USA > Tennessee > The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century: Comprising Its Settlement, as the. > 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 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71
* Tennessee Statistics of 1850, in population, agriculture, manufactures, de.
The relative rank of Tennessee, as compared with other states of the Union, is: In area of square miles, Tennessee is the seventeenth, containing 45,600 square miles.
'In population, the fifth, and the second of the Western States-being exceeded only by New-York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Ohio.
'In number of inhabitants to the square mile, the sixteenth.
In ratio of deaths to the number of living in 1850, the fifth-being exceeded even in a cholera year only by Wisconsin, Vermont, Iowa and Michigan.
In number of acres of improved land, the eighth.
In value of agriculture, implementa, &c., the eleventh.
In value of live stock, the seventh.
In number of bushels of Indian corn, the fifth-being exceeded only by Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana-the product of Tennessee, in 1850, being 52,187,868 bushels. In the census of 1840, Tennessee was the first in the pro- duet of this grain.
In tobacco, the fourth-being exceeded only by Virginia, Kentucky and Mary- land-the crop of 1850 being 20,144,480 pounds.
In number of bales of cotton, the fifth-the amount of the year's crop being 172,625 bales; being exceeded only by Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South- Carolina.
In the production of wool, the eleventh.
In the value of home made manufactures, the first state in the Union, amount- ing, in 1850, to $8,168,116.
INTRODUCTION.
and from her peculiar geographical location, touching upon eight members of the Union, and in close propinquity to three others, she will in all future time exert a weighty influence upon coterminous states, as well as upon the country at large. She has already furnished two Presidents of the U. States- Jackson and Polk-whose iron will and energy, whose ability and virtue, have stamped their administrations as worthy of the state, honourable and glorious to themselves, and eminently useful. to the country and to the world. White and Grundy have added dignity and effulgence to the United States Senate ; and a long list of statesmen, and jurists, and patriots, and heroes, have adorned the public councils, the bar, the bench, and in peace and war given eclat and celebrity to Tennessee. This relative consequence will become still more considerable when a concentration of the intelligence, and public spirit, and enterprise of her citizens, shall have more fully developed her physical and commercial resources. Her history is becoming, therefore, every day more inter- esting and more important. What visions of the future greatness and glory of their country, would have burst upon the view of Boone and his associates, could they have con- ceived, that their lonely and toilsome passage through the Apalachian mountain should open up a communication to the West, for that flood of emigration, which, restrained for a time within narrower limits, at length broke over every im- pediment, and extending further, and wider, and onward, has overspread the vast valley of the Mississippi, and crossed, in its mighty sweep of adventurous enterprise, the mountain de- sert and the arid plain, to the shores of the distant Pacific ? How must the heart of Robertson have thrilled with honest exultation, when he saw his feeble settlement on Watauga expand and grow to its present dimensions ; and what rays of comfort would have cheered the evening of his life, could he have realized that Tennessee, in eighteen hundred and fifty,
In the value of cotton manufactures, the eleventh. In the value of woollen goods, the tenth. In the value of pig iron, the fourth. In the value of wrought iron, the sixth.
[Extracted from Nashville American:
8
INTRODUCTION.
had become in population the fifth state in the Union, and the second of its western division ? With what zeal should we of the present day cherish a grateful and hallowed re- membrance of the wisdom, patriotism and enterprise, which have bequeathed to us such a country, and endowed it with the "patrimonial blessings of wise institutions, of liberty and of religion ?" How keen should be our regret that we know so little of those who have done so much for us ? With one brilliant exception, no one has attempted to perpetuate the achievements of the pioneers of Tennessee. An adopted son is the only one who has recorded her annals. In his history the late Judge Haywood has left a monument of industry, of research and of talents, scarcely less imperishable or honour- able to himself, than the distinction acquired in another de- partment of science-of being designated, by a competent authority, the Mansfield of America. But it is no qualifica- tion of this just and sincere tribute to his memory to add, that he has left much of the field before us unoccupied, unexplored and unknown. Some of the most brilliant incidents in our early history are unrecorded, which, if not soon rescued from oblivion, will be lost to the present generation, posterity and the world. We design, by this remark, no imputation of in- difference or neglect on the part of those who have gone before us. The omission may be traced to a more obvious cause. The condition of the country at its first settlement, created a continued demand for exertion in the active pur- suits of life. Cut off by their local situation from all foreign sources of supply, the first adventurers depended upon their own labour in their own country, for the procurement of sub- sistence. A wilderness was to be reclaimed to the use of the husbandman, a border warfare was to be kept up, defences were to be erected, and the foundations of government were to be laid. From the pressure of these varied demands upon their time, no leisure was allowed to record their achieve- ments, to perpetuate the tales of their privations and suffer- ings, to narrate the deliberations of their sages, or the prowess of their heroes. This duty has devolved upon their grate- ful posterity. The task, however, is not without its difficul- ties. Much is already forgotten, and has faded from the
9
INTRODUCTION.
minds of the oldest inhabitant ; much is indistinctly remem- bered, or handed down by vague and uncertain tradition. But difficult as it is, the duty has been attempted. To have shrunk from its performance, were a parricidal ingratitude. Its omission would have been criminal.
In the investigations which have been made of the history of Tennessee, and the result of which is given in these pages, the usual assistance has not been derived from the archives of state and the portfolios of ministers. Sources more hum- ble, but not less authentic, have supplied this defect. The writer has procured the narratives of the older citizens, who have, "ab urbe condita," resided in the country and partici- pated in its settlement and defence, and each of whom may ' truthfully say of the events he narrates, " quorum magna pars fui." He has examined the papers of their deceased contemporaries, which have survived the ravages of time and accident. He has, with untiring perseverance, searched for and obtained "the private files of the leaders of the day." In the loft of a humble cabin, in a secluded neighbourhood, he was so fortunate as to find many of the official papers of the State of Franklin ; in another, the lost constitution of the inchoate or proposed State of Frankland. In the garret of an old uninhabited mansion, in Knoxville, was found an antique trunk, containing the Sevier papers. From like sources, much of the matter in this volume has been pro- cured. But these manuscripts, valuable and interesting as they are, furnished an inadequate supply of material neces- sary to form the Annals of Tennessee. The deficit has been made up by oral communications to this writer from the aged pioneer, whom he has visited in health and watched over in sickness, and from whose dying couch he has received, as a rich legacy, an account of the services of his youth and the exploits of his manhood. He has seen the eye of the aged narrator sparkle with unwonted brilliancy during the recital, the heart of the infirm pulsate with unnatural vigour, and the spirit of the decrepid warrior animated with the fire of youthful heroism.
Narratives, thus obtained, are the authority for many of the incidents which will be hereafter detailed. Their fre-
10
INTRODUCTION.
quency and minuteness will, to some readers, be tedious and uninteresting. When known to be authentic, the writer con- ceives them to be worthy of preservation in the annals of his countrymen.
Intimately blended with the general history of Tennessee, is the biography of the prominent actors in the interesting scenes it records. We are proud to mention, among the patriot sages of the country, the names of Carter, Cocke, Campbell, the Blounts, Jackson, White, Claiborne, Roane, Scott, McNairy and Trimble ; among the apostles of religion and learning, Doak, Barton, Houston, Craighead, Carrick, Brooks and Stone. Our state pride is justly excited when, among American worthies, we enumerate Boone, Christian, the Seviers, the Robertsons, the Shelbys, the Tiptons-names dear to the country and known to fame. Yet, where will be found a detailed account of their services, their exploits, or their sufferings ? Where will be read the affecting story of the patriotic and brave Tipton, who, when peace was restored to his own frontier, gallantly led his soldiers to the standard of his country under St. Clair, and fell fighting in the unequal conflict, refusing to leave the field while an enemy survived him? Who has heard the last injunction to his family, given apparently under the presentiment of cer- tain death .? Who has read the biography of Shelby, whose youthful patriotism first glowed under the genial influence of a Carolina sky, but retained its ardour undiminished by the cold and chilling temperature of a Canadian winter? And who has been the biographer of our own Sevier, that noble chieftain that led the pioneers of Tennessee to battle and to victory ? Who has recited his civic deeds ? or who, when a grateful Tennessean, wandering over the plains of Alabama, enquires in his lonely exile for the grave of the first general and the first governor in the West, can point to the place of his entombment ? On what field of victory has Tennessee gratitude erected his cenotaph ?
" How died that herof In the field, with banners o'er him thrown ! With trumpets in his falling ear by charging squadrons blown! With scattered foemen flying fast and fearfully before him ! With shouts of triumph swelling round, and brave men bending d'er him? . He died not thus ; no war note round him rang ;
11
INTRODUCTION.
No warriors underneath his eyes in harness'd squadrons sprang ;
Alone he perished in the land he sav'd,
And where in war the victor stood, in peace he found a grave. .
Ah, let the tear flow freely now, it will not awake the sleeper,
And higher as ye pile his tomb, his slumber shall be deeper.
Freemen may sound the solemn dirge-the funeral chant be spoken;
The quiet of the dead is not by idle mockeries broken ! Yet, let Tennessee's banner droop above the fallen chief,
And let the mountaineer's dark eye be dim with earnest grief ; For who will stand as he has stood, with willing heart and hand, To wrestle well with freedom's foes,-defender of his land !"
To remedy and supply, in some small degree, the defects and omissions thus alluded to, is the object and design of the succeeding pages. In the execution of this purpose, the writer proposes to give-
Ist. The discovery and exploration of the country now known as the State of Tennessee, the first approaches of civilization to it, and some account of the contiguous Indian tribes.
2d. Its settlement and government under the Watauga Association.
3d. As a part of North-Carolina, embracing the participa- tion of the pioneers of Tennessee in the war of the Ameri- can Revolution.
4th. The history of the revolt of the three western coun- ties, and of the insurrectionary State of Franklin.
5th. The history of the Cumberland settlements, and of the Franklin counties, after they returned to their allegiance to the mother state.
6th. The subject of the relations with Spain, and the ne- gotiation with that Power, relating to boundaries and the navigation of the Mississippi river.
7th. The territory of the United States south of the River Ohio.
8th. The State of Tennessee to the end of the last century.
ANNALS OF TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER L.
DISCOVERY OF TENNESSEE.
As has been already remarked, Tennessee is, in popula- tion, the fifth state in the Union. Her geographical position is peculiar, and before the annexation of Texas, and the acquisition of New Mexico and California, entitled her to the name of the Central State. She is one of the rapidly increasing family of daughters which have sprung from the good old thirteen ; and though not a separate and distinct political organization at the eventful period of separation from the crown of Great Britain, it is a proud reflection that Tennessee is closely connected and directly identified with the cause of freedom and independence, and with the American Revolution, by a mournful but glorious consan- guinity.
The adventures and perils of Tennessee pioneers, their hearty sacrifices for the general good, their character for conduct and courage in war, their uniform devotion to the honour and greatness of the country, their rapid advance- ments in the arts of peace, in population and political influ- ence, and the impress of their wisdom, valour and patriot- ism which they have stamped upon their descendants, invite to the early history of their state the attention of every American, and secures the deepest regard of every Tennes- sean.
To examine these various topics satisfactorily, it will be necessary to look a little into the original condition of the country, its first discovery and exploration, its aboriginal inhabitants, and the approaches of civilized man to it ; since,
14
CABOT BEES THE COAST OF NORTH-CAROLINA.
without this examination, feeble and inadequate indeed will be our conceptions of the adventure displayed, the hardships suffered, the dangers encountered, the services rendered, the conquests achieved, the glory won, by those who have effected the transmutation from rudeness to refinement, from barbar- ism to civilization, and from heathenism to christianity.
Postponing to another place any remarks upon the bounda- ries, the physical history, and the aboriginal population of Tennessee, it is proposed here to trace the approaches of civilization to its several boundaries in the exact order of their occurrence; in doing which, its first discovery, explo- ration and settlement, will be the more clearly delineated and the more easily understood.
Of the country included within the limits of the present State of Tennessee, little was known for more than two hundred and thirty years after the discovery of America. Until that time, with perhaps a single exception, the foot of no European adventurer had touched her soil. The vast interior of North America was a terra incognita, till long after the skill, and science, and cupidity, and arms of Spain, had crossed the continent further south, and reached the shores of the Pacific ocean.
After the conquest of Mexico, achieved by Cortes with a handful of soldiers, vastly disproportioned to the population and resources of that immense empire, and after the capture and execution of the Inca and the subjugation of Peru by Pizarro, with a force still smaller, the fame of their victo- ries, the rapidity and ease with which they had been ob- tained, their sudden acquirement of incalculable treasure, and the imperishable renown of these skilful and indomita- ble leaders, excited afresh the spirit of exploration, adventure and acquisition.
While Spanish discoveries and Spanish conquests had reached across the American continent, and extended along the Pacific coast from Chili to California, little was known of that immense country north of the Gulf of Mexico. As early as 1497, the coast of our parent state, North-Carolina, had been seen by Gaboto," a Venetian adventurer, who,
# Anglice-Cabot. .
1
15
. . NARVAEZ'S INVASION. ..
under the auspices of Henry VII. of England, and the pa- tronage of Bristol merchants, undertook to prosecute further discoveries in the New World. He returned, however, with- out attempting the conquest of the natives or the formation of. a settlement. In 1512, Juan Ponce De Leon visited the continent, in north latitude 30°, 8/, and discovered a country of vast and unknown extent, to which, from the abundance of flowers, and from its being first seen on Palm Sunday, (Pascha Florida,) he gave the name of Florida .* Being afterwards invested by the King of Spain with the govern- ment of the country he had discovered, he attempted the erection of a town and fortress, but was assailed with such vigour by the natives, as to compel him to abandon the country. The Indians used poisoned arrows. De Leon died from the wounds received in the encounter, and lost most of his men. Similar disasters seem to have overtaken the ad- venturous leaders who, after De Leon, attempted the subju- gation of Florida.t
In 1524, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon effected a landing fur- ther east, upon the coast of what is now Georgia or South- Carolina. Two hundred of his soldiers penetrated a few leagues in the interior, while he remained with the rest of his force to guard his ships. The Indians attacked unexpect- edly the detachment he had sent out, and massacred the whole ; then falling suddenly upon the guard near the ships, succeeded in driving them from the coast. The few survi- vors returned to San Domingo.
In 1528, Pamphilo de Narvaez sailed from Cuba, having on board four hundred foot and twenty horse, for the con- quest " of all the lands lying from the River of Palms to the Cape of Florida," for which he had obtained a grant from Charles V. He anchored on the eastern coast, landed his troops, and took possession of the country without opposi- tion. But, marching into the interior, he at length reached Apalachee, where he encamped several days. The village had offered no resistance to the Spaniards, but this inoffen-
. From this discovery by De Leon, Spain claimed Florida, as England did from that made, in 1497, by Cabot.
t For a long time, all the country south of Newfoundland was called Florida.
16
NARVAEZ SHIPWRECKED.
sive spirit did not continue long. The natives were warlike and intrepid, harassed the camp of Narvaez by day and night, and compelled him to leave it. His march was beset by hordes of savages " of gigantic height ; they had bows of enormous size, from which they discharged arrows with such force as to penetrate armour at the distance of two hundred yards."* After the loss of many of his soldiers and horses, and the endurance of incredible hardships, "the hopes of wealth and conquest were at an end," and, coming to an arm of the sea, Narvaez, despairing of reaching his ships by land, determined to construct small barques, and save the remnant of his little army from the ruin that menaced it. His frail barques were shipwrecked, and nearly all of his followers, with himself, found a watery grave. Five only survived the disasters by land and sea.
We have thus seen the unfortunate termination of several well arranged enterprises, undertaken by able and experi- enced leaders, and promising, under Castilian courage and discipline, a certain, if not an easy conquest, of the original inhabitants of the country. The spirit of the native Ameri- can population seems no where to have been so energetically and so successfully exerted against the invaders of their coun- try. A very different result had followed the standard of the conqueror of Mexico. He, under circumstances scarcely more favourable, had met and discomfited numerous armies of native warriors, fighting for their homes, their monarch and their religion, at Tobasco and Tlascala, and, with a courage bordering upon temerity, had pushed his conquest to the palace of Montezuma. Had the countries south of Tennessee been inhabited by the spiritless and imbecile natives of Mexico, which it was the good fortune of Cortes to meet and conquer, it is not difficult to conceive that some intrepid Castilian would have anticipated the laurels won by Anglo-American prowess on the hardly contested battle- grounds of Tamotlee, Etowah, Nickajack, Emuckfaw and Tohopeka, and erected the standard of the Cross upon the demolished council houses and ruined temples of the ances- tors of Oceola, To-mo-chi-chi and Oconostota. Different.
· Irving.
17
FERDINAND DE SOTO.
indeed, was the character of the aborigines north of the Gulf of Mexico, at the period of which we are treating. A manly firmness of purpose, a wise union in counsel, and a determined bravery in action, enabled them to repel every hostile invasion of their country, and to maintain nearly un- disturbed possession of it for two centuries after the dismem- berment of the Mexican confederacy, and after the Children of the Sun had been driven into exile or reduced to an igno- ble vassalage. The latter are humbled and nearly extinct, while the former retain even yet something of their original character ; though restrained, they are not subjugated- though curbed, their spirit is yet independent and free.
Baffled and defeated as were the Spaniards, in the several attempts of invasion and conquest which have been thus slightly sketched, they projected further enterprises, upon a still larger theatre, under more imposing and magnificent appointments, and, if possible, under more distinguished and chivalrous leaders. The passion of the age was war and conquest ; the vice of the times was wealth and the pre- cious metals. In all these lay the path to preferment and distinction, and the cavaliers of Spain thrust themselves once more into it. Allured by the hope of finding gold and silver in the interior country, or incited by the thirst for glory, which had crowned their successes elsewhere-perhaps cha- grined at the failure which had marked all previous efforts to achieve the conquest of Florida-they determined to in- vade the continent with such a force as would ensure its accomplishment. Ferdinand De Soto projected the expedi- tion, and received from the Emperor Charles V. permis-
( sion to undertake the conquest. He was invested 1539 with ample power, civil and military ; and from the official relation he bore to the Island of Cuba, was enabled to command all the means necessary for the meditated inva- sion. A companion in arms of Pizarro, he had assisted that renowned leader in the conquest of Peru, and commanded in person the squadron of horse that captured the unfortunate Inca, Atahualpa, and put his army to flight. Having thus added to his fame for courage and adroitness as a soldier, the weight of experience and success as a commander ; having
2
18
FERDINAND DE SOTO-HIS ARMY.
received the most signal marks of his monarch's confidence and favour ; and having, in addition to the control of the resources of Cuba, the avails of his Peruvian conquesta, Ferdinand De Soto, in less than a year from the date of his first proclamation, found himself at the head of nine hun- dred and fifty Spaniards, anxious to serve under him in his adventurous expedition. The chivalry, rank and wealth of Spain entered into his army. "Never had a more gallant and brilliant body of men offered themselves for the New World."*
In addition to the forces brought from Spain, the arma- ment of De Soto, by recruits and volunteers in Cuba, was increased to a thousand men, besides the marines. There were also three hundred and fifty horses.
The account here given of the outfit and composition of the army of De Soto, and the details which follow of his marches, his disasters, and the melancholy fate of himself and his men, will not be considered foreign to the purpose of these annals, when it is remembered that the country they invaded, and through which they marched, has since been invaded successfully by Tennessee enterprise, and won by Tennessee valour, and hallowed by Tennessee blood ; and that the Indian tribes, who attacked them soon after they landed at Tampa Bay, who harassed them on their march, obstructed their passage, broke in upon their bivouac, an- noyed their camp, resisted them in battle, and finally forced them to leave their country uncolonized and unsubdued, have long since yielded to the prowess and arms of American pioneers. The minutiæe of the track pursued by the invaders will be excused for the further reason, that it has been con- jectured, with much plausibility, that De Soto was the first European or civilized adventurer whose foot touched the soil, whose eye surveyed the vast wilderness, whose heart expanded with the contemplation of the magnificent scenery, and whose senses were regaled by the influences of the delightful climate of Tennessee. It may be added, in sorrow, that though not the first to see and cross her great mediter-
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.