USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > Nashville > History of Nashville, Tenn. > Part 6
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The year of 1773 was one of comparative quiet and repose; but in 1774 the military history of Tennessee began. The Shawnees and other North-western tribes, irritated by the advance of the whites into Ken- tucky, and also by certain outrages that had been inflicted on them, formed a confederacy, and began the work of massacre and destruction along the whole Virginia frontier. Lord Dunmore at once ordered Gen- eral Andrew Lewis, the same man whom Lord Loudon had sent sixteen years earlier to build the fort of that name on the Little Tennessee, to raise four regiments of militia, and march to the Ohio River. In the sec- tion now included in the two counties of Carter and Sullivan Captain Evan Shelby gathered a company of more than fifty men, and on the 17th of August set out for New River to join the regiment of Colonel Chris- tian. It was the IIth of September before the little army started down the wild and rugged course of this stream, and it was not until the 6th of October that they reached the Ohio, and camped on the site of the town of Mount Pleasant. On the day following there took place the most. fiercely contested Indian battle ever fought on this continent. All the historians have told us how James Robertson and Valentine Sevier saved the army from surprise in the morning, and how another of Shelby's men, the late John Sawyers, of Knox County, turned the tide of battle late in the afternoon. It is a glorious story; but we have not space for it here. The engagement terminated the war, and the Shawnees agreed to surrender any vague and shadowy title that they may have previously had to the territory south of the Ohio River.
This brings us to Henderson's treaty. A company of gentlemen, in- cluding Thomas Hart, John Williams, James Hogg, Nathaniel Hart,
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David Hart, Leonard H. Bullock, John Luttrell, William Johnston, and Colonel Richard Henderson, stimulated by the reports of Boone, re- solved to purchase from the Cherokees all the lands lying between the Kentucky and the Cumberland Rivers. In accordance with this plan, Henderson, Nathaniel Hart, and Boone made a visit to the Cherokee villages, and arranged for a general council at the Sycamore Shoals of Watagua River on the 17th of March, 1775. When the day came, twelve hundred Indians and two hundred and fifty white men, besides women and children, were present. It appears that Henderson had an easy task. All the chiefs and warriors fell in with his offers, except old Oconostota, who for a time maintained a stubborn resistance, but was at last compelled to submit. The consideration in the bargain was £10,000 in goods. This was a very trifling sum; but it must be remembered that if the Indians were getting only a small price, they were also selling something that they did not really own, something that had been already successively surrendered to the whites by both the Iroquois and the Shaw- nees. Two days later, March 19, the Watauga Association and Colonel Brown bought for £2,000 a fee-simple title to the lands which they had theretofore held on a lease.
For more than five years the Watauga people stood alone, sufficient unto themselves. At just about the date of which we are writing, how- ever, events were happening of a kind to draw all Americans into closer relations. In April, 1775, the battle of Lexington was fought, and the War of the Revolution began. North Carolina was one of the first of the colonies to declare for absolute independence, and the men who had gone with their lives in their hands to the Western border were not a whit behind the rest of their fellow-citizens in willingness to make this declaration good. They at once "enrolled a fine company of riflemen," and early in 1776 addressed a " Petition and Remonstrance " to the Pro- vincial Council, asking to be annexed either as a county or a district under the name of Washington. This remarkable paper, written in the handwriting of John Sevier and probably composed by him, was found by Dr. J. G. M. Ramsey in the archives of the State-house at Raleigh, where it had probably lain untouched for seventy-five years. We regret that our space is too limited to allow its insertion here. It gives a con- cise history of the settlement, and a brief account of the " military estab- lishment." It also acknowledges the petitioners to be "indebted to the United Colonies their full proportion of the continental expenses," and concludes as follows : "We pray your mature and deliberate considera- tion in our behalf, that you may annex us to your province (whether as. a county, district, or other division), in such manner as may enable us to,
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share in the glorious cause of liberty, enforce our laws under authority, and in every respect become the best members of society." The names of one hundred and fourteen signers were appended, only two of whom were illiterate enough to be under the necessity of making their mark. Strangely enough, the document itself is not dated; but on the back is this indorsement: "Received August 22, 1776." That it was favorably considered, and its requests granted, is evident from the fact that on the 12th of the following November Charles Robertson, John Carter, John Haile, and John Sevier appeared at Halifax, and took their seats in the Provincial Congress as representatives from Washington District.
Patriotism has its perils. The British Government had already adopted the policy so bitterly denounced by the great Chatham, that of calling to its aid the tomahawk and the scalping-knife of the savages against her insurgent colonists. The people on the Watauga and the Holston soon began to receive intimations that they could purchase exemption from butchery only by abjectly drawing back from the position that they had taken. In May, 1776, an unknown messenger, who quickly vanished out of sight, brought to the residence of Charles Robertson a letter from Henry Stewart, a Deputy Indian Agent in the Cherokee towns, a letter addressed in general terms to all the settlers, urging them to take sides with the king in the impending struggle, promising them protection if they would do so, and threatening them with the direst ruin if they refused. The letter had precisely the opposite effect from that which it was designed to have. Patriotism rose to a fever heat, and every man became a still intenser rebel.
In the beginning of the next July four traders came in great haste from the Indian towns, and announced that about a thousand redskins, stirred up by the machinations of Stewart and liberally supplied with powder and lead, were already on the war-path. The report proved to be true. The invading force broke up into four divisions. One of these passed up the valley of the Clinch, and ravaged the country as far east as to the Seven-mile Ford. A second crossed into Carter's Valley, but finding the whites securely shut up in forts, and hearing the news of which we shall presently speak, retreated to their own towns. A third, led by that worst of Indians, Dragging Canoe, made straight for Fort Heaton, in the forks of the Holston. Five independent companies, aggre- gating possibly one hundred and fifty men, had been hastily gathered at that point. How this small force boldly left the fort, marched out into the woods, and in a battle that lasted only ten minutes killed forty Indians outright, wounded Dragging Canoe himself, and drove the rest in con- fusion from the field, is told in fitting terms by the venerable annalist of
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the State. After this battle of Long Island Flats the pioneers are said never to have asked, "How many Indians are there?" but, " Where are they?" On the next day, July 21, a similar assault, with Old Abraham personally commanding, was made by the fourth division of Indians upon the fort at Watauga. The garrison was composed of only forty men; but they were men who never wasted a charge of powder. After a single fierce onset, in which they met with severe losses, the Indians drew off, though they hung about the vicinity for twenty days, and com- mitted many depredations. This was the occasion when Miss Kate Sherrill, who was outside of the stockade engaged in milking the cows, escaped from the savages by leaping over an eight-foot stockade, and was caught in the arms of Lieutenant Sevier. She soon afterward be- came his second wife.
Believing that the best defense is often found in offensive measures, steps were at once taken to march an army into the Cherokee country. As the recent raid had extended into Virginia, Governor Patrick Henry, of that State, very properly took the initiative in the measures of punish- ment. Acting under his orders, a force of twelve or fourteen hundred men rendezvoused at Long Island on August 1, 1776. They were there joined by three or four hundred militia from North Carolina under Colonel Joseph Williams, Colonel Love, and Major Winston. The en- tire army moved under the command of Colonel Christian, of the Vir- ginia line, and penetrated to the Cherokee towns on and below the Little Tennessee River. The Indians were seized with a panic, and deserted their wigwams for the woods. The only thing left for the army to do was to destroy the crops, drive off the cattle and horses, and otherwise so diminish and impair the resources of the Indians as to make it impos- sible for them speedily to resume a hostile attitude. That strong and courageous preacher, Rev. Charles Cummings, whose numerous descend- ants are still among the most reputable citizens of Virginia and Tennes- see, accompanied the expedition as chaplain. By the first of November the men were all back at Long Island, and, with the exception of a gar- rison of four hundred for that place, were all disbanded to their homes. The wisdom of what had been done was vindicated by the event. The great body of Cherokees were satisfied with the chastisement that they had received, and sued for peace. A treaty was accordingly made at Long Island on the 20th of July, 1777, according to the terms of which Brown's line on the Nollichucky and Cloud's Creek on the Holston were established as the boundary lines between the contracting parties.
But there was one division of the Cherokees that was not represented in this treaty-the Chickamaugas. We call them Cherokees: but they
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were, strictly speaking, a mongrel race, embracing representatives from the worst elements of all the tribes on the Ohio River and its tributaries. Their home was in the vicinity of Chattanooga and in the passes of the mountains still lower down. Their head chief, Dragging Canoe, was. the most treacherous and blood-thirsty Indian that ever lived in Tennes- see. Trusting in the shelter of the mountains by which they were sur- rounded, and in the protection afforded by such dens as the Nick-a-jack Cave, they refused to come to any terms, and kept up an incessant series of raids upon the white settlements, murdering and burning wherever they went. This lasted till the spring of 1779. At last it became unen- durable; and so on the roth of April, in the year we have just mentioned, a force of about seven hundred and fifty white men, commanded by Colonel Evan Shelby, sailed in canoes and flat-bottomed boats from the: mouth of Big Creek, in Hawkins County, for the purpose of breaking up this nest of cut-throats and marauders. It was the season of the spring tide, and the fleet made good time. On the night of the IIth they passed the towns where Oconostota and his thousand braves were sleeping in silence, and on the early morning of the 13th they entered the mouth of Chickamauga Creek, five miles above Chattanooga, and, by the windings of the river, three hundred miles from the place of their departure. With the utmost rapidity and secrecy they paddled their way up to the very edge of an Indian village, taking its five hundred warriors completely by surprise, and killing about forty of them as they fled. The wigwams were at once burned to ashes, and in the course of the day eleven adjacent towns were dealt with in the same way. Twenty thousand bushels of corn and also an immense stock of goods and ammunition that had been brought to that point by the British for general distribution were destroyed. One hundred head of cattle and a great many horses were captured and driven off. When the work of devastation was com- pleted Shelby marched his columns back by land, and in less than a month he had dismissed his volunteers to their families.
Amidst these scenes of disorder and bloodshed there were manifold signs of better times. Here and there a sincere and humble minister of the gospel was lifting up his voice to tell the people of the way of life. In 1779 Rev. Tidence Lane, of the Baptist Church, organized a congrégation on Buffalo Ridge, in Washington County. This congregation has main- tained a continuous existence to the present day. About the same time Rev. Samuel Doak, a Presbyterian clergyman of the highest character and the finest intelligence, entered the country, and began a long and useful career as a preacher and an educator. His descendants have inherited many of his excellent traits. Strangely enough, the Methodist
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circuit-rider was late in putting in his appearance. Not till 1783 was Jeremiah Lambert appointed to Holston. In the next year he col- lected together sixty-three members. It must be remembered that the first Methodist Conference in America was not held until 1771.
Here we must pause. We have reached the point where the Watauga settlers are to become two bands. In the next chapter the narrative will be resumed.
CHAPTER V.
INTO THE WILDERNESS ONCE MORE.
Difficulty of Determining Motives-James Robertson Meditates Migration-Middle Tennes- see's Fertility-Devoid of Indians-James Robertson's Party Reach the French Lick-The Route of the Settlers-Arrival at Christmas Time-Eaton's Station-Crossing the Cumber- land on the Ice-Selecting Sites-Building on the Bluff-Colonel John Donelson's Voyage -Character of the Early Settlers-Troubles with the Indians-Organization of Govern- ment-Necessity of Unanimity of Sentiment-Just Pride in the Firmness of the Patriots.
W TE men are governed by such a complexity of motives that it is fre- quently difficult for us to make a satisfactory analysis of our own minds, and to determine the springs and causes of our own actions. To explain the conduct of our fellow-creatures is, of course, a much harder task, especially if they be far removed from us in time or space. At this distance it is impossible to say with perfect confidence what were the controlling considerations which led James Robertson to meditate another migration. Every thing on the Watauga was working well. The population in the various neighborhoods had probably grown to four or five thousand; for in 1780 it was found possible to spare about five hun- dred able-bodied men for the expedition to King's Mountain, besides leaving a sufficient guard at home. Courts of law had been set up by the Legislature of North Carolina, and Washington County had been organized. The climate was superb, the land fertile, the times at least measurably prosperous. The Indians had been chastised into peace; there was a possibility that they would occasionally break out into iso- lated acts of hostility, but that they would ever again venture to begin a war of extermination was out of the question. Nothing seemed more natural than that the men who had been exposed for years to all the dangers of life upon the extreme frontier should settle down and enjoy the fruits of their exertions in a contented tranquillity. There was only one thing that made their position in the least insecure, and that was the fact that the War of the Revolution was still raging, and its issue seemed uncertain. In any case, however, they were better off where they were than they could be three hundred miles still farther to the west.
But the mental ferment had begun. First one and then another had intimated a wish to cross the Cumberland. It had become pretty well known that what is now called Middle Tennessee was a country of fabulous agricultural richness; that it contained not a single settlement of Indians; and that, by its rivers, it was in close connection with all
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INTO THE WILDERNESS ONCE MORE.
the colonies of the Mississippi and its tributaries. These were facts of great significance. As to how much influence was exerted by Colonel Richard Henderson and the other proprietors of Transylvania it is dif- ficult to determine. Beyond a doubt, they were anxious to start a fresh wave toward the west, knowing, as they did, that such a movement would enhance the value of their vast estates in that quarter. It is no reflection, moreover, on such men as Robertson and Donelson to suppose that they were animated by a laudable ambition to become founders. They may have been prophets enough to see that, in the order of events, thousands of others would take up the line of march and follow in their footsteps. Finally, let no one charge us with superstition if we choose to trace in all these affairs the hand of a Divine Providence. In truth, we devoutly believe that God designed the Mississippi Valley to be occupied by an English-speaking race, and to become a part and parcel of the great American Republic. In accomplishing this high purpose, he chose to use as his instruments the persons with whom this history deals; and it is no idle eulogy to say that they were worthy of the office to which they were thus called.
At any rate, it came to pass before the close of February, 1779, that James Robertson, William Neely, George Freeland, Edward Swanson, James Hanly, Mark Robertson, Zachariah White, and William Overhall set out from Watauga for the French Lick. A negro man, of whom we know nothing further, made the ninth member of the party. The object which they had in view, unlike that of those who had gone before, was not simply exploration, but also settlement. They had made up their minds in advance that they would plant themselves as permanent resi- dents in the region to which they were going. As a matter of course, they came through Cumberland Gap, and turned thence by a somewhat circuitous route to the south-west. Soon after they had reached their destination they were joined by another small company under the leader- ship of the tireless Casper Mansker. They had been careful to bring with them a sack of seed-corn, and they proceeded without delay to make preparations for a crop. Their first planting was at a point near the lower ferry. When every thing was well under way, Overhall, White, and Swanson were left to keep the buffaloes out of the unin- closed fields, and the rest returned to bring their families. Robertson, however, instead of going straight back, took a wide detour to Illinois to see General George Rogers Clark, who as the agent of Virginia was disposing of "cabin rights" on very favorable terms. Robertson thought it possible that when the line between Virginia and North Carolina was run it would throw the new settlement in the former State. Hence his
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prudence. He wished to get secure titles, and to fix matters so that there might be no complications in the future. When he reached Illinois he was able to make a provisional arrangement with General Clark without any actual present expenditure of money. He therefore bought a num- ber of horses of a tough and hardy breed; and, finding some persons who wished to go East, he mounted them on the best of his stock, and once more set his face toward the mountains.
But there was no long tarrying. By the first of November, at the head of from two to three hundred "movers," some on horseback and some on foot, he bid a final farewell to the beautiful valleys of upper East Tennessee, and began the pilgrimage at the end of which he was to find, after the lapse of many years, a secure and permanent home. The friends and neighbors, who had known him so long and so well, tried to restrain him. John Sevier, in particular, entered an earnest protest; but all in vain. "No," said Robertson, "we are the advance guard of civ- ilization, and our way is across the continent." Others were of the same mind. As the company passed down Powell's Valley they met John Rains and a number of his friends from New River, bound for Harrods- burg, in Kentucky. Rains himself, as we have already seen, had been to the West before, and was in a doubtful state of mind as to which sec- tion he really preferred, declaring that he was like a young man who knew two pretty girls, either one of whom he could get for a wife, but didn't know which to take. A little persuasion settled him, however, and he concluded to come to the Cumberland. "The route pursued was by Cumberland Gap and the Kentucky Trace to Whitley's Station, on Dick's River; thence to Carpenter's Station, on the waters of Green River; thence to Robertson's Fork, on the north side of that stream; thence down the river to Pitman's Station; thence crossing and descend- ing that river to Little Barren, crossing it at the Elk Lick; thence pass- ing the Blue Spring and the Dripping Spring to Big Barren; thence up Drake's Creek to a bituminous spring; thence to the Maple Swamp; thence to Red River at Kilgore's Station; thence to Mansker's Creek; and from there to the French Lick."
The winter proved to be the coldest one that has been known in the history of this country. This fact, together with the natural difficulties of the way and the great number of the emigrants, occasioned much de- lay. The end of the journey was not reached till Christmas. A few of the settlers remained on the east side of the river, and built themselves cabins connected by stockades about one and a half miles below the Louisville and Nashville railroad bridge. They were Fredrick Stump, Sr., Amos Eaton, Hayden Wells, Isaac Roundsever, William Loggins,
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and - Winters. The place was called Eaton's Station. The major- ity crossed over the river, the ice being strong enough to sustain not merely the men, but also the seventeen horses, nineteen cows, and two " steers" of the provident John Rains. On the next day Rains picked out his thousand acres of land on the waters of Brown's Creek, about two miles and a half from the square. Freeland soon erected, with a few others, a station in North Nashville, where the cotton-mill now stands. All the rest, at the suggestion of Robertson, built their cabins at the bluff, but in the course of the year such a scattering took place that there were within twenty miles of this center as many as eight sta- tions. The remainder of the winter was chiefly occupied in the comple- tion of this task. The structures were rude shanties; but they afforded some shelter, and were vastly better than no houses.
Up to this point we have omitted to note the fact that Robertson and his company were not accompanied by their wives and children. It was not thought possible that they could make the overland journey, and they were consequently left to come by water under the convoy of Colonel John Donelson and a few other men. Looking back at it now, it seems impossible that anybody with the least trace of rationality would have undertaken such a feat. The distance is at least a thousand miles, down the full length of the Holston and the Tennessee, and up the Ohio and the Cumberland. There were many and awful obstructions in the way, such as the Suck and Muscle Shoals, to say nothing of unknown dangers. They were ignorant, moreover, of the route, no one of them having ever been over it. Their boats were of the rudest kind, fitted only to run with the current, and almost incapable of being paddled or poled upstream. It was the dead of an awfully cold winter when the voyage began. Most to be dreaded of all, the banks of the Tennessee were lined for at least fifty miles with hostile savages who were smarting under the drubbing they had recently received from Shelby. Will frail women tempt fate by going on such a mad venture? Yes; and they will successfully accomplish it, though more than thirty persons will perish by the way. Gilmore is not extravagant when he says: "The voyage has no parallel in modern history. . The flight of the Tartar tribe across the steppes of Asia, Xenophon's anabasis of the ten thou- sand, or Kane's heroic struggle for life in the Arctic region is not a more thrilling story than the simple narrative of this expedition which John Donelson has left to his descendants. In it he says the voyage was 'intended by God's permission; ' clearly not a soul could have come safely through it but by God's special providence." This journal is so important that we insert it here entire, feeling as we do that no book
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HISTORY OF NASHVILLE.
purporting to give the early history of Nashville would be complete with- out it. It is only necessary to add by way of explanation that Reedy Creek, Cloud's Creek, and the Poor Valley Shoal are all in Hawkins County, not far from the point of departure; and that the "Adventure" was a large boat, capable of holding ten or fifteen families.
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