USA > Georgia > The history of Georgia from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 6
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Here the Indians desired him to stop, and put an end to the contest, declaring that their eyes were now opened, and that they saw through the insidious design of Bosomworth ; but though he desired to break the chain of friendship, they were determined to hold it fast and disappoint him ; and begged, therefore, that all might smoke the pipe of peace. Accordingly, pipes and rum were brought, and they joined hand in hand, drank and smoked together in friendship, every one wishing that their hearts might be united in like manner as their hands. The royal presents, except ammunition, with which it was judged im- prudent to trust them, until they were some dis- tance from town, were brought and distributed among them ; the most disaffected and influential received the largest presents : even Malatche himself seemed fully satisfied with his share, and the savages in general, perceiving the poverty and insignificancy of Bosomworth and his wife, ' and their total inability to supply their wants, apparently determined to break off all connection with them.
While the president and council were congra- tulating themselves on the re-establishment of friendly intercourse with the Creeks, Mary,
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EXCITING SCENE.
drunk with liquor, and disappointed in her royal views, rushed in among them like a fury, and told the president that these were her people, that he had no business with them, and that he should soon be convinced of it to his cost. The president calmly advised her to retire to her lodg- ings and forbear to poison the minds of the In- dians, otherwise he would order her again into close confinement. Upon this, she turned about to Malatche in great rage, and repeated, with some ill-natured comments, what the president had said. Malatche started from his seat, laid hold of his arms, and, calling upon the rest to follow his example, dared any man to touch the queen.
The whole house was filled in a moment with tumult and uproar. Every Indian having his tomahawk in his hand, the president and council expected nothing but instant death. During this confusion, Captain Jones, who commanded the guard, very seasonably interposed, and ordered the Indians immediately to surrender their arms. Such courage was not the only re- quisite to overawe them ; great prudence was, at the same time, necessary, to avoid coming to extremities. With reluctance the Indians sub- mitted, and Mary was conveyed to a private room, where a guard was placed over her, and all further communication with the Indians de- nied to her during their stay in Savannah. Her
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
husband was sent for, in order to reason with him and convince him of the folly of his chi- merical pretensions, and of the dangerous conse- quences which might result from his persisting in them ; but no sooner did he appear before the president and the council, than he became out- rageously abusive, and in defiance of every argu- ment which was used to persuade him to submis- sion, he remained contumacious, and protested he would stand forth in vindication of his wife's right to the last extremity, and that the province of Georgia should soon feel the weight of her power and vengeance.
Such conduct justly merited a course which it would have been impolitic in the council to pur- sue ; but finding that fair means were fruitless and ineffectual, they determined to remove him out of the way of the Indians until they were gone, and then humble him by force.
After having secured the two leaders, it only remained to persuade the Indians to leave the town and return to their homes. Captain Ellick, a young warrior, who had distinguished himself in discovering to his tribe the base intrigues of Bosomworth, being afraid to accompany Ma- latche and his followers, consulted his safety by setting out among the first. The rest followed him in different parties, and the inhabitants, tired out with constant duty, and harassed with frequent alarms, were at length happily relieved.
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BOSOMWORTH PARDONED.
It affords a striking evidence of the weakness of the colonists, and their fear of Indian retalia- tion, when we relate, that after passing through this terrible ordeal, the provincial authorities did not dare to molest either Bosomworth or his wife. It is true, that the reasons given for their pardon were said to have been in consideration of the intercession of Adam Bosomworth, a brother of the culprit, and a letter from Bosomworth him- self, acknowledging the title of his wife to be groundless, and craving forgiveness on the plea of her present remorse and past services to the province. But the real cause of their not being severely dealt with was, undoubtedly, a dread of the consequences that might ensue.
In 1751, the restless intriguer revived his claim. It was litigated in the English courts for many years, and at length partially decided in his favour ; but one Levy claiming a moiety of the lands by previous purchase of Bosomworth, a new suit was instituted, which, from Levy dying not long after, has never been legally settled.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
CHAPTER X.
Condition of the province-Hostile attitude of the Cherokees -Trustees resign their charter-Georgia formed into a royal government-Quarrel between the Virginians and Cherokees -Treachery of Occonostota-Captain Coytmore killed- Indian hostages massacred-The savages desolate the fron- tiers-Colonel Montgomery sent against them-Defeats them and burns all the lower towns-Returns to Fort Prince George-Enters the nation again-Bloody battle near Etchoe town-Returns to Fort Prince George-Siege and capitula- lation of Fort Loudon-Treachery of the savages-Attakul- lakulla rescues Captain Stewart-Hostilities encouraged by the French-Grant marches against the Indians, and de- feats them-Treaty of peace concluded.
THE condition of the province of Georgia in 1751 was indeed deplorable. Eighteen years had now passed off, and the colonists had not, in any one year, furnished subsistence enough for its own consumption. Commerce had barely commenced ; numbers, in disgust at the unpro- ming state of things, had left the country, and settled in Carolina; the white servants fled from their masters and took refuge in Carolina, and the country was rapidly dwindling into in- significance.
In this enfeebled condition, the Cherokee In- dians assumed a hostile attitude. At the first signal of alarm, a number of Quakers, who had settled, during the preceding winter, on a
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REYNOLDS APPOINTED GOVERNOR.
body of land west of Augusta, abandoned their plantations and fled the country. Other planters also sought protection in the towns, and the pro- vince was placed in the best state of defence which its. weakened condition admitted. The difficulty, however, blew over for a time.
The trustees, finding that the province did not flourish under their patronage, and wearied out with the complaints and murmurs of the people, for whose benefit they had devoted so much time and expended so much money, resigned their charter on the 20th of June, 1752, and the pro- vince was formed into a royal government.
For two years after the resignation of the trustees, the province of Georgia remained in an unprotected condition. On the 1st of October, 1754, the king appointed John Reynolds, an offi- cer in the navy, Governor of Georgia, and granted legislative powers similar to those of the other royal governments in America. Several years elapsed, however, before Georgia began to pros- per.
During the year 1759, war between France and Great Britain having been previously de- clared,. General Abercrombie, commanding the British forces in America, threatened the French stronghold on the Ohio, westward of Virginia. To assist in carrying out his designs, he invited the Cherokees to join him in the capture of Fort Duquesne. The French garrison fled to the
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
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south, and taking advantage of an unfortunate quarrel between the Virginians and Cherokees, were successful in detaching the latter from the British cause, and exciting them into a bloody and remorseless war against their former friends.
The occasion which gave rise to the feud was this. A number of Indians returning through the back parts of Virginia, having lost their own horses in the expedition against Du- quesne, caught such as came in their way ; never imagining that they belonged to any individual in the province. The Virginians, resenting the injury, followed the savages, killed fourteen of them, and took several prisoners. The Chero- kees, naturally indignant at such conduct from their allies, flew immediately to arms, and mur- dered and scalped a number of people on the frontiers.
Captain Coytmore, commanding Fort Prince George, on the bank of Savannah River, near the Cherokee town of Keowee, despatched messengers to the Governors of Georgia and South Carolina, warning them of the dangers which were threat- ening. Governor Lyttleton immediately hastened to the fort, with a body of militia, and succeeded in forming a treaty of peace with six of the chiefs on the 26th of December, 1759. By this treaty, thirty-two Indian warriors were left in the fort as hostages for the fulfilment of certain stipulated
OCCONOSTOTA'S STRATAGEM. 101
conditions., The small-pox breaking out in Lyt- tleton's camp, he was obliged to return to Charleston. He had scarcely reached the seat of his government, when war again broke out.
The Indians had contracted an invincible an- tipathy to Captain Coytmore, who commanded in the fort; the imprisonment of their chiefs had converted their desire for peace into the bitterest rage for war.
Occonostotà , a chieftain of great influence, had become a most implacable and vindictive enemy : he collected a strong party of Cherokees, sur- rounded the fort, and compelled the garrison to keep within their works; but finding that he could make no impression on them, nor oblige the commander to surrender, he contrived the following stratagem for the relief of his country- men,.confined in it as hostages. As the under- wood was well calculated for his purposes, he placed a party of savages in a dark canebrake by the river-side, and then sent an Indian woman whom he knew to be always welcome at the fort, to inform the commander that he had something of consequence to communicate to him, and would be glad to speak to him at the river-side. Cap- tain Coytmore imprudently consented, and with- out any suspicion of danger, walked to the river, accompanied by Lieutenants Bell and Foster. Oc- conostota appeared on the opposite side, and told them that he was going to Charleston to procure
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
the release of the hostages, and would be glad of a white man to accompany him as a safe- guard. The better to cover his design, he had a bridle in his hand, and added that he would go and hunt for a horse. The captain replied, that he should have a guard, and wished that he might find a horse, as the journey was very long, and performing it on foot would be fatiguing and tedious : upon which the Indian turned quickly, swung the bridle round his head as a signal to the savages placed in ambush, who instantly fired upon the officers, shot the captain dead upon the spot, and wounded the other two. In conse- quence of this, orders were given to put the hos- tages in irons, to prevent any further danger from them ; but, while the soldiers were attempting to execute these orders, the Indians stabbed the first man who laid hold of them, and wounded two more, upon which the garrison, exasperated to the highest degree, fell upon the unfortunate hos- tages and butchered them in a manner too shock- ing to relate.
There were few men in the Cherokee nation that did not lose a friend or relation by this massacre ; and, therefore, with one voice all declared for war.
The consequences were dreadful. From the dif- ferent towns, large parties of warriors took the field, and commenced an indiscriminate slaughter among the defenceless families upon the fron- tiers, ravaging and burning wherever they went.
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COL. MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION.
. In this extremity, application for immediate assistance was made to the commander of the British forces in New York, and to the Governors of North Carolina and Virginia.
Seven companies of rangers were raised to patrol the frontiers, and prevent the savages from penetrating farther down the settlements, and the best possible preparations made for chas- tising the enemy as soon as the regulars should arrive from New York.
In April, 1760, Colonel Montgomery landed in Carolina, with a battalion of Highlanders and four companies of Royal Scots. As the conquest of Canada was the grand object of this year's cam- paign in America, he had orders to strike a sud- den blow for the relief of the southern provinces, and return to head-quarters at Albany without loss of time.
After having been joined at the Congarees by the military strength of South Carolina, he marched rapidly in the night with a party of his men to surprise the Indian town of Estatoe. On his way thither, he entered suddenly the town of Little Keowee, and put every Indian in it to the sword, sparing only the women and children. He next proceeded to Estatoe and burned it to ashes ; but the savages, with the exception of a few, had already fled. Sugartown, and every other settlement eastward of the Blue Ridge, shared the same fate. In the lower towns, one
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IIISTORY OF GEORGIA.
hundred Indians were killed or taken prisoners, and the rest driven to seek for shelter in the mountains.
Having finished this business with the loss of only three or four men, he marched to the relief of Fort George, which had been invested for some time by the savages. Happily succeeding in his object, he despatched from thence messengers to the upper and lower Cherokee towns, offering to treat with them for peace. Finding the enemy still implacable, he determined to chastise them a little farther ; but in order to reach the savages, he was now compelled to penetrate a wilderness of dark thickets, rugged paths, and dangerous passes.
On the 27th of June, when he had'advanced within five miles of Etchoe, the nearest town of the middle settlements, he entered a low valley, covered so thick with brush that a soldier could scarcely see the length of his body, and in the middle of which there 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. Captain Morison, who commanded a company of rangers, was ordered to scour the thickets. They had scarcely entered it, when a number of savages sprang from their ambuscade, fired on them, killed the captain, and wounded several of his party ; upon which the light grenadiers were ordered to advance and charge the enemy. The
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BATTLE NEAR ETCHOE.
firing then became general, though the soldiers, for some time, could only discover the enemy by the report of their guns.
Montgomery, finding that the Indians were in large force, ordered the Royal Scots to advance between the savages and a rising ground on the right, while the Highlanders marched to the left, to support the light infantry and grenadiers. Undismayed by the war-whoops and horrible yells of the savages, the troops pressed forward. At length, the Indians gave way, and in their retreat, falling in with the Royal Scots, suffered severely. As soon as Montgomery saw that the enemy continued to retreat as his troops ad- vanced, he gave orders for the line to face about and march directly for the town of Etchoe. The Indians immediately retreated behind the hill, and hastened to provide for the safety of their wives and children.
In this desperate battle, Montgomery had twenty men killed, and seventy-six wounded. The loss of the enemy was never ascertained.
This action, though it terminated in favour of the British, had so burdened them with wounded, that the commander judged it most prudent to return to Fort George. Accordingly, orders were given for a retreat, which was made with great regularity, although the enemy continued hover- ing around and annoying the troops whenever a favourable opportunity presented itself.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
In the mean time, the distant garrison of Fort Loudon, consisting of two hundred men, was re- duced to the dreadful alternative of perishing by hunger or submitting to the mercy of the enraged Cherokees. For a long time they had enter- tained hopes of being relieved by the Virginians ; but the latter, foreseeing the difficulty of marching an army burdened with supplies, through a bar- ren wilderness, where the passes and thickets were ambuscaded by the enemy, had given over all thoughts of the attempt. Driven to despair, the men threatened to leave the fort and die at once by the hands of the savages, rather than perish slowly by famine. In this extremity, a council of war was called, when it was finally agreed to surrender the fort to the Cherokees on the best terms that could be obtained. For this purpose, Captain Stewart, an officer much beloved by all the Indians who remained in the British in- terest, was sent to Chote, one of the principal towns in that neighbourhood, where he obtained terms of capitulation. One of the conditions as- sented to by the Indians was, that the garrison, with a sufficiency of arms and ammunition, should be permitted to march unmolested to Fort Prince George or Virginia, under the escort of a number of Indians, by whom they were to be supplied with provisions during their march.
Accordingly, the fort was given up on the 7th of August, 1760, and the garrison, accompanied
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TREACHERY OF OCCONOSTOTA.
by Occonostota and several other Indians, set out on their way to Fort Prince George: At the first halting-place for the night their treacherous escort deserted them, and early next morning they were attacked by a large body of warriors, . who killed Captain Demere, the commander, the other officers, and twenty-six men, and took the remainder as prisoners back to Fort Loudon.
Among those who deplored this shameful breach of faith, was a noble-hearted chief by the name of Attakullakulla. No sooner did he learn that his friend Captain Stewart had escaped death, than he hastened to the fort and purchased him from his Indian captor, giving the latter his rifle, his clothes, and every thing he could command. Soon after this, he learned from Captain Stewart that Occonostota, meditating an attempt upon Fort Prince George, had determined that Stewart and a party of his companions should assist in the reduction of the fort; and that in the event of Stewart's refusal to act against his own country- men, the prisoners should be burned one after another before his face.
Upon hearing this savage resolve of Occonos- tota, the aged Attakullakulla resolved to save the life of Captain Stewart at once, and at every hazard. Accordingly, he signified to his people that he intended to go hunting for a few days, and carry his prisoner with him to eat venison : at the same time Captain Stewart went among his
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
soldiers, and told them that they could never ex- pect to be ransomed by their government if they gave the smallest assistance to the Indians against Fort Prince George.
Having settled all matters, they set out on their journey, accompanied by the old warrior's wife, his brother and two soldiers, who were the only persons of the garrison that knew how to convey great guns through the woods. For provisions they depended upon what they might kill by the way. The distance to the frontier settlements was great, and the utmost expedition necessary to prevent any surprise from Indians pursuing them. Nine days and nights did they travel through a dreary wilderness, shaping their course by the sun and moon for Virginia, and traversing many hills, valleys, and paths that had never been travelled before but by savages and wild beasts. On the tenth they arrived at Holston's river, where they fortunately fell in with a party of three hundred men 'sent out by Colonel Bird for the relief of such soldiers as might make their escape that way from Fort Loudon. On the fourteenth day the captain reached Colonel Bird's camp, on the frontiers of Virginia, where having loaded his faithful friend and his party with pre- sents and provisions, he sent him back to protect the unhappy prisoners until they should be ran- somed, and to exert his influence among the Cherokees for the restoration of peace.
FRENCH MACHINATIONS. 109
Having glutted their vengeance, the Cherokees would have been disposed to listen to terms of accommodation, had not several French emissaries crept in among the upper towns, and fomented their ill-humour against the southern provinces.
Louis Latinac, a French officer, was among these, and proved an indefatigable instigator to mischief. He furnished the Indians with arms and ammunition, and urged them to war, per- suading them that the English had nothing less in view than the extermination of their race from the face of the earth. At a great meeting of the nation, he pulled out his hatchet, and sticking it into a log, cried out, " Who is the man that will take this up for the King of France ?" Saloue, a young warrior of Estatoe, laid hold of it and cried out, "I am for war ! The spirits of our brothers who have been slain still call upon us to revenge their death-he is no better than a woman who refuses to follow me." Many others seized the tomahawk yet dyed with the stains of innocent blood, their hearts burning with ardour for the field.
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Canada being now reduced, General Amherst, responding to the repeated calls from the south for assistance, despatched Colonel Grant to Charleston, with a force of regulars amply suffi- cient to meet the emergency. In the spring, Grant took the field with two thousand six hun- dred men, and on the 27th of May, 1761, arrived at Fort Prince George.
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
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On the 7th of June, he marched from thence into the Cherokee country, carrying with him thirty days' provisions. On the 10th, various circumstances concurred to awaken suspicion, and orders were given for the first time to load and prepare for action, and the guards to march slowly forward, doubling their vigilance.
As they frequently spied Indians around them, all were convinced that they should that day have an engagement. At length, having advanced near the place where Colonel Montgomery was attacked the preceding year, the Indian allies in the vanguard, about eight in the morning, ob- served a large body of Cherokees posted upon a hill on the right flank of the army, and imme- diately gave the alarm. The savages rushed down and commenced a heavy fire upon the ad- vanced guard, which being supported, the enemy was soon repulsed, and again formed upon the heights : under this hill the army was obliged to march a considerable distance.
On the left was a river, from the opposite bank of which a large number of Indians fired briskly on the troops as they advanced. Colonel Grant ordered a party to march up the hill and drive the enemy from the heights, while the line faced about and gave their whole charge to the Indians who annoyed them from the side of the river. The engagement became general, and the savages seemed determined obstinately to dispute the
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THE CHEROKEES DEFEATED.
lower grounds, while those on the hill were dis- lodged only to return with redoubled ardour to the charge. The situation of the troops was in several respects unfavourable : fatigued by a tedious march in rainy weather ; surrounded with woods, so that they could not discern the enemy ; galled by the scattered fire of the savages, who when pressed always kept aloof, but rallied again and returned to the ground; no sooner did the army gain an advantage over them on one quar- ter, than they appeared in force on another.
While the attention of the commander was oc- cupied in driving the enemy from their lurking- place on the river-side, the rear was attacked, and so vigorous an effort made to take the flour and cattle, that he was obliged to order a party back to the relief of the rear-guard. From eight o'clock in the morning until eleven, the savages continued to keep up an irregular and incessant fire, sometimes from one place and sometimes from another, while the woods resounded with the war-whoop, and hideous shouts and yells, to in- timidate the troops. At length the Cherokees gave way, and being pursued for some time, scat- tered shots continued until about two o'clock, when the enemy disappeared.
The loss sustained by the enemy in this action was not accurately ascertained. Colonel Grant's loss was between fifty and sixty killed and wound- ed. Orders were given not to bury the slain, but
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HISTORY OF GEORGIA.
to sink them in the river, to prevent their being dug up from their graves and scalped. The army then proceeded to Etchoe, a large Indian town, which they reached about midnight, and next day reduced to ashes. All the other towns in the middle settlement, fourteen in number, shared the same fate. The corn, cattle, and other stores of the enemy were likewise destroyed, and the savages, with their families, were driven to seek shelter and subsistence among the barren moun- tains.
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