sauvolle to carry out his plans, while he 
 returned to France for supplies. 
 
 But the malaria swept off the settlers almost 
 as fast as they arrived. Sauvolle, the governor, 
 died ; and the surviving colonists, with the excep- 
 tion of a few stragglers, fled from the pestilent 
 vapours of the Mississippi, and established them- 
 selves at the head of Mobile Bay. Even there 
 the work of colonization did not prosper ; and in . 
 1712, Louisiana did not contain more than three 
 hundred French inhabitants. 
 
 It was at this time that Crozat, a wealthy 
 merchant, obtained a grant of the whole pro- 
 vince, together with a monopoly of trade ; and 
 under his auspices trading-houses were presently 
 established on the Mississippi, Alabama, and Bed 
 Kivers, and enterprising Frenchmen, traversing 
 the country of the Chickasas and Choctas, sue 
 
72 HISTOEY OF TEXXESSEE. [1721. 
 
 cessfully competed with the English traders from 
 Carolina. 
 
 In 1714, Charleville, coming up from New 
 Orleans, built himself a trading-house on the 
 Cumberland River, not far from the present 
 site of Nashville. Two years later, forts were 
 erected on the Mississippi near Natchez; on 
 the Alabama near Montgomery ; at the mouths 
 of the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers ; and at 
 various points inland where the protection of a 
 garrison seemed necessary. Crozat's returns 
 falling far short of his expenditures, he resigned 
 his patent in 1717, which was transferred, the 
 same year, to the Mississippi Company. Eight 
 hundred emigrants were immediately sent out 
 to colonize a country of which the most glowing 
 descriptions were circulated throughout France. 
 
 The choice of governor fell upon Bienville. 
 Long resident in Louisiana, and thoroughly ac- 
 quainted with the region of the lower Mississippi, 
 he set to work with his accustomed alacrity to 
 lay the foundation of a great commercial city on 
 the left bank of the river, and about one hun- 
 dred miles from its mouth. The labour of clear- 
 ing the swamp was performed by convicts ; and 
 to the cluster of rude cabins which soon after 
 arose, Bienville gave the name of New Orleans. 
 
 From this period the province of Louisiana 
 commenced to flourish. At the close of 1721 
 it contained six thousand inhabitants, one-tenth 
 
1721.] MISSISSIPPI COMPANY. 73 
 
 of whom were negro slaves, imported direct from 
 Africa. 
 
 In the meanwhile, the traders of the two na- 
 tions were striving for the monopoly of the In- 
 dian traffic. Through the influence exerted hy 
 Bienville and his agents, the Chocta, Arkansa, and 
 Natchez Indians inclined to the French interest ; 
 but the more powerful Chickasas, Creeks, and 
 Cherokees were in alliance with the English. 
 
 By the disastrous failure of the gigantic but 
 visionary financial scheme under which the asso- 
 ciation had been organized, the Mississippi Com- 
 pany became greatly embarrassed in its commer- 
 cial operations. Three commissioners were, 
 however, presently sent to Louisiana to supervise 
 the condition of the colony, and under their 
 auspices the seat of government was removed to 
 New Orleans, still an insignificant village, con- 
 taining a church, a magazine,*a hundred cabins, 
 and about twice that number of inhabitants. 
 
 But the greatest check to the prosperity of 
 the province was yet to come. Bienville, after 
 having passed twenty-five years in the service 
 of the colony, was removed frOm his government, 
 and ordered to answer in France the aspersions 
 of his enemies. The influence of the latter pre- 
 vailed for a season. Not only was Bienville de- 
 prived of his office, but his nearest kindred also. 
 
 The new governor appointed by the crown was 
 Perrier, an officer of considerable ability, but 
 
Y4 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1727. 
 
 ■without tliat influence with the Indian popula- 
 tion which was possessed by Bienville. In 1727, 
 the year after his arrival, the encroachments of 
 the Carolina traders, and their lucrative traffic 
 with the Chickasa Indians, forms the burden of 
 a despatch to the minister. ''The English," he 
 writes, "continue to urge their commerce into 
 the very heart of the province. Sixty or 
 seventy horses, laden with merchandise, have 
 passed into the country of the Chickasas, to 
 which nation I have given orders to plunder the 
 English of their goods, promising to recompense 
 them by a present." 
 
 Fortunately for the English, the suggestion 
 was not accepted. The Chickasas remained 
 faithful. The massacre of the French by the 
 Natchez during the winter of 1729, and the 
 fearful retaliation which followed, bound the 
 Chickasas still closer in alliance with the Eng- 
 lish, at whose request they accorded protection 
 and a home to such straggling bands of the 
 Natchez as had escaped the war of extermina- 
 tion. 
 
 While Governor Perrier was seeking, by every 
 means in his power, the total destruction of the 
 Natchez, James Oglethorp, an English officer 
 who had served under Prince Eugene, sailed up 
 the Savannah River, landed a party of English 
 colonists on Yamacraw Bluff, and, concluding 
 treaties with the neighbouring Indians, organized 
 
1736.1 EXPEDITION AGAINST CHICKASA. 75 
 
 the territory thus acquired into the new English 
 province of Georgia. * 
 
 Alarmed at this innovation, and at the hostile 
 aspect of the Indian nations, the Mississippi 
 Company, preferring a lucrative commerce with 
 the East Indies to the doubtful prospect of 
 eventual profit from Louisiana, surrendered that 
 province, in 1732, to the crown of France. 
 
 It was now resolved that a vigorous effort 
 should be made to restore French supremacy in 
 the valley of the Mississippi, by organizing a 
 large army for the purpose of chastising the 
 hostile Indians, and especially the Chickasas, 
 who, being in alliance with the English, were 
 liberally supplied by them with arms and muni- 
 tions of war. The services of Bienville were 
 again called into requisition ; and invested with 
 chief command in the province, that officer ar- 
 rived at Mobile in the spring of 1735, after an 
 absence of eight years. He was received with 
 great joy by the alarmed colonists, who, reassured 
 by his presence among them, eagerly assisted in 
 promotii>g his plans for chastising an enemy of 
 whom they had so long lived in dread. 
 
 But it was not until the spring of 1736 that 
 all his preparations were completed. Having 
 previously despatched orders to the younger D' Ar- 
 taguette, at that time commanding the French 
 troops in Illinois, to descend the river and nifeet 
 him in the Chickasa country, on the 10th of 
 
76 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1736. 
 
 May, with all the forces that could be mustered 
 in the north-west, Bienville put his southern 
 army in motion in two divisions, one of which 
 embarked at New Orleans in thirty boats, and 
 sailed for the appointed rendezvous some time 
 during the month of March ; the other division 
 leaving Mobile for Tombigby in a similar man- 
 ner during the early part of April. 
 
 D'Artaguette, accompanied by Vincennes, a 
 brave young Canadian ; by father Sdnat, a Jesuit ; 
 one hundred and thirty French soldiers and 
 volunteers, and three hundred and sixty Indian 
 warriors, descending the Mississippi to the low- 
 est Chickasa bluff, marched slowly to the sources 
 of the Yalobusha, among which he encamped on 
 the 9th of May, as by previous agreement with 
 Bienville. For eleven days he remained at this 
 place, expecting either to form a junction with 
 Bienville, or to receive reinforcements from other 
 detachments which were known to be on their 
 way. Weary with waiting, and unable any longer 
 to restrain the impatience of his Indian allies, 
 who, representing that the nearest Chickasa town 
 was inhabited by refugee Natchez, demanded to 
 be led to the attack or suffered to return home. 
 Reluctantly yielding to what appeared to be the 
 general wish, D'Artaguette ordered an advance, 
 and on the 20th of May the army arrived within 
 a Mile of the Indian village. Leaving his bag- 
 gage at this point, in charge of thirty men, 
 
1736.] DEFEAT OF d'aetaguette. 77 
 
 D'Artaguette pressed rapidly forward with tlie 
 remainder of his command. The impetuosity of 
 his attack promised at first the most brilliant 
 success. The Chickasas, driven from their out- 
 posts, fled across a neighbouring eminence, 
 closely followed by the French, who suddenly 
 found themselves drawn into an ambush, and 
 exposed to the concentrated fire of five hundred 
 Indians, rendered still more efi'ective by the sup- 
 port of some thirty English traders. Thrown 
 into disorder by this unexpected attack, the con- 
 flict was fierce but brief. A large number of 
 the French officers had fallen at the first fire. 
 D'Artaguette, himself badly wounded, made a 
 desperate attempt to retrieve the fortune of the 
 day ; but the greater part of his allies had already 
 taken to flight, and finding those who still fought 
 boldly at his side gradually becoming fewer in 
 number, he reluctantly ordered a retreat to his 
 camp. By extraordinary exertions, a part of 
 his troops succeeded in cutting their way through 
 the enveloping ranks of the enemy; but the chi- 
 valric D'Artaguette, Lieutenant Yincennes, two 
 other officers, and nineteen men were taken pri- 
 soners. The Jesuit missionary. Father Senat, 
 who could have made his escape, voluntarily 
 shared the captivity of his companions, believing 
 it his duty to remain. 
 
 Retarded by unavoidable delays, the forces 
 under Bienville did not reach the upper waters 
 
 7* 
 
78 HISTORY OF TE:JfNESSEE. [1736. 
 
 of the Tomblgby until two clays after the defeat 
 of D'Artaguette. Disembarking in the vicinity 
 of the place now known as Cotton Gin Port, 
 nearly two more days were consumed in erecting 
 a picketed station for the reception of the artil- 
 lery and baggage ; and it was not until the even- 
 ing of the 25th that the army encamped on the 
 prairie within three miles of the principal Chickasa 
 villao^e. The orisrinal determination of Bienville 
 was to avoid, for the present, this village, and 
 by a circuitous route fall suddenly upon the one 
 inhabited by the Natchez, which lay a short dis- 
 tance beyond. But this design being overruled 
 by his Chocta allies and the eagerness of his own 
 officers, he ordered his nephew, the Chevalier 
 Noyan, to advance at the head of some three 
 hundred men, and commence an attack. 
 
 In the gray dawn of the following morning 
 this strong detachment, accompanied by a large 
 number of Chocta warriors, approached silently 
 the clustering huts of the Chickasas, over which, 
 to the great surprise of the French, floated 
 easily the English flag in the fragrant summer 
 air. Within those rude walls also were English- 
 men, traders, under whose directions the Chick- 
 asas had strongly fortified their position. Thus 
 palisaded and intrenched, and animated to in- 
 creased daring by the recent success of the 
 Natchez, the crouching warriors awaited the 
 coming of the French, who, under cover of i* 
 
1736.] DEFEAT OF DE NOYAN. 79 
 
 line of negroes, protected by mantelets, were 
 moving steadily to the assault. At the first fire 
 from the intrenchment the negroes fled ; but the 
 French dashing forward, led by the grenadiers, 
 entered the village, carried several cabins, and 
 wrapped others in flames. This brilliant exploit 
 had not been achieved without great loss. De 
 Contrecoeur and De Lusser, two brave and ac- 
 complished officers, had been shot dead ; and the 
 greater portion of the troops, becoming alarmed 
 at the thinning of their ranks, sought shelter 
 within the houses they had taken. Finding it 
 impossible to prevail upon these men to renew 
 the attack, De Noyan gathered around him a 
 few brave spirits, and with the assistance of his 
 gallant officers determined to make a desperate 
 assault upon the principal fort. The arrange- 
 ments were scarcely completed before a terrible 
 fire from behind picketed intrenchments, from 
 loop, and door, and angle, was poured upon the 
 assembled ranks, which wounded nearly all the 
 officers and a number of the men. De Noyan, 
 himself wounded, still endeavoured to maintain 
 the ground he had won; but having lost control 
 of his own soldiers, and being wholly unsupport- 
 ed by the lukewarm Choctas, he was constrained 
 to throw himself into the cabins on the outskirts 
 of the village, while he sent to Bienville for re- 
 lief. A reinforcement of eighty men was imme- 
 diately forwarded ; but even this force scarcely 
 
80 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1736. 
 
 sufficed to extricate tlie French from the diffi- 
 culties by which they were surrounded. In the 
 midst of their success the Chickasas acted pru- 
 dently. Fully conscious that they could not 
 hope to succeed in an attack upon the French 
 on the prairie, they wisely remained behind the 
 cover of their fortifications, and suffered De 
 Noyan to retreat to the camp without further 
 molestation. 
 
 The next morning the French beheld the muti- 
 lated fragments of their unfortunate countrymen 
 suspended, in barbarous derision, upon high 
 poles within the Chickasa intrenchments ; and 
 had not Bienville been justly doubtful of the 
 fidelity of his Indian allies, another attempt 
 would have been made to capture the place. 
 Oppressed with grief and indignation, he ordered 
 litters to be prepared for the wounded ; and as 
 soon as- these were ready, the troops set out on 
 their return to the Tombigby. Hastily dis- 
 mantling the stockade at this place, and sinking 
 his artillery in the river, Bienville dismissed the 
 Choctas, and descending the stream with the 
 remainder of his command, reached Mobile about 
 the 3d of June. 
 
 The retreat of Bienville sealed the fate of 
 D'Artaguette and his companions. Up to this 
 period their wounds had been carefully tended, 
 and their wants hospitably provided for; but no 
 sooner did the French flotilla descend the shai- 
 
1740.] STATIONS ABANDONED. 81 
 
 low stream of the Tombigby, than the Chickasas 
 and Natchez, brought D'Artaguette, Father 
 Senat, the brave Vincennes, and fifteen others, 
 to an open space adjoining their village, and 
 binding them to stakes, burned them slowly and 
 deliberately to death. 
 
 Smarting under two disgraceful defeats, and 
 inflamed with indignation at the cruelties prac- 
 tised upon their gallant but unfortunate friends, 
 it was not long before the French people 
 projected another expedition against the Chick- 
 asas. 
 
 Three years, however, were suffered to pass 
 away before the troops destined for this enter- 
 prise were assembled at Fort Assumption, on 
 the bluff where Memphis now stands, and already 
 made famous by remembrances of De Soto and 
 La Salle. Here, gradually wasting away under 
 the diseases common to a southern climate, they 
 remained inactive until the spring of 1 740, when 
 a weak fragment of what had once been an im- 
 posing army of thirty-seven hundred men, was 
 directed to march once more against the Chick- 
 asa towns ; but being met by deputies suing for 
 peace, Celeron, the commander, eagerly seized 
 the opportunity of concluding a treaty upon 
 more favourable terms than he had the power 
 to enforce. Henceforth the Chickasas remained 
 in undisputed possession of their country. Not- 
 withstanding the peace, war-parties of refugee 
 
82 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1740 
 
 Natchez still continued to cut off the TreLch 
 traders, whenever an opportunity occurred, until 
 the latter, finding themselves left unprotected 
 by their government, were forced to abandon 
 their stations between the Cumberland and the 
 Mississippi, and at length none but an Indian 
 foot traversed the region of Tennessee. 
 
 CHAPTER YI. 
 
 Waning influence of the French — Progress of Georgia — War 
 between England, France and Spain — Virginia boundary 
 extended — Settlements on the Holston, Yadkin and Catawba 
 — French in the valley of the Ohio — Mission of George 
 Washington — Fort Duquesne — Skirmish at Great Meadows 
 ■ — Surrender of Fort Necessity — Arrival of Braddock — His 
 defeat and death — Earl of Loudoun — Forts Prince George, 
 Dobbs and Loudoun built — Campaign of 1758 — Capture 
 of Fort Duquesne — Trouble with the Cherokees — Indian 
 negotiations for peace — Conduct of Lyttleton — Massacre of 
 Lidian hostages — Cherokee war — Montgomery marches 
 against the Lidian towns — Relieves Fort Prince George — • 
 Battle of Etchoe — Surrender of Fort Loudoun — 'Massacre 
 of prisoners — Generosity of AttakuUa-kuUa — Advance of 
 Grant — Second battle of Etchoe — Peace. 
 
 When it became known that the warlike 
 Chickasas had been able to resist, successfully, 
 all the forces which France was capable, at that 
 time, of bringing against them, the neighbouring 
 
1748.] PROGRESS OF GEORGIA, ETC. 83 
 
 tribes preferred courting an alliance with the 
 prosperous governments of Carolina and Virginia, 
 rather than with their weaker European neigh- 
 bours. 
 
 Georgia, too, though struggling undcx the 
 usual embarrassments incidental to a newsetix.^- 
 ment, had already advanced her outposts to 
 Augusta, where, in 1740, a fort was erected, 
 and where a village presently sprung up, which 
 speedily grew into importance as a trading 
 station. 
 
 Another reason which led to the neglect of 
 Louisiana, arose from the necessity of pro- 
 tecting the more important dependency of Ca- 
 nada. The T>^ar which broke out in 1740 be- 
 tween England and Spain, involved, in 1744, 
 France also as an ally of the latter power ; and 
 although, with the exception of the capture of 
 Louisburg by the New England troops, neither 
 of the belligerents displayed much energy or 
 military skill, the danger which menaced the 
 French possessions in the north prevented the 
 government from affording that assistance to its 
 southern province which its precarious condition 
 BO much needed. 
 
 In 1748 this war was terminated by the peace 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle. In the mean time Virginia 
 had extended her western boundary by purchas- 
 ing from the Iroquois their right, as conquerors, 
 to the territory beyond the mountains ; and, in 
 
84 HISTOKY OF TENNESSEE. [1749. 
 
 1749, a joint commission, authorized for tliat 
 pm'pose by the respective legislatures of Vir- 
 ginia and North Carolina, continued the bound- 
 ary line between the two provinces to the Steep 
 Rock on the Holston River. The rapid increase 
 of population had rendered this step impera- 
 tively necessary. Already a few resolute Vir- 
 ginians had cleared small tracts of land on the 
 borders of the Holston ; and a few years later 
 several hardy families of pioneers from North 
 Carolina, settled upon the fertile lands between 
 the Yadkin and the Catawba. 
 
 But while the tide of population was slowly 
 advancing toward the borders of Tennessee, and 
 English traders were acquiring almost a mono- 
 poly of the traffic with the southern Indians, the 
 French continued to claim, by right of discovery, 
 the fertile regions watered by the Ohio and Mis- 
 sissippi. To perfect their title to the valley of 
 the Ohio, Galissoniere, governor-general of Ca- 
 nada, despatched an officer and a party of 
 soldiers, during the summer of 1749, to bury 
 leaden plates engraven with the arms of France 
 it the mouths of the principal rivers, and to 
 take possession of the country in the name of 
 Louis XV. Four years later, when the incorpo- 
 ration of the Ohio Company became known, a 
 further effort was made to restrain the advance 
 of the English into the north-western territory, 
 by building forts at Erie, on French Creek, and 
 
1754.] FORI DUQUESXE. 85 
 
 on the banks of the Alleghany Eiver. Alarmed 
 for the safety of the frontier settlements, Go- 
 vernor Dinwiddle of Virginia, purchased of the 
 Indians that piece of land upon which Pittsburg 
 now stands ; and while waiting permission from 
 England to build a fort there, despatched the 
 youthful George Washington to hold a conference 
 with the Ohio Indians, and to demand of the 
 French commander at Fort le Boeuf, on French 
 Creek, the withdrawal of his forces, and their 
 return into Canada. This dangerous mission 
 was successfully accomplished ; but, as the 
 French refused to retire, a detachment of men 
 was presently sent to the forks of the Ohio, to 
 construct a fort at that place. Being driven off 
 in the spring of 1754 by the advance of a French 
 flotilla, they retreated up the Monongahela, 
 while the invaders proceeded to complete the 
 unfinished works, to which they presently gave 
 the name of Fort Duquesne. 
 
 In the mean while, Washington, commissioned 
 as lieutenant-colonel, was hastening to the Ohio 
 at the head of three companies of Virginians. 
 He had scarcely reached Wills Creek before 
 he received tidings of the advance of the French, 
 and their possession of the works he was hasten- 
 ing to defend. A skirmish followed soon after, 
 at Great Meadows, in which a French detach- 
 ment was defeated and its commander, Jumon 
 ville, killed. Washington being reinforced, threw 
 
86 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1756. 
 
 up a stockade fort at Great Meadows, into which 
 he was compelled to retire by the advance of a 
 superior force of French and Indians. After a 
 spirited, but unavailing defence, honourable 
 terms of capitulation were proposed and accept- 
 ed, and the Virginians, marching out with their 
 arms and baggage, retired across the mountains 
 to Wills Creek. 
 
 Provoked by these encroachments, and by 
 subsequent acts of hostility. Great Britain, pre- 
 vious to declaring war against France, despatch- 
 ed General Braddock to America, in the spring 
 of 1755, as commander-in-chief of the royal and 
 provincial forces. The French government was 
 equally active. While advancing against Fort 
 Duquesne, the English troops were drawn into 
 an ambush, and routed with great slaughter. 
 Braddock himself was mortally wounded. Two 
 days after the battle, he was buried by the 
 wayside, in the vicinity of the Fort at Great 
 Meadows. The following spring, war was openly 
 declared ; and in July, the Earl of Loudoun 
 assumed command of the British forces in 
 America. 
 
 Hostilities were no sooner commenced than 
 French emissaries scattered themselves among 
 the Indian tribes friendly to the English, and 
 endeavoured to detach them from their alliance. 
 Fully conscious how much the safety of the 
 scattered settlements on the western frontiers 
 
1758.] EORT ERECTED ON THE RIVER. 87. 
 
 depended upon the fidelity of the neighbouring 
 tribeSj Governor Glen, of South Carolina, at- 
 tended in person a grand council of the Chero- 
 kees, and, renewing with them a treaty of peace, 
 obtained at the same time a cession of consider- 
 able territory. Not long after the conclusion 
 of this treaty he erected Fort Prince George, 
 on the head-waters of the Savannah Kiver, and 
 in close proximity to the Indian town of Keowee. 
 Fort Dobbs was also constructed about the same 
 time, under directions from the governor of North 
 Carolina, as a security to the settlers on the 
 Yadkin ; to which Loudoun presently added an- 
 other fort on the Tennessee River, twenty-five 
 miles south of the present town of Knoxville. 
 Under the protection of its garrison, consisting 
 of two hundred British regulars, commanded by 
 Captain Demere, clustered the cabins of the first 
 Anglo-Saxon inhabitants of Tennessee. 
 
 The wisdom and energy displayed by the elder 
 Pitt in providing for the campaign of 1758, in- 
 spired the provincials with new hopes, and in- 
 duced them to second his efforts with more than 
 ordinary unanimity. 
 
 "While Abercrombie marched against • Crown 
 Point and Ticonderoga, General Forbes was di- 
 rected to cross the mountains, and, with a mixed 
 command of regulars, provincials, and Chero- 
 kees, attempt the conquest of Fort Duquesne 
 The attack of Abercrombie was signally repelled 
 
88 HISTOF.Y OF TENNESSEE. [1758. 
 
 by the active and courageous Montcalm ; but 
 the brilliant exploit of Colonel Bradstreet in 
 surprising Fort Frontenac, cut off the supplies 
 of the French garrisons in the valley of the 
 Ohio, and led to the abr.ndonment of Fort Du- 
 quesne on the approach of General Forbes. 
 
 But the prospect of peace which the posses- 
 sion of Fort Duquesne seemed to promise to the 
 inhabitants of the frontiers, was rendered more 
 remote than ever by an incident which grew out 
 of its capture. The Cherokee warriors, who had 
 accompa,nied the army during its march to the 
 Ohio, finding^ themselves coldlv reararded now 
 that their services were no longer needed, re- 
 solved to return to their homes. While travelling 
 through the wilderness of western Virginia, they 
 carried off with them a number of horses belonging 
 to remote settlers, to replace those they had est 
 during the expedition. The backwoodsmen arxieCl 
 themselves and followed in pursuit ; and in the 
 skirmishes which ensued, several of the Choro- 
 kees were killed. War parties were immediately 
 organized to retaliate; and the families of the 
 borderers, driven from their homes, were com- 
 pelled to take refuge in forts and block-houses. 
 Two soldiers at Tellico, and several belonging to 
 the garrison at Fort Loudoun, were surprised 
 and slain. Notwithstanding this sanguinary out- 
 break, a considerable portion of the Cherokee 
 nation remained friendly to the English; and 
 
1759.] TROUBLE WITH THE CHEROKEES. 89 
 
 toward tlie close of the year a deputation, con- 
 sisting of six chieftains, proceeded to Charleston 
 to negotiate for a peace. They were answered 
 hj a proclamation from Governor Lyttleton, 
 calling out the militia. While hopes were 
 yet entertained that tranquillity would be re- 
 stored, the fierce anger of the upper Chero- 
 kees was again aroused by a demand which 
 was make upon them for the surrender of their 
 chiefs, and by the arbitrary conduct of Coy tmore, 
 the commandant at Fort Prince George, in inter- 
 cepting supplies. No discrimination being made 
 in favour of the friendly towns, the latter sent a 
 remonstrance to Lyttleton, who returned a 
 haughty reply, and, in opposition to the more 
 prudent judgment of the Carolina legislature, 
 continued hjs preparations for war. 
 
 Still anxious to compose the existing differ- 
 ences without a resort to arms, a deputation of 
 thirty chiefs from the upper and lower towns, 
 headed by Occonostota, one of their most re- 
 nowned warriors, presented themselves before 
 Lyttleton and proffered friendship. " I love the 
 white people," said Occonostota ; " they and the 
 Indians shall not hurt one another. I reckon 
 myself as one with you." 
 
 "I am going with a great many of my war- 
 riors to your nation," replied Lyttleton, »' in 
 order to demand satisfaction of them. If you 
 will not give it when I come to your nation, I 
 
 8* 
 
90 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1759. 
 
 shall take it." He closed hj offering tlie chief- 
 tains safe conduct by the way. False to his 
 promise, he had no sooner reached the Congaree, 
 where his troops were assembled, than he arrest- 
 ed the deputies and carried them prisoners to 
 Fort Prince George. At this place he liberated 
 Occonostota; but to give some colour of plausi- 
 bility to his dishonourable breach of faith, he 
 obtained the signatures ol six of the captive 
 chieftains, to an agreement that the rest of their 
 companions should remain as hostages at Fort 
 Prince George, until twenty- four Indians should 
 be surrendered for execution, or otherwise, in 
 retaliation for the lives which had been sacrificed 
 during the outbreak. Congratulating himself 
 upon the success of his duplicity, he returned to 
 Charleston and disbanded his army. He had 
 scarcely left Fort Prince George before hostili- 
 ties recommenced. Burning for revenge, Occo- 
 nostota immediately placed himself at the head 
 of his indignant warriors, and investing the fort 
 decoyed Coytmore, by a stratagem, beyond the 
 reach of its guns, shot him dead, and severely 
 wounded the two lieutenants by whom he was 
 accompanied. Expecting an immediate assault, 
 the alarmed garrison attempted to put the host- 
 ages in irons. The chieftains resented this in- 
 dignity, and in the struggle that followed stabbed 
 three of the soldiers, upon which the companions 
 
1760.] CHEROKEE WAR. 91 
 
 of the latter fell upon the prisoners and put 
 them all to death. 
 
 The whole Cherokee nation, now no longer 
 divided, declared at once unanimously for war. 
 Large parties of warriors immediately spread 
 themselves along the frontiers, leaving sangui- 
 nary tokens of their presence wherever they 
 went. Supplied with arms and ammunition from 
 Louisiana, and calling in the assistance of the 
 neighbouring nations, they cut off all communi- 
 cation with Eort Loudoun, and laid desolate all 
 the frontier settlements with the crimson toma- 
 hawk and the burning brand. 
 
 Unable singly to cope with the mountain war- 
 riors, whose implacable hostility had been pro- 
 voked by the treachery of Lyttleton, messengers 
 were hastily despatched to Virginia and North 
 Carolina for assistance, and to Amherst at New 
 York for a detachment of British regulars. 
 Twelve hundred of the latter were immediately 
 embarked for Charleston, under the command of 
 Colonel Montgomery, who received orders to 
 chastise the enemy, and return in time to assist 
 in the invasion of Canada. Hastening to the 
 rendezvous at the Congaree, Montgomery form- 
 ed a junction with the provincial forces. By an 
 expeditious march from that place, he entered 
 the Cherokee country, during the early part of 
 June, 1760, surprised the town of Keowee, put 
 nearly all its male inhabitants to the sword, and 
 
92 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1760. 
 
 pushed forward the same niglit to Estatoe. After 
 burning the town, which had been abandoned by 
 the inhabitants, he proceeded to Qualatchee and 
 Conasatchee, which with every other village 
 through which he subsequently passed he reduced 
 to a heap of ruins. Having thus laid waste all 
 the settlements of the lower Creeks, he marched 
 to the relief of Fort Prince George. When 
 this was successfully accomplished, he despatch- 
 ed messengers to the upper and middle 'Creeks, 
 offering to treat of peace. Receiving no re- 
 sponse, he crossed the mountains to relieve Fort 
 Loudoun, which Occonostota had closely invest- 
 ed, and entering the valley settlements on the 
 Tennessee River, proceeded, on the morning of 
 the 2Tth of June, against the town of Etchoe. 
 Within five miles of the town his course lay 
 parallel with the stream, which at this point me- 
 andered through a plain, covered densely with 
 brushwood, and flanked on both sides by rugged 
 hills. At an order from Montgomery, the ran- 
 gers advanced to scour the thickets, when a 
 heavy fire from a large force of Cherokees, con- 
 cealed in ambush, killed Captain Morrison and 
 wounded several of his men. The grenadiers 
 and light companies were immediately ordered 
 to advance, supported on their right and left 
 flanks by the Royal Scots and the Highlanders. 
 These three divisions pressed steadily forward, 
 and after a SfU'ere conflict, which resulted in the 
 
1760.] SLAUGHTER OF TROOPS. 93 
 
 loss of ninety-seven men in killed and wounded, 
 finally succeeded in routing the enemy. Moving 
 cautiously in pursuit, Montgomery continued his 
 march toward Etchoe, which he reached about 
 midnifijht. Finding: himself in the midst of a 
 country admirably adapted for defence, and with 
 a repulsed but unconquered enemy hovering in 
 large numbers around him, Montgomery was 
 forced to abandon the attempt to relieve Fort 
 Loudoun, and return with his wounded to Fort 
 Prince George. 
 
 Cut off from all hopes of succour by the re- 
 treat of Montgomery, the half-famished garrison 
 at Fort Loudoun sent Captain Stuart to Chote, a 
 neighbouring Indian town, with a proposal to 
 capitulate, on condition that all who were within 
 the works should be permitted to retire, under 
 the safe conduct of an escort, to Fort Prince 
 George. The terms being agreed to, the fort 
 was evacuated on the 7th of August. Accom- 
 panied by Occonostota, and a large detachment 
 of warriors, the soldiers and refugee settlers, to 
 the number of two hundred, set out on their 
 journey. Deserted at Tellico by their Lidian 
 guards, they were attacked the next morning by 
 a large force of Cherokees, led by Occonostota, 
 which killed Demere, two other officers, and 
 twenty-three privates, in retaliation for the 
 treacherous murder of the imprisoned chieftains 
 at Fort Prince George. The rest of the garri- 
 
94 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1761. 
 
 son were taken prisoners and carried back to 
 Fort Loudoun. 
 
 When the ao;ed chieftain AttakuHa-kulla 
 heard that his friend Captain Stuart was among 
 those whose lives had been spared, he hastened 
 to the fort and purchased him of his captor, at 
 the expense of his rifle, his clothes, and every 
 thing he could command. Learning soon after 
 that Occonostota had threatened to burn all his 
 prisoners unless Stuart would consent to work 
 the artillery at the contemplated siege of Fort 
 Prince George, the generous-hearted old chief 
 carried off his prisoner, under the pretence of 
 hunting, and plunging into the forest, travelled 
 with him rapidly for nine days, through a wil- 
 derness rarely trodden by the foot of man, until 
 they reached the Holston Hiver, where they 
 encountered a party of Virginians advancing to 
 the relief of Fort Loudoun. 
 
 Encouraged to persevere in their hostilities 
 by the presence of French emissaries, the 
 Cherokee war parties continued to lay waste 
 the frontiers until the spring of 1761, when the 
 reduction of Canada enabled Amherst to re- 
 spond to the call of the southern provinces for 
 military assistance, by despatching Colonel Grant 
 with a large body of regulars to co-operate with 
 the provincial levies. 
 
 With this mixed force, amounting in the 
 aggregate to twenty-six hundred men. Grant 
 
1761.] PEACE RESTORED. 95 
 
 marched from Fort Prince George on the 7th 
 of June ; and on the 10th discovered the enemy 
 posted upon the hill-sides and among the thick- 
 ets of the narrow defile where Montgomery 
 had purchased so severe a victory the previous 
 year. After three hours hard fighting the 
 Cherokees were driven from the ground, and 
 the army, pushing forward into the heart of the 
 territory, remained there for thirty days, burn- 
 ing the villages and destroying the granaries 
 and cornfields. Grant then returned to Fort 
 Prince George, where Attakulla-kulla, accom- 
 panied by a number of chiefs, presently arrived 
 to sue for a peace. Honourable conditions were 
 offered and accepted, and the southern borderers 
 were once more at liberty to return to their 
 farms and pursue their accustomed labours. 
 
96 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1763. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Pressure of borderers upon the Cherokee country — Exploring 
 parties in Tennessee — Walleu's hunters — Boone's — Hender- 
 son employs Boone to explore Eastern Tennessee — Disco- 
 very of Kentucky — Indian complaints — Royal proclamation 
 ■ — Disregarded by the pioneers — Scag'gins explores the Lower 
 {Cumberland — Remonstrance by the Iroquois — Council at 
 Fort Stanwix — Cession of lands south of the Ohio — Chero- 
 kee council at Hard Labour — Settlements on the Holston — 
 The Long Hunters explore Kentucky — Increase of settlers 
 at Watauga' — -They establish a local governmeiit — The com- 
 missioners for Vv^'atauga — John Sevier — Extension of Vir- 
 ginia boundary — The Watauga lands leased of the Chcro- 
 kees — An Indian murdered — Danger of the settlers — Hsjio- 
 ism of Robertson — The north-western tribes — Troubles with 
 the borderers — The massacres on the Ohio by Cresap and 
 Greathouse — Indian war — Dunmore's campaign — -Battle of 
 Point Pleasant — Treaty of peace. 
 
 ByT the expeditions of Montgomery and Grant 
 •were productive of more serious consequences to 
 the Cherokees than the burning of their villages 
 and the loss of a small number of their warriors. 
 By these inroads the hardy and restless popula- 
 tion of the frontiers obtained a knowledge of a 
 fertile region of which they were not slow to 
 profit. Traders with trains of pack-horses, 
 whose jingling bells sounded strangely musical 
 in the heart of the primeval forest, were the 
 first to reap advantage of the peace, by barter- 
 
1764.] EXPLORING PARTIES. 97 
 
 ing their mercliandise for the rich peltries of a 
 territory abounding in game. Hunters and trap- 
 pers followed ; and presently came armed bands 
 of explorers, from Virginia and Carolina, who, 
 entering the Cherokee country, gave the earliest 
 English names to the mountains and rivers, and 
 returninsi; to their homes encumbered with the 
 spoils of the chase, infused a similar spirit of 
 adventure into the hearts of others. 
 
 Immediately on the close of the Cherokee 
 war, a company of nineteen men from Virginia, 
 among whom were Wallen, Cox, and Scaggs, 
 crossed the northern boundary of Tennessee, 
 and hunted for eighteen months upon Clinch and 
 Powell Rivers. Encouraged by their success, 
 they extended their range during the two follow- 
 ing years to the banks of the Cumberland. 
 
 Contemporaneous with them a party from the 
 settlement upon the Yadkin was exploring the 
 country between the two forks of the Holston, 
 under the guidance of young Daniel Boone, who 
 had hunted upon the Watauga the preceding 
 year. The local reputation of Boone as a da- 
 ring and successful pioneer, led to his being em- 
 ployed, in 1764, to explore a country which was 
 already beginning to attract the attention of emi- 
 grants. This commission emanated from an as- 
 sociation of land speculators, at the head of 
 which was Richard Henderson, a man of great 
 
 ambition, who had risen from an humble station 
 
 9 
 
98 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1764. 
 
 in life to the dignity of associate chief-judge of 
 North Carolina. Attended by his kinsman, 
 Samuel Calloway, Boone traversed the north- 
 eastern party of Tennessee, and ascending a 
 spur of the Cumberland Mountains, saw, with 
 mingled astonishment and delight, the numerous 
 herds of buffalo which thronged the plains of 
 Kentuchy. In a burst of irrepressible enthu- 
 siasm, Boone appropriated them all. ^' I am 
 richer," said he, ''than the man mentioned in 
 Scripture, who owned the cattle on a thousand 
 hills — I own the wild beasts of more than a 
 thousand valleys." But the time for taking ad- 
 vantage of these discoveries was not yet come. 
 The Indians had already complained of repeated 
 intrusions upon their hunting grounds; and to 
 quiet their apprehensions, a royal proclamation 
 had been issued, forbidding the provincials from 
 making any settlements upon lands west of the 
 mountains, and claiming for the crown the sole 
 right to purchase territory from the Indians. 
 At the same time, Captain Stuart, the friend of 
 Attakulla-kulla, was appointed to the office of 
 Indian agent for the southern district. But the 
 royal mandate was little likely to be respected 
 by men who had passed their lives on the borders 
 of the wilderness. They had discovered that 
 the whole of that vast tract of country stretch- 
 ing from the Cumberland Mountains westward 
 to the Mississippi, and northward to the Ohio, 
 
1766.] INDIAN COMPLAINTS. 99 
 
 was entirely uninhabited, and caring nothing for 
 vague titles of ownership, pressed resolutely for- 
 ward to take possession. They too had their 
 claims, for many of them had been soldiers in 
 the war which had stripped France of all her 
 North American possessions with the exception 
 of a small portion of Louisiana, and were au- 
 thorized by their respective provinces to occupy 
 these lands under their military warrants. 
 
 The favourable reports brought back by Boone 
 influenced Henderson to make further explora- 
 tions, and under his directions, Henry Scaggins, 
 and other hunters, examined the country as far as 
 the Lower Cumberland. In 1766 a small party, 
 led by Colonel James Smith, thoroughly explored 
 the country between the Tennessee and Cumber- 
 land Rivers, from Stone's River to the Ohio. 
 Other exploring parties speedily followed, while 
 the border population, pressing forward, began 
 to open settlements on the Kanawha and the 
 Holston. Against these continued encroach- 
 ments upon their hunting grounds, the southern 
 Indians repeatedly complained, but could obtain 
 no redress ; but when the Iroquois, who laid 
 claim to the territory by right of conquest, 
 formally remonstrated, the question became one 
 of too serious a nature to be slighted. Sir 
 "William Johnson accordingly received orders 
 from England to treat with the northern con- 
 federacy for the purchase of their lands ; and at 
 
100 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1771. 
 
 a council held at Fort Stanwix, toward the 
 close of October, 1768, the Iroquois ceded to 
 Great Britain all their claim to the country 
 south of the Ohio River. Ten days before the 
 delegates assembled at Fort Stanwix, the Chero- 
 kee Indians met Stuart at Hard Labour in Caro- 
 lina, and agreed to extend the south-western 
 boundary of Virginia, from the Holston River 
 to the mouth of the Kanawha. Companies were 
 immediately organized for the purpose of pur- 
 chase and settlement; and while these were dis- 
 puting among themselves concerning the invasion 
 of each other's rights, a number of pioneer fami- 
 lies quietly crossed the boundaries of North 
 Carolina and founded, on the banks of the Hols- 
 ton, the first permanent settlement in Tennessee. 
 These were followed so rapidly by others, that 
 within a period of six weeks all the choicest 
 lands on the north fork of the Holston were ta- 
 ken up. One daring adventurer. Captain ^Yi\- 
 liam Bean, advanced still deeper into the Avilder- 
 ness, and built his station on Boone's Creek, a 
 tributary of the Yfatauga. In the spring of 
 1770, a band of hunters, led by Colonel James 
 Knox, assembled from the valleys of the Clinch 
 and the Holston, and traversing the sources of 
 the Cumberland, explored the middle and south- 
 ern regions of Kentucky. Returning in 1771, 
 these men, known as the Long Hunters, gave 
 Buch glowing accounts of the mildness of the 
 
1772.] JOHN SEVIER. 101 
 
 climate and the fertility of the soil, that survey- 
 ing parties were sent clown the Ohio to locate 
 lands upon its southern border. 
 
 In the mean time, owing partly to local dis- 
 turbances in the Carolinas, and partly to the 
 growing difficulties between England and the 
 provinces on the question of taxation, the popu- 
 lation on the Holston and Watauga had increased 
 so rapidly that, in 1772, the settlers assembled in 
 convention and established a local government. 
 By general agreement five commissioners were 
 chosen, in whom were vested legislative, judicial, 
 and executive powers. The chairman of the 
 committee was Colonel John Carter, a native of 
 Virginia. His associates were James and Charles 
 Robertson, Zachariah Isbell, and John Sevier. 
 The latter was of French extraction, the original 
 name of the family being Xavier. His ancestors 
 being Huguenots, Avere driven by persecution to 
 seek a refuge in London, where Valentine Xavier, 
 the father of the Watauga commissioner, was 
 born. Emigrating to the colonies early in the 
 eighteenth century, he first settled in Virginia, 
 where, in 1740, on the borders of the Shenan- 
 doah, John Sevier was born. In 1769, the latter, 
 already the head of a family consisting of a deli- 
 cate wife and six children, migrated to the banks 
 of the Holston, where, with his father and bro- 
 ther, he presently took up his abode, the perma- 
 nence of which, henceforth, was only broken by 
 
 9* 
 
102 History of Tennessee. [1772. 
 
 occasional visits to liis family in Virginia. With 
 a better knowledge of men than of books, for 
 his learning was scanty; active, fluent, bold, and 
 generous, the "portly young stranger from "Wil- 
 liamsburg" was not long in acquiring the esteem 
 of the rough borderers, among whom he presently 
 rose to the rank of a leader, and rivalled James 
 Robertson in popularity. 
 
 By a treaty, which was ratified in 1772, 
 the boundary of Virginia was considerably ex- 
 tended; but as the settlement at Watauga was 
 still beyond provincial jurisdiction, and was an 
 admitted encroachment upon Indian soil, the in- 
 habitants were ordered by Cameron, the deputy 
 superintendent, to retire across the borders. 
 But pioneers, when once in possession of a 
 country, were never known to retrace their steps ; 
 and a mandate so imperative might have been 
 productive of serious results, if the Cherokees 
 had not consented to lease, for a term of ten 
 years, the lands already occupied. Unhappily, 
 the ratification of the treaty led to the commis- 
 sion of an outrage which, for a time, threatened 
 to involve the people of Watauga in the horrors 
 of an Indian war. During the sports and fes- 
 tivities which marked the occasion, an Indian 
 was slain by a party of lawless men from Virgi- 
 nia. This cold-blooded assassination, so atro- 
 cious and unjustifiable, created the greatest com- 
 iiotion among the settlers, who apprehended 
 
1774.] INDIAN WAR. 103 
 
 and not without reason, that a sanguinary retali- 
 ation would follow. The danger was, however, 
 av«erted by the courage and heroism of Robert- 
 son ; who, at the risk of his own life, immediately 
 set out for the principal Cherokee town, and 
 succeeded in exonerating his people from any 
 participation in the murder. 
 
 But if the southern Indians were content for 
 a season to maintain pacific relations with the 
 whites, it was far otherwise with the tribes of 
 the north-west. The Shawanese and Mingoes 
 had long viewed with irrepressible feelings of 
 indignation the numerous parties of pioneers 
 which, floating down the Ohio, traversed the 
 territory on its borders, as surveyors or hunters, 
 and marked out the choicest lands for subsequent 
 occupation. Occasional collisions, in which blood 
 was spilled on both sides, increased their hatred 
 of the intruders ; but no general declaration of 
 war took place until 1774, when armed detach- 
 ments of lawless frontiersmen, under Cresap and 
 Greathouse, wantonly attacked, on two separate 
 occasions, a number of inoffensive Indians, SLjad 
 indiscriminately massacred the whole, Logan, 
 a celebrated Mingo chief, whose family Great- 
 house had exterminated, instantly flew to arms, 
 and being joined soon after by roving bands of 
 Iroquois, Shawanese, Delawares, and Wyandots, 
 commenced a sanguinary and destructive wai- 
 fave upon the inhabitants of western Virginia. 
 
104 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [17T4. 
 
 To afford a temporary check to these alarming 
 inroads, Governor Dunmore despatched a body of 
 troops under Colonel McDonald, against the In* 
 dian towns on the Muskingum. This expedition 
 producing no beneficial results, Dunmore pre- 
 pared to take the field in person. His army 
 consisted of twenty-seven hundred men, organ- 
 ized into tw^o divisions, one of which w^as com- 
 posed of levies from southern and western Vir- 
 ginia, and the other of regular troops and vo- 
 lunteers from the northern and eastern counties. 
 In the first division, commanded by General An- 
 drew Lewis, was a company of volunteers from 
 east /Tennessee, the captain of which was Evan 
 Shelby; his son, Isaac Shelby, the future go- 
 vernor of Kentucky, serving under him as lieu- 
 tenant. Among the orderly sergeants were 
 James Robertson and Valentine Sevier. 
 
 Quitting, on the 11th of September, the place 
 of rendezvous in the valley region of Gieen 
 Brier, General Lewis marched his division, 
 through a rugged and untrodden wilderness, to 
 Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Kanawha, 
 where he expected to form a junction with the 
 forces under Dunmore; but finding the flotiua 
 of the governor had not yet arrived, he halted 
 his men and encamped. On the 9th he received 
 instructions from Dunmore, who was then at the 
 mouth of the Big Hockhocking, to cross the 
 Ohio With his division, and join him at the 
 
17T4.] BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT. 105 
 
 Shawanese towns on the Scioto. The following 
 morning, while the troops were in the act of 
 breaking up their encampment, Robertson and 
 Sevier brought intelligence of the approach of 
 an Indian force, which was subsequently ascer- 
 tained to have numbered a thousand Avarriors, 
 led by the brave Shawanese chief Cornstalk. 
 
 General Lewis immediately ordered his bro- 
 ther, Colonel Charles Lewis, to advance with a 
 strong detachment, and reconnoitre the position 
 of the enemy. Within four hundred yards of 
 the camp, a fire from ambushed Indians mortally 
 wounded Lewis, and disabled Fleming the second 
 in command. The suddenness of the attack 
 threw their men into disorder ; but, supported by 
 reinforcements under Colonel Field, they rallied 
 and returned t^ ^he attack. From this time the 
 contest was maintained on both sides with indo- 
 mitable courage and resolution. After lasting 
 nearly the whole day 'with varying success, it 
 was finally terminated in favour of the Ame- 
 ricans through a secret movement, accomplished 
 by the companies of Shelby, Matthews, and 
 Stuart, who succeeded in gaining the flank of 
 the enemy. Placed between two fires, and 
 impressed with the belief that Lewis had been 
 joined by reinforcements, the Indians, who had 
 hitherto fought with great coolness and delibe- 
 ration, began to waver, and finally breaking up 
 into confused masses, fled precipitately across 
 
106 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1775. 
 
 the Ohio. This important victo?*j led to negotia- 
 tions for peace ; and the chiefs of the hostile In- 
 dians havino; met Dunmore in council, a^-reed to 
 a treaty, by which they transferred to Great 
 Britain all their claims to lands south of the 
 Ohio River. 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Cherokee council at Sycamore Shoals — Purchase of the Wa- 
 tauga territory — Other grants — The Transylvania grant an- 
 nulled by Dunmore — Colonial troubles — Instructions to the 
 royal governors — Seizure of stores at Concord — Battle of 
 Lexington — Difliculties with Dunmore — Patrick Henry 
 marches on Williamsburg — Flight of Dunmore — Action of 
 the Federal Congress at Philadelphia — Spirited conduct of 
 North Carolina — Increased excitement in the province — 
 Flight of Governor Martin — The legislature of North Ca- 
 rolina advocates a declaration of independence — ^Annexation 
 of the Watauga settlement to North Carolina — Indian hos- 
 tilities — Skirmish at Long Island — Defence of Watauga 
 Fort — -Anecdote of Catherine Sherrili — South Carolina me- 
 naced by a British fleet — Provincial expeditions against the 
 Cherokees. 
 
 Although the Cherokees were not a party to 
 to the cession of lands exacted by Dunmore at 
 the treaty of Camp Charlotte, they evinced, 
 soon after, a willingness to dispose of a portion 
 of their own sylvan possessions. In March, 1775, 
 they assembled in council at the Sycamore 
 Shoals, on the Watauga River, and, in considera- 
 tion of the sum of ten thousand pounds sterling, 
 
1775.] 'TTlEATY OF -VYATAUGA. 107 
 
 transferred to Henderson and his associates all 
 their hunting grounds between the Kentucky 
 and the Cumberland Rivers; An immense con- 
 course of Indians being present on this occasion, 
 the people of Watauga seized the opportunity 
 thus afforded them to convert their leasehold 
 titles into titles in fee simple. By the payment 
 of two thousand pounds sterling, they obtained 
 a deed for all the lands lying on the waters of 
 the Watauga, Ilolston, and Kanawha, beginning 
 on the Holston, six miles above Long Island, 
 and terminating at the sources of the Great 
 Kanawha. Two other deeds were obtained by 
 individuals on the same occasion. The store of 
 Parker & Carter had previously been robbed by 
 Indians ; and as a compensation for the losses 
 thus sustained, and in consideration of an addi- 
 tional sum which a third partner, Robert Lucas, 
 agreed to pay, they obtained a grant of Carter's 
 Valley, "from Cloud's Creek to the Chimney- 
 top Mountain of Beech Creek." Jacob Brown 
 iilso obtained grants for lands on both sides of 
 Nolachucky River, adjoining the Watauga pur- 
 chase. Henderson immediately proceeded to 
 organize a form of government for the new pro- 
 vince of Transylvania, notwithstanding his title 
 was declared invalid by Governor Dunmore, 
 within wd:iose jurisdiction the territory in ques- 
 tion was at that time supposed to lie. Four 
 days subsequent to the treaty of Watauga, and 
 
108 HISTORY or TENI^ESSEE. [1775. 
 
 before its stipulations were complied with, Dun- 
 more issued a proclamation, warning all persons 
 against Henderson and his associates ; and, sub- 
 sequently, the legislature of Virginia declared 
 the purchase null and void. But, as a compen- 
 sation for the services rendered by the Transyl- 
 vania association in opening the wilderness, they 
 were granted a tract of land twelve miles square 
 on the Ohio, below the mouth of Green River. 
 
 But at this period the prerogatives of the 
 crown were in far more danger within the body 
 of the provinces than in the valley of the Ohio. 
 The resolution of the English ministry to tax 
 the American colonies had been met by a spirit 
 of resistance which was rapidly approaching a 
 crisis. Non-importation agreements had failed 
 to procure redress of grievances. Petitions from 
 the Provincial Congress had been received with 
 contempt. The indignant spirit of the confede- 
 rated colonies now becoming fully aroused, 
 volunteer corps were organized, and arms and 
 ammunition industriously collected in anticipa- 
 tion of the coming struggle. A considerable 
 force of British troops had already landed at 
 Boston; and early in the spring of 1775, the 
 royal governors received instructions to seize 
 upon all military stores which might be found in 
 possession of the patriots. In obedience to this 
 order, Governor Gage, of Massachusetts, des- 
 patched a party of regulars to take possession 
 
17T5.] WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 109 
 
 of some cannon and other materiel of war which 
 were known to be secreted at Concord. The 
 tidmgs immediately spread; the minurte-men 
 collecting in great numbers embarrassed the re- 
 treating regulars, and the battle at Lexington 
 was the commencement of the War of Indepen- 
 dence. This event took place on the 19th of 
 April. Three days afterward, Governor Dun- 
 more ordered the gunpowder in the magazine at 
 Williamsburg to be secretly conveyed on board 
 an armed vessel at anchor off Yorktown. So 
 soon as the abstraction of the powder was made 
 known to the volunteers of the vicinity, they 
 armed themselves, and proceeding in a body to 
 the governor, demanded its restitution. While 
 the dispute was still pending, tidings arrived of 
 the battle of Lexington. Fifteen hundred 
 men from the eastern slopes of the Alleghanies 
 presently collected at Fredericksburg, in readi- 
 ness for any emergency. In the county of Han- 
 over, Patrick Henry placed himself at the head 
 of his company of volunteers, and marched at 
 once upon Williamsburg. By constant acces- 
 sions of armed militia, the force under his com- 
 mand was speedily increased to five hundred 
 men. Si.^teen miles from the city, Henry was 
 met by a deputation who had prevailed upon 
 Corbin, the king's receiver, to indemnify the 
 province for the loss of the powder. Having 
 thus succeeded in his purpose, Henry returned 
 
 10 
 
110 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1775. 
 
 to Hanover, and on the 4tli of May disbanded 
 his company. A few weeks later, Dunmore fled 
 from Williamsburg, and took refuge on board 
 the Fowey man-of-war. The royal government 
 of Virginia had ceased to exist. 
 
 Long before this, however, in all the Anglo- 
 American provinces, committees of safety had 
 been organized, local conventions held, and a 
 general Congress, composed of deputies from all 
 the colonies, had been in session at Philadelphia. 
 The new Congress, which met on the 10th of 
 May, promptly sustained the previous action of 
 Massachusetts, by providing foi' the organization 
 of an army, and the defence of the United Co- 
 lonies. 
 
 On the 17th of June, only two days after the 
 unanimous election of George Washington as 
 commander-in-chief of the American forces, was 
 fought the battle of Bunker Hill. 
 
 But though Congress recognised the existence 
 of war, the provinces generally were not yet 
 prepared for a declaration of independence. 
 North Carolina, alone, by her Mecklenburg ma- 
 nifesto, evinced a readiness to throw off all alle- 
 giance to Great Britain. Already the freemen 
 of that province had twice elected delegates to 
 a local convention in opposition to the protests 
 of Governor Martin. By a happy unanimity on 
 the part of the electors, those whom they had 
 chosen as members of the convention, were also 
 
1776.] REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENTS. Ill 
 
 elected members of the regular provincial legis- 
 latm^e, met at the same time and place, and 
 vesting the offices of president of the assembly 
 and moderator of the convention in the same 
 person, combined the functions of legislators 
 recognised by the crown, with the duties of dele- 
 gates expressly chosen to uphold the cause of 
 the people. 
 
 The Watauga purchase had been declared ille- 
 gal by Governor Martin, but the inhabitants 
 paid no heed to his proclamation. His more 
 strenuous efforts to prevent all action, on the 
 part of the provincial convention, was equally 
 unsuccessful. After the battle of Lexington, 
 and the passage of the Mecklenburg resolutions, 
 the popular effervescence increased to such a 
 deo;ree that Martin besan to tremble for his 
 personal safety. The valour displayed by the 
 continentals at the battle of Bunker Hill, in- 
 creased the influence of the patriotic party in 
 North Carolina, and rendered the position of 
 the royal governor still more precarious. Taking 
 council of his fears, he followed the example of 
 Dunmore, and sought the protection of an Eng- 
 lish armed vessel, at that time anchored in the 
 Cape .Fear River. On the 20th of August, the 
 provincial legislature met at Halifax, and adopt- 
 ed an independent form of government. At 
 the coming session, which took place on the 4th 
 of April, 1776, this patriotic body anticipated 
 
112 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1776, 
 
 tlie action of the Federal Congress by instruct- 
 ing its delegates to concur with the other colo- 
 nial delegates in a formal declaration of inde- 
 pendence. Laws were also passed constraining 
 loyalists to take an oath of allegiance to the 
 new government, providing for an issue of trea- 
 sury bills, and for the military organization of 
 the state. 
 
 Up to this period the inhabitants of the Wa- 
 tauga settlement, had been living peacefully under 
 the regulations they had voluntarily imposed 
 upon themselves. But though they had disre- 
 garded the proclamation of Governor Martin, 
 making void the purchase of their lands, they 
 were not insensible of the difficulties to which 
 they were exposed by their isolated condition, 
 nor regardless of the odium which attached to 
 them, when, as population increased, large num- 
 bers of lawless men took refuge among them, to 
 evade the demands of their creditors, or to 
 shelter themselves from criminal prosecutions. 
 Finding their simple code of laws too weak to 
 control these restless desperados, and earnestly 
 desirous of aiding the provinces in the war of 
 independence, they solicited permission to place 
 themselves under the jurisdiction of North .Caro- 
 lina, to which state they petitioned to be annex- 
 ed under the title of "Washington District.'* 
 Their prayer was granted, and John Carter, 
 John Ilaile, and John Sevier were elected dele- 
 
1776.] MEASURES OF DEFENCE. 113 
 
 gates to the provincial legislature which met at 
 Halifax on the 12th of Novemher, 1776. 
 
 The annexation of the community on the 
 Watauga to the province of North Carolina was 
 productive of the most beneficial results. Out- 
 casts from society were now rendered amenable 
 to the laws. Committees of safety were organ- 
 ized, and Tory refugees and suspected loyalists 
 compelled to swear fealty to the American cause. 
 Companies of volunteers were organized, and 
 every preparation was made for taking part in 
 the revolutionary struggle, as well as to pro- 
 tect the inhabitants from the effects of Indian 
 hostilities. 
 
 The measures for local defence were dictated 
 by a wise forecast. It was well known that 
 Cameron, the Indian agent, had been tampering 
 with the Cherokees ; some disturbances had 
 already taken place, and information, derived 
 from authentic sources, put them in, possession 
 of the fact that Henry Stuart, the deputy In- 
 dian agent under Cameron, was instigating 
 the Tories to assemble in arms in the Cherokee 
 nation ; and that the latter tribe, in conjunction 
 with the Shawanes, Mingoes, and Delawares, 
 were preparing for a general attack upon the 
 inhabitants of the frontiers. 
 
 These alarming tidings roused even those who 
 had hitherto been lukewarm to attach themselves to 
 the common cause. Everywhere the border popu- 
 
 10* 
 
114 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1776, 
 
 lation deserting their homestead, came flocking 
 into the forts, and picketed stations, bringing 
 with them their wives and children, and their 
 portable effects. Rumours of the intended in- 
 vasion hourly increased, and the people actively 
 exerted themselves to meet it. The forts were 
 strengthened, arms and ammunition collected, 
 and messengers despatched to various quarters 
 for such assistance as could be afforded. Eive 
 companies of Virginians receiving intelligence 
 that seven hundred Cherokee warriors were 
 marching, in two divisions, upon the Holston 
 and the Watauga, hastened to Eaton's station 
 on the south fork of the Holston, for the purpose 
 of protecting that advanced post. They had 
 scarcely reached it, before their reconnoitering 
 parties reported the approach of the enemy. 
 Reinforcements arriving soon after, it was con- 
 cluded to leave a small garrison in charge of the 
 fort, while the remainder of the armed detach- 
 ments, to the number of one hundred and seventv 
 men, should march out in search of the enemy. 
 In the vicinity of the Long Island the scouts 
 encountered and defeated a small party of war- 
 riors ; but as pursuit was difficult, by reason of 
 the rugged character of the ground, it was 
 deemed most prudent to return to the fort. 
 During this retrograde movement, their rear was 
 fired on by the enemy in numbers equal to their 
 own. Rut the men, though taken by surprise. 
 
1776.] INDIAN INVASION. . 115 
 
 sustained tlie shock with great courage, baffled 
 the attempt of the Indians to outflank them, and 
 finally, after a severe contest, which was for the 
 most part hand to hand, succeeded in routing 
 them with considerable slaughter. Another war 
 party of the Cherokees, marching by the Nola- 
 chucky trace, drove in the garrison at Gillespie's 
 station, and made a sudden assault upon the fort 
 of Watauga. Of this station James Kobertson 
 was commandant. His effective force did not 
 exceed forty men, but it proved sufficient to beat 
 back the enemy, who, after suffering a signal 
 repulse, and losing a considerable number of 
 warriors, contented themselves with investing 
 the fort until the siege was raised by a reinforce- 
 ment of cavalry under the gallant Colonel Shelby. 
 It was while assisting in the defence of Wa- 
 tauga Fort, as second in command to Robertson, 
 that an incident occurred which gave to Lieu- 
 tenant John Sevier a romantic introduction to 
 his future wife. In the midst of the alarm pro- 
 duced by the approach of the Cherokees, Sevier 
 "discovered a young lady, of tall and erect 
 stature, coming with the fleetness of the roe 
 toward the fort, closely pursued by Indians, and 
 her approach to the gate cut off by the enemy, 
 who doubtless were confident of a captive, or a 
 victim; but turning suddenly, she eluded her 
 pursuers, and leaping the palisades at an unex- 
 pected point, fell into the arms of Sevier. Ca- 
 
116 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1779. 
 
 therine Slierrillj the dashing heroine of this 
 remarkable feat, whose beauty, activity, and 
 natural gracefulness were for many years the 
 theme of border praise, became, in 1779, the 
 happy consort of '^ the portly young stranger 
 from Williamsburg," and, through a long and 
 eventful life, shared with him his varying for- 
 tunes, proving herself under all circumstances 
 his wisest counsellor and dearest friend. 
 
 Notwithstanding the defeat at Long Island, 
 and the repulse before Fort Watauga, other de- 
 tached parties of warriors were successful in 
 penetrating the frontiers of Virginia, and carry- 
 ing desolation and dismay to many an isolated 
 household. 
 
 The appearance off Charleston of the British 
 squadron under Sir Peter Parker, diverted for a 
 season the arms of the Cherokees from the Wa- 
 tauga settlement, and precipitated them, as if by 
 previous concert, upon the frontiers of South 
 Carolina. Moultrie's admirable defence of Sul- 
 livan's Island frustrated the designs of the 
 British commander ; and with the repulse of the 
 fleet, the sanguinary activity of the savage war- 
 riors slackened also. 
 
 Now it was that the four southern provinces, 
 beino: freed from the alarm of immediate inva- 
 sion by sea, determined to break the power of 
 the Cherokee nation, by sending separate expe- 
 ditions to make a simultaneous attack upon the 
 
1TT9.] DEFEAT OP THE CHEROKEES. 117 
 
 lower, middle, and upper towns. Those who 
 resided on the Tugaloo, were defeated by the 
 Georgian troops. The militia of South Carolina, 
 under General Williamson, after dispersing a 
 mixed force of Indians and Tories at Oconoree, 
 laid all the towns of the middle Cherokees in 
 ruins, destroyed their growing crops, together 
 with the contents of their granaries, and, subse- 
 quently, defeated a second body of Cherokee 
 warriors w^ith considerable loss. 
 
 While Williamson was devastating one portion 
 of the middle settlement. General Rutherford, 
 marching from North Carolina with an army 
 increased by accessions to two thousand men^ 
 crossed the Blue ridge at the Swannan^ Gap, 
 and falling upon the towns on the Tennessee 
 and Hiwassee Rivers, destroyed them without 
 opposition. 
 
 Virginia undertook to chastise the mountain 
 Cherokees, those brave and haughty warriors 
 inhabiting the overhill towns, who, by their re- 
 moteness and the difficulties of the route, had 
 escaped unharmed the earlier expeditions of 
 Grant and Montgomery. Authority having been 
 given to Colonel Vfilliam Christian to organize 
 an army at the expense of the state, he speedily 
 found himself at the head of a large number of 
 frontier men, who had moved by companies and 
 detachments to the rendezvous on the Great 
 Island of Holston. Here also Christian was 
 
118 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1779. 
 
 joined by a reinforcement of several hundred 
 men from North Carolina. Volunteers from the 
 Watauga joined him a few days later; and with 
 this army, amounting in the aggregate to eighteen 
 hundred men, he took up the line of march for 
 the overhill towns, two hundred miles distant. 
 At the crossing-place of the French Broad, the 
 Indians were reported to have stationed them- 
 selves, to the number of three thousand warriors, 
 with the avowed resolution of disputing the pas- 
 sage. Deceiving the Indians by a stratagem, 
 Christian threw a strong detachment over the 
 river under cover of the night; and having thus 
 secured a landing-place on the opposite shore, 
 crossed securely over the next morning with his 
 main body. One thousand Cherokee warriors, 
 who had previously assembled at the Big Island 
 of French Broad, seized with a panic at the 
 resolute advance of Christian, abandoned all 
 thought of resistance, and hastened back to their 
 towns to provide places of security for their 
 families in the recesses of the mountains. Along 
 the route, thus unexpectedly opened to him. 
 Christian moved with as much rapidity as con- 
 sisted with prudence, until he reached the Ten- 
 nessee River, where he expected the inhabitants 
 of the towns on the opposite bank would make 
 an obstinate stand. To his great surprise he 
 found those habitations also deserted. The Great 
 Island town, in the midst of its fertile meadoAVS, 
 
1779.] SUCCESS OF CHRISTIAN. 119 
 
 was soon in possession of the invaders ; and here 
 it was, surrounded by abundance of provisions, 
 that Christian established his head-quarters. 
 The detachments sent out from this point laid 
 waste all the villages inhabited by the hostile 
 warriors, who, under old Abram of Chilhowee, 
 the Raven, and the Dragging-Canoe, had 
 threatened previously the Holston and Watauga 
 settlements, and wreaked their vengeance on the 
 borders of Virginia. The towns inhabited by 
 such Cherokees as had remained neutral were 
 wisely spared. After having thus effectually 
 humbled the pride of the mountain warriors. 
 Christian offered to entertain negotiations for a 
 peace. The proposal was eagerly accepted, and 
 an agreement was soon after drawn up, by which 
 the Cherokees bound themselves to send dele- 
 gates from all the tribes to meet in council at 
 Long Island the following May, for the purpose 
 of formally ratifying a treaty. Having thus 
 satisfactorily accomplished the object of the ex- 
 pedition, Christian returned to Long Island, 
 where he disbanded a portion of his army, re- 
 taining only a sufficient number through the 
 winter to construct and garrison Fort Patrick 
 Henry. Thus closed the most important expedi • 
 tion that had ever penetrated into the Cherokee 
 country of East Tennessee. The success which 
 had attended it increased largely the flood of 
 emigration to the waters of the Holston, and the 
 
120 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1776. 
 
 Watauo;a, and thouo-h a few of tlie hostile chiefs 
 declared their determination to continue the war, 
 their threats produced no further effects than to 
 render the settlers more watchful and prepared. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Washington county established — Liberality of the North Caro- 
 lina legislature — Special enactment in favour of the Watauga 
 settlers — Increase of emigration — Military service — Assist- 
 ance sent to Kentucky — Relief of Logan's Fort — Militia 
 disbanded in Tennessee — Lawlessness of the Tories and Re- 
 fugees — Committee of safety organized — Summary punish- 
 ment of obnoxious persons — Hostility of the Chickamaugas 
 — The Nick-a-jack towns — Description of the Nick-a-jack cave 
 — Expedition against the Chickamaugas — Destruction of 
 their towns — Jonesborough founded — Sullivan county esta- 
 blished — Exploration of the Lower Cumberland — Robertson's 
 settlement on theBluifat Nashville — Donaldson's remarkable 
 voyage — Joins Robertson at the Blufl". 
 
 In November, 1776, the legislature of North 
 Carolina changed the name of Washington dis- 
 trict into that of Washington county, and as- 
 signed for its bounds the limits of the present 
 State of Tennessee. At the same session a law 
 was passed, establishing a land office in the new 
 county, the price of lands being fixed at forty 
 shillings the hundred acres. Each head of a 
 family Tvas allowed to take up six hundred and 
 
1776.] ASSISTANCE TO KEI^TUCKY. 121 
 
 forty acres for himself, one hundred acres for 
 his wife, and the same quantity for each of his 
 children. By a special enactment in favour of 
 the Watauga settlers, payment for the lands 
 they occupied was not to be exacted until after 
 tlie 1st of January, 1779. Great numbers of 
 hardy and energetic men hastened with their 
 families to take advantage of this liberality. 
 Many of whom, by enrolling themselves as mi- 
 litia in the service of the State, were enabled 
 during the year to pay for the lands they had 
 taken up, while, at the same time, they afforded 
 protection to the industrial population from 
 roving bands of hostile Cherokees. But the in- 
 habitants of Tennessee did not confine themselves 
 merely to the defence of their own territory. 
 They no sooner learned that Kentucky was suf- 
 fering an Indian invasion, and that Boonesbo- 
 rough, Harrodsburg, and Logan's Station were 
 invested by large parties of warriors, than 
 forty-nve riiiemen from the Holston hastened to 
 reinforce tlie beleaguered garrisons. These 
 proving insufficient, one hundred additional rifle- 
 men, bearing with them supplies of provisions, 
 promptly responded to the personal appeal of 
 Captain Logan, and after a march of two hun- 
 dred miles through the wilderness, entered the 
 fort, the siege of which the enemy hastily aban- 
 doned at their approach. 
 
 But while the pioneers of Tennessee were ge- 
 
 11 
 
122 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1778. 
 
 nerously aiding to promote the security of the 
 scattered population of Kentucky, they grew 
 careless with regard to their own. Believing 
 that the storm of war had rolled to the north- 
 ward, and that they were now sufficiently strong 
 to dispense with the services of the militia, the 
 greater part of the latter were disbanded in 
 1778. This measure was soon found to have 
 been an impolitic one ; for, although there was 
 but little danger to be apprehended from the In- 
 dians, bands of Tories and desperate men had 
 settled on the frontiers, whose numbers enabled 
 them to defy the laws and to pursue their career 
 of rapine and bloodshed with insolent impunity. 
 The power of the judiciary being found inade- 
 quate to curb this ruffianly domination, the older 
 settlers determined to take the affair into their 
 own hands. A committee of safety was appointed, 
 with unlimited authority to execute summary 
 justice upon all offenders. Under the direction 
 of this committee, sixty mounted riflemen, divided 
 into two companies, were speedily organized for 
 the purpose of patrolling the whole of the country. 
 These rangers were empowered to " capture and 
 punish with death all suspected persons who re- 
 fused submission, or failed to give good security 
 for their appearance before the committee. 
 Slighter offences were atoned for by the inflic- 
 tion of corporeal punishment ; to which was su- 
 peradded, in cases where the offender was able 
 
1778.] COMMITTEE OF SAFETY. 123 
 
 to pay it, a heavy fine in money. Leaders in 
 crime expiated their guilt by their lives. Several 
 of these were shot ; some of them at their execu- 
 tion disclosed the names and hiding-places of 
 their accomplices. These were in their turn 
 pursued, arrested, and punished; and the country 
 was, in less than two months, restored to a con- 
 dition of safety." Among the members of Cap- 
 tain Bean's company were Lane, Sevier, and 
 Kobertson, men foremost in settling the wilds of 
 Tennessee, and always ready, at the hazard of 
 their own lives, to promote the welfare of its in- 
 dustrious population. This exercise of despotic 
 power can only be justified by the plea of neces- 
 sity. Self-protection is the first law of man's 
 nature. When those regulations in which he 
 has acquiesced fail to provide for the security of 
 his person and property, he has a right to re- 
 sume the functions he had transferred into the 
 hands of others, and to adopt such other measures 
 as may be required for his own security and the 
 general welfare of the community in which he 
 resides. In the brief period during which the 
 administration of justice was entrusted by the 
 popular voice to the committee of safety, some 
 obnoxious persons may possibly have been hardly 
 dealt with ; but if such cases did occur they were 
 few in number, while the evil thus inflicted was 
 greatly overbalanced by the benefit which ac- 
 crued to the whole settlement from the prompt 
 
124 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1778. 
 
 and energetic action of those who had been active 
 in the restoration of law and order. 
 
 It will be remembered that a few of the Chero- 
 kees refused to treat with Colonel Christian or 
 to send delegates to the council at Long Island. 
 They were principally Chickamaugas, a tribe 
 which originally "occupied the borders of Chick- 
 amauga creek, but afterward extended their vil- 
 lages fifty miles below, on both sides of the 
 Tennessee." Establishing themselves in what 
 ^veYe subsequently known as the Nick-a-jack 
 towns, they carried on so successful a predatory 
 warfare upon parties of emigrants descending 
 the dangerous rapids of the Tennessee River, 
 that their numbers were rapidly increased by 
 roving bands of Indians from other tribes, and 
 by the addition of lawless white men, who had 
 fled from the provinces to evade the penalty of 
 their manifold crimes. 
 
 This community of desperadoes were able to 
 send out, on their various incursions against the 
 frontier settlements, one thousand armed men, 
 whose favourite place of resort, either in times of 
 danger, for the storing of their plunder, or for 
 more sanguinary purposes, was the Nick-a-jack 
 Cave, an immense subterranean formation which, 
 piercing the end of the Cumberland Mountain, 
 has its principal entrance upon the Tennessee 
 River. " At its mouth it is about thirty yards 
 wide, arched overhead with pure granite, this 
 
1779.] NICK-A-JACK CAVE. 125 
 
 being in the centre about fifteen feet higb. A 
 beautiful little river, clear as crystal, issues from 
 its mouth. The distance the cave extends into 
 the mountains has not been ascertained. It has 
 been explored only four or five miles. At the 
 mouth the river is wide and shallow, but nar- 
 rower than the cave. As you proceed from thence 
 up the stream, the cave becomes gradually nar- 
 rower, until it is contracted to the exact width 
 of the river. It is beyond this point explored 
 only by water in a small canoe." 
 
 The excesses of these hostile Indians and their 
 confederates keeping the border population of 
 Virginia and North Carolina in a condition of 
 continual uneasiness, the forces of the two pro- 
 vinces were combined for an eifective descent 
 upon the Chickamaugas and the destruction of 
 their towns. 
 
 The command of this expedition, which com- 
 prised one thousand volunteers and a regiment 
 of twelvemonths' men, was given to Colonel Evan 
 Shelby. From the rendezvous at the mouth of 
 Big Creek in Hawkins county, the troops em- 
 barked in piraguas and canoes, on the 10th of 
 April, 1779, and descending the Holston, fell 
 suddenly upon the enemy, who, taken completely 
 by surprise, offered no resistance, but instantly 
 took refuge in their mountain fastnesses. After 
 killing, during the pursuit, some forty warriors, 
 
 the troops returned and burned the towns, de- 
 
 11* 
 
126 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1779. 
 
 stroyed the granaries and stores of provisions, 
 and made prizes of large herds of cattle, which, 
 by an overland march, they brought in safety to 
 the settlement. This expedition humbled the 
 spirit of the Chickamaugas and their allies for a 
 season, and effectually prevented them from 
 forming a coalition with the north-western tribes 
 which Hamilton, the British commandant at De- 
 troit, had strenuously exerted himself to pro- 
 mote. For the important service rendered by 
 the Shelbys on this occasion. Colonel Evan 
 Shelby was raised to the command of the Vir- 
 ginia militia, with the rank of general, while in 
 1779 his son Isaac was appointed, by Governor 
 Caswell of North Carolina, colonel-commandant 
 of Washington county. The acts of the legisla- 
 ture during this year embraced the appointment 
 of commissioners to run the boundary between 
 Virginia and North Carolina, the erection of the 
 new town of Jonesborough into the seat of jus- 
 tice for Washington county, and the establish- 
 ment of a new county out of part of Washington, 
 which was named Sullivan, in honour of the re- 
 volutionary general of that name. 
 
 In the mean time parties of enterprising men 
 were exploring the Lower Cumberland ; but with 
 the exception of a few families who resided in a 
 picketed station at Bledsoe's Lick on the Sul- 
 phur fork of the Bed Biver, and a French 
 trading post lately established on the Bluff at 
 
1775.] FIRST SETTLERS AT XASHVILLE. 127 
 
 Kashville, no settlers had as yet ventured to 
 occupy any portion of middle Tennessee, xlt 
 length, in the spring of 1775, a small party 
 under James Robertson left Watauga for the 
 purpose of testing the fertility of the lands on 
 the Cumberknd River, preparatory to the re- 
 moval of their families. Their report proving 
 favourable, other emigrants, to the number of 
 three hundred, accompanied them in the fall of 
 the same year to the French lick, the principal 
 part of whom crossed over to the south bank of 
 tlie Cumberland and commenced the erection of 
 blockhouses on the Bluff, now occupied by the 
 city of Nashville. The situation of these ad- 
 venturers, in the midst of a wilderness, surround- 
 ed by swarthy foes, and at a distance of three 
 hundred miles from their friends upon the Hol- 
 ston, called for constant vigilance and an ever 
 ready system of defence. To add to the dis- 
 comforts of their condition, the first winter they 
 passed upon the Cumberland was one of extra- 
 ordinary severity. Their cattle died ; their pro- 
 visions became exhausted ; game was scarce, and 
 while the river remained frozen, it was impos- 
 sible to obtain supplies from the older settle- 
 ments. Toward the close of April the colony 
 at the Bluffs was largely increased by the arrival 
 of a flotilla of emigrants under Colonel Donaldson. 
 These intrepid voyagers descended the Holston 
 from Fort Patrick Henry, and entering the Ten- 
 
128 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1775. 
 
 nessee River, committed themselves to its cur- 
 rent. The danger to their frail and heavily 
 laden barks from the rapids and whirlpools which 
 impede the navigation of this river, was nothing 
 in comparison to the perils by which they were 
 beset from sanguinary bands of the Chicka- 
 inaugas, who, travelling by both banks of the 
 river, fired into the boats whenever an oppor- 
 tunity oifered, and were successful in killing one 
 company of thirty persons, besides wounding a 
 number of others. The voyage was, however, 
 resolutely continued to the Ohio, where most of 
 the boats took a southerly direction. Donaldson's 
 company, however, ascended the river, and en- 
 tering the mouth of the Cumberland reached 
 Robertson's settlement at the French lick on 
 the 24th of April, 1780, after a weary and most 
 eventful voyage of four months. 
 
1776.] WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 129 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 War of independence — Evacuation of Boston — Declaration of 
 independence — Battle of Long Island — Of White Plains — 
 Washington retreats across the Jerseys — Battle of Trenton 
 — Battle of Princeton — Howe advances on Philadelphia — 
 Battle of Brandy wine — Of Germantown — Burgoyne's inva- 
 sion — His defeat at Saratoga — Conquest of Georgia — Subju- 
 gation of South Carolina — Defeat of Gates at Camden — 
 Activity of the mountaineers — Shelby and Sevier join 
 McDowell — Capture of a Tory garrison on Pacolet River — 
 Advance of the British and Tories under Ferguson — Battle 
 of Musgrove Mill — Rapid retreat of the mountaineers. 
 
 Foe, the most perfect understanding of the im- 
 portant services which were rendered bj the 
 riflemen of Tennessee, during the War of Inde- 
 pendence, it Avill be necessary to trace briefly 
 the progress of events in the united colonies 
 from the outbreak of the war to the defeat of 
 Gates in South Carolina. In March, 177G, Ge- 
 neral Washington succeeded in forcing Lord 
 Howe to evacuate Boston ; and during the fol- 
 lowing June, it will be remembered that the 
 British fleet signally failed in an attack upon 
 Charleston, through the admirable defence of 
 Moultrie. On the 4th of July, Congress adopted 
 the Declaration of Independence. At this pe- 
 riod, the continental army under Washington 
 was encamped in and around New York, which 
 
130 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [^777. 
 
 was closely invested by the military and naval 
 forces of Great Britain. The defeat of the 
 American troops on Long Island toward the close 
 of August, compelled Washington to evacuate 
 New York and retreat to White Plains, ^Yhere, 
 on the 28th of September, a battle was fought, 
 which induced Washington to break up his camp 
 at White Plains, and cross the Hudson into 
 New Jersey. Fort Washington being captured 
 soon after by the British, and Fort Lee abandoned 
 by the Americans, the advance of the enemy com- 
 pelled Washington, who, with his army diminished 
 to three thousand men had moved southward to 
 Newark, to retreat through the Jerseys. In the 
 midst of the almost universal gloom and despond- 
 ency he passed over into Pennsylvania, and went 
 into winter-quarters on the right bank of the 
 Delaware. Beinforced by some militia, and the 
 regulars under Lee, Washington recrossed the 
 Delaware on the night of the 25th of December, 
 captured at Trenton a thousand Hessians under 
 Rahl, and after eluding the superior forces of 
 the enemy, which were soon in motion, fell sud- 
 denly upon the British rear-guard at Princeton, 
 routed two regiments, captured nearly the whole 
 of a third, and obliged Cornwallis to fall back 
 upon New Brunswick. Through the remainder 
 of the winter the American army was encamped 
 at Morristown. 
 
 During the summer of 1777, General Howe, 
 
1779.] WAR OF INDEPENDENCE. 131 
 
 sailing up the Chesapeake with sixteen thousand 
 men, marched from the head of Elk toward Phi- 
 ladelphia, the capture of which had been made 
 the principal object of the campaign. Washing- 
 ton hastened to oppose him ; but losing the bat- 
 tle of Brandjwine on the 11th of September, 
 was obliged to retire before the victorious co- 
 lumns of Howe, which took possession of Phila- 
 delphia without any further molestation. On 
 the 11th of September, Washington made a 
 serious attack upon the British advanced post at 
 Germantown, in which the Americans again suf- 
 fered a severe repulse. In the mean time, how- 
 ever, General Burgoyne, descending from Canada 
 upon New York, had gradually involved his army 
 in a network of difficulties from which there was 
 no escape. The defeat of Baum at Bennington 
 by the militia of Vermont under Stark, was fol- 
 lowed by the battles at Saratoga, and the sur- 
 render to General Gates of the entire army of 
 Burgoyne. The following year France formed 
 an alliance offensive and defensive with the 
 united colonies of North America, and General 
 Howe thought it prudent to evacuate Philadel- 
 phia and retreat to New York. The British 
 commander now turned his attention to the 
 southern provinces, and succeeded with but little 
 difficulty in making a complete conquest of 
 Georgia. In 1779, General Lincoln, assisted by 
 a French squadron under Count D'Estaing, made 
 
132 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 a bold but ineffectual attempt to recapture Sa- 
 vannah, and drive the British from the province. 
 At the north, the capture of Stony Point bj 
 Wayne was hailed as a brilliant and daring 
 achievement, though productive of no more than 
 a temporary triumph, as it soon after fell again 
 into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 In 1780, Sir Henry Clinton, who had suc- 
 ceeded Howe as commander-in-chief, set sail from 
 New York, and investing Charleston, which was 
 defended by the southern army under General 
 Lincoln, succeeded in forcing the latter to ca- 
 pitulate. The garrison numbering fiye thoufiand 
 men became prisoners of war. 
 
 Leaving Cornwallis to complete the reduction 
 of the province, Clinton returned to New York. 
 Undismayed by the loss of Charleston, and the 
 capture of the southern army, a new force was 
 speedily organized under the direction of Con- 
 gress, the command of which was given to Ge- 
 neral Gates. Less fortunate than when opposed 
 to Burgoyne, Gates suffered a severe defeat at 
 Camden on the IGth of August, by which the 
 whole of his army was broken up and dispersed. 
 
 So complete at this period did the subjugation 
 of South Carolina and Georgia appear to be, and 
 so little resistance did Cornwallis anticipate in 
 iNorth Carolina, that he projected a junction, at 
 an early day, with the British forces already 
 ravaging Virginia under Phillips and A7:nold, 
 
1780.] THE MOUNTAIXEEES. 133 
 
 lyliile some of the more ardent loyalists calculated 
 upon the reduction of all the States south of the 
 Hudson before the close of the campaign. 
 
 But the activity of the mountaineers of Vir- 
 ginia and North Carolina was destined to turn 
 the scale of victory, and to afford time for a 
 general arming of the Whigs. On the ap- 
 proach of the British to Charleston, General 
 Rutherford of North Carolina summoned the 
 militia of the state to arm in defence of the 
 common cause. The requisition was promptly 
 met by John Sevier, as lieutenant-colonel of 
 Washington county, and by Isaac Shelby in the 
 adjoining county of Sullivan. In the absence 
 of Ptutherford, who had hastened with the main 
 body of the militia to join the forces at this time 
 collecting under Gates, the command in North 
 Carolina devolved upon Colonel McDowell, who 
 directed Sevier and Shelby to meet him with all 
 the mounted riflemen they could collect at his 
 camp in South Carolina, near the Cherokee ford 
 of Broad River. These orders were promptly 
 responded to. Five hundred mounted men from 
 the Holston and the Watauga, led by Sevier and 
 Shelby, crossed the Alleghanies, and presently 
 made their appearance in the camp of McDowell. 
 To this rendezvous also repaired Colonel Clark, 
 a daring refugee officer from Georgia. 
 
 At this period the British troops occupied all 
 the important posts in Georgia and South Caro- 
 
 12 
 
13i HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 Una. The steady and uninterrupted advance of 
 Cornwallis inspirited the Tories on the borders 
 of K'orth and South Carolina to place themselves 
 under the command of Colonel Patrick Moore of 
 Trjon county, who, with a detachment of ninety- 
 three men, proceeded to Pacolet River, and took 
 possession of a strong fort which had been built 
 there durins; the Cherokee war. 
 
 As this post was but little more than twenty 
 miles distant from the camp of McDowell, the 
 latter despatched Shelby, Sevier, and Clarke, 
 with six hundred men, to attempt its surprise. 
 The enterprise was completely successful. Sum- 
 moned by Shelby to surrender, Moore at first 
 resolutely refused ; but when he saw the moun- 
 taineers preparing to carry the post by storm, he 
 consented to capitulate "on condition that the 
 garrison be paroled not to serve again during 
 the war." By this bloodless exploit the victors 
 obtained two hundred and fifty stand of arms, 
 and a small but welcome supply of ammunition. 
 
 The efi'ect of this bold and decisive movement 
 not only led the Tory inhabitants of the Caro- 
 linas to repress their exultation, but to reflect 
 more seriously upon the risks to which they ex- 
 posed themselves by joining the British standard. 
 The forces under General Gates were also at 
 this period rapidly increasing in numbers. While 
 Cornwallis was marching to Camden to reinforce 
 Bawdon against the approach of the American 
 
1780.] MOVEMENTS OF EOYALTSTS. 135 
 
 army, he directed Colonel Ferguson, a brave, 
 popular, and energetic officer, to proceed "vvith a 
 detachment of regulars to Ninetj-Six, and sum- 
 mon to his assistance the loyalists of the adjoin- 
 ing provinces. Being presently joined by two 
 thousand disaffected Americans, exclusive' of a 
 small troop of horse, Ferguson made several in- 
 effectual attempts to surprise McDowell in his 
 camp. Shifting his rendezvous frequently, and 
 keeping Shelby and Clarke with six hundred 
 mounted men on the constant watch for detached 
 parties of the enemy, McDowell was not only 
 enabled to baffle the designs of Ferguson, but 
 frequently to cut off his foragers. A skirmish 
 of this kind occurred on the 1st of August, when 
 Ferguson's advance, seven hundred strong, en- 
 countered the mounted men under Shelby and 
 Clarke, who, though forced from the field of 
 battle by the approach of the main body under 
 Ferguson, succeeded in carrying off with them 
 as prisoners, two officers, and fifty rank and file. 
 While lying at Smith's ford of the Broad 
 Eiver, McDowell learned that a body of Tories 
 were collected at Musgrove's Mill, on the south 
 •side of the Enor^e, and distant from his camp 
 about forty miles. Although Ferguson with his 
 whole force lay midway between, Shelby, Clarke, 
 and Williamson of South Carolina, whose re- 
 spective commands amounted in the aggregate 
 to six hundred mounted men, determined by a 
 
136 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 rapid niglit march to evade the vigilance of Fer- 
 guson's patrols, and fall suddenly upon the Tory 
 camp beyond. Taking a circuitous route through 
 the forest, during the night of the 18th of Au- 
 gust, they reached the vicinity of the enemy 
 before dawn the following morning, drove in the 
 outposts, and were preparing for a general as- 
 sault when they were informed by a countryman 
 that the Tories had been reinforced the previous 
 evening by six hundred regulars commanded by 
 Colonel Lines. To retreat v^^ith horses already 
 fatigued from hard riding would have laid the 
 mountaineers open to a successful attack from a 
 vigorous and superior foe, while to advance was 
 equally dangerous. In this emergency it was 
 decided to throw up a rude breastwork of logs 
 and brush on the edo;e of a thick wood, facins; a 
 narrow lane, and in this position await the ap- 
 proach of Lines. Captain Innian was thrown 
 forward with twenty-five men to skirmish with 
 the enemy at the crossing at the Enoree. In 
 obedience to previous orders, he kept up, for a 
 short time, a sharp fire, and ■ then retreated. 
 Supposing that the whole force of the Americans 
 had been routed, the British and Tories followed 
 in pursuit, until they came within range of the 
 American rifles, when a deadly and destructive 
 fire opened upon them, which was kept up for 
 more than an hour. The dragoons and mounted 
 militia, after being repulsed in an attempt to 
 
1780.] BATTLE OF MUSGROVE'S MILL. 137 
 
 force the American lines, fell back in disorder 
 upon the regulars, who, being confined within 
 the limits of the narrow lane where they had not 
 room enough to form, were borne back in confu- 
 sion. While they were thus huddled together, 
 the rifles of the mountaineers proved terribly 
 destructive. Sixty-three of the enemy, including 
 all the officers with the exception of a single sub- 
 altern, were either killed or wounded. Hawzey 
 the Tory leader was among the former. Innes 
 himself being also disabled, his troops became 
 disheartened, and at length giving way on all 
 sides, sought safety in flight. The gallant Inman 
 pursued them to the crossing of the Enoree, 
 where he fell mortally wounded in a hand-to- 
 hand conflict. The loss of the British, in killed, 
 wounded, and prisoners, was two hundred and 
 twenty-three. The American loss was four killed 
 and nine wounded. Flushed, with their recent 
 success, Shelby and his associate partisans re- 
 solved to proceed at once against the British 
 post at Ninety-Six ; but in the midst of their pre- 
 parations a messenger, despatched by McDowell, 
 placed in the hands of Shelby a letter from Go- 
 vernor Caswell, containing a brief account of the 
 defeat of Gates at Camden, and advising^ the 
 confederated officers to disband their respective 
 corps until a better opportunity should off*er for 
 successful resistance. An immediate retreat 
 across the mountains now became necessary. 
 
 12* 
 
138 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 Moimting his prisoners behind his men, one to 
 every three, and shifting them alternately, Shelby 
 set out on his return, marching all night, and 
 all the next day, without waiting for refresh- 
 ments. This saved the troops and secured the 
 prisoners, for the next day Ferguson sent out a 
 strong detachment in pursuit ; but baffled by the 
 superior activity of the mountaineers, Dupoister, 
 the officer in command, after a chase which was 
 continued until the evening of the second day, 
 returned to the British camp. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Mountaineers disbanded — Advance of Ferguson — His message 
 to Shelby — The mountaineers called to arms — Assemble at 
 Watauga — Advance against Ferguson — The latter retires 
 from Gilbert town — American reinforcement — Conference of 
 the partisan leaders at the Cowpens — Pursuit of Ferguson — 
 Campbell selected to command the mountaineers — Approach 
 to King's Mountain — Order of battle — Sevier comes under 
 fire of the enemy — The attack commenced — Courageous 
 conduct of Ferguson — Effect of his bayonet charges — Reso- 
 lute perseverance of the mountaineers — Flag of surrender 
 twice torn down by Ferguson — His defiant conduct — His 
 death — Surrender of the British and Tories — Tarleton sent 
 to relieve Ferguson — His recall — Retreat of Cornwallis — 
 His subsequent movements — Battle of Guilford Court House 
 — Capitulation at Yorktown. 
 
 After the brilliant exploit at Musgrove's 
 Mill, the mountaineers were disbanded and re- 
 
1780.] ADVANCE OF FERGUSOX. * 139 
 
 tired to their respective homes. The prisoners 
 captured by Shelby were sent for safe keeping 
 into A^irginia, in charge of Colonels Clarke and 
 Williams. The success of Cornwallis at Camden, 
 and the subsequent disaster of Sumpter, had 
 so thoroughly paralyzed all effort on the part of 
 the Whigs, that, for a short period, the hope of 
 recovering Georgia or the Carolinas from British 
 domination seemed utterly futile. Gates was 
 indeed striving to reorganize the scattered rem- 
 nant of his army ; but in this desperate condition 
 of affairs it was with great difficulty that the 
 militia could be persuaded to report themselves 
 for service. 
 
 At this period the main army under Cornwal- 
 lis lay at Charlotte, North Carolina. Ferguson, 
 Vfiih two thousand regulars and loyalists was at 
 Gilbert Town, in Rutherford county. The posi- 
 tion of the latter was such as enabled him to 
 overawe the surrounding Whigs, while keeping 
 a sharp watch upon the movements of the moun- 
 taineers. Exasperated by the capture of Pacolet 
 fort, and the defeat of Innes at Musgrove's Mill, 
 he had drawn his forces nearer to the mountains ; 
 and, on the return of the detachment sent out 
 to recapture the prisoners taken in the last- 
 named battle, he despatched a messenger to 
 Washington and Sullivan counties, threatening, 
 *' that if the officers west of the mountains did 
 not cease their opposition to the British arms, 
 
140 ' HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780» 
 
 lie would marcli his army over, burn and lay 
 waste their country, and hang their leaders." 
 
 Shelby Teceived this insolent missive toward 
 the close of August, and immediately rode from 
 fifty to sixty miles to concert with Sevier a new 
 plan of action. After an earnest conference, it 
 was resolved to call in the assistance of Colonels 
 Campbell and McDowell, and with the forces 
 thus hastily raised in North Carolina and Vir- 
 ginia, to make a rapid march across the moun- 
 tains and surprise Ferguson in his camp. On 
 the 25th of September, one thousand and forty 
 men, in obedience to the summons of their re- 
 spective commanders, assembled at Watauga. 
 The following morning they commenced their 
 march. On the 30th of September, after tra- 
 versing the difficult defiles of the mountains, 
 they were joined by Colonel Cleaveland and 
 other refugee officers, with three hundred and 
 fifty volunteers from Wilkes and Surry counties. 
 
 Fully advised of the danger by which he was 
 threatened, Ferguson broke up his camp at Gil- 
 bert Town, and despatched a messenger to Corn- 
 wallis, soliciting aid. Calling at the same time 
 upon the loyalists for reinforcements, he fell 
 back on the 4th of October to the Cowpens. 
 The following day he crossed Broad River to 
 Tate's Ferry, recrossed the river at that point, 
 and encamped about a mile above. On the 6th, 
 he marched by way of the Eidge Road to King's 
 
1780.] MOVEMENT AGAINST FERGUSON.' 141 
 
 Creek. Passing the gap, he ascended King's 
 Mountain and encamped upon its summit. Using 
 an impious expression, he is said to have de- 
 clared that here was a phice from which he could 
 not be driven. After being reinforced by the 
 volunteers under Cleaveland, the mountaineers 
 moved with great expedition to Gilbert Town, 
 from whence Ferguson had already retreated. 
 Here a council of officers was held, at which it 
 was decided that the mounted men should hasten 
 in pursuit, leaving the foot and weaker cavalry 
 under the command of Major Hendon to follow 
 after. In accordance with this arrangement, 
 between five and six hundred picked men, mount- 
 ed on the best horses, left Gilbert Town on the 
 morning of the 6th of October. Fortunately for 
 this advance party, they were reinforced on the 
 way by additional volunteers from North Caro- 
 lina, and by some South Carolina troops under 
 Colonel Williams. At the Cowpens they halted 
 for a short time to refresh ; but learning that a 
 large body of Tories was collecting at Major 
 Gibbs's, with the intention of forming a junction 
 with Ferguson the following day, they broke up 
 their meal, and hurried off to bring Ferguson to 
 an engagement before his reinforcements should 
 arrive. 
 
 Learning that he was encamped near the 
 Cherokee ford of the Broad River, thirty miles 
 distant from the Cowpens, they pressed forward 
 
142 HISTORY OF TEy:N^ESSEE. [1780. 
 
 all night, in the midst of a heavy rain, and 
 crossing Broad River early the next morning 
 encountered, soon after, two men fresh from 
 Ferguson's camp. The information obtained 
 from these men revived the drooping spirits of 
 the detachment. Notwithstanding their fatigue 
 and exhaustion from muddy roads, hunger, cold, 
 and wet, the oiScers, after holding a brief con- 
 sultation on horseback, determined to form their 
 men in four columns, and proceed at once to the 
 attack. The right wing, commanded by Colonels 
 Winston and Sevier, was composed of the troops 
 brought into the field by those officers and of the 
 battalion of McDowell. Colonels Campbell and 
 Shelby's regiments formed the centre, while the 
 left was made up of Cleaveland's regiment, and 
 the volunteers under Colonels Williams, Lacy, 
 Hawthorne, and Hill, led by Cleaveland in per- 
 son. By courtesy the command of the whole 
 was given to Colonel Campbell of Virginia. 
 Keeping the locks of their rifles dry by covering 
 them with bags, blankets, and hunting-shirts, 
 they took up the line of march until they ap- 
 proached the base of King's Mountain, when 
 *' the two centre columns deployed to the right 
 and left, pushed forward to attack the enemy in 
 front, while the right and left wings were march- 
 ing to surround him." 
 
 Leaving their horses in charge of a few guards, 
 the respective columns, led by men already fami- 
 
1780.] BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN, 1-42 
 
 liar with tlie ground, proceeded with alacrity to 
 take up the several positions assigned them. The 
 right column was the first to come under the fire 
 of the enemy. The action immediately com- 
 menced. Shelby, \Yith a part of his men, dashed 
 up the ravine in the direction of Ferguson's 
 camp, wdiile the remainder of the column ascend- 
 ed by a circuitous route to tho summit of the 
 mountain. The heaviness of the firing, and its 
 destructive effects, obliged Ferguson to send 
 Dupoister with a part of the regulars to the 
 other end of his line, for the purpose of making a 
 charge upon the American right. Thus reinforced 
 by the regulars and the tories, they succeeded 
 in driving; the right column of the Americans to 
 the foot of the mountain. But at this moment 
 the left column under Cleaveland reached the 
 opposite extremity of the encampment, and 
 opened so destructive a fire upon the British 
 troops in that quarter, that Ferguson was com- 
 pelled to recall his regulars from their successful 
 charcre, and the Americans who had retreated 
 before them returned with increased ardour to 
 the attack. 
 
 On their way back to repel the assault of the 
 left column of the assailants, the regulars suf- 
 fered severely from the fire of the riflemen led 
 by Williams. Their disorder was however 
 speedily remedied, and by a dashing charge they 
 drove the Americans on this side also to the foot 
 
144 HISTORY OF TEXXESSEE. [1780. 
 
 of the hill. In the meanwhile the mountaineers 
 under Sevier and Winston, having regained 
 their former position, commenced plying their 
 rifles with so much effect that Ferguson ordered 
 a second charge to be made upon them by his 
 regulars. But the latter had already become 
 so much shattered that, although supported by a 
 number of Tories with butcher-knives fitted to 
 the muzzles of their guns, they failed in accom- 
 plishing the desired eftect. 
 
 By this time the central columns of the Ame- 
 ricans had reached the plateau, and the British 
 forces being now completely surrounded, were 
 exposed on all sides to an incessant fire from 
 enemies who were themselves protected from 
 injury by intervening trees, and by the rugged 
 slope of the hill. To free himself from this 
 desperate strait, Ferguson resorted to a succes- 
 sion of charges with the bayonet, but as one 
 part of the American line receded another ad- 
 vanced ; and when these were assaulted in their 
 turn, those who had previously retreated, re- 
 lieved from the pressure of the enemy, reascended 
 the mountain and became in their turn the as- 
 sailants. 
 
 Finding that a resort to the bayonet made lio 
 more than a temporary impression, and that at 
 the close of each charge the mountaineers suc- 
 ceeded in restricting his efforts to a narrower 
 circle, Ferguson determined upon making an 
 
1780.] BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN. 145 
 
 attempt to break the lines of his adversaries 
 with his cavalry. But his men were no sooner 
 seated in their saddles than they were picked 
 off by the unerring rifle, and the design was pre- 
 sently abandoned. Still undaunted, Ferguson 
 rode '^from one exposed point to another of 
 equal danger, encouraging his troops to prolong 
 the conflict. He carried in his wounded hand a 
 shrill sounding silver whistle, the signal of which 
 being universally known in the ranks, was of 
 immense service throughout the battle, and gave 
 a kind of ubiquity to his movements." Keeping 
 close under the crest of the hill, the American 
 riflemen, with that accuracy of aim which had 
 already made them famous, maintained the 
 ground they had won with the utmost coolness 
 and daring. At length, alarmed at the manner 
 in which their ranks were ceaselessly swept away 
 on every quarter, some of the Tories raised a 
 white flag as a sign of surrender. It was in- 
 stantly torn down by Ferguson. <'A second 
 flag was hoisted at the other end of the line. 
 He rode there too and cut it down with his 
 sword." Dupoister, the next oflicer in command, 
 counselled him to surrender, but he indignantly 
 spurned the advice. Cheering those nearest 
 him with voice, mien, and example, and rousing 
 the faltering confidence of those more distant by 
 the shrill notes of his whistle, he succeeded in 
 infusing a portion of his own indomitable spirit 
 
 13 
 
146 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 into the breasts of all under his command ; and 
 the contest was contined with a sort of blind, 
 confused, reckless desperation, until Ferguson 
 fell dead from his horse, pierced by a bullet from 
 the rifle of some unknown mountaineer. 
 
 The Americans now advanced upon the pla- 
 teau, and closed more firmly around the strug- 
 gling masses of the enemy. Although suffering 
 a considerable loss by this more perfect ex- 
 posure of their persons, they vigorously fol- 
 lowed up their success until Dupoister, losing 
 all hope of extricating his men, raised a flag of 
 surrender and cried out for quarter. Along 
 some portions of the assaulting line the firing 
 was immediately suspended ; but as it still con- 
 tinued in other quarters, under the impression 
 that the surrender was not general, Shelby 
 shouted to the enemy to throw dovm their guns ; 
 and this being done, the attack immediately 
 ceased. After the confusion incident to the 
 surrender had subsided, the prisoners were or- 
 dered from their arms and marched to another 
 part of the plateau, where they were securely 
 surrounded by a double guard. The loss of the 
 British and Tories in this well-fought battle was 
 two hundred and thirty-five in killed, one hun- 
 dred and eighty in wounded, and seven hundred 
 made prisoners of war.. Fifteen hundred stand 
 of arms, with a large amount of baggage and 
 plunder, fell into the hands of the victors. The 
 
ifsi.] 
 
 DEFEAT OF TARLETON. 147 
 
 loss of tlie Americans was twenty-eight killed, 
 and sixty wounded. The principal officers who 
 fell on this occasion were Colonel Williams and 
 Major Chronicle. The latter was struck down 
 early in the action, the former in the moment 
 of victory; Like Wolfe, he lived just long enough 
 to express his satisfaction at the signal triumph 
 of his countrymen, and died with a smile upon 
 his lips. 
 
 Three days after the battle of King's Moun- 
 tain, and while yet ignorant of the defeat of 
 Ferguson, Cornwallis ordered a powerful detach- 
 ment under Tarleton to proceed to his relief. It 
 was ascertained soon afterward that all succour 
 came too late ; and as the patriots were every- 
 where rising in arms, Tarleton was recalled, 
 while Cornwallis himself, dismayed at this sud- 
 den and unexpected reverse, broke up his en- 
 campment at Charlotte, and hastily retreating to 
 Winnsborough in South Carolina, remained in- 
 active at that place until reinforcements from 
 New York under Leslie enabled him once more 
 to resume offensive operations. A new southern 
 army under Greene was at this time in process 
 of being organized. Early in January, 1781, 
 Cornwallis ordered Tarleton to disperse the divi- 
 sion under General Morgan, which held the 
 Tories in check in the western part of South 
 Carolina. The opposing forces met at the Cow- 
 pens on the 17th of January, where Tarleton 
 
148 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1T81. 
 
 was completely routed with the loss of eight hun- 
 dred men. Cornwallis with the main army im- 
 mediately proceeded in pursuit of Greene, who 
 retreated before him to Guilford Court House, 
 where a battle was fought on the 25th of March 
 which resulted unfavourably to the Americans, 
 although their loss was less than that of the 
 British. Greene retreated across the Dan, but 
 presently returned and marched into South 
 Carolina before Cornwallis was aware of his pre- 
 sence. Leaving Rawdon to defend South Caro- 
 lina against Greene, Cornwallis proceeded to 
 invade Virginia, where he formed a junction with 
 a strong force under Phillips and Arnold. After 
 marching down the James Kiver, closely followed 
 by Lafayette, whose army was too inferior in 
 numbers to admit of his making a battle, Corn- 
 wallis crossed over the peninsula to Yorktown, 
 where, under instructions from Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton, he proceeded to fortify himself. At this 
 place, on the 6th of October, he was besieged by 
 * the combined forces of America and France, 
 commanded by Washington, assisted by a naval 
 squadron under the Count De Grasse, and on 
 the 19th of the same month was compelled to 
 surrender his whole force, consisting of seven 
 thousand men, together with their arms, ammu- 
 nition, and one hundred and sixty pieces of 
 artillery. 
 
1776.] INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Return of the mountaineers — Indian hostilities — Battle of 
 Boyd's Creek — Expedition into the Cherokee country — 
 Destruc-ion of Indian towns — Greene calls for reinforce- 
 ments — Response of Shelby and Sevier — 'J'hey join Marion 
 — Capture two British posts at Monk's Corner — Shelby ob- 
 tains leave of absence — The mouritaineers return hojiie — 
 Prosperity of Tennessee — Death of Unatoolah — Alarm of 
 the settlers — A new station constructed — Pacific overtures 
 made to the Cherokees — Council at Gist — Lanct'-office closed 
 by North Carolina — Re-opened — Arbitrary extension of 
 the western boundary — Greene county established' — Explo- 
 rations — Land-office opened at Hillsborough — Rapid sale 
 of land — Expansion of the settlements west of the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 After the battle of King's Mountain, the 
 riflemen unde'r Sevier and Shelby returned to 
 their respective homes and were disbanded. But 
 Sevier had scarcely crossed the frontiers before 
 he found himself compelled to organize an expe- 
 dition against the Cherokees, who had already 
 murdered two traders, and were preparing for 
 more extended hostilities. While this force was 
 assembling, Sevier determined to strike a blow 
 at such armed bodies of Cherokees as were known 
 to be advancing; and for this purpose set out to 
 meet them with about one hundred men, '<■ prin- 
 cipally belonging to the companies of Captains 
 
 ' 13* 
 
150 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1781. 
 
 Russell and Guess." After encamping on the 
 second night of the march, his advance encoun- 
 tered a considerable body of Indians, with whom 
 a brief skirmish took place. The detachment 
 presently returned to the camp, and Sevier being 
 reinforced during the night by seventy men 
 under Captain Pruett, set out the next morning 
 in pursuit of the enemy, but did not come up 
 with them until early the following morning, 
 when they were discovered in ambush in the 
 vicinity of Boyd's Creek. Drawn under the fire 
 of the main body of the Americans by the feigned 
 retreat of-the detachment sent out to reconnoitre, 
 they were speedily thrown into disorder, and lost 
 a considerable number of their warriors before 
 they could effect their escape into the adjoining 
 swamp. In this battle the Indians lost twenty 
 in killed. Of the Americans not a single man 
 was killed, and only three seriously wounded. 
 Among the latter was Major Tipton. When the 
 Cherokees were effectually dispersed, Sevier re- 
 turned to Big Island until his reinforcements 
 should arrive. In a few days he was at the head 
 of seven hundred men, part of whom consisted 
 of Campbell's regiment of Virginians, and a 
 party of volunteers from Sullivan county under 
 Major Martin. With these troops Sevier again 
 set out in search of the enemy ; but the latter 
 fell back as the Americans approached, and suf- 
 fered them to enter the old beloved town of 
 
1T81.] PUNISHMENT OF THE INDIANS. 151 
 
 Cliota without opposition. Chilhowee, deserted 
 by its inhabitants, was presently burned ; and, 
 soon after, <^ every town lying between the Ten- 
 nessee and Hiwassee Rivers was reduced to ashes, 
 the Indians flying before the troops." The 
 Americans next advanced against Tellico ; but, 
 upon meeting proposals for peace, consented to 
 spare that settlement, and proceeded to retaliate 
 upon the Chickamaugas the numerous injuries 
 they had received at their hands. Finding these 
 towns also deserted, they were burned by the 
 troops, "who killed all the cattle and hogs which 
 could be found, and spread over the face of the 
 country a general devastation from which the 
 Indians could not recover for several 3^ears. The 
 march was then continued down the Coosa ; and 
 when the villages upon its banks, and the country 
 around had been laid waste, the army returned 
 to Chota, where a peace was agreed upon, and 
 the prisoners given up who had previously been 
 taken by the Indians. A desultory warfare, 
 however, was still kept up by some of the middle 
 Cherokees. As these had hitherto escaped pu- 
 nishment, Sevier, in March 1781, collected a 
 small force of volunteers, and by a rapid march 
 to the head waters of the Little Tennessee, fell 
 suddenly upon the town of Tuckasigah, slew fifty 
 warriors, and captured as many women and 
 children. A number of other towns were burned, 
 and their granaries destroyed. An expedition 
 
152 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1781. 
 
 sent to the Clinch River the following month 
 failed in bringing the Indians to an engage- 
 ment. 
 
 Notwithstanding these reverses, parties of 
 Cherokee warriors continued to harass the set- 
 tlements. With one hundred men Sevier marched 
 against these, surprised one of their camps, kill- 
 ed seventeen men, and effectually dispersed the 
 remainder. He had scarcely disbanded his men 
 before he received a letter from General Greene, 
 calling upon him for a reinforcement of riflemen 
 to assist in cutting off the communication of 
 Cornwallis with South Carolina, in the event of 
 his attempting to retreat southward before the 
 combined American and French forces assem- 
 bling at Yorktown. A similar message being 
 sent at the same time to Shelby, both these 
 partisan officers presently crossed the mountains 
 at the head of all the troops they could collect. 
 Learning, however, that Greene had already 
 driven Rawdon from his position at Camden, and 
 that the British outposts had been successively 
 driven in, they concluded that their services 
 were no longer necessary, and retraced their 
 steps homeward, after notifying Greene of their 
 intention. 
 
 Receiving soon after another requisition from 
 Greene, they again summoned the mountaineers 
 to arms, and in a short time were on their 
 march ; Shelby with his regiment from Sullivan, 
 
ro 
 
 1T81.] CAPTURE OF BRITISH POSTS. 15 
 
 and Sevier with two hnndved men from Wash- 
 ington county. After the surrender of Corn- 
 wallis, the riflemen, who had enlisted only for 
 sixty days, desired to be dismissed ; but were 
 finally induced to join the corps of Marion on 
 the Santee. They reached the camp of that 
 enterprising officer early in November, and were 
 presently ordered, in conjunction with the forces 
 of Colonels Mayhem and Howe, to make an as- 
 sault upon the British post at Fairlawn, near 
 Monk's Corner, where a garrison of one hundred 
 and fifty Hessians had been stationed. When 
 the commandant was first summoned to sur- 
 render, he firmly refused; but becoming alarm- 
 ed soon after by the personal representations 
 of Shelby, he finally agreed to capitulate. The 
 Americans next advanced against a second post, 
 some six hundred yards distant ; a brick house, 
 strongly built, well fortified, and protected in 
 front by an abbatis. A momentary disposition 
 to resist w^as manifested by its garrison ; but 
 their courage failed as the assailants advanced, 
 and they consented to surrender themselves pri- 
 soners of war. 
 
 Toward the close of November, Shelby, who 
 had been elected a delegate from Sullivan county 
 to the legislature of North Carolina, obtained 
 letive to absent himself from his command for 
 the purpose of attending the session then ap- 
 proaching. Sevier remained with Marion for 
 
154 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1781. 
 
 some time longer ; but as the war was in effect 
 closed, though the British did not evacuate 
 Charleston until the middle of December, he 
 finally concluded to return home and disband 
 his men, whose term of service had expired. 
 
 From this period until the ratification of 
 peace in 1783, the prosperity of Tennessee was 
 marked by a large increase of emigration. The 
 district of Salisbury was presently divided, and 
 a new district, named after General Morgan, 
 was formed of Washington and Sullivan counties. 
 Some slight disturbances took place with the 
 Indians, in one of which a Cherokee chief named 
 Unatoolah, or Butler, lost his life at the hands 
 of Major Hubbard, a courageous but reckless 
 borderer, the whole of whose manhood had been 
 devoted to revenging upon the Indians the losses 
 he had sustained at their hands. 
 
 The American settlements had extended to 
 the French Broad; and during an interval of 
 peace with the Cherokees of the Upper Towns, 
 and of scarcity among the settlers. Colonel Hub- 
 bard, accompanied by a fellow-soldier, ventured 
 into the Indian nation in quest of a supply of 
 corn. Already famous in border warfare, it was 
 his fortune in one of the later encounters to un- 
 horse Unatoolah, the chieftain among the Upper 
 Cherokees, who immediately lost caste and coin- 
 mand among his followers. Smarting to retrieve 
 this disgrace, Unatoolah no sooner learned that 
 
1783.] HUBBARD AND UNATOOLAH. 155 
 
 Hubbard was approaching the town of Citico, 
 than he took with him a single companion and 
 went out to meet his enemy. In a little while 
 the two warriors came within sight of the Ame- 
 ricans, advancing on foot and leading their horses 
 by the bridle-rein. Unatoolah, or Butler, as he 
 was called by the whites, immediately rode up 
 and demanded, in an insolent manner, the pur- 
 pose of their visit. Hubbard responded with 
 great calmness, that the war being over, he had 
 brought into the Indian country some clothing 
 to exchange for corn, and carelessly exhibiting 
 the contents of his sack, invited the Indians to 
 drink of the whiskey, which he produced at the 
 same time. He sought still further to disarm 
 them of their resentment by depositing his rifle 
 against a tree, yet not beyond the reach of his 
 hand. But Butler and his companion received 
 these pacific overtures with increasing sullen- 
 ness. Both still remained seated in the sad- 
 dle. After some manoeuvering on the part of 
 the Americans, who desired to avoid hostilities 
 lest it should involve the frontiers once more in 
 a general war, Unatoolah endeavoured to thrust 
 himself between Hubbard and his rifle. This 
 design was soon penetrated by the latter, who 
 resolved to defeat it. For this purpose he care- 
 lessly suffered his hand to rest on the muzzle of 
 his rifle, but still allowed the butt to remain on 
 the ground, keeping at the same time a watchful 
 
156 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1783. 
 
 eye upon his cun?'iing and vindictive adversary. 
 Frustrated in his original scheme, Unatoolah 
 became excited, and after aiming a blow at Hub- 
 bard, which was avoided by the latter, he sud- 
 denly levelled his gun and fired. The ball nar- 
 rowly missed piercing Hubbard to the brain, the 
 hair being cut from his temple. Though stunned 
 for a moment, he presently recoilered, and 
 although the retreating Indians were by this 
 time eighty yards distant, a bullet from his 
 rifle brought Unatoolah to the ground, mortally 
 wounded. His companion continued his flight. 
 When the Americans came up with the dying 
 w^^rrior they placed him, at his desire, against a 
 tree, and then inquired of him whether his nation 
 was for peace or war. '' They are for war," re- 
 plied the bleeding chieftain; "and if you go any 
 farther, they will take your scalp." A coarse 
 and abusive dialogue succeeded, during which 
 Unatoolah vented upon Hubbard the most in- 
 sulting invectives. At last the hot blood of the 
 borderer could bear it no longer, and with one 
 blow from his rifle he dashed out the brains of 
 his antagonist. 
 
 Apprehensive that retaliatory measures would 
 be attempted by the mountain Cherokees, the 
 settlers drew closer together, and constructed a 
 station at Henry's, near the mouth of the Dumplin, 
 to which they could retire in case of emergency. 
 Nevertheless, they did not neglect endeavouring 
 
1783.] extejs^sion of feontiek. 157 
 
 to preserve the peace. They sent a message to 
 the upper towns deploring the loss of Unatoolah, 
 and proposed that a council shoulji be held at 
 Gist's, now Henry's, for the adjustment of the 
 difficulty. To this proposition the Cherokees 
 assented; and although the number of those who 
 attended was small, the conference resulted in 
 the preservation of the existing truce. 
 
 The great increase of emigrants into the Ten- 
 nessee territory led to a rapid extension of the 
 frontier settlement, and to renewed jealousies, 
 complaints, and apprehensions on the part of the 
 Cherokees. In a vain endeavour to keep the 
 restless border population within their present 
 bounds, the assembly of North Carolina closed 
 the office for the sale of lands in the summer of 
 1781, but re-opened it in May, 1783, ^'for the 
 purpose of paying the arrears then due the 
 officers and soldiers of that part of the conti- 
 nental line which was raised in North Carolina, 
 and of extinguishing the national debt." 
 
 About the same time, by an arbitrary enact- 
 ment, and in direct contempt of the Indian 
 claims to the territory, the western boundary of 
 North Carolina was extended. A portion of 
 their old hunting-grounds wxre however reserved 
 to the Cherokees, the lines of which were clearly 
 and distinctly defined. During the session the 
 governor was authorized to meet the Cherokees 
 in council, and endeavour to effect a treaty with 
 
 14 
 
158 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1783. 
 
 them. Joseph Martin was also appointed Indian 
 agent. A portion of the county of Washington 
 was detached and formed into a separate county, 
 which received the name of Greene. 
 
 Explorations still continued. General James 
 White, accompanied by Colonels Love, Ramsey, 
 and others, <' explored the Tennessee country as 
 low as the confluence of the Holston and Ten- 
 nessee." Some few Indian excesses still con- 
 tinued, but they were not of a character to deter 
 settlers, many of whose lives had been passed in 
 the midst of pressing dangers. An act of the 
 general assembly designated the district within 
 which the bounty land given to the North Caro- 
 lina soldiers, who had formed a part of the con- 
 tinental line, were to be located ; and, on the 
 21st of October, a land office was opened at 
 Hillsborough for the sale of lands not included 
 in the previous reservations. Within six months 
 large quantities of land was taken up, either 
 by speculators or actual emigrants ; and the 
 following year the rude log cabins of adven- 
 turous pioneers were to be found scattered along 
 the banks of the Big and Little Pigeon, and on 
 Boyd's Creek south of French Broad. 
 
1783.] GOVERNMENT DIFFICULTIES. 159 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Recognition of American independence — Difficulties of the 
 federal and state governments — Cession of public lands by 
 North Carolina — Alarm of the mountaineers — Convention 
 at Jonesborough — Declaration of Independence — State of 
 Franklin — North Carolina annuls her deed of cession — The 
 mountaineers form a separate jurisdiction — Proclamation of 
 Governor Martin — Its effect in the western counties — 'Po- 
 litical antagonisms — Increase of the party favourable to 
 North Carolina — Tipton and Sevier — 'Outrages committed 
 on both sides — Reactionary spirit — Return to the jurisdiction 
 of North Carolina — Execution issued against the property 
 of Sevier— =-Its seizure — Rash conduct of Sevier — His arrest 
 — Escape — Election to senate of North Carolina. 
 
 The general burst of joy which, in 1783, suc- 
 ceeded the recognition by Great Britain of the 
 independence of the United States had scarcely 
 subsided, before it was followed by a period of 
 gloom and depression which fostered a spirit of 
 anarchy among the malecontents, and threatened 
 finally to end in a dissolution of the confederacy. 
 
 The chief source of difficulty was the immense 
 debt which had been contracted to carry on the 
 war, both by the states individually and by the 
 general government. After many plans had 
 been devised, without success, to meet this press- 
 ing exigency, Congress was constrained to call 
 upon such states as held vacant lands to cede 
 
160 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1784. 
 
 tliem to the United States, in order that the 
 money arising from their sale might be applied 
 to the liquidation of the national debt. Among 
 the states thus appealed to was North Carolina. 
 Virginia had already consented to cede the large 
 body of lands held by her ; and during the legis- 
 lative session of 1784 North Carolina followed 
 her example. 
 
 But the western pioneers of the latter state, 
 who had won their homesteads by constant vigi- 
 lance, active warfare, and a condition of suffer- 
 ing unknown to the people of the sea board, were 
 indisposed to see themselves placed once more 
 beyond the pale of the law, and to have to support 
 the whole weight of Indian hostilities during the 
 two years which had been allowed by North 
 Carolina for Congress to accept the terms of the 
 cession. 
 
 They accordingly met in convention at Jones- 
 borough, on the 23d of August, 1784, and after 
 choosing John Sevier, president, and Langdon 
 Carter, clerk, adopted a resolution forming them- 
 selves into a separate and distinct state, inde- 
 pendent of North Carolina. By a subsequent 
 resolution, the government of the new state was 
 vested in commissioners until such time as a 
 constitution was adopted by a second convention, 
 which was appointed to meet at the same place, 
 on the 16th of September. For some cause, 
 however, this convention did not hold its session 
 
1785.] STATE OF FllANKLm. . 161 
 
 until Noveml)er; and in the mean time the legis- 
 latm-e of North Carolina* becoming alarmed at 
 the sturdy method by which the mountaineers 
 proposed to redress their own grievances, sought 
 to hold them to their allegiance by retracting 
 the cession previously made to the general go- 
 vernment, and by providing, in a more efficient 
 manner, for the military and civil government 
 of the western counties. In the convention held 
 at Jonesborough in November, diiferences of 
 opinion arose among the delegates respecting the 
 policy of separating from North Carolina at thai 
 time, which resulted in a disorderly adjournment. 
 The tidings which Joseph Martin brought soon 
 after across the mountains of the recent action 
 of the legislature — the formation of the western 
 counties into a judicial district, the grant of a 
 general court, and the organization o'f their mi- 
 litia into a separate brigade, of which Sevier was 
 appointed brigadier-general — would, it was at 
 first supposed, arrest the tide of popular disaf- 
 fection ; but when the convention again met on 
 the 14th of December, it was resolved to secede 
 from North Carolina, and a constitution was 
 adopted for the state of Franklin, leaving it to 
 be ratified or rejected by the people, whose dele- 
 gates were to meet for this purpose at Green- 
 ville, on the 14th of November, 1785. This 
 body accordingly met at the time and place ap- 
 pointed; the constitution was ratified. After 
 
 14* 
 
162 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1785. 
 
 this tlie members formally organized themselves 
 into a legislative assembly, by the election of 
 Langdon Carter as speaker of the senate, and 
 William Cage speaker of the House of Com- 
 mons. John Sevier was chosen governor ; David 
 Campbell, judge of the superior court; and 
 Joshua Gist and John Henderson, assistant 
 judges. Various acts were subsequently passed 
 for the purpose of facilitating the operations of 
 the new government; and, before the assembly 
 adjourned, the speakers of both houses were 
 directed to notify Governor Martin, of North 
 Carolina, of the formation of the counties of 
 AVashington, Sullivan, and Greene, into a sepa- 
 rate sovereignty, styling itself the state of 
 Franklin. 
 
 On tl;e reception of this '' Declaration of In- 
 dependence," Governor Martin summoned a 
 meeting of his council ; and on the 25th of April 
 issued a proclamation, in which he contended 
 that, as the grievances of the mountaineers had 
 already been redressed, the revolt was a rank 
 usurpation of the authority of North Carolina, 
 and only tended to the injury of the people of 
 Franklin, and the dishonour of the country. He 
 called upon the mountaineers to return to their 
 allegiance; and assured them that any grievance 
 of which they yet complained, if presented by 
 their representatives in a constitutional manner, 
 should be met by the next legislature with a 
 
1785.] governor's proclamation. 163 
 
 prompt and efficient remedy. If they were still 
 bent on separation, he proposed that it shonld be 
 on terms honourable to both parties ; but if, on 
 the contrary, they were determined to continue 
 in their present course, they might be assured 
 that the spirit of North Carolina was not so 
 damped, or her resources so exhausted, '' but 
 that she may take satisfaction for this great 
 injury received, regain her government over the 
 revolted territory, or render it not worth pos- 
 sessing." 
 
 This able state paper was not without its 
 effect among those to whom it was especially 
 addressed. It made converts of many who, led 
 away by the enthusiasm for independence, had 
 neither done justice to the efforts which North 
 Carohna had really made to satisfy the com- 
 plaints of her western counties, nor had seriously 
 contemplated the consequences which were likely 
 to arise from their sanction of an independent 
 government. But although the minority which 
 had always opposed a separation from the pre- 
 sent state was considerable strengthened, there 
 yet remained a large portion of the community 
 in favour of maintaining a separate jurisdiction. 
 
 To manifest still further the desire of North 
 Carolina for a peaceful termination of the exist- 
 ing difficulties, the legislature, which assembled 
 at Newbern in November, 1785, passed an act 
 to bury in oblivion the conduct of the people of 
 
164 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1786. 
 
 Franilin, on condition that tliey returned to 
 their allegiance, and sustained, in the execution 
 of their duty, the officers already appointed bj 
 North Carolina. But although the adherents 
 of the latter state, supported by Colonel Tipton, 
 gradually gained ground in the new common- 
 wealth, a majority still clung to Sevier, and re- 
 fused to recognise any government but the one 
 they themselves had organized. 
 
 In this opposition of parties, disorders sprang 
 up which presently degenerated into lawlessness. 
 Both governments claimed jurisdiction, and both 
 sought to exercise it. The consequence was that 
 both became inefficient. Party quarrels ensued ; 
 old friends became enemies ; Tipton and his fol- 
 loAvers openly supported the claims of South 
 Carolina ; Sevier sought to maintain his authority 
 as the executive officer of Franklin. This an- 
 tagonistic spirit led to the commission of various 
 outrages. In 1786 a party, headed by Tipton, 
 entered Jonesborough, the capital of Washington 
 county, dispersed the justices of the court at that 
 time in session, and took possession of their 
 papers. Sevier retaliated by ejecting, in a simi- 
 lar manner, an officer appointed by North Caro- 
 lina. Acts of this character speedily became 
 more frequent, and the followers of Sevier and 
 Tipton more imbittered against each other. 
 The principals themselves met, not long after, at 
 Greensboro, and were presently engaged in a 
 
1787.] INTESTINE DISSENSIONS. 165 
 
 personal conflict, which was brought to a close, 
 without injury to either of the belligerents, by 
 the timely interposition of their respective 
 friends. 
 
 But in the midst of these inglorious quarrels, 
 Governor Sevier did not neglect to defend from 
 Indian aggressions the state over which he had 
 been called to preside. Outlying bands of hos- 
 tile Cherokees had already committed several 
 murders on the Holston, and driven in a number 
 of the settlers who had opened farms in the 
 neighbourhood of Beaver Creek. Collecting a 
 hundred and sixty mounted riflemen, he pushed 
 forward into the heart of the enemy's country, 
 destroyed three of the valley towns and killed 
 fifteen warriors. The assembling of the Chero- 
 kees in overwhelming numbers prevented Sevier 
 from following up the advantages he had gained; 
 but the promptness and energy he had already 
 displayed had the desired eifect of restoring the 
 extreme frontier to a state of comparative se- 
 curity. 
 
 He was far less successful, however, in giving 
 peace to the distracted state of Franklin. The 
 continuance of intestine dissensions, and the nice 
 balance of parties which took place in 1787, in- 
 duced the people to refuse to pay taxes either to 
 North Carolina, or to the local government, 
 until the supremacy of one or the other should 
 be more generally acknowledged. In this state 
 
166 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787. 
 
 of affairs, and with his government tottering to 
 its downfall, Sevier earnestly appealed to North 
 Carolina for a ratification of the independence 
 of the state of Franklin, and to Franklin him- 
 Belf, and the governors of Georgia and Virginia, 
 for counsel and assistance. Disappointed on all 
 sides, he finally rested for support upon his im- 
 mediate friends, conscious of the rectitude of his 
 own intentions, and jutifying the origin of the 
 separation by the cession which North Carolina 
 at first made to the general government. 
 
 But the people were already weary of a feud 
 which threatened, at every fresh outbreak, to 
 end in bloodshed. In 1787 the last legislature 
 of the state of Franklin held its session at Green- 
 ville. North Carolina had offered terms of com- 
 promise, which tended greatly to soften the as- 
 perities of those who had hitherto resisted her 
 jurisdiction. The growing desire to restore 
 peace and order in the revolting counties was 
 exhibited in the election of the new delegates, a 
 majority of those chosen being favourable to a 
 reunion with the parent state. Meeting in this 
 frame of mind, they presently authorized the 
 election of representatives to the legislature of 
 North Carolina, an action which was subse- 
 quently endorsed by the people, who once more 
 recognised the maternal authority by choosing 
 members to the general assembly as of old. 
 Sevier still held out, but his partisans were 
 
1788.] RASH CONDUCT OF SEVIER. 167 
 
 gradually deserting him. The conciliatory mea- 
 sures of North Carolina presently disarmed the 
 malecontents of all further argument for opposing 
 the reunion ; and in February, 1788, the state 
 of Franklin ceased to exist. 
 
 Unhappily, the progress of the late events had 
 not tended to lessen the personal animosity ex- 
 isting between Sevier and Tipton. Both were 
 brave men, and both believed they were actuated 
 only by principles of patriotism and honour. An 
 occurrence took place about this time which 
 brought them into collision. Under an execution' 
 issued against the estate of Sevier, the sheriff, 
 acting by the authority of the state of North 
 Carolina, had levied upon his negroes, and con- 
 veyed them for safe-keeping to the house of 
 Colonel Tipton. This intelligence reaching 
 Sevier while on the frontiers, he determined, as 
 governor of the state of Franklin, to resist a 
 jurisdiction which he had not yet acknowledged; 
 to retake his negroes by force of arms, and to 
 punish those who, he contended, had acted ille- 
 gally. He accordingly put himself at the head 
 of one hundred and fifty men, and hastening to 
 the house of Tipton, summoned the latter to sur- 
 render. Meeting with a firm refusal, he invested 
 the house within which Tipton had hastily col- 
 lected a garrison of fifteen men, equally bold 
 and determined as himself. Some shots were 
 exchanged, by which one man was killed, and a 
 
168 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1788. 
 
 man and woman wounded. Dm-ing the second 
 night of the siege, while the followers of Sevier 
 were gathered round their watch fires, Tipton was 
 reinforced bj troops from Sullivan county. 
 Making an unexpected sally upon the camp of 
 Sevier, he succeeded in putting his assailants to 
 a complete route, killing the sheriff of Washing- 
 ton county, and making prisoners of the two sons 
 of Sevier, whom he was only prevented from im- 
 mediately executing by the earnest entreaties of 
 his friends. In October, Sevier was himself arrest- 
 ed for high treason, and carried, first to Jonesbo- 
 rough, and subsequently to the jail at Moi'iran- 
 town, from whence, by the assistance of his sons, 
 he escaped. Notwithstanding these excesses, the 
 courage, patriotism and generosity of Sevier were 
 warmly recognised. His services were remem- 
 bered, and his faults forgotten. Being chosen 
 the following year to represent Greene county 
 in the senate of North Carolina, the act disqua- 
 lifying him from holding office under the state 
 government was repealed; and with the renewal 
 of his oath of allegiance, the whole dispute was 
 amicably closed. 
 
1780.] Robertson's colony. 1G9 
 
 CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 Robertson's colony on the Cumberland — Increase in popula- 
 tion — Hostility of the Indians — Keywood and Hay killed — 
 Freeland's station attacked — The settlers take refuge in 
 block-houses — Cause of Indian hostility — Settlement on 
 Red River broken up — Donaldson's party attacked — Panic 
 among the settlers — Robertson's resolute advice — Freeland's 
 station surprised — Repulse of the Indians — Desultory war- 
 fare — Robertson's fort at the Bluff invested — Eight of the 
 garrison killed by a stratagem — Custom of the country — 
 Close of Revolutionary war — Temporary cessation of hos- 
 tilities — Indian council at the Bluff — Spanish intrigues — 
 Renewal of Indian incursions — Desperate skirmishes — 
 Treaty of Hopewell — Continuance of hostilities — Robert- 
 son's expedition — Attack on Hay at the mouth of Duck 
 River — Surprise of Indian village by Robertson, and capture 
 of traders — Capture of French trading boats — Division of 
 the spoils. 
 
 It will be remembered that, in 1779, a party 
 of emigrants under James Robertson first com- 
 menced a settlement on the Cumberland. To 
 these was subsequently added a party under 
 Colonel Donaldson. As the reports of the ferti- 
 lity of that region became more disseminated, 
 other emigrants made their appearance in the 
 new settlement; which, as it grew in population, 
 aroused the hostility of the Upper Creeks and 
 Cherokees, whose war-parties were constantly on 
 the alert to cut off all stragglers, and to lay 
 
 15 
 
170 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780 
 
 waste those plantations that were either badly 
 defended or too remote from timely assistance. 
 To the sufferings and privations of a winter pe- 
 culiarly severe was added the constant dread of 
 assassination. In the spring of 1780, Keywood, 
 a hunter, fell a victim to outlying savages on 
 Kichland Creek, a few miles only from the sta- 
 tion at the Bluff. Soon after this a Mr. Hay 
 was killed on the Lick Branch. Freeland's sta- 
 tion was invested; and from this time small bands 
 of warriors pursued their sanguinary career, 
 murdering the settlers, burning their houses, and 
 laying waste their crops, whenever an opportu- 
 nity offered. Being weak in numbers, and too 
 far distant from the Holston and Watauga to 
 receive assistance from their countrymen, the 
 Cumberland emigrants were obliged to abandon 
 such of their farms as were most exposed to the 
 ravages of the enemy, and fly with their families 
 to the shelter of a few forts and block-houses. 
 The cause of this implacable warfare may be 
 found in the encroachments of the whites. 
 
 General George Rogers Clarke, by whose bold 
 and romantic exploits the British forts in Illinois 
 had been captured, undertook to overawe the 
 Chickasaws by building Fort Jefferson, on the 
 east bank of the Mississippi, eighteen miles be- 
 low the mouth of the Ohio. A few plantations 
 had also been opened on Red River; and, as the 
 Chickasaws claimed all the territory west of the 
 
1780.] DESULTORY WARFARE. ITl 
 
 Tennessee, they resolved to resist these intru- 
 sions by force of arms. The emigrants on Ked 
 River were the first to feel the effects of their 
 enmity. The settlement was broken up, two of 
 the men killed, and the remainder compelled to 
 fly for refuge to the fort at the Bluff. Even the 
 latter, though better protected, was not secure 
 from Indian depredations. A party under Co- 
 lonel Donaldson, which had ascended the Cum- 
 berland for the purpose of freighting two boats 
 with corn, was intercepted by the Indians, who 
 killed three persons, and wounded and took pri- 
 soners several others. Among the killed was a 
 son of Captain Robertson. 
 
 Disheartened by the pertinacity with which the 
 Indians continued their attacks, and by the loss 
 of the greater portion of the corn upon which 
 they had relied for their winter supplies, a large 
 number of inhabitants abandoned the country, 
 and souglit safety in Kentucky and Illinois. 
 Others, more daring or more hopeful, unwilling 
 to lose the result of their labours, resolved to re- 
 main and defend themselves in the best manner 
 they could. The leader and adviser of these 
 resolute men was Captain James Robertson. 
 About the middle of January, a few hours only 
 after the return of the latter from Kentucky, 
 the station at Freelands was surprised by an 
 armed band of Indians. Their success was only 
 partial. Roused from their slumbers by the 
 
172 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1782, 
 
 vigilant Robertson, the garrison, eleven in num- 
 ber, repelled the assailants, with the loss, during 
 the attack, of Major Lucas, and a negro belong- 
 ing to Captain Robertson. This repulse only 
 stimulated the revengeful savages to commit 
 other outrages in quarters more defenceless. 
 Being joined by reinforcements of Cherokees, 
 they cut off many of the inhabitants who had 
 not yet abandoned their plantations, drove in 
 the garrison at Mansco's station, killed two of 
 the men who had loitered behind their com- 
 panions, and, lying ambushed in the woods, shot 
 down many who were seeking safety in flight. 
 
 Early in April a large body of Cherokee war- 
 riors secretly invested the fort at the Bluff. 
 Nineteen of its garrison, drawn out by a strata- 
 gem, were surrounded and eight of them killed — 
 the remainder, many of whom were grievously 
 wounded, succeeded in fighting their way back 
 to the fort. Frustrated in their main design, 
 the Indians presently retired; but throughout 
 the summer of this year, and the w^hole of 1782, 
 they kept up their desultory attacks until nearly 
 all the isolated stations were broken up, and the 
 remaining inhabitants had taken refuge at the 
 Bluff or had abandoned the territory in despair. 
 Those who still sturdily sought to maintain pos- 
 session of a soil already ensanguined with the 
 blood of their kindred and friends, were com- 
 pelled to exercise a constant vigilance. <'It 
 
1783.] VIGILANCE or SETTLERS. 17 
 
 Q 
 
 became a custom of the country for one or two 
 persons to stand as watchmen or sentinels, while 
 others laboured in the field ; and even while one 
 went to a spring to drink, another stood on the 
 watch with his rifle ready to protect him by 
 shooting a creeping Indian or one rising from 
 the thickets of canes and brush that covered him 
 from view ; and wherever four or five were as- 
 sembled together at a spring, or other place 
 where business required them to be, they held 
 their guns in their hands, and with their backs 
 turned to each other, one faced the north, 
 another the south, another the west — watching 
 in all directions for a lurking or creeping 
 enemy." 
 
 During the period when most harassed by 
 their subtle enemies, and consequently least able 
 to pursue their customary labours without ex- 
 posing themselves to the utmost danger, the 
 inhabitants at the Bluff seriously contemplated 
 the abandonment of a territory they were too 
 few in number adequately to defend. But the de- 
 sign being strenuously opposed by Captain Ro- 
 bertson, they yielded to his mature experience, 
 and finally concluded to remain where they were. 
 Happily for the safety of this little community 
 the Bevolutionary war was terminated soon after, 
 and the Indians, no longer instigated by British 
 agents, began to relax in their hostility, while 
 the increase of emigration from the older states 
 
 15* 
 
174 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1784. 
 
 rendered the settlement upon the Cumberland 
 better able to meet and retaliate upon their 
 enemies the outrages thej were still disposed to 
 commit. During the year 1783 some few set- 
 tlers lost their lives ; but events were now assum- 
 ing a more pacific aspect. The Chickasaws, 
 responding to overtures made them by commis- 
 sioners appointed for that purpose, held in the 
 spring of this year a council at the Bluff, which 
 terminated in the cession to North Carolina of 
 all that region, " extending nearly forty miles 
 south of the Cumberland River to the ridge di- 
 viding the tributaries of that river from those of 
 Duck and Elk." 
 
 But Spain, whose possessions in Florida and 
 Louisiana were menaced by the advance of Ame- 
 rican settlers, was not disposed to permit the 
 latter to maintain peaceful possession of the 
 territory they occupied. Spanish agents were 
 accordingly sent among the southern Indians to 
 provoke them to a renewal of hostilities ; and in 
 this they were so far successful as to induce va- 
 rious small war parties to take up the hatchet 
 and lay waste those portions of the frontiers 
 which were most open to attack. In this way 
 various hunters, stragglers, and exploring par- 
 ties were surprised and killed. Impressed with 
 the belief that these incursions were encouraged 
 by the Spanish authorities, Robertson, during 
 the year 1784, wrote to M. Portell, an officer 
 
1784.] DESPERATE SKIRMISHES. 175 
 
 of that government, expressing his desire to 
 maintain amicable relations ; but though he re- 
 ceived a friendly response, the Indians continued 
 their incursions. They fired upon Philip Tram- 
 mell and Philip Mason while in the act of skin- 
 ning a deer at the head of White's Creek ; Mason 
 was wounded, but both the men succeeded in 
 reaching Eaton's station, from whence they ob- 
 tained a reinforcement of volunteers, and set out 
 in pursuit of the marauders. The Indians being 
 overtaken, a skirmish ensued, wherein Mason re- 
 ceived a second wound which proved mortal. 
 Trammell killed two of the Indians, but the lat- 
 ter being reinforced, compelled the Americans 
 to retreat. These in their turn receivins: an 
 accession to their force again started in pursuit 
 of their enemies, and brought on the fight anew. 
 Trammell and an associate named Hopkins threw 
 themselves into the midst of the Indians, and 
 fell fighting gallantly to the last. The contest 
 was kept up by the survivors until both parties 
 were weary, and separated by common consent. 
 Another skirmish, in which equal bravery was 
 exhibited, took place at the head waters of 
 Drake's Creek. In the latter contest a man 
 named Aspie received a wound which completely 
 disabled him. At the same time Andrew Lucas 
 was shot through the throat. Johnson and 
 Spencer, the only two remaining unhurt, stood 
 their ground with great determination, but were 
 
176 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE,, [1787. 
 
 at length compelled to give way and leave Aspie 
 to his fate. Lucas, who had fallen behind a 
 bush, escaped the search of the Indians, and 
 reached his home soon after the battle. But 
 though parties of Chickasaw and Cherokee war- 
 riors continually hovered around the settlement, 
 waylaying and murdering small bands of hunters 
 and emigrants almost with impunity, their cease- 
 less hostility did not deter pioneers from spread- 
 ing themselves over the territory and taking up 
 such lands as promised to yield the best return 
 for their labours. The constant peril to which 
 these hardy borderers were exposed at length 
 induced the United States government to send 
 commissioners to the Chickasaws, by whose ex- 
 ertions a council was held at Hopewell on the 
 10th of January, 1786. It resulted in a treaty, 
 defining the boundary of the lands belonging 
 to the Chickasaws, and confirming the treaty 
 made in 1783 with the commissioners of North 
 Carolina. 
 
 But treaty stipulations were not likely to be 
 kept by savage warriors who daily saw their 
 hunting-grounds restricted by the steady increase 
 of a white population; and in 1787 their inroads 
 became so frequent that the assembly of North 
 Carolina authorized the organization of a batta- 
 lion for the protection of the frontiers. From 
 some cause or other this necessary measure was 
 delayed, and Kobertson, finding his colony con- 
 
1787.] Robertson's expedition. 177 
 
 tinned to be harassed by the Creeks and Chero- 
 kees, determined to assume the offensive and 
 march against the nearest of their towns. He 
 was the more disposed to adopt this resolution 
 from the belief that hostilities were now fomented 
 by French traders from the Wabash, who sup- 
 plied the Indians with arms, and found their 
 own aggrandizement in fostering a hostile feel- 
 ing against the Americans. On the 1st of June,. 
 1787, he placed himself at the head of one hun- 
 dred and thirty mounted volunteers, who had 
 assembled at his station from different parts of 
 the Cumberland region. Accompanied by Colo- 
 nels Ha^^s and Ford, he set out for the Tennes- 
 see River, piloted by two Chickasaws. At the 
 same time Captain David Hay, with his company 
 and three boats freighted with supplies, left 
 Nashville for the muscle shoals. While passing 
 up the Tennessee River the flotilla was suddenly 
 attacked by a party of Indians ambushed among 
 the cane at the mouth of Duck River, who killed 
 several of the crew, and wounded so many others, 
 that Hay was compelled to return to Nashville 
 for surgical assistance. 
 
 This unfortunate occurrence reduced the 
 troops under Robertson to great straits, by de- 
 priving them of provisions upon which they had 
 relied. 
 
 After a long and fatiguing march, Robertson 
 struck the Tennessee River at the lower end of 
 
178 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787. 
 
 the muscle shoals, where the troops concealed 
 themselves until night. Having discovered se- 
 veral Indian cabins on the opposite side of the 
 river, seven men crept down the bank, and se- 
 creting themselves in the canes below, kept up 
 a keen watch upon the southern shore. Pre- 
 sently some Indians made their appearance, who, 
 after looking cautiously around them, entered a 
 canoe and paddled out some distance into the 
 stream. Seemingly satisfied by this reconnois- 
 sance that no enemies were near, they returned 
 from whence they had started. Desirous of cap- 
 turing an Indian alive, Kobertson despatched 
 Captain Rains with fifteen men up the river for 
 that purpose ; but after ascending nearly to the 
 mouth of Blue Water, the party returned with- 
 out succeeding in their object. It being deter- 
 mined to cross the river under cover of the night, 
 soon after sunset the seven men in ambush below 
 swam to the opposite shore. Approaching noise- 
 lessly the cabins, they found them deserted ; but 
 they returned to their companions with an im- 
 mense canoe having a hole in its bottom. Stop- 
 ping the leak with their shirts, forty men 
 einbarked with their firearms. The crazy ves- 
 sel had scarcely left the shore before it began to 
 fill, and they were compelled to put back. After 
 this mishap the design was abandoned until day- 
 light, when the hole was covered with a piece 
 of linn- bark, and some forty or fifty men sue- 
 
1787.] INDIAN VILLAGE SURPRISED. 179 
 
 ceeded in reaching the southern shore, leaving 
 their companions to swim the river with the 
 horses. A heavy rain coming on, they took 
 shelter in the deserted cabins until the clouds 
 dispersed, when they mounted their horses, and, 
 taking a well-beaten path leading w^estwardly, 
 pressed rapidly forward. After riding some five 
 miles they passed some cornfields, and came soon 
 after to Cold Water Creek, which the greater 
 portion of the troops crossed in single file. On 
 the low grounds, within three hundred yards of 
 the river, stood a number of cabins. 
 
 Surprised by this unexpected invasion, the 
 people of the towm fled hastily to their boats; 
 but being closely followed by the main body of 
 the troops under Robertson, suffered severely 
 during their flight. Such as crossed the river 
 fell under the fire of a detachment headed by 
 Captain Rains, which had been left on the other 
 side of the creek for the purpose of intercepting 
 the fugitives. Twenty-six Indians, accompanied 
 by three French traders and a white w^oman, 
 sought to efl'ect their escape in a boat. Refusing 
 to surrender, they were fired upon and every one 
 killed. The principal trader and several other 
 Frenchmen were made prisoners. In the town 
 the Americans made prize of large stores of tafiai, 
 arms and ammunition, and a great variety of 
 articles adapted to Indian trafiic. After collect- 
 ing all the canoes upon the river and placing a 
 
180 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787. 
 
 guard over them, tlie troops killed all the live 
 stock they could capture, and set fire to the town. 
 The following morning they buried the whites, 
 and having liberally rewarded their Chickasaw 
 guides, loaded several of the boats with the re- 
 mainder of the captured stores and despatched 
 them down the river in charge of three men. 
 Robertson, marching by land, overtook the boats 
 during the second day, and crossing the Tennes- 
 see near Colbert's Ferry, encamped on the north 
 shore. 
 
 At this encampment all the wearing apparel 
 belonging to the French prisoners was restored 
 to them. Being set at liberty, and provided with 
 a canoe and a liberal supply of provisions, they 
 presently took their departure. When the re- 
 mainder of the sugar and coffee had been divided 
 among the troops, the boats containing the mer- 
 chandise were sent round to Nashville, while the 
 mounted men struck across the country in the 
 direction of the Cumberland. As the boats de- 
 scended the Tennessee, the men in charge of 
 them met a party of French traders with addi- 
 tional supplies of goods. The latter mistaking 
 the boatmen for their own countrymen, saluted 
 them by firing off their guns, and before they 
 could reload the Americans boarded the boats 
 and made them prisoners. 
 
 In due time the daring voyagers reached the 
 
1787.] INDIAN WARFARE CONTINUES. 181 
 
 Cumberland settlement, and the merchandise 
 being sold soon after at Eaton's station, the 
 proceeds were divided among the troops. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Desultory Indian warfare continued — American attempts at 
 retaliation — Robertson and Bledsoe remonstrate with McGil- 
 livray — Death of Colonel Bledsoe — Robertson's negotiations 
 with the Creeks — Hostilities continue — Increase of emigra- 
 tion — Causes which influenced it — State grants and reserva- 
 tions — District of Morgan established — Courts of law — Da- 
 vidson count}^ established — Nashville receives its name — 
 Partial cessation of hostilities — Road opened through the 
 wilderness — Sumner and Tennessee counties established — 
 Voyage of Colonel Brown down the Tennessee — Massacre 
 of his party by the Chickamauga Indians — Captivity of Mrs. 
 Brown and the younger children — I'heir release — North 
 Carolina cedes her western lands to the United States. 
 
 The relief afforded by the destruction of the 
 Indian town at Coldwater was but temporary. 
 Exasperated by the losses experienced on that 
 occasion, numerous small bands of ¥/arriors pre- 
 sently attacked all the weak points along the 
 frontiers, carrying terror and devastation wher- 
 ever they went. In the fall, a war-party under 
 Blackfoot was pursued by a company of mounted 
 men under Captain Shannon. They came up 
 with them on the bank of the Tennessee River, 
 and, after a desperate conflict, during which 
 
 16 
 
182 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1788. 
 
 Blackfoot and five of his followers were killed, 
 succeeded in putting ttiem to flight. This suc- 
 cess stimulated the Americans on the Duck and 
 Elk Rivers to form themselves into parties to 
 retaliate the murders which had been committed. 
 The security of the frontiers was further promoted 
 bj the arrival of a battalion of mounted men 
 under Major Evans, by reinforcements of emi- 
 grants, and by the formation of a company of 
 rangers whose duty it was to traverse the forest 
 in all directions, and afford timely warning to 
 the settlers of the approach of their insidious 
 enemies. In this service Captain Rains was 
 particularly conspicuous. Notwithstanding, how- 
 ever, all the precautions which had been taken, 
 the savages penetrated into the settlement, and 
 killed several persons near the mouth of the 
 Harper and in the vicinity of the Bluff. Being 
 hotly pursued by Rains, with a body of mounted 
 men, they were overtaken at Rutherford's Creek, 
 and dispersed with the loss of one of their num- 
 ber. On a second occasion Rains succeeded in 
 putting another war party to the route, after 
 killing four men and capturing an Indian boy. 
 Several other excursions were made toward the 
 close of 1787, which resulted in a similar man- 
 ner ; but they only afforded a partial relief. In 
 1788 the war broke out afresh, and a number of 
 settlers were killed ; among the^ slain was a son 
 of Colonel Robertson. 
 
1780.] Robertson's negotiations. 18o 
 
 Believing that the Spanish authorities in Flo- 
 rida encouraged the Creeks to persevere in their 
 repeated attacks upon the American frontiers, 
 Colonels Robertson and Bledsoe addressed a re- 
 monstrance to Colonel McGillivraj, a half-blood 
 chief, who exercised almost unlimited influence 
 over the Creek nation ; but though the response 
 was couched in pacific language, the sanguinary 
 excesses of the savages were not abated. 
 
 Colonel Bledsoe was slain soon after in a mid- 
 night attack upon his brother's station. Repress- 
 ing his resentment at the inestimable loss which 
 the colony had sustained by the death of his able 
 and energetic associate, Robertson continued his 
 negotiations with McGillivray, and earnestly 
 called upon him to restrain the ferocious incur- 
 sions of his warriors. "It is a matter of no 
 reflection," wrote Robertson sorrowfull}^, "to a 
 brave man, to see a father, a son, or a brother 
 fall in the field of action ; but it is a serious and 
 melancholy incident to see a helpless woman or 
 an innocent child tomahawked in their own 
 houses." But though he appealed thus earnestly 
 to the better feelings of McGillivray, and though 
 Congress attempted to open negotiations, that 
 wily chieftain listened alike to the Americans 
 and the Spaniards, and while professing to the 
 one a desire for peace, was covertly intriguing 
 with the other to prosecute the war. 
 
 Growing more wary, but not less active, his 
 
184 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1782. 
 
 warriors continued to murder the settlers Tvhere- 
 ever an opportunity offered, and hj taking to 
 flight immediately after very generally escaped 
 their pursuers. During the month of June, 1780, 
 they attempted to surprise Robertson's station 
 in open da}^, while the men were at work in the 
 fields. Being foiled in their design, they re- 
 treated rapidly, and though hotly pursued, 
 escaped with only the loss of one man killed 
 and six wounded. 
 
 But the danger to which the Cumberland peo- 
 ple were so constantly exposed did not deter 
 emigrants from joining them in large numbers. 
 Guarded by a strong escort, they passed safely 
 through the perils of the intervening wilderness, 
 and were presently to be found assisting to repel 
 the pertinacious attacks of their ubiquitous 
 enemy. 
 
 Other causes operated largely at this time in 
 increasing the population on the south-western 
 frontier, the chief of which was the bounty in 
 lands granted during this year by North Caro- 
 lina to her officers and soldiers of the continental 
 line. In favour of the earlier settlers on the 
 Cumberland, an act was passed in 1782, by which 
 rights of pre-emption were given to each head of 
 a family and each single man who had been in 
 the country since 1780 ; but the state reserved 
 to herself the salt springs and licks and the 
 section of land adjoining them. These lands, 
 
1782.] NASHVILLE NAMED. 185 
 
 too-ether with twentv-five thousand acres cirantefl 
 to General Nathaniel Greene for his eminent 
 services in the South, were presently laid off by 
 commissioners ; and the whole of the territory 
 which was subsequently to become the State of 
 Tennessee was formed into one district, which 
 took the name of Morgan. Courts of law, esta- 
 blished by the parent state, now began, for the 
 first time, to exercise jurisdiction over the set- 
 tlers on the Cumberland. 
 
 In 1783 the county of Davidson was esta- 
 blished iti honour of the brave General Davidson, 
 who fell at Cowan's ford while endeavouring to 
 eover the retreat of Morgan, when parsued by 
 Cornwallis after the battle of Cowpens. 
 
 Kobertson's settlement at the Bluff took the 
 Tiaine of Nashville during the succeeding year, 
 m commemoration of the patriotic services of 
 Colonel Francis Nash, who at the outbreak of 
 the Revolutionary war was a member of the 
 Carolina legislature ; but subsequently accepted 
 n commission in the continental line, and fell at 
 the head of his brigade in the battle of German- 
 town. 
 
 The contest with Great Britain was virtually 
 •closed by the surrender of Cornwallis at York- 
 town, but the proclamation of peace did not 
 take place until the spring of this year. The 
 frontiers, however, had already been benefited by 
 the cessation of the war with England. Indiao 
 
186 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1788. 
 
 depredations became less frequent, and, at 
 length, for several years, the inhabitants of 
 middle Tennessee pursued their avocations with- 
 out experiencing any very serious molestation. 
 But as population increased, the angry feeling 
 which arose with regard to the lands reserved 
 to the Cherokees by the treaty at Hopewell, led 
 to some minor assaults and reprisals, and finally 
 threatened to result in a new border war. 
 
 To provide for the defence of the frontier set- 
 tlements, the legislature of North Carolina, during 
 the session of 1785, authorized the enrolment 
 of three hundred men, whose duty it was made 
 to open a military road from the lower end of 
 Clinch Mountain to Nashville. A part of this 
 work being accomplished the following year, the 
 facilities it afforded to emigrants increased so 
 largely the population of Davidson county as 
 to call for its division, and the new county of 
 Sumner was accordingly established. By the 
 exertions of the militia of Davidson and Sumner 
 counties, other roads were opened during the 
 years 1787 and 1788. Emigrants flocking in by 
 these routes rendered the division of Davidson 
 county again necessary, and the county of Ten- 
 nessee was accordingly established. 
 
 At this time an incident occurred which exhi- 
 bited, in a striking degree, the deep-rooted hos- 
 tility of the inhabitants of the Nick-a-jack towns. 
 Desirous of avoiding the long and difficult land 
 
1788.] MURDER OF COLONEL BROWN. 187 
 
 route through the wilderness, Colonel James 
 Brown, a veteran officer of the continental line, 
 of North Carolina, resolved to descend the Ten- 
 nessee to the Ohio, and ascending the latter 
 stream, reach Nashville by way of the Cumber- 
 land. 
 
 Constructing a boat on the Ilolston below 
 Long Island, he embarked with his family, which 
 consisted of his wife, five sons, and four daugh- 
 ters. Two of his sons had reached the age of 
 manhood. Accompanied also by five young men, 
 and several negro servants. Colonel Brown com- 
 menced his vo3^age on the 4th of May, and after 
 floating down the river for five days, approached, 
 on the morning of the 9th, the Cliickamauga 
 towms. At the Tuskigagee Island town several 
 Indians came on board, w4io, after being treated 
 kindly, returned to the shore and despatched a 
 messenger to the lower towns, calling on the war- 
 riors to intercept the Americans. Responding 
 to this treacherous summons, twelve canoes, 
 filled v/ith savages whose arms were carefully 
 secreted, ascended the river, and approaching 
 the boat, threvr its defenders olT their guard by 
 a perfidious stratagem, and then, suddenly as- 
 saulting them, killed Colonel Brown, his tw^o 
 eldest sons, and the young men by whom they 
 w^ere accompanied. Mrs. Brown, the younger 
 children, and the negroes, were hurried off" into 
 captivity. Joseph Brown, after remaining one 
 
188 HISTOKY OF TEXXESSEE. [1789. 
 
 year a prisoner in the Nick-a-jack towns, bearing 
 with such fortitude as a child might the most 
 dreadful hardships, was surrendered to Governor 
 Sevier, whose expedition from Frankland has 
 already been mentioned. The other survivors 
 of this terrible massacre were subsequently re- 
 leased. 
 
 The condition of the United States, at the 
 period when peace was declared, was such as 
 demanded a speedy relief from the pressure of a 
 heavy and almost unsupportable debt, and from 
 civil disturbances which the general government, 
 as then constituted, were not able to control. 
 To provide for the national debt, amounting to 
 forty millions of dollars, it was proposed to vest 
 in Congress the power to levy a tax of five per 
 cent, on foreign goods ; but to this project New 
 York and Rhode Island refused their assent. 
 All other suggestions being received with similar 
 tokens of popular disfavour, and the general go- 
 vernment not being vested with power to act in 
 the matter, the adoption of new articles of con- 
 federation became necessary. Accordingly, dele- 
 gates from all the states, Rhode Island excepted, 
 met in convention at Philadelphia, and after a 
 stormy and protracted session adopted the pre- 
 sent constitution of the United States, which 
 was ratified by North Carolina on the 13th of 
 November, 1789. At the same session, conscious 
 of the difficulty of adequately defending the re- 
 
1789.] TERRITORIAL GOVEKNxMENT. 189 
 
 mote settlements on the Cumberland, the legisla- 
 ture ceded to the United States the territory 
 which now forms the State of Tennessee, subject 
 to the land warrants ah-eady issued, and on the 
 condition " that no regulation made or to be 
 made by Congress shall tend to the emancipa- 
 tion of slaves." 
 
 CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 Territorial government formed — Blount appointed governor- 
 Difficulty with Spain — Instructions to Mr. Jay — Indignation 
 of the western people — Instructions rescinded — Unpopu- 
 larity of the Federal government — Intrigues of Spain — 
 Activity of Governor Blount — Indian hostilities — Campaigns 
 of Harman and ^t. Clair — Restlessness of the Cherokees — 
 Treaty of Holston — Depredations by the Creeks — Knoxville 
 founded — The lower Cherokees declare war — Attack on 
 Buchanan's station — Capture of Captain Handly — Captain 
 Beard surprises Hiwassa — Is court-martialed — Hostile move- 
 ments of the Creeks and Cherokees — Massacre at Cavet's 
 station — Sevier's expedition — Defeat of the Indians — The 
 Nick-a-jack expedition. 
 
 Congress having accepted the deed of cession 
 from North Carolina, William Blount was ap- 
 pointed governor of the territory south-west of 
 the Ohio. " Of this new territory, coincident 
 with the present State of Tennessee, the greater 
 part, at this time, was in possession of the In- 
 dians. To only two detached portions had the 
 
190 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780. 
 
 Indian title been extinguished ; one of four or 
 five thousand square miles — the late State of 
 Franklin — the north-east corner of the present 
 State of Tennessee ; the other, an oblong tract 
 of some two thousand square miles around the 
 town of Nashville, on both sides of the Cumber- 
 land River." The new governor, a native of 
 North Carolina, and one of the delegates from 
 that state to the convention, which framed the 
 Federal constitution, had already recommended 
 himself to the people over whom he was com- 
 missioned to preside by his services at the treaty 
 of Hopewell. 
 
 In the meanwhile, however, a difficulty had 
 arisen between Spain and the Federal govern- 
 ment, in which the western people were particu- 
 larly interested. Spain, occupjang Florida and 
 Louisiana, claimed not only to extend her ter- 
 ritory back to the head- waters of the Clinch 
 River, a region already partially settled by 
 Americans, but she also asserted her right to 
 the exclusive navigation of the Mississippi River 
 from its mouth to the thirty-first degree of lati- 
 tude. Against any such restrictions, the inha- 
 bitants of Virginifi, Kentucky, and the south* 
 west territory loudly protested. 
 
 Negotiations were accordingly entered into 
 with Spain, which resulted in tlie adoption of 
 instructions, authorizing Mr. Jay, the American 
 minister at Madrid, to consent to the introduction 
 
1789.] INDIGNATION OF THE PEOPLE. 191 
 
 of an article into the treaty then pending, yield- 
 ing to Spain for twenty years the full control of 
 the navigation of the Mississippi River, from 
 where it crossed the northern boundary of the 
 Spanish American possessions to its confluence 
 with the ocean. 
 
 Against this unjust concession, Virginia 
 strongly remonstrated. Supported by the other 
 southern states, and by the clamorous out- 
 cries of the people of the Ohio valley, the ob- 
 noxious instructions were rescinded. All further 
 negotiation proving ineffectual, Spain continued 
 to tax heavily all American commodities which 
 sought an outlet by way of the Mississippi. The 
 hardy vrestern men, who knew but little of com- 
 mercial restrictions and liked them still less, 
 after bearing for some time to have their rude 
 flotillas boarded by revenue officers, and their 
 agricultural products or peltry subjected to a 
 heavy impost, resolved to open the navigation 
 of the Mississippi in their own fearless way. 
 Believing that the failure of the Federal govern- 
 ment to obtain the right to an unrestricted navi- 
 gation of the Mississippi evinced a disregard for 
 the prosperity of the West, they entertained, at 
 one period, a serious design of separating from 
 the Atlantic States, and of organizing an inde- 
 pendent expedition against the Spanish posts in 
 Louisiana. But the esteem in which Governor 
 Mero was personally held, and the efforts which 
 
192 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1789. 
 
 he made through his emissaries to bring his 
 government into favour -with the western people, 
 averted, for a season, the impending storm. 
 
 Conscious of her inability to control the navi- 
 gation of the Mississippi, or to resist the advance 
 of the American settlers, Spain, fearful of the 
 growing power of the United States, determined 
 to use every effort to separate the inhabitants 
 west of the mountains from the Federal union, 
 her final purpose being to draw them under her 
 own jurisdiction. These intrigues were so far 
 successful as to increase the disaffection against 
 the Federal' government ; but the louder the 
 angry pioneers denounced the Union, the more 
 averse they became to detach themselves from it. 
 
 On the Hols ton and Cumberland there were 
 other matters demanding the attention of the 
 people. In addition to his executive office, 
 Governor Blount had been appointed Indian su- 
 perintendent for the southern tribes, a position 
 demanding great firmness of character conjoined 
 to a wise prudence and forbearance. 
 
 The occasion, however, always found him equal 
 to its demands ; and whether building forts along 
 the frontiers, corresponding with the Spanish 
 authorities, or treating with the Indians in coun- 
 cil, his zeal and ability were alike conspicuous. 
 
 Repeated efforts, on the part of commissioners 
 appointed by the general government, having 
 failed to put an end to Indian depredations, 
 
1790.] UNSUCCESSFUL CAMPAIGNS. 193 
 
 especially throughout Kentucky and the North- 
 West Territory, General Harmar was authorized 
 to proceed with the militia of Pennsylvania and 
 Virginia against the Miami towns. The force 
 assembled at Fort Washington during the month 
 of September, 1790 ; but their efforts to chastise 
 the hostile tribes proved singularly disastrous. 
 After suffering two defeats, by which the militia 
 suffered great loss, and the regulars were 
 almost annihilated, Harmar returned with his 
 dispirited troops to the Ohio, and there disbanded 
 them. 
 
 The unfortunate result of this campaign influ- 
 enced the general government to project an ex- 
 pedition upon a more imposing scale ; the com- 
 mand of which was given to General St. Clair. 
 Already unpopular in the West, St. Clair found 
 great difficulty in obtaining from Kentucky and 
 Tennessee their respective quotas of militia ; the 
 latter being desirous of fighting the Indians in 
 their own way, and regarding the services of 
 regulars as perfectly useless. In order to 
 meet the requisition of the president. Governor 
 Blount was compelled to resort to a draft. This 
 mode of raising troops was indignantly resisted 
 by men whose actions had hitherto been free 
 and unshackled ; and for a time considerable 
 disaffection evinced itself throughout the pro- 
 vince. Two hundred men were, however, sent 
 under Major Rhea to Fort Washington, a por- 
 
 17 
 
1 
 
 194 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1791. 
 
 tlon of whom shared in the terrible defeat of St. 
 Clair on the 4th of November, 1791. 
 
 At this time the Cherokees were growing very 
 restless, but were at length induced, mainly by 
 the influence of Robertson, to meet Governor 
 Blount in council on the banks of the Holston. 
 The result of this meeting was a further cession 
 of territory, in consideration of a large amount 
 to be paid in goods, and an annual stipend of 
 one thousand dollars. 
 
 But while the Cherokee delegates were formally 
 placing their people under the protection of the 
 United States, the Creeks were again committing 
 serious depredations on the Cumberland. Some 
 of the settlers, attributing these outrages to the 
 Cherokees, were disposed to break the treaty 
 just concluded, and commence a war of retalia- 
 tion ; but by the exertions of Blount and Ro- 
 bertson, the malecontents were finally pacified. 
 The dense population around White's station, 
 the site of the late council, pointing it out as a 
 favourable position for the seat of the territorial 
 government, a town was presently laid off at that 
 point, which received the name of Knoxville, in 
 honour of Major-General Knox, at that time 
 secretary of war under President Washington. 
 
 But however desirous of remaining at peace 
 with the surrounding Indians, the intrigues of 
 Spain and the shameful rout of St. Clair led 
 the confederated warriors to indulge the hope 
 
1792.] CHEROKEES DECLARE WAR, 195 
 
 that it miglit yet be possible to recover all the 
 territory occupied by the Americans south of 
 the Ohio River, and west of the Cumberland 
 Mountains. It was not long before the Chero- 
 kees be^fan to exhibit the effects of the influence 
 
 Cm 
 
 which had been brought to bear upon them. 
 Murders and depredations recommenced ; and 
 although McGillivray still expressed a desire to 
 preserve pacific relations with the Americans, 
 the conduct of his warriors gave just cause for 
 alarm. Governor Blount exerted himself with 
 great activity to avert the peril impending over 
 the settlements. He held a council at Coyatee 
 with the chiefs of the lower towns, and received 
 from them assurances of peace. He crossed the 
 mountain, and met the Chickasaw and Choctaw 
 delegates in conference at Nashville. These also 
 disclaimed all hostile feeling toward the Ame- 
 ricans. But the Creeks and Cherokees were 
 still active with the hatchet and the brand. The 
 five lower Cherokee towns boldly declared war 
 against the United States, and sent out armed 
 bands of warriors to ravage the frontiers. In 
 anticipation of this outbreak, Governor Blount 
 had placed the frontier settlements of the Cum- 
 berland under the protection of Major Sharpe. 
 Scouts and reconnoitering parties were ordered 
 to patrol from station to station, with instruc- 
 tions to shoot down any Creeks or Cherokees 
 who might be found lurking in the forest 
 
196 HISTORY OF TEJTNESSEE. [1792. 
 
 Notwithstanding these precautions, Buchanan's 
 station, four miles south of Nashville, was at- 
 tacked on the night of the 30th of September, 
 1792. But though the enemy numbered some 
 seven hundred warriors, and the garrison con- 
 sisted but of fifteen eifective men, the strength 
 of the works and the courage of the defenders 
 suflSced to baffle the assault of the Indians, and 
 compelled them to retreat with considerable loss. 
 
 This daring incursion called out the troops 
 under General Sevier, who, stationing his main 
 body at the mouth of the Clinch River, sent off 
 detachments to assist in garrisoning the chain 
 of fortified stations which had been erected for 
 the protection of Washington district. By this 
 judicious measure, the inhabitants of East Ten- 
 nessee were secured from any serious attack. 
 But the activity of roving bands of warriors 
 often baffled the utmost vigilance of the whites. 
 On the Cumberland, a party of Creeks, Chero- 
 kees, and Shawanese, attacked and put to flight 
 a company of forty-two men under Captain 
 Handley, taking the latter prisoner to Willstown, 
 where the Indians debated for several days 
 whether to put him to death, or suffer him to 
 live. After forcing him to run the gauntlet, 
 and practising many other bj\rbarities, they 
 finally concluded, at the intercession of two Bri- 
 tish traders in the Spanish interest, to adopt the 
 captive into their tribe. 
 
1793.] HIWASSA SURPRISED. 197 
 
 Being liberally supplied with the necessary 
 arms by the Spanish governor, John Watts, a 
 half-breed chief of the lower Cherokees, had 
 latterly increased the military efficiency of his 
 warriors by the formation of three companies of 
 mounted men, and it soon became evident that 
 all the southern tribes were preparing for a bold 
 and bloody struggle. 
 
 With the commencement of the year 1793, 
 the attacks on the frontier stations, within which 
 the more exposed settlers presently took refuge 
 with their families, increased in number and 
 daring. Kentucky also felt very severely the 
 effects of Indian hostility ; and a party of volun- 
 teers was organized under General Logan for 
 the purpose of invading the lower Creek towns. 
 But the expedition was deprecated by Governor 
 Blount, who feared it woul(} only exasperate the 
 Indians to commit greater excesses. Though 
 some of the Indians were bitterly hostile, others 
 were known to be friendly; and as but little dis- 
 crimination is exercised usually in case of an 
 attack upon towns so divided, it was more than 
 probable that the innocent would have been con- 
 founded with the guilty. Indeed, this soon 
 showed itself to be the case. On the 13th of 
 June, Captain Beard, with a campany of mounted 
 men, fell suddenly upon the friendly town of 
 Hiwassa, wounded Hanging Maw the chief, killed 
 
 his wife, Scantee a Chickasaw chief, and a num- 
 
 17* 
 
198 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1794. 
 
 ber of other Indians of consequence. The neigh- 
 bouring warriors immediately rose in arms to 
 the number of two hundred, repulsed Beard and 
 his followers, and assumed an attitude of deter- 
 mined hostility. When this occurrence took 
 place. Governor Blount was absent. His secre- 
 tary, General Smith, took such steps as resulted 
 in bringing Beard to trial by a court-martial ; 
 but, in the disturbed state of the frontier, and 
 from the revengeful feelings by which the bor- 
 derers were animated against the Indians, there 
 was no possibility of bringing Beard to punish- 
 ment. 
 
 Indeed the hostility of the southern tribes was 
 now becoming so manifest as to repress all sym- 
 pathy for the outrage which had been committed. 
 The territorial authorities, acting under the ad- 
 vice of the general government, still endeavoured 
 Xo restrain the people from pursuing retaliatory 
 measures ; but they could not always be brought 
 to withhold their hands while their friends were 
 being murdered around them. 
 
 On the 24th of September, one thousand Creek 
 and Cherokee Indians, commanded by John 
 Wat's and Double Head, crossed the Tennessee 
 with the intention of attacking Knoxville; but 
 disputes between the leaders prevented the as- 
 sault from being made under cover of the dark- 
 ness. The customary firing of the morning gun 
 by the garrison at Knoxville being mistaken by 
 
1794.] MASSACRE AT CAVET'S STATION. 199 
 
 the Indians as an indication that their approach 
 was discovered, they suddenly turned aside and 
 wreaked their vengeance upon the garrison of a 
 small block-house* then within sight. This station, 
 known as Cavet's, contained thirteen inmates, 
 three only of whom were gun men ; but, notwith- 
 standing the immense superiority of the besiegers, 
 this slender garrison resolved to defend them- 
 selves as well as they were able. Two of the 
 assailants were presently killed, and several 
 others being wounded, the Indians fell back 
 beyond rifle-shot while they sent forward a 
 messenger proposing conditions of surrender. 
 The terms were accepted, but the savages proved 
 treacherous, and barbarously murdered all their 
 prisoners with the exception of Alexander Cavet, 
 a youth Avhose life was saved by the interposition 
 of Watts. 
 
 This perfidious massacre, within eight miles 
 of the seat of government, roused the entire 
 population of the Holston. Governor Blount 
 ordered General Sevier to take the field. Placing 
 himself at the head of six hundred mounted men, 
 the latter, after crossing the Tennessee and mak- 
 ing some prisoners on the Oostanaula, marched 
 to the Etowah, on the opposite bank of which, 
 Le discovered the Indians intrenched. Crossing 
 the river by a ford above, the troops bore down 
 upon the disconcerted enemy, and after an hour's 
 
200 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1794* 
 
 hard fighting, succeeded in gaining a completo 
 victory. 
 
 Notwithstanding this reverse, war-parties still 
 continued to harass the settlements to such a 
 degree that, in spite of a direct prohibition from 
 the general government, a number of the settlers 
 on the Cumberland, aided by volunteers from 
 Kentucky, led by the gallant Colonel Whitley, 
 and, by a detachment of mounted men under 
 Major Ore, Avho was chosen to command in chief, 
 marched from Nashville against the Nick-a-jack 
 towns. On the 13th of September, 1794, this 
 party fell upon the savages by surprise, slew 
 a large number of them, and made prisoners of 
 nineteen women and children. On his return- 
 march up the Tennessee, Ore was attacked at 
 the narrows ; but he beat back his assailants, and 
 pursued them to the Running Water town, which 
 was captured and destroyed. In this important 
 expedition, Andrew Jackson served as a volun- 
 teer; the complete success which attended the 
 assault on Nick-a-jack being attributed to his 
 judicious suggestions. 
 
1794.] TERRITORIAL ASSEMBLY. 201 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Organization of a territorial assembly — Congress petitioned to 
 declare war against the Creeks and Cherokees — Colleges es- 
 tablished at Greenville and Knoxville — Washington college 
 established — Convention at Knoxville and adoption of a 
 Constitution for the State of 'J'ennessee — 'Sevier elected Go- 
 vernor — Blount and Coxe chosen Senators of the United 
 States — Their election declared invalid — Subsequent action 
 of the legislature of Tennessee — Andrew Jackson appointed 
 a member of Congress — His personal appearance — Indian 
 difficulties — Blount expelled the Senate — Appointment of 
 Jackson to fill the vacancy — Reception of Blount in Ten- 
 nessee — Chosen a senator of the State — His trial and ac- 
 quittal — His death — Roane elected governor — Prosperity 
 of Tennessee. 
 
 In 1793, the number of free white male inha- 
 bitants of the South- West Territory being found 
 to exceed five thousand, Governor Blount, in ac- 
 cordance with the provisions of the ordinance of 
 1787, authorized the election of delegates to a 
 territorial assembly, which met at Knoxville on 
 the fourth Monday of February, 1794, for the 
 purpose of choosing ten persons, from whom five 
 were to be selected by Congress as a legislative 
 council. A committee was also appointed to 
 draw up an address to Congress, petitioning for 
 a declaration of war against the Creeks and 
 Cherokees. In this temperately worded and welJ 
 
202 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1794. 
 
 written document it was stated that, since the 
 treaty of Holston, two hundred citizens of the 
 South- West Territory had fallen victims to Indian 
 barbarity, and a number of others had been car- 
 ried into captivity ; that property to the amount 
 of one hundred thousand dollars had been stolen 
 from them, independent of the slaves which from 
 time to time had been carried off; that the 
 Creeks and Cherokees, within the past two years, 
 had twice invaded the territory in force, and that 
 their ravages had been so universally felt that 
 there was not a single member of the assembly 
 but could "recount a dear wife or child, an aged 
 parent or near relative massacred in their houses 
 or fields by the hands of these blood-thirsty 
 nations." 
 
 Painfully impressed with the necessity of af- 
 fording more efiicient protection to a people who 
 had already suffered but too severely, the con- 
 gressional committee to whom the subject was 
 referred, recommended "that the President 
 should be authorized to call out an adequate mi- 
 litary force to carry on offensive operations 
 against any hostile tribe, and to establish such 
 posts and defences as would be necessary for the 
 permanent security of the frontier settlers." 
 
 The first legislative council commissioned by 
 the President of the United States, consisted of 
 Grifiith Rutherford, John Sevier, James Win- 
 chester, Stockley Donaldson, and Parmenas Tay- 
 
1795.] COLLEGES ESTABLISHED. 203 
 
 lor: these, with the governor and the members 
 of the house of delegates, constituted the general 
 assembly for the South-West Territory. 
 
 One of the earliest measures adopted by the 
 new assembly was to pass an act establishing a 
 college at Greenville. At the same session an- 
 other institution for educational purposes was 
 provided for in the vicinity of Knoxville. The 
 latter, which received the name of Blount Col- 
 lege in honour of the governor, still exists under 
 the title of the University of East Tennessee. 
 The details of the tax-bill having been adjusted, 
 though not without some discordant feeling be- 
 tween the upper and lower branches of the legis- 
 lature, and another memorial to Congress drawn 
 up, asking protection from Indian inroads, the 
 assembly finally requested the governor "to di- 
 rect that, when the census is taken next June, 
 the sense of the people may at the same time be 
 inquired into how far it may be their wish for 
 admission into the Union as a State." The bu- 
 siness of the session being thus completed, the 
 two houses were prorogued, at their own request, 
 until the 1st of October, 1795. Governor Blount, 
 however, thought fit to summon them to meet 
 again at Knoxville on the 29th of June. The 
 session only lasted thirteen days, but during this 
 period an act was passed incorporating Washing- 
 ton College, and provision made for calling a 
 convention of delegates from the people to adopt 
 
204 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1796: 
 
 a constitution for the new State, in the event 
 of its being ascertained that the population of 
 the territory exceeded sixty thousand. The 
 census returns made in the autumn of the same 
 year showing sixty-seven thousand free white in- 
 habitants and ten thousand slaves, a convention 
 was held at Knoxville on the 11th of January, 
 1796, and a constitution adopted for the State 
 of Tennessee. 
 
 The territorial government being thus abro- 
 gated, fresh writs of election were issued, which 
 resulted in the choice of General John Sevier as 
 governor of the new state. The delegates of 
 the state legislature, who had been voted for at 
 the same time, assembled at Knoxville on the 
 28th of March, and presently elected ex-Governor 
 Blount and William Cocke senators of the United 
 States. To the reception of the latter, however, 
 Congress raised objections. It was argued that 
 the authority for taking the census, and for es- 
 tablishing the new state, ought to have emanated 
 from Congress. The report of the committee 
 in favour of admitting the new state finally passed 
 the house. The senate was less compliant. The 
 new state was, however, after considerable oppo- 
 sition, admitted into the Union; but when the 
 senators elect presented their credentials and 
 claimed their seats, it was decided that their 
 election was invalid, because 'Uheir credentials 
 
1798.] GENERAL JACKSON. 205 
 
 were of a date prior to the act admitting the 
 state into the Union." 
 
 It was not long before this objection was re- 
 moved. The legislature of Tennessee, in obe- 
 dience to a summons from Governor Sevier, met 
 at Knoxville toward the close of July, and very 
 early the following month re-elected their sena- 
 tors to Congress, taking occasion, at the same 
 time, to correct certain errors in the enactments 
 of the previous session, by providing for the 
 election of a single member to Congress instead 
 of two, and for the choice of three presidential 
 electors instead of four. When these amendments 
 had been made, Andrew Jackson, a young lawyer 
 of Davidson county, who had already distin- 
 guished himself by his firmness in the discharge 
 of his professional duties, and his courage in de- 
 fending the frontiers from the predatory incur- 
 sions of the savages, was chosen to represent the 
 State of Tennessee in the Congress of the United 
 States. 
 
 At this period Jackson was about thirty years 
 of age. He is remembered by Gallatin "as a 
 tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with long 
 locks of hair hanging over his face, and a cue 
 down his back, tied in an eel skin : his dress sin- 
 gular, his manners and deportment that of a 
 rough backwoodsman. 
 
 Re-elected governor in 1798, Sevier found him- 
 self under the necessity of restraining the en- 
 
 18 
 
206 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1798. 
 
 croachments of the people upon the Indian lands. 
 The Cherokees were especially desirous that the 
 integrity of their boundaries should be respected, 
 but they addressed their complaints to men ac- 
 customed to perfect freedom of action, and but 
 little likely to observe a courteous forbearance 
 toward those from whom they had suffered so 
 much in times past. The general government, 
 however, evinced a proper regard for the rights 
 of the Indians, by instructing Colonel Butler, 
 who was in command of the United States troops 
 on the frontiers of Tennessee, to order all the 
 squatters upon Indian lands to recross the boun- 
 dary. But imperative as this mandate was, it 
 was found impossible to enforce it. The people 
 to whom it was especially addressed indignantly 
 refused to recede a single step; and as the affair 
 presently assumed a threatening aspect, the legis- 
 lature amicably interposed. 
 
 Commissioners having already been appointed 
 by the United States to obtain a cession of the 
 lands illegally occupied, Governor Sevier was 
 authorized to apply to the President for a tem- 
 porary suspension of the obnoxious order. The 
 effect of this application is not recorded, but it 
 maybe presumed to have been favourable, as the 
 trespassers were unmolested. 
 
 In the early part of the following July a 
 council was held at Tellico; but the chiefs ma- 
 nifesting a reluctance to part with any portion 
 
1798.] BLOUNT EXPELLED THE SENATE. 207 
 
 of their territory, the negotiation was postpone'! 
 until September, when Colonel Butler, on tlie 
 part of the United States, assisted by Governor 
 Sevier, who attended the conference to watch 
 over the interests of Tennessee, succeeded in 
 extinguishing the Cherokee claim to certain lands 
 between the Tennessee and Clinch Rivers, and 
 embracing those already settled upon. 
 
 In the mean time Senator Blount had been 
 expelled from the Senate of the United States, 
 on a charge of conspiring to set on foot a mili- 
 tary expedition against the Spanish territory in 
 Florida and Louisiana. Andrew Jackson was 
 elected to fill the vacancy. Blount returned to 
 Tennessee before articles of impeachment were 
 preferred against him. His arrest being ordered, 
 the sergeant-at-arms repaired to Knoxville for 
 the purpose of taking him prisoner to Philadel- 
 phia; but though this official was courteously 
 received by Blount, and hospitably entertained 
 by the citizens of Knoxville, so great was the 
 popularity of the accused that the sergeant-at- 
 arms, finding it impossible to obtain the co-opera- 
 tion of the state authorities, was compelled to 
 return home without executing his mission. As 
 an evidence they regarded that project as 
 praiseworthy which Congress had denounced as 
 criminal, the inhabitants of Knox county pre- 
 vailed upon General White to resign his seat in 
 the senate of Tennessee in favour of Mr. Blount, 
 
208 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1800 
 
 who, on taking his seat in that body at the en- 
 suing session, was unanimously chosen its pre- 
 siding officer. 
 
 But while he was thus honoured at home the 
 charges against him were brought to a trial in 
 the Senate of the United States. On the 18th 
 of December, Jared Ingersoll and A. J. Dallas 
 appeared as his counsel and objected to the juris- 
 diction of the court. After considerable discus- 
 sion this objection was admitted to be valid, and 
 on the 14th of January, 1799, the Vice-President 
 declared the opinion of the court, dismissing the 
 impeachment. 
 
 It needed not this decision to increase the 
 popularity which Blount enjoyed in Tennessee. 
 Having won the good opinion of the inhabitants 
 while governor of the territory, it was now 
 thought they would manifest their regard for his 
 previous services, and their emphatic disapproval 
 of the indignity which had been put upon him, 
 by choosing him governor of the state, but his 
 death in the spring of 1800 put an end to the 
 project. The following year Archibald Roane 
 was elected chief magistrate, and was continued 
 in that office until 1809, when he was succeeded 
 by Willie Blount, a younger brother of the de- 
 ceased senator. 
 
 The perfect quiet and prosperity which pre- 
 vailed for several years subsequent to the election 
 of Roane, render the history of Tennessee during 
 
1800.] PROSPERITY OF THE STATE. 209 
 
 that period barren of incidents sufficiently strik- 
 ing to be worthy of record. Emigrants continued 
 to pour into the territory in such numbers that 
 the census of 1800 exhibited a population of one 
 hundred and five thousand six hundred and 
 eighty-two, of which thirteen thousand five hun- 
 dred and eighty-four were slaves. 
 
 The rich valleys of East Tennessee and the 
 fertile plains of the Cumberland bountifully 
 repaid the labours of the husbandman. The 
 hardy and courageous race which had grown to 
 manhood amid the horrors of an unceasing war- 
 fare now exchanged the rifle for the plough, and 
 found leisure almost for the first time to culti- 
 vate the amenities of life. The earlier borderers 
 were rough uneducated men, careless of danger 
 from being inured to its constant presence, and 
 enjoying a precarious existence with a keener 
 zest from a knowledge of its uncertain tenure. 
 But as the cluster of log cabins, originally built 
 around or connected with the old picketed sta- 
 tions, gave place to the neat and well-ordered 
 village, as the village became a town of some 
 consequence, as the mechanic arts began to 
 flourish, and education extended itself to that 
 class which had hitherto remained in ignorance, 
 the nomadic habits of the people were gradually 
 subdued, local attachments sprang up, domestic 
 comforts increased, the manners and habits of 
 the people experienced insensibly a change, and 
 
 18* 
 
210 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1804. 
 
 luxuries hitherto unattainable became requisites 
 in every respectable household. 
 
 But this happj improvement in the social con- 
 dition of the people did not tend to lessen in 
 any marked degree their original force of cha- 
 racter; for when, at a later day, a formidable 
 Indian conspiracy threatened to devastate their 
 fertile and well-cultivated fields, and a foreign 
 invader disembarked an army of veteran soldiers 
 upon the southern coast, they manifested the 
 same martial ardour, power of endurance, elas- 
 ticity of spirit and sturdy courage which so emi- 
 nently distinguished their progenitors. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Aaron Burr — His duel with Hamilton — His journey to the 
 West — Account of his projects against Spain and the United 
 States — Co-operation of Blennerhasset — Burr pubhcly wel- 
 comed at Nashville — Becomes the guest of Andrew Jackson 
 — Descends the Mississippi — Returns to Philadelphia — In- 
 trigues with Eaton, Truxton, and Decatur — Eaton's visit to 
 Jefferson — Reappearance of Burr in the West — Military pre- 
 parations in the Ohio valley — Burr's correspondence with 
 Wilkinson — Denounced by tne latter — Jackson's warning 
 1o the Governor of Louisiana — Jefferson's proclamation — 
 Arrest of Burr in Kentucky — His acquittal — Suddenly ap- 
 pears at Nashville — Frustration of his schemes — Burr de- 
 scends the Cumberland — Encamps on the west bank of tho 
 Mississippi — His arrest, trial and acquittal — His subsequent 
 fortunes. 
 
 In 1804, having lost the confidence of the 
 republican party of which he ha.d been a distin- 
 
1805.] AARON BURR. 211 
 
 guished leader, Aaron Burr, a native of New 
 Jersey, a graduate of Princeton, a colonel in the 
 War of Independence, an eminent lawyer, a pro- 
 minent legislator of New York, a senator and 
 subsequently a Vice-President of the United 
 States, determined, in default of a regular nomi- 
 nation, to run independently for the office of go- 
 vernor of New York. Depraved in morals yet 
 artful and dissembling, with brilliant talents, a 
 fascinating address and polished manners. Burr 
 still possessed many warm friends among the 
 young and enthusiastic of his own party. He 
 greatly depended for success, however, upon the 
 votes of the Federalists, w^ho had not considered 
 it worth while to nominate a candidate. Failing 
 to be elected, the disappointed office-seeker at- 
 tributed his defeat to the influence of the great 
 federal leader Alexander Hamilton, whom he de- 
 liberately forced into a duel and killed. To 
 avoid the first outbreak of public indignation, 
 Burr fled to South Carolina, but presently re- 
 turned to Washington and served out his unex- 
 pired term as Vice-President. 
 
 When Congress closed its session in March, 
 1805, Burr, not venturing to return to New York, 
 set out for the West. He had several ostensible 
 objects in view, one of which was to off"er himself 
 as a candidate for Congress from Tennessee, 
 where no previous residence was required. Sug- 
 gested by Matthew Lyon, a Kentucky congress- 
 
212 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1805. 
 
 man, whose district adjoined Tennessee, the pro- 
 position had been supported by a former com- 
 panion-at-arms, General Wilkinson, who feared 
 that if some legitimate field of action was not 
 thrown open to him, he would betake himself to 
 unlawful and desperate courses. 
 
 Already, however, as subsequently appeared. 
 Burr was contemplating far other than the inno- 
 cent objects which he pretended to have in view. 
 
 To a considerable portion of the southern and 
 western people Spain had become particularly 
 odious, partly on account of the difficulties which 
 she had for so long continued to throw in the 
 way of navigating the Mississippi, and partly 
 from her intrigues with the southern Indians. 
 AAvare of this feeling, and ready himself for any 
 enterprise, however repugnant to common justice, 
 in which he might hope to better his present for- 
 tunes. Burr meditated the organization of a mi- 
 litary force in the West, to descend the Mississippi 
 and wrest from Spain a portion of her territory 
 bordering on the Gulf of Mexico. As the execu- 
 tion of this scheme could not but implicate the 
 whole South-West, it was contemplated, in the 
 expected event of a dismemberment of this por- 
 tion of the country from the Union, to establish 
 l^ew Orleans as the capital of a new empire. 
 Of this, either as dictator or president as cir- 
 cumstances might determine, Burr was to be 
 made the chief. 
 
1805.] BURR AT NASHVILLE. 213 
 
 With this scheme yet dimly shadowed out in 
 his mind, Burr started on his voyage down the 
 Ohio, during which he stopped for some time at 
 the island of Blennerhasset, subsequently so 
 called from the name of its wealthy proprietor 
 and occupant, Herman Blennerhasset. This 
 warm-hearted but impulsive and visionary Irish- 
 man, the artful adventurer found little difficulty 
 in winning over to his vaguely defined but ambi- 
 tious purposes. 
 
 At the Falls of the Ohio Burr met Lyon, by 
 whom he had been preceded. From him he 
 learned that his delay had proved fatal to his 
 prospect of being elected from Tennessee. 
 Nevertheless he accompanied Lyon to his home 
 at Eddyville, on the Cumberland, whence he 
 journeyed on horseback to Nashville. Here he 
 was honoured by a public welcome, hearty and 
 enthusiastic, and remained for several days under 
 the hospitable roof of General Andrew Jackson. 
 Of this gentleman, with whom he had become 
 acquainted while both were in Congress, Burr at 
 this time remarked, in a journal which he kept 
 for the entertainment of his gifted but unfortu- 
 nate daughter, that he "was once a lawyer, after- 
 ward a judge, and now a planter, a man of in- 
 telligence, and one of those prompt, frank, ardent 
 souls whom he loved to meet." 
 
 Returning down the Cumberland to Fort Mas- 
 sac, Burr there met Wilkinson, through whose 
 
214 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1806. 
 
 influence he was provided with a well-manned 
 officer's barge, in which he proceeded to New 
 Orleans, where he arrived late in June. After 
 a brief stay in the Orleans Territory, where he 
 found the authorities highly nnpopular, he re- 
 ascended the Mississippi to Natchez, whence he 
 travelled by land to Nashville. Again compli- 
 mented with a public reception, he enjoyed the 
 hospitalities of Jackson for another week, and 
 then proceeded through Kentucky and the In- 
 diana Territory to St. Louis. 
 
 It was here that Wilkinson, according to his 
 own story, first suspected Burr of meditating a 
 desperate and illegal enterprise. Assuming an 
 air of mystery, the artful plotter hinted at some 
 glorious undertaking favoured by the general 
 government. Yet that government he asserted 
 was imbecile, and darkly spoke of the western 
 people as being ripe for revolt. 
 
 Returning to the east. Burr spent the ensuing 
 winter, spring, and summer in Washington and 
 Philadelphia. Mystery still attended all his 
 proceedings. Nevertheless he began to talk 
 more boldly, and to tamper with prominent 
 public men at Washington, assuring some of them 
 that Wilkinson was a party to his enterprise.. 
 But from such men as Eaton, Truxton, and De- 
 catur he received no countenance; though to the 
 two latter he represented his project to be merely 
 the establishment of an independent government 
 
1806.] burr's military preparations. 215 
 
 in Mexico in the evesit of a war between Spain 
 and tbe Uniteci States, wliich then seemed by no 
 means improbable. Speaking more freely of his 
 designs to Eaton, that officer visited the president 
 and suggested Burr's appointment to a foreign 
 mission, declaring it to be his belief that a revo- 
 lution in the West would thus be prevented. 
 Jefferson, however, expressing his firm confidence 
 in the patriotism of the western people, demanded 
 210 farther explanation, and Eaton did not feel 
 authorised to give it unasked- 
 Late in August, 1806, Burr again made his 
 appearance in the West, aisd began to make active 
 preparations to carry out his designs. In com- 
 pany with Blennerhasset, he contracted for the 
 building of fifteen boats on the Muskingum; 
 authority was given to a mercantile house at 
 Marietta to purchase provisions; a kiln was 
 erected on Blennerhasset's island to dry corn for 
 shipment ; and numbers of the young and adven- 
 turous were enlisted to participate in some splen- 
 did enterprise, of the true nature of which they 
 were told little or nothing. 
 
 In the mean time Wilkinson had taken com- 
 mand at Natchitoches. While at this point there 
 came to him a messenger bearing a letter iu 
 cipher from Burr. This letter, in disjointed 
 phrases and a tone of mystery, announced that 
 Burr had nearly completed hie arrangements for 
 some enterprise, whicii, judging from the tenor 
 
216 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1806. 
 
 of tlie communication, Wilkinson was tolerably 
 cognizant of, and in which he was expected to 
 engage. How far the latter was implicated in 
 the conspiracy it is difficult to determine. Sub- 
 sequently Burr charged him with having carried 
 on a correspondence in regard to the expedition, 
 and with being privy to his designs. But ad- 
 mitting the fact of the correspondence, Wilkinson 
 alleged that it was continued solely for the pur- 
 pose of drawing Burr out. However this may 
 have been, the course he now adopted left no 
 room for suspicion. Gathering from Burr's 
 messenger all the particulars he could of the 
 projected enterprise, he sent the intelligence in 
 a letter to the president; despatched an order to 
 the commanding officer at New Orleans to put 
 the place in the best state of defence; warned 
 Claiborne, the governor of the Louisiana Terri- 
 tor}^, that his government was threatened by a 
 secret plot; made a requisition upon the acting 
 governor of the Mississippi Territory for a re- 
 inforcement of five hundred militia to proceed 
 to New Orleans ; and, in short, did all that it was 
 possible for activity and energy to accomplish. 
 
 Meanwhile it had been widely rumoured that 
 AVilkinson himself was concerned in the scheme 
 of Burr — a fact that caused the former no little 
 embarrassment, and for which as we have seen 
 his conduct had afforded no slight ground. Writ- 
 ing to Governor Claiborne, General Jackson 
 
1806.] ARREST OF BURR. 217 
 
 warned that gentleman of an enterprise being 
 on foot against his territory, and advised him to 
 guard against internal as well as external dan- 
 ger — as well against Wilkinson as against Burr. 
 ''For my own part, I hate the Dons," continued 
 Jackson ; " I would delight to see Mexico reduced ; 
 but I would die in the last ditch before I would 
 see the Union disunited." 
 
 At length, on the 29th November, finding it 
 impossible any longer to doubt the dangerous and 
 unlawful character of Burr's projected enter- 
 prise. President Jeiferson issued a proclamation 
 calling upon all in authority to exert themselves 
 for its suppression and for the arrest of the par- 
 ties concerned in it. 
 
 A few days previous to the issuing of this 
 proclamation, however, Burr had been arrested 
 at Lexington, upon the affidavit of the United 
 States district-attorney for Kentucky. But 
 having all the influence of the district-judge in 
 his favour, the conspirator was acquitted, and 
 his triumph was celebrated by a ball at Frankford. 
 
 After the ball. Burr suddenly departed for 
 Nashville. Scarcely had he gone when the Pre- 
 sident's proclamation arrived. Its effect was 
 completely destructive to Burr's plans. His 
 boats on the Muskingum were seized; Blenner- 
 hasset was compelled to fly down the river at the 
 head of a few followers ; and every arrangement 
 r, as made by the authorities of Kentucky and 
 
 19 
 
218 ■ HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1806. 
 
 Ohio to intercept all suspicious parties descend- 
 ing the river. 
 
 Meanwhile, having reached Nashville, Burr 
 departed thence with a few followers and two 
 boats down the Cumberland. On an island at 
 the river's mouth he was joined by Blennerhasset, 
 Finding that the whole number of those who still 
 adhered to his desperate fortunes was less than 
 two hundred, he endeavoured to draw recruits 
 from the garrison of Fort Massac, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of w^hich he was encamped. His efforts 
 proving signally unsuccessful, Burr once more 
 took to his boats, and proceeded down the Mis- 
 sissippi to Chickasaw Bluff, now Memphis, the 
 only military station between Fort Massac and 
 Natchez. Here the conspirator endeavoured 
 again to raise recruits. The commanding officer 
 of the fort so far yielded to his seductions as to 
 promise to join him after he had visited his 
 friends ; but neither the arts nor the tempting 
 offers of Burr had any effect on the soldiers of 
 the garrison. 
 
 Resuming his voyage. Burr, before reaching 
 New Orleans, upon which his sole hope now de- 
 pended, became acquainted with the revelations 
 made by Wilkinson. He saw at once that his 
 •whole project was baffled. "Withdrawing from 
 the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Territory, he 
 formed an encampment on the west bank of the 
 river, some thirty miles above Natchez. But he 
 
1807.] TRIAL OF BURR. 219 
 
 was not secure even here. Influenced by the 
 president's proclamation, the governor of Mis- 
 sissippi sent a detachment of militia to arrest 
 him. Surrounded, and hopeless of escape, he was 
 at length induced to yield. 
 
 Thus once more a prisoner, Burr was taken to 
 Washington, the capital of the Mississippi Ter- 
 ritory, where he easily found sureties for his 
 appearance at court. When the court met on 
 the 5th of February, 1807, he appeared with his 
 counsel, and demanded his release on the ground 
 that the attorney-general had given it as an 
 official opinion that his offences did not come 
 within the jurisdiction of the Mississippi Terri- 
 tory. His application for a discharge being 
 overruled by the judges. Burr fled the same 
 evening. A reward was immediately offered for 
 his capture. For nearly two weeks nothing was 
 heard of him ; but at length, on the 17th of Feb- 
 ruary, he was arrested, in mean clothes, while 
 travelling with a single companion through the 
 westernmost settlements of what is now Alabama. 
 
 Of Burr's subsequent history, of his trial at 
 Richmond, of his acquittal on account of the in- 
 formality of the evidence brought against him, 
 of his wandering career in Europe and obscure 
 and lonely life in New York, where he died at 
 the advanced age of eighty years — it does not 
 seem necessary to give any further account in a 
 volume like the present. 
 
220 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1806. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Difficulties with Great Britain and France — Action of Congress 
 — Increase of popular indignation against Great Britain — 
 Congress declares war — Disastrous issue of the campaign 
 at the north — Naval victories — Wilkinson calls on Tennes- 
 see for volunteers — Prompt response — Reach Natchez under 
 Jackson and Coffee — Ordered to he disbanded — Conduct of 
 Jackson — Return to Nashville — Tecumseh — His attempt to 
 form an Indian confederacy — Effect of his visit to the 
 southern tribes — The Creeks become hostile — Massacre of 
 Fort Mimms — Jackson reassembles the militia of Tennessee 
 — Battle of Tallasehatche — Battle of Talladega — Successes 
 of the Georgians and Mississippians. 
 
 During the progress of the events narrated 
 in the foregoing chapter, the relations of the 
 United States with the governments of Great 
 Britain and France had been growing less and 
 less friendly. 
 
 Engaged in war with each other, the two 
 latter powers, in 1806, issued certain orders and 
 decrees, bj which American or other neutral 
 vessels, having on board British or French mer- 
 chandise, or trading to French or English ports, 
 were rendered liable to seizure and confiscation 
 by the naval forces of Great Britain or France. 
 Upon the United States the effect of these or- 
 ders and decrees was to check, and wellnigh to 
 
1812.] DECLAEATION OF WAR. 221 
 
 destroy a commerce hitherto thriving, and fast 
 rising to the first importance. 
 
 In the expectation of bringing both EngLmd 
 and France to terms, by cutting off a consider- 
 able source of their necessary supplies, Con- 
 gress, in 1807, declared an embargo to prevent 
 the sailing of American vessels to British or 
 French ports. This measure, however, operat- 
 ing seriously to the disadvantage of the com- 
 mercial states, was, in 1809, abandoned, and 
 an act passed in its stead, to prohibit all inter- 
 course with Great Britain, France, and their de- 
 pendencies. 
 
 In the mean time other questions had arisen 
 to complicate and increase the existing difficul- 
 ties between the United States and Great Britain. 
 Among these were the rights of search and im- 
 pressment, claimed and exercised by the latter 
 government, and under color of which thousands 
 of our seamen, native-born as well as adopted 
 citizens, on the pretence that they were British 
 subjects, had been dragged from the protection 
 of their own flag to the galling servitude of the 
 English navy. 
 
 The patience of the country having been ex- 
 hausted, at length, in unavailing protests against 
 these various aggressions upon our commerce 
 and the rights of our seamen, it was determined, 
 as a last resort, to try the effect of an appeal 
 to arms. Accordingly, on the 18th of June, 
 
 19* 
 
222 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1812. 
 
 1812, Conn;ress issued a formal declaration of 
 war against Great Britain. As France had 
 just signified her willingness to enter into an 
 amicable arrangement of difficulties, it was not 
 deemed advisable or necessary to include that 
 government in the proclamation of hostilities. 
 
 At the north, the earlj operations of the first 
 campaign resulted in a series of disasters — the 
 loss of Mackinaw, the abandonment of Chicago, 
 the ignominious surrender of Hull at Detroit, 
 and the capture of a thousand American troops 
 at Queenstown Heights. On the ocean, how- 
 ever, the navj of the United States proudly sus- 
 tained the honour of our arms, and dissipated in 
 a great degree the gloom occasioned by the un- 
 toward course of events on land. 
 
 The war had raged for some time along the 
 Canadian frontier, when Wilkinson, in command 
 at New Orleans, made a call upon the militia of 
 Tennessee to march to the protection of that 
 important post. In answer to this summons the 
 gallant Tennesseeans, heedless of driving snow 
 storms and the severity of an unprecedented 
 winter, assembled at Nashville, on the 10th of 
 December, to the number of fifteen hundred foot 
 and four hundred horse — all volunteers. 
 
 Headed by General Andrew Jackson, whose 
 previous application for a regular commission 
 had been rejected, the foot soldiers descended 
 in boats to Natchez. Here a junction was 
 
1813.] VOLUNTEERS. 223 
 
 formed with the horse, who, under the lead of 
 General Coffee, had marched four hundred and 
 fifty miles through the Indian country. 
 
 Remaining at Natchez during the winter, 
 Jackson, early in the spring of 1813, received 
 an order from^ the Secretary of War to disband 
 his troops, and deliver over all the stores and 
 other public property to Wilkinson. The reason 
 alleged for this order was, that as the services 
 of the militia were very expensive, it had been 
 determined to dispense with them as far as pos- 
 sible. Jackson, however, shrewdly suspected 
 that the real motive for disbanding thera at 
 Natchez was to facilitate their enlistment into 
 the army of Wilkinson, whose recruiting officers 
 had already appeared in the camp. Two hun- 
 dred of the men were sick, and very few had 
 means of their own to return home. Conse- 
 quently, in the event of their discharge, many 
 of them would be compelled by their necessities 
 to enter the regular service, however unwilling 
 they might otherwise be to do so. 
 
 Deeming himself responsible to the brave 
 men who had followed him so far, for their safe 
 return to their homes and families, Jackson did 
 not long hesitate as to what should be his pro- 
 per course, under the circumstances. That 
 course, though in direct opposition to the orders 
 of the war department, he pursued witM the 
 fearless resolution which formed a prominent 
 
224 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1813. 
 
 trait in his cliaracter. Driving away tlie re- 
 cruiting officers of Wilkinson, in spite of warn- 
 ings, threats, and efforts to embarrass his action, 
 he procured wagons for his sick and disabled, 
 and, heading his troops, marched them through 
 the wilderness again to Nashville, the point 
 where they had been originally mustered, and 
 disbanded them. 
 
 The patriotism of Jackson could not be doubt- 
 ed ; his services had already proved valuable 
 and important. The motive for his conduct 
 was one that did honour to his heart. The 
 government did not deem it advisable, therefore, 
 to take any notice of his disobedience of orders, 
 but silently paid the expenses it had incurred. 
 
 Previous to the declaration of hostilities, it 
 had been urged as a cause for war on the part 
 of the United States, that agents of the British 
 government were actively engaged in inciting 
 the animosity of the north-western Indian tribes 
 against the American frontier settlements. 
 However this may have been, no sooner was war 
 proclaimed than the most of those tribes be- 
 came the open allies of Great Britain. The 
 moving spirit, by whose influence they had been 
 in a great measure swayed to such a course, was 
 Tecumseh, the celebrated chief of the Shaw- 
 anese. 
 
 From his boyhood this remarkable man had 
 been an active and unrelenting foe of the 
 
1813.] TECUMSEH. 225 
 
 Americans. Sagacious and observant, lie early 
 saw that tlieir encroachments could be stayed 
 only by the combination, in one friendly league, 
 of all the various contending tribes of his race. 
 To effect such a union became the grand aim 
 of his existence. Of a dignified and command- 
 ing appearance, an eloquent orator, a brave 
 warrior, crafty, resolute, and capable of bearing 
 every extreme of wilderness life, he possessed 
 all the qualities held in esteem by the Indians. 
 Thus endowed, and aided by the arts of his bro- 
 ther, the Prophet, who claimed to hold a mys- 
 terious intercourse with the Great Spirit, Te- 
 cumseh had acquired an extraordinary influence 
 over the various savage tribes of the north-west. 
 How that influence was exerted on the breaking 
 out of the war between England and America 
 has already been noticed. 
 
 After having held repeated conferences with 
 the British at Detroit, Tecumseh, in the spring 
 of 1812, attended by thirty mounted warriors, 
 left the North- West Territory, and moving rapidly 
 southward, penetrated the country as far down 
 as Florida, where he succeeded in persuading the 
 Seminoles to join his standard. Returning 
 northward, some time during the autumn he made 
 his appearance among the Greeks of Alabama. 
 Passing from town to town, he exerted all his 
 fiery eloquence, creating wherever he went a 
 fierce feeling of animosity to the Americans. 
 
226 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1813. 
 
 He entreated his hearers to become again what 
 they had formerly been — hunters and warriors, 
 and the foes of the white man and his civiliza- 
 tion. Their ancient allies, the English, he told 
 them, had sent him from the great lakes to pro- 
 cure their aid in expelling the Americans from 
 every foot of Indian soil; and he assured them 
 that the King of England would reward well 
 every one that should take up arms in his cause. 
 
 Departing in December for the North, Tecum- 
 seh left the Creek nation in a state of fearful 
 excitement. Two parties had arisen ; the one, 
 comprising the wealthy and more intelligent 
 chiefs, anxious to maintain peace ; the other, 
 comj)osed of the young and ardent clamo- 
 rous for the immediate destruction of the 
 American settlements. Stimulated continually 
 by the prophet, whom Tecumseh had appointed 
 to disseminate his doctrines, the war feeling con- 
 tinued to grow more and more violent, until it 
 broke out in murderous attacks, not upon whites 
 only, but also upon such of the Creeks as desired 
 to continue at peace with the United States. 
 
 At length the surprise and capture of Fort 
 Mimms by a band of the war faction, under the 
 lead of Weatherford, a noted half-breed chief, 
 brought affairs to a crisis. On this occasion 
 nearly four hundred whites and friendly Creeks 
 were either slain in the fight or massacred after 
 the capture of the fort. 
 
1813.] BATTLE OF TALLASEHATCHE. 227 
 
 Reaching Nashville on the 25th September, 
 1813, the tidings of this sanguinary affair creat- 
 ed an intense excitement. Scarcely had Go- 
 vernor Blount time to summon out the militia, 
 before General Jackson, having assembled the 
 volunteers of his late Natchez expedition, was 
 on his march to the '' Hickory Ground," the 
 chief seat of the hostile Creeks, embracing 
 the entire district between the Coosa and Talla- 
 poosa Rivers. Crossing the Tennessee at Rit- 
 ter's landing, Jackson with difficulty cut his way 
 over the intervening ridges to Mill's Creek, 
 where he remained for several days encamped, 
 until his foragers had collected provisions, in 
 want of which the army suffered a great deal. 
 
 While waiting at this place the commander- 
 in-chief despatched General Coffee, with two 
 divisions of five hundred men each, to attack 
 the town of Tallasehatche, some thirteen miles 
 distant, where a considerable body of the enemy 
 had assembled. Having forded the Coosa a 
 short distance above the Ten Islands, Coffee di- 
 rected one of his divisions to scour the neighbour- 
 ing country, while he led the other in person 
 against Tallasehatche. The sun was just rising 
 on the 3d of November when the Tennesseeans, 
 approaching the town en two sides, began the 
 attack. Not wholly unprepared, the savages, 
 headed by their prophets, with fierce yells and 
 the beating of drums rushed furiously upon the 
 
228 HISTOHY OF TENNES3EE. [1813. 
 
 advancing lines. A brief but sanguinary strug- 
 gle put an end to the action, in which, scorning 
 to beg for life, few Indians escaped destruction. 
 Nearly two hundred warriors lay dead on the 
 field, and eighty-four women and prisoners re- 
 mained in the hands of the victorious Tennessee- 
 ans, whose loss was but five killed and eighteen 
 wounded. Recrossing the Coosa, Coffee reached 
 the main camp late in the evening. 
 
 Jackson now pushed forward over the moun- 
 tains. Arriving at the Ten Islands of the Coosa, 
 he there established a depot for provisions, pro- 
 tected by strong pickets and block-houses, to 
 which he gave the name of Fort Strother. 
 
 While these events were transpiring, a small 
 band of friendly Creeks, having taking refuge 
 in a fort at the town of Talladega, had been 
 closely besieged there by a large party of "Red 
 Sticks," as the hostile Indians w^ere called, 
 in allusion to the colour of their war-clubs. 
 Aware that Jackson was on the Coosa, the be- 
 sieged for a time vainly endeavoured to convey 
 to him some intelligence of their alarming situa- 
 tion. Not a single warrior could leave the fort 
 unseen. At length a crafty chief, clothing 
 himself in the skin of a large hog, with the 
 head and legs attached, crawled out of the fort 
 one night on his hands and knees, and, thus dis- 
 guised, grunting occasionally and rooting in the 
 earth, managed to pass unsuspected through the 
 
1813.] BATTLE OF TALLADEaA. 229 
 
 enemy's camps. Once beyond arrow-shot, he 
 threw off his disguise, and sped like a deer to 
 the head-quarters of Jackson, who immediately 
 prepared to march to the relief of the fort. 
 
 General White, with a detachment of General 
 Cocke's East Tennesseeans, being some distance 
 higher up the river, Jackson despatched a mes- 
 senger to him with orders to hasten to Fort 
 Strother, and protect it in his absence. Leav- 
 ing a small guard to watch over the sick and 
 wounded, he crossed the Coosa at midnight, 
 and moved rapidly down the southern bank 
 toward Talladega, within six miles of which 
 the troops encamped, late in the evening of 
 November the 8th. 
 
 Scarcely had the tents been pitched, when 
 Jackson received the irritating intelligence that 
 White, instead of marching to Fort Strother, 
 had complied with an order from Cocke to re- 
 trace his steps to the mouth of the Chattanooga, 
 and there join the main body of the Eastern 
 volunteers. Fearing for the feeble garrison of 
 Fort Strother, Jackson nevertheless determined, 
 before hastening back to its protection, to make 
 a desj)erate effort to relieve the beleaguered 
 Creeks at Talladega. 
 
 In the gray of the following morning the 
 Tennesseeans moved to the attack of the Ked 
 Sticks, who, more than a thousand in number, 
 were posted in a dense thicket, along the margin 
 
 29 
 
230 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1813. 
 
 of a shallow rivulet, in the immediate vicinity 
 of the fort. This position, as well as that of the 
 beleaguered fort, Jackson's line, composed of 
 twelve hundred infantry, and eight hundred 
 horse, encompassed in an almost unbroken circle. 
 About eight o'clock the American advance 
 came in contact with the Indians. Though 
 taken by complete surprise, the savages fought 
 bravely, and with terrific yells and screams 
 threw themselves against the fiery circle by 
 which they were surrounded. At one point the 
 militia momentarily gave way to the impetuosity 
 of their charge. Being quickly rallied, however, 
 the whole line rushed in upon the savages. The 
 fight now became general. Flying, at length, 
 the Red Sticks were hotly pursued through the 
 forests, and many shot down as they fled. Their 
 total destruction seemed inevitable. But takino- 
 advantage of an unavoidable break in the line 
 the main body, the survivors efi"ected their escape 
 to the mountains, leaving more than three hun- 
 dred of their nuijiber dead. 
 
 By this victory, in which the Tennesseeans 
 lost but fifteen killed and eighty-five wounded, 
 one hundred and sixty friendly Creek warriors, 
 with their wives and children, were saved from 
 the slaughter that would have otherwise over- 
 taken them. 
 
 Having buried his dead, Jackson, whose pro- 
 visions threatened to fail him, hastened back to 
 
1813.] INDIAN DEFEATS. 231 
 
 Fort Strother. Here he was presently joined 
 by Cocke, who, having formed a junction with 
 "White, had penetrated the Creek country, de- 
 stroying three villages, killing sixty warriors, 
 and taking two hundred and fifty prisoners, 
 without the loss of a man. 
 
 In the mean time two other columns of troops, 
 one of the Georgia militia and friendly Creeks, 
 the other of Mississippi volunteers, regulars, 
 and Choctaws, had advanced from different 
 points against the hostile district. Both gained 
 important victories ; the Georgians, at Autosee, 
 on the Tallapoosa ; and the Mississippians at 
 Holy Ground, above the mouth of the Catawba. 
 
 These successes against the Creeks, and the 
 recapture of Detroit, formed almost the only 
 encouraging events in the second year of the 
 war. 
 
232 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Jackson's difficulties at Fort Strother — Arrival of fresh troops 
 — Jackson marches toward the centre of the Creek coun- 
 try — Battle of Emuckfau — Repulse of the Red Sticks — Re- 
 turn of the army toward Fort Strother — Battle of Enita- 
 chopeo — Gallant conduct of Constantine Perkins and Cra- 
 ven Jackson — Defeat of the Indians — Volunteers discharged 
 — Jackson marches from Fort Strother with a new army — 
 Battle of Cholocco Litahixee — Terrible slaughter of the Red 
 Skins — Anecdote of Jackson — Submission of the Indians — 
 Weatherford surrenders to Jackson — His speech — West Ten- 
 *nessee volunteers ordered home. 
 
 Shortly after his return to Fort Strother 
 Jackson became involved in difficulties of a 
 most discouraging character. In consequence 
 of the remissness of his contractors, his pro- 
 visions, at no time plenty, now threatened to 
 fail entirely. Already restive under short allow- 
 ance, the troops soon found cause for open dis- 
 satisfaction in a difference of opinion as to their 
 legal period of service. Repeated mutinies 
 broke out, and at length the whole expedition 
 seemed on the point of breaking up in an armed 
 struggle between Jackson and a few faithful 
 followers on the one hand, and the discontented 
 militia and volunteers on the other. Entreat- 
 ing, commanding, and threatening, by turns, 
 
1814.] BATTLE OF EMUCKFAU. 233 
 
 the general finally induced about a hundred 
 men to adhere to him until the arrival of rein- 
 forcements. The rest, claiming that the period 
 of their service had expired, persisted in return- 
 ing home. 
 
 At this critical juncture, on ihe 13th of Janu- 
 ary, 1814, eight hundred and fifty fresh volun- 
 teers, sent forward by Governor Blount, made 
 their appearance at Fort Strother. Immedi- 
 ately advancing toward the heart of the Creek 
 country, Jackson at Talladega received a fur- 
 ther addition to his force of two hundred friendly 
 Indians. 
 
 In the afternoon of the 21st, the army fell in 
 with numerous fresh trails. These indications 
 of the proximity of a large body of the enemy 
 being presently confirmed by the reports of his 
 spies, Jackson, encamping on the high grounds 
 of Emuckfau, made every preparation to meet a 
 sudden attack. It was well he did so. The 
 morning of the 22d was just beginning to dawn, 
 when his left wing was startled by the furious 
 assault of a swarm of savages. For half an 
 hour the attack was maintained stubbornly, and 
 as stubbornly resisted. Daylight at length dis- 
 closing the position of their assailants, the Ten- 
 nesseeans, charging in a body, drove them 
 through the woofls with great slaughter. 
 
 Though thus repulsed the Red Sticks were 
 not discouraged. In the course of the morning 
 
 20* 
 
234 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 thej boldly advanced a second time, and at- 
 tacked the right of the encampment. Charged 
 by Coffee's cavalry and a few friendly Creeks, 
 they were at length forced from their position 
 into a reedy swamp, where they lay concealed 
 and unassailable.* 
 
 While Coffee was thus engaged, the main 
 body of the enemy had attacked Jackson's left, 
 pouring from behind logs, trees, and shrubbery, 
 an irregular but deadly fire. This the Tennes- 
 seeans, though mostly raw troops, sustained 
 with the greatest firmness, until Jackson, who 
 commanded in person at this point, finally or- 
 dered a charge. Led by the impetuous Colonel 
 Carroll, the whole line now advanced, driving 
 the enemy before them with the bayonet. 
 
 In the mean time the Eed Sticks on the right, 
 issuing from their swampy fastnesses, had turned 
 on Coffee, who, though severely w^ounded, re- 
 mained at the head of his troops, and kept the 
 assailants at bay. Reinforced by Jackson, he 
 ordered a charge. Once more the savages gave 
 way, and the fight was ended. 
 
 Though repulsed, the Creeks had displayed a 
 ferocious courage that commanded the serious 
 consideration of Jackson, whose force was 
 weaker than he desired. His provisions were 
 scarce, his wounded numerous," and the enemy 
 would doubtless soon be reinforced. He deter- 
 
1814.] BATTLE OF ENITACHOPEO. 235 
 
 mined, therefore, to return to Fort Strother 
 with all possible despatch. 
 
 At ten o'clock the next day, the army began 
 its retrograde march, the wounded being borne 
 on litters made of the hides of the slain horses. 
 Enitachopeo creek was reached that evening. 
 Knowing that the Red Sticks had been hanging 
 on his rear. during the preceding day's march, 
 Jackson, on the morning of the 24th, fearing an 
 ambuscade at the usual crossing-place, deter- 
 mined to pass the creek some six hundred yards 
 lower down. 
 
 The wounded and the front guard had just 
 crossed, and Jackson, upon the eastern bank, 
 was superintending the operations of the army, 
 when an alarm gun was heard, followed imme- 
 diately by a fierce attack of the savages upon 
 Captain Russell's company of spies, who gradu- 
 ally retired, fighting gallantly, till they reached 
 the rear-guard. Colonel Carroll, commanding 
 the centre column, ordered his men to halt and 
 form. Struck with sudden panic, the right and 
 left columns fled without firing a gun, with their 
 officers foremost in the flight. Colonel Stump, 
 who came plunging down the bank, near the ex- 
 asperated commander-in-chief, narrowly escaped 
 being cut down by his sword. Sharing the 
 panic of the two others, the centre column also 
 plunged into the creek, leaving Carroll, sup- 
 ported by Captain Quarle's company, Russell's 
 
236 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 spies, and the artillery under Lieutenant Arm- 
 strong — in all scarcely a hundred men — to check 
 the enemy's advance. 
 
 While the infantry and a -portion of the artil- 
 lery, mounting to the top of the bank, there 
 held the Indians at bay, Armstrong, with a few 
 assistants, succeeded in dragging his solitary 
 six-pounder from the bed of the creek to an 
 eminence that commanded the approach to the 
 ford. In the hurry of unlimbering the gun, the 
 rammer and picker had been left on the car- 
 riage. AVith wonderful presence of mind, and 
 while Indian bullets rattled like hail around 
 them, Constantino Perkins and Craven Jackson, 
 two of the gunners, supplied the deficiency ; 
 Perkins, by removing his bayonet, and ramming 
 the charges home with his musket, and Jackson 
 by using his ramrod as a pricker, and priming 
 with a musket cartridge. Thus loading their 
 piece, this gallant little band, pouring grape 
 among the savages, kept them in check until 
 Jackson and his staff were enabled, by great 
 exertions, to rally the flying troops, and recross 
 the creek. At the same time Gordon's spies, 
 in front when the alarm was given, having made 
 a circuit through the forest, fell upon the left 
 flank of the Indians ; who, finding that the 
 whole army was now moving against them, 
 threw away their packs, blankets, and whatever 
 
1814] MOVEMENTS AGAINST THE INDIANS. 237 
 
 seemed likely to retard their flight, and fled 
 precipitately from the field. 
 
 The loss of the Tennesseeans in the battles 
 of Emuckfau and Enitachopeo, was seventy 
 killed and seventy wounded. Of Indians, one 
 hmidred and eighty-nine dead bodies were 
 counted on the two fields. How many of those 
 who escaped were wounded there is no means 
 of knowing. 
 
 Continuing their march without further in- 
 terruption to Fort Strother, Jackson's volun- 
 teers became entitled to their discharge, and 
 were sent home. 
 
 New calls for militia had meanwhile been 
 made. They came in slowly ; but, through the 
 exertion of Governor Blount, Jackson was ena- 
 bled to leave Fort Strother, on the 15th of 
 March, at the head of thirty-five hundred men, 
 including, besides Tennesseeans, a regiment of 
 regulars and many friendly Indians. Pushing 
 with this force fifty miles down the Coosa, he 
 built and garrisoned Fort Williams, on that 
 river. He then again directed his march 
 through the mountain wilderness for the great 
 bend of the Tallapoosa, some seventy miles 
 above the present town of Dadeville, in Ala- 
 bama. 
 
 At this point — Cholocco Litahixee, or the 
 Great Horse-shoe Bend — the main body of the 
 Red Sticks, some twelve hundred stron<^, had 
 
238 IIISTOHY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 assembled to make a desperate stand. Sur- 
 rounded almost entirely by the river, whose 
 windings here assume the figure of an immense 
 horse-shoe, enclosing a peninsula of about a hun- 
 dred acres, the position of the Indians was ac- 
 cessible only by a narrow neck of land, across 
 which they had thrown up a strong breastwork 
 of huge logs, so arranged as to expose assailants 
 to a cross fire. The houses of the village stood 
 upon some Ioav grounds at the extremity of the 
 peninsula, where hundreds of canoes were tied 
 to the river bank. 
 
 Determined to carry the breastwork, Jack- 
 son, early in the morning of the 27th of March, 
 despatched General Coffee with the mounted 
 men and friendly Indians to ford the river some 
 two miles below, and line the opposite bank of 
 the bend, so as to prevent the enemy from 
 escaping in their canoes. Signalized by Coffee 
 that he had taken his position, Jackson marched 
 the remainder of his force toward the breast- 
 work, planted his cannon on an eminence about 
 eighty yards from its nearest face, and at ten 
 o'clock opened a brisk but ineffectual fire. 
 
 'Meanwhile some of Coffee's Cherokees, swim- 
 ming the river, took possession of the canoes, 
 upon which the Red Sticks had relied for escape, 
 in the event of their being defeated. Employ- 
 ing the means thus offered. Coffee immediately 
 sent a considerable force across the river. 
 
1814.] BATTLE OF CHOLOCCO LITAHIXEE. 239 
 
 Headed hj Colonel Morgan and Captain Eus- 
 sell, this adventurous detacliment, not without 
 loss, reached the Indian village, and in a few 
 moments wrapped it in flames. 
 
 This new and unexpected attack, throwing the 
 Red Sticks into partial confusion, afforded Jack- 
 son an opportunity of which he was not slow to 
 take advantage. He immediately gave the or- 
 der, impatiently waited for, to storm the breast- 
 work. Rushing forward with loud shouts, the 
 men fought their way through a deadly fire to 
 the ramparts. Here an obstinate and sangui- 
 nary conflict ensued. At length Major Mont- 
 gomery, of the regulars, mounting the logs, 
 called upon his men to follow ; but he had 
 scarcely spoken when a rifle ball pierced his 
 brain, and he fell lifeless. Undaunted by the 
 fall of their leader, the troops, imitating his ex- 
 ample, scaled the breastwork and, after a des- 
 perate hand to hand struggle, finally forced their 
 way within the enemy's line. 
 
 Coffee's troops, hurrying from the destruction 
 of the village, now attacked the unfortunate 
 savages in the rear. Thus hotly assailed, they 
 fought with the courage of desperation, none 
 asking for quarter, but each man selling his life 
 as dearly as possible. After a lengthened 
 struggle some fled to the river and, attempting 
 to swim it, met death from the unerring rifles 
 of the Tennesseeans. Many betook themselves 
 
240 HISTOKY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 to tlie western angle of the breastwork, wliere, 
 scre-ened by heaps of timber and treetops, they 
 maintained a spirited fire upon Jackson's line. 
 Desiring to save the lives of those brave men, 
 the commander-in-chief despatched a messenger 
 to them, telling them of the uselessness of fur- 
 ther resistance, and assuring them of his cle- 
 menc}^ provided they would surrender. Shout- 
 ing defiance, they replied by firing upon the 
 messenger, who received a severe wound in the 
 breast. An attempt was then made to dislodge 
 them with the artillery. This failing, fire was 
 applied to their covert, and as they fled they 
 were shot down without mercy. Night only put 
 an end to this scene of blood, during which five 
 hundred and fifty-seven Indians left their bodie3 
 on the field of battle. Besides these, many were 
 slain while crossing the river; and it is conjee 
 tured that not more than two hundred survived, 
 and under cover of the darkness of night made 
 good their escape. Two hundred and fifty were 
 taken prisoners ;. all men and women except 
 two or three. The loss of Jackson, when com- 
 pared with that of the enemy, was small. In- 
 cluding the friendly Indians it was but fifty-five 
 killed and one hundred and forty-six wounded. 
 
 After the battle an interesting incident oc- 
 curred. Moved by the wail of an Indian infant 
 found upon the field, the mother of which had 
 perished during the confusion of the battle, 
 
1814.] SURRENDER OF WEATIIEREORD. 241 
 
 Jackson endeavoured to persuade some nursing 
 ■yvomen among the captives to suckle it. <'Its 
 mother is dead," was the stoical answer; "let 
 the child die too." Without children himself, 
 the general then undertook the duties of a nurse, 
 feeding the forsaken infant with some brown 
 sugar, which formed part of his private stores. 
 Subsequently carried home by Jackson, the poor 
 orphan thus provided for grew to be an intelli- 
 gent lad, learned the trade of a saddler, and 
 comino; to manhood was comfortably established 
 at Nashville. 
 
 The battle of the Horse-shoe brought the war 
 nearly to an end. Entirely broken in spirit, 
 the Red Sticks made but few efforts to rally, 
 and presently began to come into Fort Jackson, 
 built since the fight, four miles above the conflu- 
 ence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa. 
 
 Among the most conspicuous of the chiefs 
 who thus submitted themselves and their people 
 to the terms of peace offered by Jackson, was 
 Weatherford, the half-breed, who, leading the 
 Indians at Fort Mimms, had opened the war. 
 Riding up to the general's marquee, Weather- 
 ford was met by Jackson, who passionately in- 
 quired, — 
 
 " How dare you, sir, to ride up to my tent 
 after having murdered the women and children 
 at Fort Mimms ?" 
 
 "General Jackson" — so he replied — "I am 
 
 21 
 
242 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 not afraid of you. I fear no man, for I am a 
 Creek warrior. I have nothing to ask for my- 
 self. Kill me if you desire. I come to beg you 
 to send for the women and children of the war 
 party, who are now starving in the woods. 
 Their fields and their cribs have been destroyed 
 by your people, who have driven them to the 
 lYoods without an ear of corn. I exerted myself 
 in vain to prevent the massacre of women and 
 children at Fort Mimms. 1 fought there. I 
 fought the army of Georgia. I did you all the 
 injury I could. I am now done fighting. My 
 warriors are all killed, and I can fight no longer. 
 I look back with sorrow that I have brought 
 destruction upon my nation. Send for the 
 women and children. They never did you any 
 harm. But kill me if the white people want it 
 done." 
 
 When this speech was concluded, the throng 
 that had gathered around the marquee began 
 to cry out, "Kill him! kill him! kill him!" 
 Commanding silence, " Any man," exclaimed 
 Jackson, "who would kill so brave a man as 
 this, would rob the dead !" The men murmured, 
 but Weatherford's life was spared, and he took 
 no further part in the war except to influence 
 his warriors to surrender. 
 
 By the establishment of Fort Jackson a line 
 of posts was now formed from Tennessee and 
 from Georgia to the Alabama river. The leni- 
 
1814.] JACKSON A- MAJOR-GENERAL. 243 
 
 ent policy of the general having induced most 
 of the Red Sticks to submit, it was not deemed 
 necessary to maintain a large army longer in 
 the field. Garrisoning the different posts with 
 the East Tennesseeans of General Dougherty, 
 General Pinckney, the senior officer of the 
 southern army, on the 21st of April, ordered 
 the West Tennessee troops to march home. 
 Two hours after the order was issued they were 
 in motion. Keaching Camp Blount, near Fay- 
 etteville, they were ^there discharged by Jack- 
 son, who, before parting with them, spoke grate- 
 fully of their gallant conduct and of the patience 
 with which they had borne the privations and 
 hardships of war. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Jackson appointed a major-general — He negotiates a treaty 
 with the Creeks — The British at Pensacola — Jackson's cor- 
 respondence with the Spanish governor — His project for the 
 reduction of Pensacola — He calls upon Tennessee for volun- 
 teers — Fort Bowyer attacked — Repulse of the British — They 
 take refuge at Pensacola — Jackson determines to attack 
 that place — Arrival of volunteers from Tennessee — Jackson 
 marches upon Pensacola — Unsuccessful negotiations — Ame- 
 ricans attack the town — Submission of the Spanish governor 
 — Escape of the British — Indians driven off — Jackson re- 
 surrenders Pensacola — He proceeds to New Orleans. 
 
 Having been elevated to the rank of major- 
 general in the United States army, Jackson onco 
 
244 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 more left the retirement of the Hermitage, and 
 early in July proceeded to the fort called by his 
 name, where dm-ing the following month he suc- 
 cessfully negotiated a treaty with the conquered 
 Creeks. Through this treaty an assurance of 
 safety was given to the frontiers of Tennessee, 
 by the cession to the United States of all the 
 Indian territory lying along the Tennessee River. 
 In the mean time, a considerable number of the 
 Red Sticks refusing to submit to the terms of- 
 fered them, had fled to the Floridas, which at 
 this period belonged to Spain. Already pre- 
 paring for an energetic attack upon the south- 
 w^est when the northern campaign should close, 
 the British, landing a large quantity of military 
 stores at the mouth of the Apalachicola River, 
 besfan to reassemble and arm the fuo-itive Creeks. 
 Of this fact, and of the succour and protection 
 afforded the savages by the Spanish authorities 
 at Pensacola, rumours reached Jackson while he 
 was still employed in negotiating the treaty of 
 which mention has already been made. He im- 
 mediately despatched a letter to Manriquez, the 
 governor of Pensacola, remonstrating against the 
 conduct of the Spanish authorities toward the 
 United States, with which power Spain professed 
 to be at peace. In reply, Manriquez denied that 
 the fugitive Creeks were then with him. If they 
 were, he continued, hospitality would forbid him 
 to surrender them, or to refuse them assistance 
 
1814.] LETTER TO SPANISH GOVERNOR. 245 
 
 in tlieir distress. Admitting that the English 
 still possessed and used certain posts in the 
 Floridas, he attempted to show that they did so 
 by right of a treaty which existed between Great 
 Britain and the Indians previous to the conquest 
 of the country by Spain. 
 
 Not at all pleased with the reply to his first 
 note, Jackson despatched to Manriquez a second, 
 sharp and energetic in its tone and quite charac- 
 teristic. "I have the honor," so he wrote, "of 
 being intrusted with the command of this district. 
 Charged with its protection and the safety of its 
 citizens, I feel my ability to discharge the task, 
 and trust your excellency will always find me 
 ready and willing to go forward in the perform- 
 ance of that duty whenever circumstances shall 
 
 render it necessary Your excellency 
 
 has been candid enough to admit your having 
 supplied the Indians with arms. In addition to 
 this, I have learned that a British flag has been 
 seen flying on one of your forts. All this is 
 done while you are pretending to be neutral. 
 You cannot be surprised then, but will provide 
 a fort in your town for my soldiers and Indians, 
 should I take it into my head to pay you a visit." 
 
 In this last sentence, Jackson hinted at what 
 he had more than once previously urged upon the 
 federal authorities, the necessity of accomplish- 
 ing the reduction of Pensacola. Beturning 
 from that plase, the messenger who had carried 
 
 21* 
 
246 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 the general's second letter to Manriquez, reported 
 that he had there seen from one hundred and 
 fifty to two hundred soldiers, and about five hun- 
 dred Indian warriors, under the drill of British 
 ojSicers, armed with new muskets, and dressed in 
 the English uniform. 
 
 This information Jackson immediately de- 
 spatched to the government, and again urged his 
 favourite project — the reduction of Pensacola. 
 Orders to take possession of that post had already 
 been sent to him, but he did not receive them till 
 six months afterward. 
 
 At length, having finished his business with the 
 Indians at Fort Jackson, the commander-in-chief, 
 on the 11th of August, departed for Mobile, 
 which it was expected that the British would 
 soon attack. Here he found himself at the head 
 of three thin regiments of regulars. In view 
 of the preparations wdiich the enemy were mak- 
 ing at Pensacola, he presently hurried oif de- 
 spatches to Tennessee, with pressing calls for 
 volunteers. These despatches had scarcely 
 reached Nashville, when, on the 15th of Sep- 
 tember, Fort Boyer was attacked by the British. 
 This post, the possession of which would 
 greatly facilitate the proposed operations of the 
 enemy against New Orleans, was built on the 
 eastern point of Mobile Bay, thirty miles distant 
 from the town, and commanding the approach to 
 it. Garrisoned by one hundred and thirty re- 
 
1814. J EXPEDITION AGAINST PENSACOLA. 247 
 
 gulars, the fort made so gallant a resistance that 
 the British were at length forced to retire, wiih 
 the loss of a sloop-of-war blown up, and of two 
 hundred and thirty-two men killed and wounded. 
 
 After this repulse the enemy took refuge at 
 Pensacola. Finding all his previous conjectures 
 thus confirmed, Jackson, though without orders,* 
 determined to assume the responsibility and take 
 possession of that place. Such a course he be- 
 lieved could not afford even a pretext for rupture 
 between Spain and the United States. If the 
 latter country through her agents gave assistance 
 to our enemy, she deserved herself to be treated 
 as a foe. On the other hand, if Spain, having 
 but a small force in the Floridas, could not main- 
 tain her neutrality by expelling thence the troops 
 of Great Britain, it would certainly be no just 
 ground of complaint if the United States were 
 to bring in an army to q^ssist her. At any rate, 
 so Jackson argued, should complaint be made, 
 his government having never given him authority 
 to do as he proposed might with propriety dis- 
 avow the act, and by exposing himself to punish- 
 ment sufiiciently atone for whatever outrage he 
 might thus inflict upon Spain. Accordingly he 
 resolved to march upon Pensacola as soon as a 
 sufficient force could be raised. 
 
 In the mean time, Jackson's call upon Ten- 
 nessee had been responded to with spirit and 
 alacrity. Only nineteen days after it had reached 
 
248 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 the state capital, Coffee was at Fajetteville with 
 two thousand able-bodied troops, well equipped, 
 and eager to advance. Joined during his rapid 
 march by eight hundred additional volunteers, 
 Coffee presently encamped on the western bank 
 of the Tombigbee, a short distance al)ove its con- 
 fluence with the Alabama. Here on the 26th 
 of October he' was met by Jackson, who pro- 
 ceeded expeditiously to make the necessary ar- 
 rangements for an immediate march. 
 
 Crossing the Tombigbee, Coffee's brigade 
 pressed forward to Fort Montgomery. After a' 
 few days of repose at this place, Jackson took 
 up his line of march for Pensacola, at the head 
 of three thousand Tennesseeans, regulars, Mis- 
 sissippi mounted men, and friendly Indians. On 
 the 6th of November he encamped within two 
 miles of the Spanish town. ^ 
 
 Before proceeding farther, Jackson deter- 
 mined to try once more the effect of peaceable 
 negotiation, and endeavour to ascertain how far 
 Manriquez felt disposed to preserve a good un- 
 derstanding between the two governments. Ac- 
 cordingly Major Pierre was despatched w^ith a 
 flag to make known the objects at which the 
 Americans aimed, and to require that the dif- 
 ferent forts. Barrancas, St. Rose, and St. Michael, 
 should be immediately surrendered, to be garri- 
 soned by United States troops until Spain, by 
 fui^nishing a sufficient force, might be able to 
 
1814.] EXPEDITION AGAINST PENSACOLA. 249 
 
 protect the province and preserve her neutrality 
 unimpaired. 
 
 Fired upon from Fort St. Michael's, Pierre was 
 compelled to return without having accomplished 
 his mission. Notwithstanding this outrage, Jack- 
 son still desired a peaceable understanding, and 
 by a prisoner sent a letter to the Spanish go- 
 vernor, demanding an explanation for the insult 
 that had been offered to his flag. In his reply, 
 Manriquez disclaimed any participation in the 
 affair, and expressed his perfect willingness to 
 receive any overtures the American general 
 might be pleased to make. 
 
 Confirmed in his opinion that what had been 
 done was chargeable upon the English rather 
 than upon the Spanish authorities, Jackson ad- 
 mitted himself satisfied with this explanation by 
 immediately despatchilig Pierre a second time to 
 the governor, with a message similar to the one 
 previously attempted to be sent. "I come not," 
 he wrote, ''as the enemy of Spain, to make 
 war, but to ask for peace; to demand security 
 for my country, and that respect to which she is 
 entitled and must receive. My force is sufficient, 
 and my determination taken to prevent a future 
 repetition of the ii^'uries she has received. I 
 demand, therefore, the possession of the Barran- 
 cas, and other fortifications, with all their muni- 
 tions of war. If delivered peaceably, the whole 
 will be receipted for, and become the subject of 
 
250 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 future arrangements by our respective govern- 
 ments; while the property, laws, and religion of 
 your citizens shall be respected. But if taken 
 by an appeal to arms, let the blood of your sub- 
 jects be upon your own head. One hour is given 
 you for deliberation. At the expiration of that 
 hour your determination must be had." 
 
 Receiving the message at midnight, Manriquez 
 immediately summoned a council, which decided 
 that the American general's demands could not 
 be acceded to. Assuring the governor that re- 
 course would certainly be had to arms, Pierre 
 returned to Jackson, wdio at once put his troops 
 in motion toward the town. 
 
 Across the only street by which Jackson could 
 enter Pensacola, without passing under the guns 
 of Fort St. Michael, the Spaniards had planted 
 several pieces of artillery. To remove this ob- 
 struction. Captain Laval, of the third regiment, 
 was ordered forward with one hundred picked 
 men. Regardless of a heavy cross-fire, poured 
 in upon him from houses and gardens, Laval, 
 early on the morning of November the 7th, ad- 
 vanced with a daring rapidity that carried him 
 almost into the midst of the Spaniards before they 
 had time to discharge their pieces. Though at this 
 moment deprived of their leader, who fell with his 
 leg shattered by a grape-shot, Laval's little band 
 reaching the battery, carried it at the bayonet's 
 point, and drove the 'Spaniards from their guns. 
 
1814.] SUHEENDER or PENSACOLA. 251 
 
 In this brief but spirited affair seven Ameri- 
 cans were slain and eleven wounded. The loss 
 of the Spaniards was four killed, six wounded, 
 and several taken captive. 
 
 Forming in three columns, the main body of 
 Jackson's troops now advanced along the beach 
 eastward of the town. Here thej were met by 
 the terrified governer, bearing a flag of truce, 
 and expressing his readiness to agree to the 
 American commander's proposals. Ordering a 
 cessation of hostilities, Jackson hurried to the 
 Intendant's house, and there completed an ar- 
 rangement by which the town-arsenals and muni- 
 tions of war were to be immediately surrendered 
 
 Leaving Major Pierre with eight hundred men 
 to take possession ef Fort St. Michael, Jackson 
 withdrew the remainder of his troops to their 
 camp outside the town. An attempt was made 
 by the British, whose shipping still remained at 
 anchor in the harbour, to intercept his return 
 march. Aided by their boats, they were enabled 
 to open a brisk fire upon the Americans as they 
 passed along the principal streets, but Lieutenant 
 Call hastening to the beach with a single piece 
 of artillery, soon obliged them to disperse. 
 
 At six o'clock in the evening the commandant 
 of Fort St. Michael declared that he could not 
 evacuate before morning. Word was at once sent 
 him that if the fort were not instantly delivered 
 up it would be stormed and the garrison put to 
 
252 HISTOEY OF TEXXESSEE. [1814. 
 
 the sword. The American troops were imme- 
 diately admitted. 
 
 Early in the following morning preparations 
 were made to take possession of Port Barrancas, 
 seven miles from Pensacola, and which, command- 
 ing the entrance to the harbour, if once in the 
 hands of Jackson, would enable him to cut off 
 the retreat of the British shipping — an object he 
 earnestly desired to accomplish. The order for 
 its delivery had been signed by Manriquez and 
 the line of march toward it already taken up, 
 when a tremendous explosion, followed by two 
 others in quick succession, v,\as heard in that di- 
 rection. Intelligence presently arrived that the 
 fort had been blown up by the British, whose 
 fleet, sailing by the yet smoking ruins, made 
 good their escape to sea. 
 
 Having thus driven off the British, and com- 
 pelled the fugitive Red Sticks to flee for shelter 
 to the banks of the Apalachicola, Jackson, on the 
 9 th of November, gave up Pensacola to the Spa- 
 nish authorities, and marched his forces to Fort 
 Montgomery. From this post. Coffee with his 
 mounted Tennesseeans was ordered to proceed 
 to the Mississippi, and to encamp on the borders 
 of that stream as near New Orleans as a supply 
 of forage could be obtained. Convinced that the 
 British were preparing a formidable expedition 
 against that city, Jackson himself hastened by 
 way of Mobile to take command there in person. 
 
1814.1 CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. 253 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Jackson calls again for volunteers — Patriotism of the Tennes- 
 seeans — Disaffection at New Orleans — British forces under 
 Packenham threaten that city — Difficulty with the Louisiana 
 militia — Martial law proclaimed — Vanguard of the enemy 
 encamp on the Mississippi — Night attack by Jackson and 
 Coffee — Dilatory movements of the British — Destruction of 
 the schooner Caroline — First repulse of the enemy — Jack- 
 son's difficulty with the Louisiana legislature — Battle of the 
 8th of January — Packenham slain — Final repulse of the 
 British. . 
 
 In consequence of communications from the 
 Governor of Louisiana, Jackson seeing at once 
 that for the defence of New Orleans he would 
 have to relj mainly upon exterior resources, had 
 already pressed the executives of the neighbour- 
 ing states to hasten forward bodies of militia 
 to his support. 
 
 Enthusiastic and active, Governor Blount had 
 exerted all his authority and influence in com- 
 pliance with Jackson's solicitations. By the 19th 
 of November twenty-five hundred brave Ten- 
 nesseeans, headed by the energetic Carroll, were 
 assembled at Nashville. Eight days afterward 
 they embarked on the Cumberland for New 
 Orleans. Fortunately the river, usually low at 
 this period of the year, was unexpectedly swol- 
 
 22 
 
254 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 len by heavy rains, and the boats descended 
 without obstruction to the Ohio. 
 
 Reaching New Orleans on the 1st of Decem- 
 ber, Jackson found that city illy prepared to 
 meet an attack. The anxiously-expected troops 
 from Tennessee and Kentucky had not as yet 
 been heard from. A few regulars and the militia 
 and volunteers of the city and its vicinity formed 
 almost the sole force upon which Jackson could 
 depend in the event of the enemy's sudden ap- 
 pearance. Already in session several weeks, the 
 legislature of Louisiana had as yet resolved upon 
 nothing. Despondency and discontent, and what 
 was more alarming, disaffection were manifested 
 on all sides. The arrival of Jackson, however, 
 and the activity and energy which he immediately 
 displayed, gave a more encouraging aspect to 
 affairs and inspired even the desponding with 
 hope. 
 
 On the 12th of December intelligence arrived 
 at New Orleans of the appearance off the en- 
 trance to Lake Borgne of the long-looked-for 
 English fleet, having on board, exclusive of sailors 
 and marines, between ten and twelve thousand 
 veteran troops, commanded by Sir Edward Pack- 
 enham, a distinguished general of Wellington's 
 late Peninsula army. Two days afterward, the 
 American flotilla of gunboats, despatched to re- 
 connoitre the enemy, having been becalmed on 
 Lake Borgne, was there attacked by a greatly 
 
1814.] EFFORTS OF J kCKSOX. 255 
 
 superior number of British barges, and after a 
 hard struggle compelled to surrender. 
 
 Seriously concerned at this disaster, Jackson 
 on the loth hurried off expresses to obtain tid- 
 ings, if possible, of Coffee's brigade and of the 
 militia expected from Tennessee and Kentucky. 
 "You must not sleep," so he wrote to Coffee, 
 t' until you arrive within striking distance. Your 
 accustomed activity is looked for. Innumerable 
 defiles present themselves where your services 
 and riflemen will be all-important. An oppor- 
 tunity is at hand to reap for yourself and brigade 
 the approbation of your country." 
 
 On the 16th, an aid-de-camp arrived with in- 
 telligence from Carroll, who wrote that the state 
 of the weather, and high and contrary winds, 
 greatly retarded his progress. To remedy this, 
 the only steamboat then on the river having just 
 arrived from Pittsburg, was sent to bring him 
 down. 
 
 After encountering numerous hardships from 
 heavy rains and a scarcity of supplies. Coffee 
 reached Sandy Creek, a short distance above 
 Baton Rouge, where he received Jackson's orders 
 on the evening of the 17th of December. Leav- 
 ing behind him the sick, three hundred in number, 
 he set off at once with twelve hundred and fifty 
 men. Pushing forward himself with eight hun- 
 dred of the best mounted, he accomplished the 
 distance of one hundred and twenty miles in two 
 
256 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814. 
 
 days, and on the third encamped within four 
 miles of the city. 
 
 In the mean time, Jackson had been actively 
 engaged in preparations to prevent surprise, and 
 to meet the enemy promptly at every accessible 
 point. In this, however, he encountered serious 
 difficulties. His first effort to draw out the mi- 
 litia, among whom were many disaffected persons, 
 met with resistance on their part, and that re- 
 sistance was encouraged by the legislature then 
 in session, who declared his requisition to be 
 illegal, unnecessary, and oppressive. Thus sup- 
 ported, a considerable portion of the militia clung 
 to the position they had taken, and resolutely 
 refused to answer any call upon their services, 
 except on conditions to which Jackson's unyield- 
 ing disposition would not suffer him to consent. 
 
 In this emergency the commander-in-chief 
 urged upon the legislature the necessity of sus- 
 pending the writ of habeas corpus. Wearied at 
 length with the dilatory, and perhaps justifiable 
 cautiousness of the legislature in acting upon this 
 subject, on the 20th of December he took the 
 responsibility of closing their deliberations by 
 proclaiming the city and environs of New Orleans 
 under martial law. This rigid policy which, as 
 will presently be seen, involved its author in con- 
 siderable difficulty, was adopted '< under a solemn 
 conviction that the country committed to his care 
 could by such a measure alone be saved from 
 
1814.] NIGHT ATTACK, 257 
 
 Utter ruin. By it he intended to supersede such 
 civil powers as in their operation interfered with 
 those he was obliged to exercise. He thought 
 that, at such a moment, constitutional forms 
 should be suspended for the preservation of con- 
 stitutional rights; and that there could be no 
 question, whether it were better to depart for a 
 jQoment from the enjoyment of our dearest pri- 
 vileges, or to have them wi-ested from us for 
 ever. 
 
 Meanwhile, having been joined by the Ten- 
 nesseeans under Carroll, and a body of Mississippi 
 dragoons, Jackson, on the 21st, found himself at 
 the head of five thousand men, less than one-fifth 
 of whom were regulars. With the exception of 
 the Kentucky troops all the forces expected had 
 arrived. 
 
 On the 22d, the British vanguard, composed 
 of three thousand men, led by General Keene, 
 having passed, under the guidance of some 
 Italian fishermen, from the head of Lake Borgne 
 through the Bayou Bienvenu to within a short 
 distance of the Mississippi, encamped on the left 
 bank of that river, fifteen miles below New 
 Orleans. 
 
 Concentrating his forces, Jackson determined 
 to attack the enemy that evening. Marching 
 from the city at the head of the regulars, Coifee's 
 brigade, the city militia, and Hind's Mississippi 
 dragoons, he arrived within view of the British 
 
 22* 
 
258 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1814, 
 
 camp a little before dark. Jackson's plans were 
 speedily arranged. The schooner Caroline, drop- 
 ping down the river, was to give the signal of 
 attack, by opening a fire upon the British left, 
 while Coffee's brigade, taking a circuitous route, 
 was ordered to advance against and turn their 
 right. The main body, under Jackson in per- 
 son, pushed forward to assail them in front. 
 
 It was dark night, when the Caroline, floating 
 quietly down the stream, anchored abreast of the 
 enemy's watch-fires, and directed by their light 
 poured a heavy and destructive fire upon the 
 most crowded portion of the encampment. Hav- 
 ing had no suspicions of the real character of the 
 Caroline, the British were thrown into momentary 
 confusion by this unexpected attack. Recover- 
 ing, however, they extinguished their watch-fires, 
 and retired a short distance into the open field ; 
 meanwhile answering the cannonade of the ves- 
 sel by harmless volleys of musketry and dis- 
 charges of Congreve rockets. 
 
 When the Caroline commenced firing, Coffee 
 had reached a point which he believed to be in 
 front of the centre of the enemy's right wing. 
 Extending his own line parallel with the river, 
 he marched directly toward the camp. He had 
 scarcely advanced a hundred yards, when not 
 knowing that the British had been forced back 
 from the river, he was startled by encountering 
 a sudden and heavy discharge of musketry. 
 
1814.] NIGHT ATTACK. 25i) 
 
 The moon had now risen, but shone dimly 
 through the gathering fog. Though fired upon, 
 Coffee's riflemen could not mark their assailants 
 with that distinctness which was necessary to the 
 fatality of their aim, and consequently to the 
 success of their movement. Ordered to advance, 
 however, they moved forward bravely, utterly 
 regardless of what might be the strength of the 
 force opposed to them, and gaining a nearer po- 
 sition opened upon the enemy, who speedily gave 
 way, retreated, rallied again, and were a second 
 time forced back by the deadly fire of the Ten- 
 nesseeans. 
 
 In the mean time, after a desperate struggle 
 and a great deal of confusion on both sides, 
 Jackson had broken the enemy's centre. Coffee 
 again charging on their right, drove his oppo- 
 nents once more .before him. Thus successfully 
 assailed at three points, the British abandoning 
 their original position at length stood firm in a 
 very strong one, between an old levee, which 
 sheltered them from the Caroline, and a new one, 
 raised within, which covered them from the rifles 
 of the Tennesseeans. 
 
 Finding that this position could not be carried, 
 and that the enemy, reinforced during the contest, 
 now greatly outnumbered him, Jackson remained 
 inactive on the battle-field till day-break, and 
 then withdrew to a strong stand-point, two miles 
 
260 HISTORY OF TENJ^^ESSEE. [1814. 
 
 closer to the citj, where the Mississippi and the 
 swamp approached nearest each other. 
 
 The loss of the British in this night attack 
 was estimated at four hundred killed, wounded, 
 and missing. That of the Americans was but 
 twentj-four killed, one hundred and fifteen 
 wounded, and seventy-four made prisoners. 
 
 , Had the enemy advanced at once upon Jack- 
 son, the ultimate fortune of their expedition 
 would probably have been diiferent. But, as the 
 American commander had foreseen, his spirited 
 night assault threw them into alarm and rendered 
 their subsequent operations cautious and slow. 
 Ignorant of his strength, which the American pri- 
 soners exaggerated greatly, they waited to bring 
 up reinforcements and artillery. Profiting by 
 their delay, Jackson proceeded with almost in- 
 credible activity and labour to fortify his natu- 
 rally strong position. Having deepened and 
 widened the shallow ditch which stretched across 
 his front from the Mississippi to the swamp, he 
 formed a rampart along the line with bales of 
 cotton, and covered it with earth. 
 
 On the 27th, a British battery, planted on the 
 levee near the late battle-field, succeeded in set- 
 ting fire to and destroying the Caroline. Gather- 
 ing confidence from this slight success, the enemy, 
 led by Packenham in person, the next day left 
 their encampment in force, drove in Jackson's 
 outposts, and approaching within half a mile of 
 
1814.] FIRST REPULSE. 261 
 
 his lines, began a furious attack upon them with 
 artillery, bombs, and Congreve rockets. Checked 
 in their advance by Jackson's five pieces and by 
 a raking fire from the Louisiana sloop- of-war, 
 the British, after maintaining a continued can- 
 nonade of seven hours duration, finally withdrew 
 with the loss of more than a hundred in killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 During this attack a detachment of the enemy, 
 moving against the extreme left of the American 
 line, were there met by Coffee and his riflemen. 
 Though greatly outnumbering the Tennesseeans, 
 the British were driven back. Perceiving from 
 this demonstration, however, that his left might 
 be turned, Jackson immediately proceeded to 
 strengthen his defences in that quarter by ex- 
 tending his rampart of cotton bales, logs, and 
 earth into the swamp, an arduous task, which 
 was intrusted to Coffee and his brigade. When 
 completed, the new breastwork was left to be de- 
 fended by the Tennesseeans, who hourly expect- 
 ing an attack, maintained their post night and 
 day, resting and sleeping on logs and brush, by 
 which they were elevated above the waters that 
 surrounded them. 
 
 Matters now approaching a crisis, Jackson 
 began to be disturbed by apprehensions of in- 
 ternal treachery. Waited upon by a special com- 
 mittee of the Louisiana legislature, he was asked 
 what his course would be if he were driven from 
 
262 HISTORY OF TEXNESSHE. [1814. 
 
 his position. "If/' replied tlie generaly "if I 
 thought the hair of mj head could divine what 
 I should do, I would cut it off. Go back with 
 this auswer. Saj to jour honoarahle hodj, that 
 if disaster does overtake loe, and I am driven 
 from mj line to the city, thej may expect to 
 have a very "warm session.'' After the ^ar, in 
 answer to a question on this point, "I should 
 have retreated to the city," such were Jackson's 
 words, "fired it, and fought the enemy amidst 
 the surrounding fiames. There were with me 
 men of wealth, 05^ners of considerable property, 
 who would have been among the foremost to 
 apply the torch to their own dwellings." 
 
 A rumour flying about the city that Jackson 
 had determined upon this course, the speaker of 
 the Louisiana senate began to make inquiries of 
 the general's aid, Major Butler, as to the founda- 
 tion for it. From this and other more significant 
 circumstances, it was conjectured that the legis- 
 lature contemplated saving the city hy offering 
 to capitulate. Apprizing Governor Claiborne of 
 his suspicions, Jackson directed him to keep a 
 close watch upon the legislature, and should a 
 motion be made to capitulate, to place a guard 
 at the door and confine the members to the hall. 
 Misinterpreting the general's orders, Claiborne, 
 without waiting for the necessary contingency, 
 placed an armed force at the door of the capital, 
 and prevented the legislature from convening. 
 
1815.] BATILE OF NEW OKLEANS, 263 
 
 Instead of shuttios; the members in doors, as 
 Jackson had desired, he turned them out. 
 
 At length, after a severe conflict on the Ist, in 
 which Packenham had a second time failed in an 
 attempt to batter down the American breastwork, 
 the morning of the 8th of January, 1815, found 
 both armies prepared for what proved to be a 
 final struggle- 
 On the right of Jackson's line, which was 
 strengthened by an advanced redoubt, were posted 
 the regulars and Louisiana militia. Coffee's rifle- 
 men still held their position in the swamp on the 
 left, while Carroll's Tennesseeans and the re- 
 cently arrived Kentucky militia formed the cen- 
 tre. Along the line were judiciously disposed 
 eight separate batteries, mounting in all twelve 
 guns- On the right bank of the river. General 
 Morgan, with fifteen hukidred men, was stationed 
 behind an iotrenchment, defended by several 
 brass twelves and hj a batter3^ of twentj^-four 
 pounders, under the direction of Commodore 
 Patterson. As many ©f the Kentuckiar.s and 
 others were unprovided with arms, they were set 
 to work at throwing up a second line of intrench- 
 me»ts, as a place of rally should the breastwork 
 be carried. 
 
 A detachment having crossed the river to as- 
 sail Morgan, the main body of the British, at the 
 firing of two signal rockets, moved forward with 
 steady rapidity to storm Jackson's position. 
 
264 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1815. 
 
 Through the dense fog that hung heavily over the 
 plain, the regulated tramp of the middle column, 
 led hy Packenham in person, was heard plainly 
 long before it appeared. Guided solely by the 
 sound, the American batteries opened a destruc- 
 tive fire upon the approaching assailants ; who, 
 nevertheless, closing their ranks as fast as they 
 were thinned, pressed forward with a steady and 
 unshaken front. 
 
 It was not until the fog lifting disclosed them 
 fully to view, and the ramparts before them 
 blazed with a sheet of deadly flame from the rifles 
 of the Tennesseeans, that these brave men began 
 to show signs of wavering. Still they moved 
 forward, only to fall by hundreds. A few gain- 
 ing the ditch in front of the American works, 
 remained there during the rest of the battle, and 
 were afterward made prisoners. Their comrades, 
 unable to endure the storm of balls and bullets 
 that ificessantly assailed them, fell back in dis- 
 order, meeting death even in retreat. Hastenino; 
 to restore order, Packenham fell dead in the 
 arms of his aid-de-camp. Generals Gibbs and 
 Keene were next borne from the plain, the one 
 mortally and the other severely wounded. 
 
 At this moment. General Lambert, the next in 
 command, coming up with the reserve, met the 
 retreating column and succeeded in rallying it 
 for a second eff'ort. Again the enemy moved 
 forward only to encounter once more that sue- 
 
1815.] BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 265 
 
 cession of deadly volleys. A few reached the 
 ditch, many fell riddled with rifle-bullets, the 
 rest fled in confusion. A third time Lambert 
 and his officers endeavoured to win victory and 
 save their reputations. But threats and en- 
 treaties were equally vain. Not a man could be 
 found willing to advance again upon what seemed 
 to be certain and unavailing death. 
 
 Meanwhile the British column operating upon 
 the American right, under the command of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Rennie, had met with temporary 
 success. The redoubt, as yet unfinished, was 
 carried, but with a fearful loss of life. Having 
 crossed the ditch and mounted the wall, waving 
 his sword and calling upon his men to follow, 
 Rennie fell dead. Gaining the redoubt, the vic- 
 tors found themselves unable to advance farther, 
 and exposed to a murderous fire from the breast- 
 work, they with difficulty maintained the position 
 they had purchased so expensively. Finally, 
 the centre column being repulsed, they effected 
 a disorderly retreat. 
 
 On the left, where Coffee's brigade awaited their 
 assault, the British signally failed. The swamp 
 and the stern resistance of the Tennesseeans 
 were obstacles they were unable to overcome, 
 or even to attack with spirit ; and when the two 
 other columns fell back they also withdrew with 
 less confusion and with less loss, but not with 
 less complete defeat than their companions. 
 
 23 
 
266 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1815. 
 
 In the mean time, the British detachment 
 against Morgan on the opposite bank had met 
 with entire success. But the failure of Packen- 
 ham rendered that success of little value. Re- 
 garding the lost position as an important one, 
 however, Jackson contemplated regaining it bj 
 force; but having alarmed Lambert by an inge- 
 nious stratagem, that general withdrew the vic- 
 torious detachment, and hastened to abandon the 
 whole enterprise. On the day after the battle, 
 he commenced with great secrecy the preparation 
 for re-embarking his troops, first falling back to 
 his original landing-place at the head of Lake 
 Borgne, from which point the army finally retired 
 on the 27 th. 
 
 With regard to the British loss on this fatal 
 day there are many conflicting accounts. Their 
 killed, wounded, and prisoners, according to the 
 report of the American inspector-general, did 
 not amount to less than twenty-five hundred. 
 Lambert's account represented it at two thousand 
 and seventy. The force of the enemy actually 
 engaged on both banks of the river has been va- 
 riously stated at from seven to nine thousand. 
 That of the Americans numbered in all between 
 four and five thousand, a considerable portion of 
 whom were destitute of arms, and consequently 
 unable to engage in the fight. Of the whole 
 number, but seventy-one were killed and wounded 
 on both sides of the river. 
 
1815.] JACKSON AT NEW ORLEANS. 267 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Return of Jackson to New Orleans — Opposition of the (Citi- 
 zens to the continuance of Martial Law — Lnprisonment of a 
 member of the legislature by order of Jackson — Arrest of 
 JuiJge Hall — Intelligence of peace — Return of Hall to New 
 Orleans — Arrest and trial of Jackson for contempt of court 
 — A fine imposed — Demonstration of popular sympathy — 
 Dismissal of the Tennessee volunteers — Honours awarded 
 Jackson by Congress — McMimm elected governor — Diffi- 
 culties with the therokees — With the Florida Indians — 
 Jackson ordered to take the field — Tallahassee towns 
 burned — Seizure of the Spanish fort at St. Mark's — Skir- 
 mishes with the Indians — Execution of Arbuthnot and Am- 
 brister — Jackson takes possession of Pensacola — Protest of 
 the Spanish minister — Execution of Arbuthnot and Ambris- 
 ter discussed by Congress — Jackson sustained by the House 
 of Representatives — Florida ceded to the United States. 
 
 Waiting until the greater part of the British 
 had taken to their ships, Jackson returned with 
 the main body of his troops to New Orleans. 
 His entrance into the city was a scene of tri- 
 umph and rejoicing. 
 
 Doubtful as to whether the enemy had wholly 
 abandoned their enterprise, Jackson deemed it 
 necessary to keep New Orleans a little longer 
 under the restrictions of martial law. Now 
 that danger seemed to have passed away, this 
 state of things was not borne with very patriotic 
 fortitude. Much discontent began to show itself. 
 
268 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1S15. 
 
 An anon^'mous article on the subject, full of 
 bitter complaints, and calculated to excite a bad 
 feeling among the troops, having appeared in 
 one of the city papers, Jackson compelled the 
 publisher to disclose the name of its author. 
 The latter, proving to be a member of the legis- 
 lature, was forthwith committed to prison, with 
 the prospect of being tried for his life by a mili- 
 tary court. A W'rit of habeas corpus was im- 
 mediately issued on his behalf by Judge Hall, 
 of the United States District Court. But, de- 
 termined to settle at once the question of autho- 
 rity which he believed the proceeding was in- 
 tended to test, Jackson, instead of obeying the 
 writ, arrested Hall and sent him out of the city. 
 
 Two days afterward, on the 13th of March, 
 official intellifijence arrived of the ratification of 
 a treaty of peace between Great Britain and the 
 tJnited States, The aspect of affairs now 
 changed. Martial law ceasing, Hall, returning 
 to the city, resumed the exercise of his judicial 
 office, and caused process to be served on Jack- 
 son to appear and show cause why an attach- 
 ment should not issue against him for con- 
 tempt of court in resisting the writ of habeas 
 corpus. 
 
 Answering this summons, the general ap- 
 peared at court on the 30th of March, and 
 through his counsel offered a written statement 
 in defence of what he had done. After con- 
 
1815.] TRIAL OF JACKSON. 209 
 
 siderable discussion the court permitted certain 
 portions of this statement to be read. That 
 part of it, however, in which Jackson gave his 
 reasons for declaring martial law, Hall refused 
 to hear, and ordered the issue of an attachment, 
 returnable on the following day. 
 
 At the time appointed, assuming the dress of 
 a civilian, Jackson entered the crowded court- 
 room, and had nearly reached the bar when, 
 being recognised, the whole audience saluted 
 him with a loud and enthusiastic cheer. Re- 
 storing silence by a deprecating move of his 
 hand, he sat down, whereupon Hall, rising, and 
 intimating his fear of a popular outbreak, was 
 about to order an adjournment. 
 
 " There is no danger," interrupted Jackson. 
 «« There shall be none. The same arm that pro- 
 tected this city from outrage will shield this 
 court or perish in the eifort." 
 
 Thus reassured. Hall proceeded to business, 
 and called upon the general to answer certain 
 interrogatories, by which his guilt or innocence 
 was to be determined. 
 
 "You would not hear my defence" — such 
 were Jackson's words — " although you were ad- 
 vised that it contained nothing improper. Un- 
 der these circumstances I appear before you to 
 receive the sentence of the court, having, nothing 
 further to offer. Your honour will not under- 
 stand me as intending any disrespect to this 
 
270 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1815. 
 
 court, but as no opportunity has been afforded 
 me of explaining the reasons and motives by 
 which I was influenced, so is it expected that 
 censure or reproof will constitute no part of 
 that sentence which you may imagine it your 
 duty to pronounce." 
 
 This plain speaking brought the affair to a 
 speedy termination. Giving his decision, Hall 
 imposed a fine of one thousand dollars, for which 
 amount the general's check was immediately 
 tendered to the clerk. Again cheering, the 
 excited throng in the court-room now hurried 
 Jackson out of doors, forced him into a carriage 
 from which the horses had been taken, and 
 dragged him in tumultuous trium.ph to his hotel. 
 Feavin.2r, from this perhaps excusable but still 
 dangerous demonstration of popular sympathy, 
 that his over-earnest friends might commit some 
 unpardonable excess in his name, Jackson, in a 
 brief address proclaiming the " important truth 
 that submission to the civil authority is the first 
 duty of a citizen," was finally enabled to allay 
 a feverish excitement that seemed to threaten 
 personal injury to the judge whose decision had 
 just been made. 
 
 Giving a more legitimate, or at least less ex- 
 travagant turn to the expression of their regard, 
 Jackson's friends in New Orleans immediately 
 made up the amount of his fine by subscription, 
 and pla-ced it in bank to his account. The 
 
c?* 
 
 1816.] m'mimm governor. 27 
 
 general would not accept it, however, and pro- 
 posed that the sum should be disposed of for 
 the benefit of those whose relatives had fallen in 
 the late battle. As a matter of course his sug- 
 gestion was promptly acceded to. 
 
 In the mean time the Tennessee volunteers, 
 having been dismissed, had marched home by 
 land, arriving at Nashville after a long and 
 tedious journey, in which they suffered much 
 more by sickness than they had done from the 
 enemy. They were soon followed by Jackson, 
 who met from his townsmen a reception of the 
 most gratifying character. By Congress he was 
 rewarded for his gallant service with a vote of 
 thanks, a gold medal commemorative of the bat- 
 tle of the eighth of January, and by being 
 retained as one of the two major-generals of the 
 United States army under the new peace esta- 
 blishment. 
 
 At the election of this year — a year ever to 
 be remembered with pride by the citizens of 
 Tennessee — Willie Blount, of whose active and 
 energetic patriotism remark has been more than 
 once made in the course of this narrative, was 
 succeeded, as chief executive of the state, by 
 Joseph M'Mimm. 
 
 In 1816 considerable dissatisfaction was cre- 
 ated throughout the state on account of a new 
 treat3'' arranged by the general government with 
 the Cherokees, whose claim was recognised to 
 
272 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1817. 
 
 the conntrj on the southern course of the Ten- 
 nessee River, lyhich had been recently yielded 
 up hj the conqnered Creeks. In consequence 
 of the murmurs thus excited fresh negotiations 
 were presently entered into, and the Cherokees 
 induced to limit themselves, on the south side of 
 the Tennessee, to the parallel of Huntsville, in 
 Alabama. Almost the whole of the present 
 State of Alabama, and a large tract in southern 
 Tennessee, were thus laid open to settlement. 
 
 In 1817, repeated depredations hj the Indians 
 of Florida having rendered a resort to arms un- 
 avoidable, Jackson, who still commanded in the 
 south, was ordered to take the field, with au- 
 thority to call for troops from Tennessee. 
 
 Immediately issuing a summons for two thou- 
 sand Tennessee volunteers, Jackson hastened to 
 Hartford, on the Ockmulgee river, in Georgia, 
 there to organize the militia of that state. At 
 the head of these he presently marched toward 
 Fort Scott, built near the confluence of the 
 Flint and Chattahooche Rivers, and where about 
 a thousand regulars were assembled. The coun- 
 try being new and barren, it was only by his 
 indefatigable personal exertions that the general 
 kept the troops supplied with provisions. Reach- 
 ing Fort Scott, he found the Tennesseeans not 
 arrived, and being still without adequate means 
 of subsistence, hurried forward to meet the pro- 
 vision boats expected from New Orleans. As a 
 
1818.] INDIAN WAR. 273 
 
 depot for these supplies he built Fort Gadsden, 
 not far from the head of Apalachicola Bay. 
 
 Having been at length furnished with provi- 
 sions, Jackson, on the 26th of March, 1818, 
 advanced against the Seminole towns in the 
 neighbourhood of what is now Tallahassee. 
 During the march his force was augmented by a 
 party of Creek warriors, and a portion of the 
 Tennesseeans whose advance had been retarded 
 by the difficulty of procuring supplies. 
 
 Having easily defeated the Indians, whose 
 villages were burned and their fields destroyed, 
 Jackson proceeded to St. Mark's, the only Spa- 
 nish fort in this section of Florida, and demanded 
 its surrender on the ground that the Seminoles 
 had there received aid and comfort. The Spa- 
 nish commandant hesitating, an American de- 
 tachment entered the fort and took forcible but 
 bloodless possession. 
 
 Though still scantily supplied, the general 
 now marched from St. Mark's, through a region 
 almost entirely under water, to attack an Indian 
 town near the mouth of the Surranee. He had 
 expected to surprise the enemy, but found them 
 prepared for resistance — their women and chil- 
 dren having been sent away — under the lead of 
 one Ambrister, a British trader. It was through 
 this man's partner, a Scotsman named Arbuth- 
 not, whom Jackson had found at St. Mark's, that 
 the Indians received notice of the approach of 
 
274 HISTORY OF TEICNESSEE. [1818. 
 
 the Americans. Sut though thus forewarned, 
 the savages were finable to cope with the supe- 
 rior force opposed to them ; and, after two con- 
 siderable skirmishes, they fled from their village, 
 which was burned, leaving their white leader a 
 prisoner. 
 
 His men being worn down with fatigue and 
 beginning to suffer from a scarcity of provisions, 
 Jackson thouorht it inadvisable to march against 
 
 a O 
 
 the more southern Seminole towns, and presently 
 set out on his return to St. Mark's. Reaching 
 that place, he put Arbuthnot and Ambrister on 
 trial for their lives before a court-martial. The 
 former, found guilty of exciting and stirring up 
 the Indians to war with the United States, and 
 of providing them with means to carry on hos- 
 tilities, was sentenced to death. Similar charges 
 were p»referred against Ambrister, with the addi- 
 tional one of affording the savages his personal 
 assistance. He, too, was found guilty, and sen- 
 tenced to death ; but, on reconsideration, this 
 sentence vfas mitigatecl to stripes on the bare 
 back, and imprisonment at hard labour for a 
 year. Having reason to believe Ambrister 
 quite as guilty as his partner, Jackson disap- 
 proving of this modification, took the responsi- 
 bility of reinstating the original sentence, and 
 ordered both the incendiaries to be executed. 
 
 Shortly subsequent to this affair, Jackson 
 received intelligence that the Spaniard? of Pen- 
 
1818,] DISPUTES WITH THE SPANIARDS. 275 
 
 saeoia had been instigating, or encouraging at 
 least, Indian depredations upon the settlers of 
 Alabama. Immediately advancing against that 
 place, he was met by a protest from the Spanish 
 governor, who declared that he would forcibly 
 resist any invasion of the territory under his 
 jurisdiction. Jackson pushed forward notwith- 
 standiRg, and the next day entered Pensacola 
 unopposed, the governor having taken refuge in 
 a fort some six or seven miles below the town. 
 But the Americans erecting batteries and open- 
 ing a cannonade, the garrison of this work final- 
 ly capitulated. 
 
 Intelligence of this act reaching Washington 
 some seventy days later, the Spanish minister 
 warmly protested against it. In reply, Mr. 
 Adams, the secretary of state, declared that, 
 though Jackson had acted without orders, 3'et, 
 considerino; the aid and encouras-ement afforded 
 by the forts of St, Mark's and Pensacola to 
 hostile savages, notwithstanding the existence 
 of treaty obligations binding the Spanish au- 
 thorities to restrain the Indians under their ju- 
 risdiction, the general v/as abundantly justified 
 in ail that he had done. Still as the Seminoles 
 were now defeated, the United States offered to 
 restore Pensacola immediatelj^, and St. Mark's 
 whenever Spain should have there sufficient 
 troops to keep in check the surrounding Indians. 
 
 While negotiations were pending on this sub- 
 
276 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1819. 
 
 ject, and on the complete surrender of the Flori- 
 das to the United States, the limits of Tennessee, 
 as well as those of Kentucky, were greatly en- 
 larged by a cession from the Chickasaw Indians 
 of all that territory embraced between the nor- 
 thern flow of the Tennessee river and the Mis- 
 sissippi. 
 
 In the mean time, the course pursued by Jack- 
 son in the late Seminole campaign, from the suc- 
 cessful completion of which he presently return- 
 ed, became an important topic of public con- 
 sideration. 
 
 On the 12th January, 1819, the subject was 
 brought before Congress by the report of a ma- 
 jority of the military committee of the house, 
 expressly condemning the executions of Arbuth- 
 not and Ambrister. At the same time a mi- 
 nority report, sustained by the administration, 
 and re^ardino; the whole matter in a favourable 
 light, was introduced by Richard M. Johnson, 
 of Kentucky. In a lengthened discussion of 
 nearly a month both sides had an opportunity 
 of being heard. 
 
 On the one hand, it was maintained <' that the 
 American government had been the aggressor in 
 the whole business ; that the power of Congress 
 in the matter of making war had been usurped 
 upon ; that the trials by court-martial were a 
 mere mockery, since the parties were not liable 
 to trial in that way ; and that the execution of 
 
1819.] DISCUSSION IN CONGRESS. 277 
 
 the British and Indian prisoners was in every 
 respect unjustifiable." 
 
 On the other hand, "it was urged, as an 
 apology for the executions, that as the Indians 
 kill their captives, it was but a just retaliation 
 to kill Indian captives ; nor could white men, 
 fighting on the Indian side, expect any better 
 treatment than the Indians themselves. Harri- 
 son, of Ohio, vindicated Jackson's course except 
 in executing Ambrister, which he thought irregu- 
 lar, as not sustained by the sentence of the 
 court." 
 
 At length, after an inefi*ectual efi'ort to indefi- 
 nitely postpone the whole subject — an effort 
 which Jackson's friends in no way seconded — 
 the vote stood, for disapproving the executions 
 of Arbuthnot and Ambrister, sixty-two to one 
 hundred and three ; and for disapproving the 
 seizure of Pensacola and St. Mark's, seventy to 
 one hundred. 
 
 Notwithstanding this triumph of the general's 
 friends in the popular branch of the national 
 legislature, an attempt was made in the Senate, 
 about a fortnight later, to condemn his conduct 
 in the Seminole campaign as a most reprehen- 
 sible usurpation of authority. But the report 
 containing this condemnation was suffered to 
 lie on the table without action. 
 
 In whatever light the energetic proceedings 
 of Jackson may now be regarded, one thing is 
 
 24 
 
278 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1821. 
 
 scarcely to be doubted — their good effect in 
 bringing Spain to some definite action with re- 
 gard to the cession of the Floridas — a cession 
 hitherto vainly applied for, and which was deem- 
 ed extremely necessary for the safety and repose 
 of the adjoining States. While the general's 
 conduct Wds being debated in Congress, the 
 Spanish minister, newly instructed by his go- 
 vernment, had at length signed a treaty by 
 which the Floridas were to be surrendered to the 
 United States, in consideration of their dis- 
 charging certain claims, amounting to five mil- 
 lions of dollars, brought by American citizens 
 against Spain. Though immediately ratified 
 by the Senate, this treaty, was not fully ar- 
 ranged and completed, by the consent of both 
 parties, until the 18th of February, 1821. 
 
 CHAPTER XXiy. 
 
 Statistics of Tennessee according to the census of 1850 — Form 
 of government, &c. — Conclusion. 
 
 The state of Tennessee, as at present consti- 
 tuted, is bounded on the north by Kentucky and 
 Virginia, on the east by North Carolina, from 
 which it is separated by the Alleghany moun- 
 tains ; on the south by Georgia, Alabama, and 
 Mississippi ; and on the west by the Mississippi 
 
1850.] STATISTICS. 279 
 
 river, whicli divides it from Arkansas and Mis- 
 souri. It lies between 35° and 36° 36' north 
 latitude, and between 81° 40' and 90° 15' west 
 longitude, and includes an area of twenty-nine 
 million one hundred and eighty-four acres, of 
 which, according to the census of 1850, only five 
 million one hundred and seventy-five thousand 
 are as yet under cultivation. It is divided into 
 three sections, commonly designated as East, 
 Middle, and West Tennessee, which are subdi- 
 vided into seventy-nine counties ; the population 
 numbering, by the latest official returns, one 
 million two thousand six hundred and twenty- 
 five, of whom three hundred and ninety-two 
 thousand two hundred and fourteen were w^hite 
 males, three hundred and seventy-four thousand 
 five hundred and thirty-nine white females, three 
 thousand one hundred and eight free coloured 
 males, three thousand two hundred and ninety- 
 three coloured females ; one hundred and eighteen 
 thousand seven hundred and eighty male and 
 one hundred and twenty thousand six hundred 
 and eighty female slaves. The representative 
 population being nine hundred and six thouaand 
 eight hundred and thirty. 
 
 The agricultural products have been estimated 
 at 52,276 bushels of Indian corn; 7,703,086 of 
 oats; 1,619,381 of wheat; 89,163 of rye; 
 1,067,844 of Irish, and 2,777,716 of sweet po- 
 tatoes; 369,321 of peas and beans; 14,214 of 
 
280 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1850. 
 
 grass seed; 18,906 of flax seed; 20,148,932 
 pounds of tobacco; 8,139,585 of butter; 77,- 
 812,800 of cotton; 1,364,378 of wool; 1,036,- 
 571 of beeswax and honej; 177,680 pounds of 
 cheese; 368,131 of flax; 248,000 of cane, and 
 158,557 of maple sugar; 258,854 of rice, and 
 74,092 tons of bay. The live stock valued at 
 $29,978,016; market goods $97,183; orchard 
 products $52,894; and slaughtered animals 
 $6,401,765. 
 
 There were in 1850, 2789 manufacturins; es- 
 tablishments in the State, each producing $500 
 and upward annually. Among these were 33 
 cotton factories, with a capital amounting in the 
 aggregate to $669,600, emplojang 310 male and 
 580 female operatives ; consuming raw material 
 worth $297,500, and manufacturing 363,250 
 yards of stuffs, and 2,326,250 pounds of yarn, 
 the total value of which was $510,624. Four 
 woollen establishments, with a capital of $10,900, 
 gave employment to 15 males and two females, 
 consumed raw material to the value of $1675, 
 and fabricated 2220 hats worth $6310. Eighty- 
 one furnaces and forges, with $1,915,950 capital 
 and 2705 male hands, consumed raw material 
 worth $730,551, and produced 44,152 tons of 
 wrought, cast, and pig iron, the gross value of 
 which was $1,611,043. In breweries and dis- 
 tilleries there was invested a capital of $66,125, 
 giving employment to 159 hands, consuming 
 
1850.] STATISTICS. 281 
 
 3000 bushels of barley, 258,400 of corn, and 
 5480 of rye, and producing 657,000 gallons of 
 whisky, wine, &c. Of tanneries there was 
 found to be 364, employing $490,320 capital, 
 consuming raw material worth $396,159, and 
 producing leather to the value of §746,484. 
 In addition to these the value of home-made 
 manufactures was estimated at $3,137,810 — the 
 hiffhest in the Union. 
 
 The exports of Tennessee are principally live 
 stock, pork, bacon, lard, butter, ginseng, cotton 
 bagging, flour, Indian corn, fruits, tobacco, cot- 
 ton, hemp, feathers, and saltpetre. The foreign 
 imports of 1852 amounted to $252,504. 
 
 It has been seen that Tennessee at an early 
 day provided liberally for the support of educa- 
 tion. In 1850 there were nine colleges in the 
 State, with an aggregate of 551 students, and 
 libraries containing 27,056 volumes. There was 
 also one theological school with 24 students, one 
 law school with 56, and two medical schools with 
 590. The number of children in the State was 
 288,454, of public schools 2713, and 278 acade- 
 mies. The school fund amounted to 1,321,655, 
 the annual expenditure being $114,718. The 
 number of books in the various school libraries 
 amounted to 5100 volumes. 
 
 There were in 1850 no less than 1939 churches 
 in the State, 831 of which belong to the Metho- 
 dists, 611 to the Baptists, 357 to the Presbyte- 
 
 24* 
 
282 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1850. 
 
 rians, 57 to the sect of Christians, 28 to the 
 Free Church, 17 to the Episcopalians, 15 to the 
 Union Church, 12 to the Lutherans, and 3 to the 
 Roman Catholics. The remaining churches be- 
 longed to the Friends, the Protestant Evangeli- 
 cal, the Tunkers, and the Africans — making one 
 church to every 517 inhabitants. The gross 
 value of the church property was $1,208,276. 
 
 The public institutions consisted of 21 libra- 
 ries, with an aggregate of 47,356 volumes; a 
 State Penitentiary at Nashville, the present 
 capital; and a Deaf and Dumb Asylum at 
 Knoxville. 
 
 Under the constitution of Tennessee the go- 
 vernor is elected for two years by the popular 
 vote, his salary being fixed at $2000 per annum. 
 The Senate consists of twenty-five and the 
 House of Representatives of seventy-five mem- 
 bers, both elected by the people for two years. 
 The Judiciary consists of a Supreme Court, 
 presided over by three judges, elected for twelve 
 years by a joint vote of the two houses of 
 the legislature ; of a Court of Chancery, pre- 
 sided over by four chancellors ; and of fourteen 
 Circuit Courts, presided over by as many 
 judges. The judges of the inferior courts 
 are elected by the legislature for eight years. 
 Davidson county, in which the capital of the 
 State is seated, has a special criminal court, 
 and the city of Memphis has a Common Law 
 
1850.] STATISTICS. 283 
 
 and Chancery court. The salaries of the 
 judges range from $1500 to $1800. 
 
 The actual State debt of Tennessee, in Ja- 
 nuary, 1853, was $3,901,856.66; loan debt, 
 $915,000; endorsed debt, $675,000— total, 
 $5,491,856.66. 
 
 On the other hand the State was in possession 
 of a school fund, amounting to $1,346,068, of 
 productive property valued at $4,837,840, and 
 of unproductive property worth $1,101,390. 
 The annual expenses of the State, exclusive of 
 the interest upon the public debt and the charge 
 for educational purposes, did not much exceed 
 $165,000. 
 
 In January, 1853, the aggregate capital of 
 twenty-three banks chartered by the State, was 
 $8,405,197; the circulation, $5,300,000; and 
 the amount of coin in the vaults of the different 
 institutions, $1,900,000. 
 
 Though prevented by their geographical posi- 
 tion from engaging in those profitable commercial 
 enterprises which have tended so largely to in- 
 crease the wealth of the people inhabiting the At- 
 lantic borders, the citizens of Tennessee have 
 sought and found the means of prosperity on their 
 own soil. Possessing immense tracts of fertile 
 land, water power in abundance, navigable rivers 
 which drain an area of forty-one thousand square 
 miles, abundance of coal and other fuel for 
 manufacturing purposes, a climate so various as 
 
284 HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1850. 
 
 to ripen in equal perfection the cereals of the 
 North and the cotton of the South, they have 
 already become the first State of the Union in 
 the value of their domestic manufactures, the 
 fourth in the production of tobacco, and the 
 fifth in the scale of population. 
 
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