USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia, Volume II > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55
9
2
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
into a Republic than which there now exists no more puissant government in the sisterhood of nations. Throughout his official career, despite the difficulties which environed, he was at all times faithful to his trust, courageous in the performance of his duties, wise in the administration of governmental affairs, and sagacious in his political views and suggestions. The more closely it is scanned and the more intelligently it is compre- hended, the more praiseworthy, from a loyal standpoint, appears his conduct. Georgia may well be proud of the capabilities and reputation of the third and last of her royal governors.
Through the conciliatory and prudent course adopted by Gov- ernor Ellis the province had escaped collision with the Indian nations, and avoided participation in the controversy between the Virginians and the Carolinians on the one hand and the Cherokees on the other, which culminated in bloodshed and ruin. A reference to the leading events connected with this war waged on the confines of the province, in which Georgia was urged to join, may not be deemed inappropriate.
Upon the reduction of Fort Duquesne the communication be- tween Canada and the French settlements in the South was seri- ously interrupted, and many Indian tribes, formerly in alliance with France, submitted to the victorious arms of Great Britain. Having burned their houses and destroyed their works, the French, descending the Ohio River, sought refuge in the strong- holds which they had erected beyond the Cherokee mountains. Thus was the theatre of war transferred to a more southern lati- tude, and thus were the baleful influences of the French exerted more directly upon the upper tribes of the Cherokees. An un- fortunate quarrel between some Virginians and a party of these Indians served to precipitate hostilities and to excite wide-spread dissatisfaction in the breasts of the aborigines. Responding to their treaty engagements, in the expedition against Fort Du- quesne the Cherokees sent a considerable number of their warriors to assist the British. While returning home through the back parts of Virginia, many of them having lost their animals, they captured such horses as they found running at large in the woods, little supposing that they were trespassing upon individ- ual property. Without pausing to redress the injury in a legal way, the Virginians pursued the Indians, killed twelve or four- teen of them, and made captives of several others. Provoked at such violent, bloody, and ungrateful usage at the hands of allies whose frontiers they had just been defending, the Cherokees,
L
3.
FORT LOUDOUN THREATENED.
upon reaching their villages, communicated the intelligence. A wrathful flame soon spread through all the upper towns. Those who had lost friends and kinsmen were implacable, and breathed vengeance against the English. In vain did the chiefs attempt to quiet the tempest. The young men rose in arms and resolved to seek satisfaction. French emissaries augmented the ill-will, instigated to bloodshed, and furnished weapons and ammunition. The frontiers of Carolina and Georgia lay exposed to the inroad of these excited savages thirsting for revenge.
The ill-humor of the Cherokee warriors, returned from the northern expedition, was first perceived by the garrison of Fort Loudoun, consisting of some two hundred men under the com- mand of Captains Demere and Stuart. While making excur- sions into the woods in quest of fresh provisions, the soldiers were attacked by the Indians and some of them were slain. Thenceforward such dangers threatened the fort that its garrison was compelled to remain within its walls. All communication with distant settlements, whence supplies were received, being thus cut off, and there being no accumulation of food, the soldiers were confronted with the sad prospect of famine and death. Meanwhile the advanced settlements fell a prey to marauding bands of Indians who ravaged, plundered, burned, and scalped at pleasure.
Advised of these acts of hostility, the commanding officer at Fort Prince George dispatched a messenger to Charlestown to inform Governor Lyttleton that the Cherokees had gone to war. Orders were at once issued for the militia to rendezvous at Con- garees where the governor, with such forces as he could collect in the lower portion of the province, proposed to join them and to march for the relief of the frontier.
Hearing of those warlike preparations on the part of the Car- olinians, thirty-two Cherokee chiefs set out for Charlestown to settle all differences and to prevent, if possible; the impending strife. Although they had been unable to restrain their young men from committing acts of violence, they were persuaded that the Cherokee nation was largely inclined to friendship and peace. They arrived in Charlestown before the governor had started on his purposed expedition. A council was called at which Mr. Lyttleton stated to the chiefs that he was acquainted with the acts of hostility committed by their nation, and that he was not igno- rant of the hostile intentions they entertained toward the Eng- lish. Hle further advised them that he would soon be in their
.
£
4
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
country, where he would make known his demands and the satis- faction he required. " As they had come to Charlestown to treat with him as friends, they should go home in safety, and not a hair of their heads should be touched ; but as he had many war- riors in arms in different parts of the Province, he could not be answerable for what might happen to them unless they marched along with his army."
Occonostota, the great warrior of the Cherokee nation, rose to reply, but the governor, being resolved that nothing should inter- rupt his military expedition, refused to hear his speech, declined to accept any vindication of the conduct of the Cherokee nation, and would not hearken to any proposals of peace. Although Lieuten- ant-Governor Bull, who was better acquainted with Indian customs and realized more fully the dangers to which the colony would be exposed if involved in a war with the Cherokees, urged upon the governor the propriety of listening to the great warrior and of accommodating the pending difficulties, he remained unmoved in his purpose and summarily terminated the conference. This ill-advised and unjustifiable conduct on the part of Governor Lyttleton excited no little displeasure in the minds of the Cher- okee chiefs who, having traveled a long distance to obtain peace, so far from accomplishing their mission, found themselves denied even the liberty of speech. They were chagrined, and were apprehensive of the future.
A few days afterwards the governor set out for the Congarees, where he had ordered the militia to rendezvous, distant from Charlestown about a hundred and forty miles. Upon mustering his forces at that point he found that his little army numbered fourteen hundred men. Thither had he been accompanied by the Cherokee chiefs who, under a calm and contented exterior, burned with disappointment, fury, and resentment.
As the army moved forward these chieftains, without any semblance of right or previous notice, were confined as prisoners, and a captain's guard was mounted over them to prevent escape. In this fashion were they compelled to march with Lyttleton's forces to Fort Prince George. Deprived of their liberty, - dearer than all else to an Indian, - outraged beyond all decency, and forced to accompany an enemy moving in hostile array against their families, friends, and nation, they made no effort to conceal their resentment, and bore in sullenness the base treat- ment to which they were subjected. To add to the indignity, upon the arrival of the army at Fort Prince George they were
5
EXPEDITION OF GOVERNOR LYTTLETON.
huddled together in close confinement in a hut scarcely large enough to accommodate six soldiers.
Ilis army being badly armed, poorly disciplined, discontented, and mutinous, Governor Lyttleton resolved to proceed no further into the enemy's country, but sent for Attakullakulla, esteemed the wisest man of the Cherokee nation and the firmest friend of the English, to attend him at Fort Prince George. Returning from an expedition against the French, this aged warrior waited upon the governor who, in a speech of considerable length, after reminding him of the existing treaties of amity between the English and the Cherokees, the power of the British nation, its recent successes in the war against the French, and the acts of hostility of late perpetrated by the Indians, demanded that twenty-four members of the Cherokee nation should be delivered up to be put to death, or to be otherwise disposed of as he, the governor, should think fit, " as satisfaction for an equal number of whites who had been murdered."
To this Attakullakulla responded that he remembered the trea- ties alluded to, as he had participated in making them. While admitting the kindness exhibited by the province of South Caro- lina, he complained bitterly of the cruel treatment his countrymen had received at the hands of the Virginians, and alleged this to be the proximate cause of the present misunderstanding. As- serting his firm friendship for the English, he promised to use his influence in persuading the Cherokees to comply with the gov- ernor's demand. He was apprehensive, however, that the satis- faction demanded would not be accorded, and desired that some of the head men, then in confinement in the fort, should be re- leased that they might assist him in persuading his people to respond to the governor's requisition. Finally, he protested that the English were exhibiting more resentment against the Chero- kees than against other Indian nations who had offended them, and instanced the case of two Carolinians who had been slain by the Choctaws, and for whose deaths no satisfaction had been either offered or exacted.
Yielding to Attakullakulla's request, the governor released Occonostota, Fistoe, the chief man of Keowee Town, and the head warrior of Estatoe. The next day two Indians were surren- dered who, in obedience to Governor Lyttleton's orders, were at once put in irons. Finding that they were powerless to give the satisfaction denianded by the governor, the Cherokees departed. A messenger was dispatched to bring Attakullakulla back to the
V7
6
THIE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
camp. Upon his return the governor at once began to treat of peace, as he was desirous of " finishing the campaign with as much credit as possible." Accordingly, a treaty was drawn up and signed by the governor and by six head men of the Cherokee nation, in which it was stipulated that the "twenty-two chief- tains of the Cherokees should be kept as hostages, confined in the fort until the same number of Indians, guilty of murder, should be delivered up to the Commander in chief of the Prov- ince ; that trade should be opened and carried on as usual ; that the Cherokees should kill, or take every Frenchman prisoner who should presume to come into their nation during the con- tinuance of the war, and that they should hold no intercourse with the Enemies of Great Britain, but should apprehend every person, white and red, found among them who might be en- deavoring to set the English and Cherokees at variance and in- terrupt the friendship and peace established between them."
Having concluded this treaty, the governor resolved to return to Charlestown. The small-pox, which was raging in an ad- jacent Indian town, now appeared in his camp to the alarm of the soldiers, few of whom had ever been brought in contact with that distemper. The surgeons, too, were unprepared to treat the malady. Struck with terror the army quickly disbanded. Each soldier, making his way homeward as best he could, through fear of the pest carefully avoided all association with his fellows.
Arrived in Charlestown, the governor was welcomed with demonstrations of joy, and the most happy consequences were anticipated as the result of his expedition.
Whether the Indian chiefs who signed the treaty stipulations understood them or not is perhaps doubtful. Certain it is, how- ever, that they utterly disregarded them. The unjustifiable and inhuman incarceration of the chiefs, against whom no charges were preferred and who had journeyed several hundred miles in order to secure from Governor Lyttleton peace for their nation, produced a strong impression on the mind of the Cherokees. Oc- conostota was inflamed with fury and cried aloud for vengeance. Instead of permitting these chiefs to return home in accordance with the promise of the governor that not a hair of their heads should be hurt, the whites confined them in a miserable hut where they were allowed to see neither their friends nor the light of day. The allegation that they were detained as hostages was a mere subterfuge. It could not happen otherwise than that theso bravo, untamed, independent warriors should, at the
1
7
OCCONOSTOTA'S STRATAGEM.
earliest opportunity, resent such base, unmerited, and inhuman usage.
The bonfires kindled in Charlestown upon the return of Gov- ernor Lyttleton had scarcely turned to ashes when tidings were brought announcing the alarming fact that the Cherokees had slain fourteen men within a mile of Fort Prince George. Occo- nostota, collecting a strong party, surrounded that fort and com- pelled its garrison to seek shelter within its walls. Finding that ' he could make no impression upon the work, and unable to com- pel its commanding officer, Captain Coytmore, who was utterly detested by the natives, to surrender his post, this chief contrived the following stratagem for the relief of his imprisoned country- men.
The region being densely wooded, he placed a party in am- bush near the river, and then sent an Indian woman, who was always welcome in the fort, to inform the commanding officer that he had an important communication to make and would be glad to speak with him at the river-side. Suspecting nothing, Captain Coytmore, accompanied by Lieutenants Bell and Foster, responded to the invitation. Appearing on the opposite side of the river, Occonostota stated that he was going to Charles- town to procure a release of the prisoners, and would be glad if a soldier could be detailed to accompany him as a safeguard. Holding a bridle in his hand, he added that he would furnish a horse for the conveyance of the soldier. The captain responded that he should have the guard. Turning quickly about, Occo- nostota swung the bridle thrice around his head as a signal to his men lying in ambush who, instantly firing upon the officers, shot the captain dead on the spot and wounded his two lieuten- ants. In consequence of this act orders were issued within the fort to put the hostages in irons. While the soldiers were at- tempting to do this, the chiefs stabbed the first man who laid hold of them and wounded two more. Whereupon the garrison, exasperated to the highest degree, fell upon the unfortunate hos- tages and butchered them to death in a manner too shocking to relate.
This massacre brought sorrow and wrath to the hearts of the entire Cherokee nation. War was resolved upon. In every direc- tion bands of warriors, in hostile attire and fully armed, took the field. Rushing down upon the defenseless frontiers of Carolina, they sacrificed men, women, and children to their merciless fury. To add to the horrors of the period the small-pox raged on every
.
ے
1 00 0
I
١
8
THE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
hand. In this dire extremity an express was sent to General Amherst, the commander-in-chief in America, acquainting him with the deplorable situation of the province and craving imme- diate assistance. A battalion of Highlanders and four companies of the Royal Scots, under the command of Colonel Montgomery, afterwards the Earl of Eglinton, were ordered to embark imme- diately and sail for the relief of Carolina.
William Lyttleton having been appointed governor of Jamaica, the charge of the province of South Carolina devolved upon Colonel William Bull, a gentleman of great integrity and worth. Seven troops of rangers were furnished by the provinces of Vir- ginia and North Carolina. These patrolled the frontiers of South Carolina and prevented the Indians from penetrating into the heart of the white settlements. Considerable sums were voted with which to purchase presents in order that the Creeks, Chick- asaws, and Catawbas might be induced to assist the South Car- olinians in their war with the Cherokees. Provisions were sent to such of the colonists as had taken refuge in Augusta and Fort Moore, and preparations were made for chastising the enemy so soon as the regulars from New York should arrive.
In April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery landed at Charlestown and encamped with his command at Monk's Corner. His orders were to strike a rapid blow for the relief of Carolina, and to return, without loss of time, to headquarters at Albany. A few weeks afterward he marched to the Congarees where he was joined by the military forces of the province. A half-blood In- dian guide, thoroughly acquainted with the proposed route, hav- ing been furnished, he pressed forward to Twelve Mile River where he encamped. With a portion of his command he sur- prised the Indian town of Little Keowee and put every male inhabitant to the sword. Proceeding thence to Estatoe, whence the savages had precipitately fled, he reduced to ashes that vil- lage consisting of some two hundred houses. It was well sup- plied with corn, hogs, poultry, and ammunition, which the Indians in their haste had been unable to remove. Sugar Town and all settlements in the Lower Cherokee nation shared a similar fate. The Indians were completely dismayed and overwhelmed by this impetuous and powerful incursion. Sixty were killed, forty cap- tured, and the rest compelled to seek safety among the moun- tains. Having thus accomplished the subjugation of the region and driven the inhabitants in consternation from their homes, Colonel Montgomery moved to the relief of Fort Prince George,
L
9
AFFAIR NEAR ETCHOE.
which had been for some time so closely invested that its garri- son was in great want not only of provisions but even of fuel.
While the army was resting at this fort, Edmund Atkin, agent for Indian affairs, dispatched two Indian chiefs to inform the Cherokees of the Middle Settlements that by promptly suing for peace they might regain the favor of the English. Captains Demere and Stuart, commanding at Fort Loudoun, were notified to use their best exertions to bring about a pacification among the Cherokees inhabiting the upper towns. Finding that the Indians were indisposed to lay down their arms, Colonel Mont- gomery determined to advance further into their territory and to punish them even more severely. In execution of this purpose the difficulties experienced by him are thus narrated by the author of " An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia:" " Dismal was the wilderness into which he entered, and many were the hardships and dangers he had to encounter from dark thickets, rugged paths, and narrow passes in which a small body of men, properly posted, might harass and tire out the bravest army that ever took the field. Having on all hands suspicious grounds, he found occasion for constant vigilance and circumspection. While he was piercing through the thick forest, he had numberless diffi- culties to surmount, particularly from rivers fordable only at one place and overlooked by high banks on each side, where an enemy might attack him with advantage and retreat with safety.
" When he had advanced within five miles of Etchoe, the near- est town in the Middle Settlements, he found there a low valley covered so thickly with bushes that the soldiers could scarcely see three yards before them, in the middle of which was a muddy river with steep, clay banks. Through this dark place, where it was impossible for any number of men to act together, the army must necessarily march, and therefore, Captain Morison, who commanded a company of Rangers well acquainted with the woods, had orders to advance and scour the thicket. He had scarcely entered it when a number of savages sprung from their lurking den, and, firing on them, killed the captain and wounded several of his party. Upon which the light infantry and grena- diers were ordered to advance and charge the invisible enemy, which they did with great courage and alacrity. A heavy fire then began on both sides, and during some time the soldiers could only discover the places where the savages were hid by the report of their guns. Colonel Montgomery finding that the number of
-
لحمة السعدي
ب
north
لاسمكى
10
TIIE HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
Indians that guarded the place was great, and that they were determined obstinately to dispute it, ordered the Royal Scots, who were in the rear, to advance between the savages and a ris- ing ground on the right, while the Highlanders marched towards the left to sustain the light infantry and grenadiers.
" The woods now resounded with horrible shouts and yells, but these instead of intimidating the troops seemed rather to inspire them with double firmness and resolution. At length the sav- ages gave way and, in their retreat, falling in with the Royal Scots, suffered considerably before they got out of their reach. By this time the Royals being in the front, and the Highlanders in the rear, the enemy stretched away and took possession of a hill, seemingly disposed to keep at a distance, and always re- treating as the army advanced. Colonel Montgomery, perceiv- ing that they kept aloof, gave orders to the line to face about and march directly for the town of Etchoe. The enemy no sooner observed this movement than they got behind the hill and ran to alarm their wives and children.
" During the action, which lasted above an hour, Colonel Montgomery, who made several narrow escapes, had twenty men killed and seventy-six wounded. What number the enemy lost is uncertain, but some places were discovered into which they had thrown several of their slain, from which it was conjectured that they must have lost a great number as it is a custom among them to carry their dead off the field. Upon viewing the ground all were astonished to see with what judgment and skill they had chosen it. Scarcely could the most experienced officer have fixed upon a spot more advantageous for waylaying and attacking an enemy according to the method of fighting practised among thie Indian Nations."
This engagement convinced Colonel Montgomery that he could not, in this wild and broken region, make substantial headway against the aborigines who, driven from one position, were pre- pared to occupy another. Encumbered by his wounded, whom he could not entrust to the tender mercies of the enemy, and per- suaded that the hardships incident to a further prosecution of the campaign were beyond the endurance of his men, he ordered a retreat which was conducted in an orderly manner in the pres- ence of the enemy hovering near and offering every possible an- noyance.
As Colonel Montgomery was preparing to embark with his troops for New York, in obedience to his orders from General
11 سدامتم
A
N
0 202 008
11
CAPITULATION OF FORT LOUDOUN.
Amherst, the General Assembly of South Carolina, influenced by the dangers threatening the province, memorialized Governor Bull, unanimously entreating him "to use the most pressing in- stances with Colonel Montgomery not to depart with the King's troops as it may be attended with the most pernicious conse- quences." Representing to the colonel the imminent dangers to which the colony would be exposed, the governor succeeded in prevailing upon him to leave four companies of the royal regi- ment, under the command of Major Frederick Hamilton, for the protection of the frontiers. Meanwhile the Indians were ravag- ing the back settlements and gathering their forces for wider and more determined liostilities.
The distant garrison of Fort Loudoun, consisting of two hun- dred men, had been so long and so closely invested by the enraged Cherokees that it was well-nigh reduced to the alternative either of perishing by hunger or of submitting to massacre at the hands of the savages. The Virginians had promised to concentrate for the relief of this post, but appalled at the dangers and the pri- vations incident to the undertaking they abandoned the project. Deplorable indeed was the situation of affairs. For an entire month the garrison had been subsisting upon lean horses and dogs, and a scanty supply of beans stealthily furnished by some friendly Cherokee women. Blockaded and annoyed day and night by the enemy, the soldiers threatened to leave the fort, preferring to die by the hands of the Indians rather than perish by famine. In this extremity, all hope of succor having vanished, a council of war was called. The officers were of opinion that it was impossible to hold out any longer. A surrender to the Cher- okees upon the best terms that could be secured was resolved upon, and Captain Stuart, an officer of great sagacity and ad- dress, was detailed to proceed to Choté, one of the principal In- dian towns in the neighborhood. There the following terms of capitulation were agreed upon and subsequently signed by the commanding officer of the fort and two of the leading Cherokee chiefs : " That the garrison of Fort Loudoun march out with their arms and drums, each soldier having as much powder and ball as their officer shall think necessary for their march, and all the baggage they may chuse to carry: That the garrison be permitted to march to Virginia or Fort Prince George, as the commanding officer shall think proper, unmolested, and that a number of Indians be appointed to escort them and hunt for pro- visions during their march : That such soldiers as are lame, or
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.