USA > Tennessee > Old times; or, Tennessee history, for Tennessee boys and girls > Part 4
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bad first traveled. Even now a road across the mountains must turn and wind about, in all directions, in order to avoid those parts of the ground that are too steep to be passed over.
Though the Rangers were not able to prevent all hostile inroads on the part of the Cherokees, yet the settlements became much more secure than they had been. On this account, as well as because of the favorable terms upon which land could be obtained, a great many families, about this time, crossed the mountains into the new settlements. They were mostly poor men who came, with nothing but stout hearts and strong arms to make their way in the world. However, as soon as the wagon-road was opened, some men of considerable property were found among the emigrants.
The rapid increase of the population caused the Legislature of North Carolina, in 1779, to establish another county on the north of the Watauga settlement. The new county was called Sullivan. in honor of General Sullivan, of the Continental Army. Isaac Shelby was appointed Colonel of Sullivan county, as John Carter was of Washington. A militia colonel was then a much more important character than he is now. In this same year, the first meeting-
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house was built in Tennessee, on Buffalo Ridge, near Watauga. A Baptist preacher, named Lane, ministered to the congregation assembled in that probably first place of Protestant wor- ship in the great valley of the Mississippi.
As the courts were held in private houses -- that is, log-cabins-it is not likely that this first church in the wilderness was a very fine build- ing, nor that it was attended by people very finely dressed. We are not informed upon that subject, but feel pretty sure that the women did not wear hoops-certainly not large ones. The men probably wore hunting-shirts in place of cloth coats, with pantaloons made of' dressed buckskin, and moccasins of the raw hide on their feet. Their hats were probably made at home of fox, or rabbit, or 'coon skins, the young men having the hair outside for the sake of show, and the old men preferring it on the inside to keep their heads warm. If any of our young readers do not know what a hunting-shirt is, let them ask their grandfathers.
In this year also, under authority of the Greu- eral Assembly, the town of Jonesborough was laid off, and established as the county town, or seat of justice, of Washington county. name was intended as a compliment to Willie
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Jones, of Halifax, N. C. This gentleman was a wealthy and patrio tic Whig, who, as a member of the General Assembly, had exerted himself to promote the welfare of the western settle- ments, and, on that account, had the honor of giving name to the first town laid off by white men in Tennessee.
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CHAPTER XVII.
TROUBLES WITH THE INDIANS AND TORIES.
THE great increase, about this time, in the number of settlers, and the security produced by the watchfulness and activity of the Rangers, had caused the people to be too careless, and to venture too far into the Indian country. Among others, a man named Lewis built his cabin high up the Watauga River, and at a considerable distance from any other settlers. The Chero- kees made an attack upon this family, murdered Mr. Lewis, his wife, and seven children, and burned his house. One of the children-3 daughter-was made prisoner. and afterward was purchased from her Indian owner for a
Several disasters of this kind having hap- pened, the Governor of North Carolina ap- pointed James Robertson as commissioner to visit the Indian towns, and endeavor to rake some arrangements to prevent such mischief for
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the future. He went accordingly, but failed to do much good among them. Some of the tribes were disposed to be peaceable, but others were evidently sullen and hostile. Of the latter class may be specially mentioned the Chickamaugas, under the influence of a fierce chief whose name, in English, was Dragging Canoe. All names among the Indians have a meaning; so indeed they have in all languages, but we cannot always trace them back far enough to find out what is that meaning.
The difficulty of coming upon good terms with the Indians was owing chiefly to the influ- enve of the Tories, and of the agents of the English King who resided among the Chero- kees. Not only in East Tennessee, but along the western frontier of Georgia, South Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, the same sort of envare ho-tilities was carried on. In addition to the natural jealousy and revengeful disposi- tinn of the savages, they were persuaded by these events that the British Government would protect them, and prevent the white settlements from being carried farther west. if the Indians would do their part, and help the king te con- quer his rebellious provinces. They were Eb- crally furnished with guns and ammunition to
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enable, and, at the same time, to bribe them, to assist in the work of conquest.
These agents of the British Government kept themselves generally beyond the reach of the injured and exasperated people of the frontier; and besides, as they belonged to a nation with which our country was at open war, they could only have been taken and kept as prisoners. Not so, however, with the Tories, who were not considered as subjects of the King of England so much as traitors and outlaws, who were making war upon their rative country and their fellow-citizens. True, when these were made prisoners in battle, they were generally treated in the same manner as their English allies; but such of them as were caught, not under command of a British officer, killing and robbing: the Whigs, were shot and hung with very little ceremony.
In the turmoil of the Revolution, and distant as were the frontier settlements from the seat of government on the eastern sea-board, the inhabitants of the western counties were tempted to take the law into their own hands, and to protect themselves in the most speedy and Retual way against the mischievous and mur. h rous practices of the Tories. The people of
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Watauga formed themselves into companies, which would now be called "Lynchers," or "Vigilance Committees," and hunted the Tories as they would so many wolves. They did this, not only because they considered the Tories as the enemies of their country, but because it was the only way to save their own lives and property.
Up toward the head of Watauga, a Tory named Grimes had established himself, with several companions, and had attacked some of the nearest Whig families, and killed at least one man. A company from Watauga, under the lead of Captain Bean, Robertson, and Se- vier, went against them, assaulted their lurking- place, and drove them over the mountains. Another Tory, of the name of Yearly. was chased out of the neighborhood of Nolichucky. Grimes was afterward caught and hung.
And here, young friends, let us say a serious and sincere word to you about such proceedings as we have just mentioned. At a time when the country was passing from the English Gov- ernment to a new one of the people's making, in the midst of war and confusion, when things were done by force and violence on all sides, the conduct of the Watauga people was neces-
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sary and right. But now, when we have an established government, with laws to punish all offenses, and judges, juries, and other officers to enforce the laws, we can have no excuse for im- itating such proceedings. If anybody should ever propose to you to join a company of Lynchers or Vigilants, do you just say to him that if the laws of Tennessee are not sufficient to punish crimes, you will help to make them stronger, but never to violate them.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
THE NARROWS AND NICKOJACK.
Ir was stated in the last chapter that the Chickamaugas were the most ferocious and un- manageable of all the Cherokee tribes. Their towns were on the south si le of Tennessee River, from the mouth of Chickamauga River, for a distance of forty or fifty miles down the former stream. By looking at a map, you will see that the Tennessee here breaks through the Cum- berland Mountains, or rather a branch of them, usually called Walden's Ridge. This passage of the river through the mountain is called The Nerveux, not far below the present town of Chattanooga.
The channel of the river hore becomes quite narrow, and the banks hich, stemp, and cragsy, to a degree almost terrible. The current being very rapid, and being thrown by the jutting rocks first on one side and then on the other, the water goes roaring am! foaming with a vio-
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lance equally dangerous and frightful. Even at this day, though much has been done to im- prove the navigation, it is regarded by boatmen as a place that requires uncommon care to pass it with safety. At the time of which we are writing, it could only be descended when the river was full.
In the same neighborhood is the celebrated Nickojack Cave. One who has examined it, gives the following description of this wonderful place: "At its mouth it is about thirty yards wide, arched overhead with pure granite, this being in the center about fifteen feet high. A beautiful little river, clear as crystal, issues from its mouth. The distance the cave extends into the mountain has not been ascertained. It has been explored only four or five miles. At the mouth the river is wide and shallow, but narrower than the cave. As you proceed farther up the stream, the cave becomes gradually narrower, until it is contracted to the exact width of the river. It is beyond that point explored coly by water, in a small canoe."
It was into this cave, and into the rugged and precipitous country bordering on The Narrows, that the Chickamaugas used to retreat when hard pressed by a pursuing enemy. Here they
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could safely store their provisions, their warlike implements, and the plunder they might gather in their expeditions against the white settle- ments. And to these dismal strongholds was brought many a wretched captive, to pine in loathsome slavery, or to be tortured to death in an Indian frolic. When we come to speak of Middle Tennessee, we shall see that most of the disasters suffered by the early settlers in that quarter, proceeded from the land-pirates of Nickojack and The Narrows.
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But the Chickamaugas were not the only occupants of these abominable dens, and per- haps not the worst. The most savage and law- Iess of the other tribes found here a resort suited to their wild tempers, and companions always ready to encourage and assist them in deeds of violence and blood. When any portion of the Chickasaws, Choctaws, or Creeks would become too bold and bloody to remain in their own tribes, they found a welcome entrance into the Chickamauga bands, and full scope for the ex- creise of their worst propensities.
There were also a few white men sometimes to be found in company with the Indians that congregated about these phiees. But we are sorry to say that the company was not made
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better by their presence. Besides the Indian agents of the English King, the Chickamauga towns and strongholds were resorted to by men who were not allowed to live elsewhere. Mar- derers and robbers from the Atlantic States, and from Louisiana and Florida, then in pos- session of the Spaniards, pirates that had been chased from the high seas, outlaws and des- peradoes of all sorts, fled to these parts to avoid the punishment that was pursuing them. It is, perhaps, not stretching the truth too far to call the population of these infamous localities the enemies of the human race. They certainly proved to be the most destructive foes to the new settlements in Tennessee.
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CHAPTER XIX.
EXPEDITION AGAINST THE CHICKAMAUGA TOWNS.
IN order to check the inroads of the pestilent gang of savages and others, that we have de- seribed in the foregoing chapter, North Carolina and Virginia united in getting up an expedition against the Chickamaugas. The troops for the purpose assembled at the mouth of Big Creek, near the present town of Rogersville, in the spring of 1779. They were placed under com- mand of Colonel Evan Shelby, and consisted of more than a thousand men, mostly volun- teers from the western counties of the two States. Neither Carolina nor Virginia had any money to defray the expenses of the expedition, and the funds absolutely necessary to carry it on were raised by Colonel Shelby's son Lane, after- ward so distinguished in western warfare. .
It was determined that the army should pro- ceed by water, and in a short time a suthe ient
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number of canoes and pirogues were built by the troops to take them all down the river. They arrived safely at the mouth of Chicka- mauga, and turned up that stream. Here they met with an Indian, whom they made prisoner, and forced him to act as their guide to the In- dian towns, with the situation of which they were not much acquainted. By his direction, they presently left the current and their canoes, and struggled through the backwater in a cane- brake, until they came in sight of the Chicka- manga town. There were a good many Indians in the town, but as they were not looking out for such an invasion, they were taken by sur- prise, and, without making any resistance. ran off to their hiding-places in the mountains.
The Indians having fled, and it being impos- sible to pursue them with any success, Colonel Shelby had to content himself with- burning the town. The troops were sent out in various directions, and drove the enemy and burned Leir towns wherever they could come up with them. At Chickamauga they found one hun- dred and fifty horses, a great number of cattle, and other valuable things belonging to the Intians, a large part of which they had stolen, at different times, from the white settlers.
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. Among other things was a large number of deer-skins, which were said to belong to a Tory white trader, named McDonald. These were sold at public auction.
During this invasion of the Chickamauga country, Colonel Shelby and his men burned eleven of their towns, and destroyed twenty thousand bushels of corn. It was certainly a great pity, in this way, to deprive the women and children of shelter and food; but there was no help for it, if the Indians were to be pun- ished at all. It was a more agreeable business for Colonel Shelby to take possession of a large amount of goods belonging to the agents of the British Government. and with which they intended to bribe the Indians to make war upon our frontiers. Such of the goods as could not conveniently be carried, by the men, were de- atroyed; but we have never heard that Colonel Shelby, or anybody else, ever paid the British for them, except in lead.
Having done all they coull to teach the Indians and their allies good behavior for the future, the army set out on its return. To avoid the great labor and difficulty of taking the boats up the river, against a strong current, it was resolved to march back by land. The
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boats, and whatever else of value they were unable to carry, were sunk in deep water, that the Indians might not get them. The men, on their way home, were a good deal distressed for want of provisions, and had to depend on their rifles to keep from starving. They all reached the settlements in safety, not a man being lost on the expedition.
This attack upon the Chickamauga towns had a good effect, not only in disabling those savages for a time, but also in saving the whole frontier from invasion. The British agents and officers had appointed to meet the chief's of all the northern and southern tribes at the mouth of the Tennessee River. There they were to make arrangements for the Indians to he joined by some British troops, and to attack at once all the settlements west of the Alleghanies. The loss of their stores at Chickamauga, and the impression made upon the Indians by the energy and boldness of the volunteers, prevented the appointed meeting, and spoiled the whole plan of operations.
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In their march homeward, the troops took the north side of the Tennessee, and consequently passed through some of the finest parts of East Tennessee. The fertility of the landIs, the beauty
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of the streams, and the mildness of the climate -all united to render the country attractive; and, no doubt, many a volunteer resolved with himself to make his future home near some gushing spring where he stopped, in his weary march, to make his meal of parched corn and broiled venison. In this way, as well as in its more direct object, the expedition tended to advance the settlements.
CHAPTER XX.
CONDITION OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.
WE have not undertaken to write any history of the Revolutionary War, but in order that our young readers may better understand some mat- ters that are to follow, we must now glance at the state of that war, at least so far as North and South Carolina were concerned. The contest between Great Britain and the American Colo- nies had been going on for five years, but at no time during that period had the hopes and prospects of the American patriots been so low as they were at the time of which we write-the year 1780. Even those who had resolved never to submit, had begun to think of leaving the country on the east of the mountains, and of seeking safety and independence in the western wilderness.
South Carolina was entirely overrun by the British Army. Charleston, the capital of the State, had been taken, and the whole American
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Army that defended it, under General Lincoln, had been made prisoners of war. The Ameri- cans had suffered a bloody defeat at Savannah; and again, at Camden, under General Gates, their whole Southern Army had been routed and scattered. Small parties of British and Tories were employed in all quarters in harass- ing the Whigs, taking and destroying their property, and abusing their helpless families.
At this time, there was no army to oppose the English in all the Southern States. And what was even worse, neither the Continental Congress nor the separate States possessed the necessary means of raising an army. They . were without money in the public treasury, and already deeply in debr. It is trac, there were men ready and willing to spill their blood in defense of the liberties of their country; but an army requires provisions, and baggage-wagons, and clothing for the soldiers, and cannon and muskets, and powder and lead, and many other things that can hardly be procured without either money or credit.
In this gloomy and distressful condition, many of the Whigs on the east of the moun- tains brought their farailies, for helter ind protection, to the settlements of Watauga and
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Nolichucky. All who came were received with open arms, fed and sheltered in the poor but hospitable cabins of the pioneers. The tales told by these refugees, of their sufferings from British insolence and Tory rapacity, and of the down-trodden country they had been forced to leave, were not without their natural influence upon the bold and generous population of the west. Many of them, singly or in small com- panies, crossed the mountains, determined to do what they could to help the few Whigs who still refused to lay down their arms at the bidding of Lord Cornwallis, the British commander.
The two Colonels-Shelby and Sevier-hay- ing united their own small bands with those led by Colonel Clarke, of Georgia, and Colonel Willianis, of South Carolina, were able to strike some effective blows against the royal troops. They captured a Tory leader. Colonel Moore, and his whole party, of more than a hundred men. Neax Enoree River they Brght and defeated a superior body of Tories and British regulars, but were then compelled to retreat to the west of the mountains. In short, so brave and skillful, and, at the same time, so successful were they. in these irregular attempts, that the British officers dread at nothing so much
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as to encounter the deadly aim of the frontier riflemen.
Lord Cornwallis, intending to march his army into North Carolina, sent forward Colonel Fergu- son to prepare the way, by rousing up the Tories to join his standard. This officer found hardly anybody to oppose his progress in Western Car- olina. For a time the Whig spirit seemed to be almost crushed out, and he just marched through the country, doing his will among the inhabitants, as if they were a conquered people. From the eastern edge of the mountains, he threatened to cross over, and subdue the western settlements. He even sent an insolent message to Shelby and Sevier, telling them if they did not wish to have their "hornet's nest" burnt out, they had better be quiet, and stay at home.
This message reached Watauga in the month of August, 1780. Immediately the nest was in an uproar. Shelby and Sevier consulted to- gether, and resolved that they would raise as many mounted riflemen as they could in Wash- ington and Sullivan counties, as also from the western part of Virginia, and meet Ferguson on the east of the mountains. Under leaders in whom they had such confidence, every man in the two counties was really to volunteer; but
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some must be left to guard the women and chil- dren against the hostile Indians. So they selected two hundred and forty men from each county, and Colonel Campbell, of Washington county, Va., soon after joined them with a force of four hundred mounted riflemen, the flower of the Virginia border. To these were added a few refugee Whigs, under Colonel MeDowell, of North Carolina.
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CHAPTER XXI.
BATTLE OF KING'S MOUNTAIN.
Ox the 25th of September, 1780, these troops were assembled at Watauga, ready and eager to be led against their own and their country's enemy. And we may feel safe in saying that nowhere in America, or out of it, could a thou- sand men have been collected better qualified for the work before them. They were as patri- otic Whigs as Patrick Henry or Samuel Adams, and as determined to vindicate the liberties of America as the President of Congress, or the Commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Army. Every man of them was a Lorseman and marksman by daily practice from boyhood, and had fared the Cherokees too often, to be startled at the sight of an armed enemy. De- sides, they know each other well, and that in the hour of battle there would be no fincher in the ranks.
Still, there was very little of the outside of
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soldiers about these brave men. They were dressed in the homespun which their wives and sisters had spun, and wove, and made up. No military gewgaws, epaulets, and sashes were dangling about them; but each man, officers and all, carried a shot-pouch, a knife, a knap- sack, and a blanket, with his trusty ride on his shoulder. Thus equipped, they were formed in close order around a clergyman present, who in a solemn and fervent prayer commended theni to the protection of the God of battles. With this last preparation, the word was given to move, and, facing toward the mountains, they commenced the rapid march in search of Colonel Ferguson and his marauding bands.
Upon arriving at the settled parts of the country east of the mountains, they were, almost every hour, joined by individuals and small parties of Carolina Whigs, who, though routed and scattered, were ready to march under the hanrær of their country, wherever they could find it. Among others, they were reinforced by Colonel Cleveland and Colonel Wilkes, with several hundred men, and also by Colonel Wil- lams, of South Carolina, with aboat tour bun- dred more. Colonel MeDowell, who was en- tirled by his rank to command the whole. bad
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gone in scareh of the head-quarters of the American Army, to get a general officer to take the command. But the remaining officers resolved not to wait, but to go at once in pur- suit of Ferguson.
That commander, by this time, had heard of the storm that was coming upon him from the west. He was then posted at Gilberttown, in Rutherford county. Upon the approach of the army under Shelby, he left that place in order in av il a battle. until he could receive help . from the Tories, and from Lord Cornwallis, who was encamped at Charlotte. The pursuers, sus- per ting his motives, only pushed after him with more rapidity. Two days before the battle, they selected from the whole army about nine hundred men, with the best horses, and hurried en ahead, leaving those mounted on slow and tirol animals to follow more at leisure.
For the last thirty six hours of the pursuit, this a lvancel party were never out of the addile but tor an hour. At lonych they learned from people whom they met, that Consuel Ferguson had halted about three miles from thein, and har posted his men on the ridge of a high hill, in order of battle. This was about twelve o'clock, and it had rained hard all the forenoch.
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