USA > Tennessee > The Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century: Comprising Its Settlement, as the. > Part 42
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
" The massacre of Kirk's family was followed in quick succession by that of many others. A man of the name of English, was killed near Bean's station, and James Kirkpatrick between Bean's station and Hol- ston ; some were killed in the neighbourhood of Bull Run, and others at places north of Knoxville, and many others on the roads to West Ten- nessee and Kentucky. The people were compelled to live in forts ; they built Houston's station, sixteen miles south of Knoxville, not far from the place where Maryville now stands. General Martin sent a party to protect the inhabitants of the station, under the command of Major Thomas Stewart, which went to the station and garrisoned it.
"Captain John Fayne, with some enlisted men who composed a part of the guard under the command of Captain Stewart, and some of the set- tlers who turned out with them, were sent out as scouts to reconnoitre the adjacent country ; they crossed the Tennessee River, and entered into
SIȚICO DEFEAT,
an apple orchard, where carelessly they began to gather the fruit ;- the Indians were lying in wait, and had suffered them to march into the orchard without molestation. Whilst in the act of gathering fruit, the Indians surrounded them, drove them into the river, killed sixteen of the whites dead on the ground, took one prisoner, and wounded four, abo, with difficulty, effected their escape. The scene of this tragedy wes st a town called Sitico. Captain Evans raised thirty men, who, with him- self, lived a considerable distance from the place, and was at it in the evening of the third day. That night, being on the north bank of the Tennessee, they buried the dead whom they found on that side of the river, marched back about one mile and encamped on high ground; Major Stewart came in also with the enlisted men of the station ; these were under his command, but the volunteer company was exclusivdy under that of Captain Evans. Next morning they crossed the river at the upper end of Chota, and thence to Sitico, where the massacre took place ; there they found one white man lying on his back with his bely ript open ; four men lying on a sand bar with their bellies alo ript . and their bowels floating on the water; the head of one man was cut off, and his heart and bowels were torn out and strewed about on the ground ; after burying the dead, they returned home. Such of the company in the orchard as survived the massacre, had fled towards Knoxville; these the Indians had pursued to within five miles of that place, and in the pursuit killed a great part of them. They then deter- mined to attack Houston's station, and with that view marched to it, bet were beaten off by the garrison. Colonel Sevier was at this time withh twenty-five miles of the mouth of Holston, and was marching diligently to the defence of Houston's station, which he had been informed the In- dians intended to reduce, but he had not yet heard of the attack which they had actually made upon it. He unexpectedly met one hundred of the retreating Indians, fired upon them, compelled them to give way, and continued his march to the station ; thence he immediately went home, and without delay convened Captain John Craig and his company. and one or two other companies, and at the special request of Colonel Sevier, he was joined also by Captain Evans and his company, who was requested to do so by an express sent for the purpose. Captain Evanes took post in the rear of the front guard : as the army passed through Sitico, Evans seeing an old Indian slip into a house between dayligh and sunrise, took with him John Ish, and rode up to the house, in which he saw sitting an old man, and upon dismounting and going into the house, saw in it two young Indian fellows, both of whom he and Ish killed, and rejoined the army. It marched constantly, and arrived at Chil howee; at this place they found Indians, had a skirmish with them, kill- ing thirteen dead on the ground; the whites receiving no damage on their side ; they all returned home in safety. A few weeks after this, Evans raised a volunteer company, and other Captains also raised com- panies to make an expedition into the Indian nation ; at their solicitation Colonel Sevier took the command of them ; they crossed the Tennessee River and went through Big Tellico town ; thence crossing the Unaca mountain, they entered the Valley towns ; whilst the army marched on, Captain Hubbard took ten men with him, and following a small path,
.
.
423
·
AND OTHER INDIAN BATTLES.
they came to a house where were seven or eight Indians, who ran out of the house, when the whites killed five of them, took one small prisoner, and returned to the army. When the army halted at noon, Captain Evans discovered an Indian coming down the ridge; he mounted his horse, and taking two or three men with him, rode towards the Indian ; he fired upon Evans and his men, the ball passing through the hunting shirt of one of them, and then ran to the foot of the hill, and charging his gun, gave them a second fire ; one of the white men fired at him, and shot off his fore-finger ; the Indian again charged his piece, but when he attempted to prime, the 'blood ran so fast into the pan of the fire-lock that he could not effect it ; the whites rode up to him and shot him down. Marching four miles further, they encamped in hearing of the crowing of a cock, from a town that was six miles long ; but per- ceiving that the enemy had left it at the approach of the army, Sevier, with the army, in the morning took a different route, which led them to the upper end of another town, where the corn was in the silk ; the whole of this the army cut down before them. The Indians kept up a constant fire, but the distance was too great to do it with any effect. After en- camping here all night, Evans, with ten men, was sent to reconnoitre the confines of the camp; on the top of a ridge he discovered the signs of Indians ; a large body of them had been there, and had thrown off their old moccasins and put on new ones ; he immediately gave intelligence of this to the Colonel, and was ordered by him to keep the ridge till the main body should be ready to march. About one hundred Indians had turned back, and others went on, to form an ambuscade in a narrow pas- sage; the army followed upon their trail till it came in view of the place where it was thought they lay concealed ; the passage which the army had to pass through, was one where the path was on the bank of the river, under a large cliff of rocks, for one quarter of a mile, which did pot admit of more than one man abreast, followed by the others in In- dian file; they had placed two hundred men on the south side of the river, ready to receive the whites had they attempted to cross ; one hun- dred in the front, one hundred in the rear, and three hundred amongst the rocks and cliffs ; of the whites, the number was not more than one hundred and forty. The danger of marching through this passage was judiciously considered by Colonel Sevier as too great to be encountered for the advantage to be attained, and he marched for the foot of the mountain, where he crossed as he went out. The army drove before it three head of neat cattle, and proceeded with so much haste that one of the cattle tired and would go no further. Captain Evans marched in the rear, and having passed the summit of the mountain and proceeded about two hundred yards down the other side of it, one of his men said that he had left his knife just before he crossed the top of the mountain, and he ran back for it; when he got to the mountain top, he heard the Indians ascending on the side of the mountain up which the whites had just before come. Intelligence of their vicinity was immediately given to the Colonel : it was now between sunset and dark, and the army, before it could encamp safely, was obliged to travel ten miles to Big Tellico, where, on the plains, it encamped. Five hundred Indians fol- lowed until they came in view of the camp, and there, their courage fail-
424
SPENCER ISSUES A WARRANT AGAINST SEVIER,
ing, they retired. The next day the troops crossed Tennessee, and so- turned home."
The order given by Governor Johnston to Judge Camp- bell, to issue a bench warrant against Sevier, was not obeyed by that officer. His past relations with the Governor of Franklin, and his own agency in several transactions of that government, made him unwilling, if he was not other- wise incapacitated, to execute that duty. But. Spencer, one of the principal Judges of North-Carolina, held, by author ity of that state, in conjunction with Campbell, a Superior Court at Jonesboro', and there issued the warrant against Sevier, for the crime of high treason. Ever since his defeat at Tipton's, that brave and patriotic citizen had been in the constant performance of the most brilliant actions, of great utility to his countrymen. He was amongst the frontier peo- ple who adored him. He had, by nature, a talent for acqui- ring popular favour. It was natural for him to travel in the paths which led to it. To him it was no secret, that in a republican government, where the democratic principle is a main ingredient in its composition, the love of the people is substantial power. He had a friendly demeanour, a capti- vating address, and, to crown all, he was a soldier. With such qualities, he could not fail to catch the prepossessions of the people ; to attach them to his interests, and to mould them to the furtherance of his designs. The beloved man of the populace is always distinguished by a nick-name ; Nollichucky Jack was the one they gave him. Whenever, at future elections, that name was pronounced, it had the effect of electrical power, in prostrating the pretensions of every opposing candidate. Sevier was generous, liberal and hospitable. The people of North-Carolina valued his good qualities, and had no disposition to dwell upon his late errors with any malevolence. As the government of North-Caro- lina was now submitted to universally, they wished not to inflict punishment upon any for the part they had taken in the late troubles. As he easily forgave in others, the offences committed against him, he had not any suspicion that he was not as readily forgiven. He was elevated, by his merits, in the public esteem ; he knew not what it was
425
WHO IS APPREHENDED.
to repine at the prosperity of others. But he had not learned that he, who was rendered eminent by his services, is the last to be pardoned for his faults ; and that a repetition of meri- torious actions, like oil thrown upon the fire, so far from ex- tinguishing, actually aggravates the angry passions which are roused against him .*
- Sevier, in the meantime, after his return from the frontier, appeared openly in all public places, and was present at Jonesboro, where General Martin held a council of the mi- litia officers. During the day, some of the court, and Sevier, had an altercation, which revived past difficulties between some of the officers and the ex-governor. They had separated and left town. After Sevier started, Caldwell, with whom he had quarrelled, went to Tipton, and in going and returning, collected eight or ten men, with whom he went in pursuit of Sevier. Arriving at the house where Colonel Love lodged, he went with them to Colonel Robinson's, where General Martin and Major King were. Tipton there had a close search made for Sevier, supposing that, as there was a good understanding between Robinson and him, the latter might be there. The pursuers then went to the widow Brown's, where Sevier was. Tipton and the party with him, rushed forward to the door of common entrance. It was about sun- rise. Mrs. Brown had just risen. Seeing a party with arms at that early hour, well acquainted with Colonel Tipton, probably rightly apprehending the cause of this visit, she sat herself down in the front door, to prevent their getting into the house, which caused a considerable bustle between her and Colonel Tipton. Sevier had slept near one end of the house, and on hearing a noise, sprung from his bed, and looking through a hole in the door-side, saw Colonel Love ; upon which, he opened the door and held out his hand, say- ing to Colonel Love, I surrender to you. Colonel Love led him to the place where Tipton and Mrs. Brown were con- tending about a passage into the house. Tipton, upon seeing Sevier, was greatly enraged, and swore that he would hang him. Tipton held a pistol in his hand, sometimes swearing he would shoot him, and Sevier was really afraid that he would put his threat into execution. Tipton at length be- .Haywood.
406
BAVIER TACKT A PRMONIS TO MORGANTON,
came calm, and ordered Sevier to get his horse, for that he would carry him to Jonesboro'. Sevier pressed Colonel Love to go with him to Jonesboro', which the latter con- sented to do. On the way, he requested of Colonel Love to use his influence that he might be imprisoned in Jonesbo- ro', and that he might not be sent over the mountains into North-Carolina. Colonel Love remonstrated to him against an imprisonment in Jonesboro', for, said he, Tip- ton will place a strong guard around you there ; your friends will attempt a rescue, and bloodshed will be the result. So- vier urged that he would persuade his friends to peaceable measures, and expressed great reluctance at the idea of being taken from his family and friends. As soon as they ar- rived at Jonesboro', Tipton ordered iron handcuffs to be put on him, which was accordingly done .. He then car- ried the Governor by the residence of Colonel Love, and that of the widow Pugh, whence he went home, leaving Sevier in the custody of the deputy sheriff and two other men, with orders to carry him to. Morganton, and lower down, if-bo thought it necessary. Colonel Love travelled with him till late in the evening, and was requested by the-Governor to send down to his wife, and let her know of his situation, with a request to her to send some clothes to him, and some mo- ney. . Next morning, James Love, the brother of the colonel, was dispatched with this message to Mrs. Sevier ; she trans- mitted to her husband the necessaries he wanted. A few days afterwards, James and John Sevier, sons of the Governor, to- gether with Mr. Cozby, Major Evans, and some few others, were seen by Colonel Love, following the way the guard had gone. Before Colonel Love had left the guard, they had, at his request, taken off the irons of their prisoner. The next morning he attempted to make his escape, but the guard overtook him, and one of them, George French, shot at him with a pistol as the horses were running, before they stopped him. The friends of Sevier say that French had it in charge to kill him, and intended to execute his commission, and that on the Iron Mountain, on their way to North-Carolina, Gor- ley, another of the guard, informed Sevier of the order and intention of French, upon which he endeavoured to make
427
AND IS PURSUED AND RESCUED.
his escape; that in his flight, he became entangled in trees and brush, thrown down by a hurricane, and .could proceed no further, when French came up, and fired a pistol at his face, which fortunately did him no harm, except burning him with the powder. The bullet had slipped out of the pistol unknown to French. The guard proceeded with him to Morganton, where they delivered him to William Morrison, the then high sheriff of Burke county. As the guard passed through the settlement of the McDow- ells, in Burke county, General McDowell and General Jo- seph McDowell, the latter of whom had been in service with him, and fought by his side in several perilous battles, and the former of whom had, a few years since, fled from the enemy in his own neighbourhood, and taken shelter under the roof of Sevier, both followed him immediately to Mor- ganton, and there became his securities for a few days, until he could go down and see a brother-in-law, who lived in that county. Agreeable to his promise, he returned punctually. The sheriff then, upon his own reponsibility, let him have a few days more to visit his friends and acquaintances. By "this time, his two sons, with Cozby, Evans, and others, came into Morganton, without any knowledge of the people there, who they were, or what their business was. On striking the settlements on the east side of the mountains, they had sepa- rated, and had come into town singly. Court was, at that time, sitting in Morganton, and they were with the peo- ple, generally, without suspicion. At night, when the court broke up and the people dispersed, they, with the Governor, pushed forward towards the mountains with the greatest ra- ·pidity, and before morning arrived at them, and were beyond the reach of any who might think proper to pursue them.
To this account of the capture and rescue of Sevier, as copied from Haywood, it may be added, that besides James Sevier, John Sevier, Doctor James Cozby, and Major Evans, as above mentioned, Jesse Greene and John Gibson made up the party who pursued and re-captured their old com- mander, and effected his restoration to his incensed country- men. Evans had been one of the Governor's favourite mili- tary officers ; all the rest had been comrades in arms, and
.
4
ROMANTIC RESOUR OF BRYDER.
were warm personal friends. Cozby, in all his campaigns, had served with, or under him; not only as a tried soldier, but as the bold and skilful surgeon. Further particulara in the rescue of Sevier, are derived from one conversant with all the actors :
" In a luckless hour, the puissant Governor of the western wilde, whom prowess was known and acknowledged, from Watauga to the Chatts- nooga Mountain, was seized by an armed posse, and conveyed into the "settlements,'.on a charge of high treason against the State of North- Carolina. Had the destroying angel passed through the land, sad destroyed the first born in every section, the feelings of the hardy fron- tiermen would not have been more incensed ; had the chief and war- riors of the whole Cherokee nation fallen upon, and butchered the .de- fenceless settlers, the feeling of retaliation and revenge would not have been more deeply awakened in their bosoms. They had suffered with him ; they had fought under him ; with them, he had shared the den gers and and privations of a frontier life, and a savage warfare; and they were not the spirits to remain inactive, when their friend was in danger. The chivalry of the country gathered together; a number of men were selected to fly to the rescue; armed to the teeth, those daut- lees sons of the woods crossed the mountains, determined to rescue their beloved commander, or leave their bones to bleach upon the sand-bila of North-Carolina, a proud memento of the children of the West. Li was ascertained that the trial was to take place at Morganton, and thither this daring band bent their eager steps. Their plan wm, to ob- tain his release by stratagem, and if that failed, the next step was, to fire the town, and in the hurry and confusion, burst the prison doors by force, and make their escape. Probably, at no time before, had the quiet town of Morganton assumed such an air of excitement and inter- est, as the present ; for the fame of the unfortunate prisoner had gone before him, and the novelty of the scene had drawn together a large crowd.
"The Franks had approached as near to the town as they deemed it prudent, where four of them concealed themselves near the road, while two of their number, James Cozby and Nathaniel Evans, went forward into the town. They rode to a convenient distance from the court house, tied their horses to a limb of a tree, near to which they hid their rifles, and boldly entered the town, their capacious hunting shirts concealing the side arms they had prepared in case of need. Soon they had mingled with the crowd, and easily passed off for countrymen, at- tracted there by common curiosity. Evans had taken charge of General Sevier's celebrated race mare, and led her up in front of the court house door, the bridle carelessly thrown over her head ; he was, appa- rently, an unconcerned spectator of passing events. Cosby entered the house, and there, arraigned at the bar, sat the object of their solicitude; there he sat, as firm and undaunted as when charging the hosts of Wy- uca on the Lookout Mountain.
Slowly he turned his head, and their eyes met; Sevier knew the res-
429
HE ESCAPES WITHOUT PURSUIT.
cue was at hand, but he was restrained from any outward demonstra- tion, by a significant shake of Cozby's head ; but it could not prevent the tear of gratitude, for he knew there were daring spirits near, that would peril their life's blood in his defence. During a pause in the trial, Cozby stepped forward in front of the Judge, and in that quick and en- ergetic tone, so peculiar to him, asked the Judge if he was done with that man? The question, manner and tone, caused every person to start, to cast their eyes on the speaker, then on the Judge, all in amaze- ment. In the meantime, Sevier had caught a glimpse of his favourite mare standing at the door ; taking advantage of the confusion, he made one spring to the door ; the next, he was safely in the saddle, and with the speed of thought, was borne from the wondering crowd. 'Yes,' cries a waggish voice, 'I'll be damned if you ain't done with him.' His comrades were not slow to follow in his wake, and, although imme- diate pursuit was made, a few minutes brought him to the main body, who, with one wild shout of victory, closed in the rear, and bore him on in triumph. That night they rested at the house of a friend, about twenty miles distant; from whence they made an easy journey to their homes, content that they had gained a bloodless victory."*
Morganton, the place where this rescue of the late Go- vernor of Franklin was so gallantly made, was the seat of justice for Burke county, N. C., and had been selected for the trial of the prisoner, as being the most convenient and accessible court in that state, and beyond the limits of the late Franklin jurisdiction ; the authorities wisely concluding, that at home Sevier could not be successfully prosecuted. The change of venue, however, operated nothing in favour of the prosecution. Burke had been a strong whig county in the revolutionary war, and nowhere were whig princi- ples, whig sacrifices, and whig efforts, held in higher esteem, or more properly appreciated. The McDowell's, McGimp- sie's, Alexander's, and all the whigs of that neighbourhood, had witnessed, and still gratefully recollected, the timely succour and substantial aid rendered to them, a :d to their cause, in the hour of trial, by Sevier and his countrymen. He was now a prisoner in their midst, charged with the highest offence known to the laws ; they knew him to be a patriot, in exile and distress ; they felt for his sufferings, and sympathized in his fallen fortunes. These noble patriots of North-Carolina, while sensible that the majesty of law had been offended, were yet unwilling that its penalty should be
*Manuscript of William Smith.
490
CONVENTION MASTS TO. FORM
enforced, or that Sevier should be made its victim. They. stood around the court yard in approving silence, witnessed and connived at the rescue, and discountenanced pursuit.
The capture and brief expatriation of Sevier, served only; to awaken in his behalf the higher appreciation of his ser, vices, and a deeper conviction of his claims to the esteem and consideration of his countrymen. His return was every. where greeted with enthusiasm and joy.
In the meantime, an amendment, er radical alteration of the existing Articles of Confederation, had become obviously necessary, and was demanded by the condition of things in all sections of the country. Apart from the general conside: ration of the ruined commerce and embarrassed revenues of the Confederacy, there were other and more local canton which convinced Congress, and the American people, of the necessity of this reorganization of their form of government. Of these, none, perhaps, had had greater influence than the formidable insurrection in Massachusetts, which, in 1706; threatened not only the destruction of the government of that state, but of the Union. "The spirit of insurrection was not confined to Massachusetts alone, but was manifested by par- tial risings in New-Hampshire and Connecticut."
: The withdrawal of some of the western counties of North- Carolina, from the jurisdiction of the parent state, had oc- curred previous to these insurrections in New-England. Aris- ing as it did from other and far different causes, and resulting in the formation of a temporary state organization, it scarce- ly deserves to be classed with that of Massachusetts as an insurrection. Occurring, however, at a time when the fo- reign relations of the United States, and the negotiation especially with Spain, had produced a general discontent in the West, it served to render more evident the necessity of remodeling and enlarging the powers of the General Govern- ment. A Convention was held for this purpose, consisting of delegates appointed by the states, who convened at Phila- - delphia, May, 1787. Of this body George Washington was elected, unanimously, President. A new system of govern- ment was at length formed, which the Convention recom-
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.