USA > Tennessee > The history of Tennessee, from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 10
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He was far less successful, however, in giving peace to the distracted state of Franklin. The continuance of intestine dissensions, and. the nice balance of parties which took place in 1787, in- duced the people to refuse to pay taxes either to North Carolina, or to the local government, until the supremacy of one or the other should be more generally acknowledged. In this state
166
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787.
of affairs, and with his government tottering to its downfall, Sevier earnestly appealed to North Carolina for a ratification of the independence of the state of Franklin, and to Franklin him- self, and the governors of Georgia and Virginia, for counsel and assistance. Disappointed on all sides, he finally rested for support upon his im- mediate friends, conscious of the rectitude of his own intentions, and jutifying the origin of the separation by the cession which North Carolina at first made to the general government.
But the people were already weary of a feud which threatened, at every fresh outbreak, to end in bloodshed. In 1787 the last legislature of the state of Franklin held its session at Green- ville. North Carolina had offered terms of com- promise, which tended greatly to soften the as- perities of those who had hitherto resisted her jurisdiction. The growing desire to restore peace and order in the revolting counties was exhibited in the election of the new delegates, a majority of those chosen being favourable to a reunion with the parent state. Meeting in this frame of mind, they presently authorized the election of representatives to the legislature of North Carolina, an action which was subse- quently endorsed by the people, who once more recognised the maternal authority by choosing members to the general assembly as of old. Sevier still held out, but his partisans were
167
RASH CONDUCT OF SEVIER.
1788.]
gradually deserting him. The conciliatory mea- sures of North Carolina presently disarmed the malecontents of all further argument for opposing the reunion ; and in February, 1788, the state of Franklin ceased to exist.
Unhappily, the progress of the late events had not tended to lessen the personal animosity ex- isting between Sevier and Tipton. Both were brave men, and both believed they were actuated only by principles of patriotism and honour. An occurrence took place about this time which brought them into collision. Under an execution issued against the estate of Sevier, the sheriff, acting by the authority of the state of North Carolina, had levied upon his negroes, and con- veyed them for safe-keeping to the house of Colonel Tipton. This intelligence reaching Sevier while on the frontiers, he determined, as governor of the state of Franklin, to resist a jurisdiction which he had not yet acknowledged ; to retake his negroes by force of arms, and to punish those who, he contended, had acted ille- gally. He accordingly put himself at the head of one hundred and fifty men, and hastening to the house of Tipton, summoned the latter to sur- render. Meeting with a firm refusal, he invested the house within which Tipton had hastily col- lected a garrison of fifteen men, equally bold and determined as himself. Some shots were exchanged, by which one man was killed, and a
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1788.
man and woman wounded. During the second night of the siege, while the followers of Sevier were gathered round their watch fires, Tipton was reinforced by troops from Sullivan county. Making an unexpected sally upon the camp of Sevier, he succeeded in putting his assailants to a complete route, killing the sheriff of Washing- ton county, and making prisoners of the two sons of Sevier, whom he was only prevented from im- mediately executing by the earnest entreaties of his friends. In October, Sevier was himself arrest- ed for high treason, and carried, first to Jonesbo- rough, and subsequently to the jail at Morgan- town, from whence, by the assistance of his sons, he escaped. Notwithstanding these excesses, the courage, patriotism and generosity of Sevier were warmly recognised. His services were remem- bered, and his faults forgotten. Being chosen the following year to represent Greene county in the senate of North Carolina, the act disqua- lifying him from holding office under the state government was repealed; and with the renewal of his oath of allegiance, the whole dispute was amicably closed.
1780.]
ROBERTSON'S COLONY. 169
CHAPTER XIV.
Robertson's colony on the Cumberland-Increase in popula- tion-Hostility of the Indians-Keywood and Hay killed- Freeland's station attacked-The settlers take refuge in block-houses-Cause of Indian hostility-Settlement on Red River broken up-Donaldson's party attacked-Panic among the settlers-Robertson's resolute advice-Freeland's station surprised-Repulse of the Indians-Desultory war- fare-Robertson's fort at the Bluff invested-Eight of the garrison killed by a stratagem-Custom of the country- Close of Revolutionary war-Temporary cessation of hos- tilities-Indian council at the Bluff-Spanish intrigues- Renewal of Indian incursions-Desperate skirmishes- Treaty of Hopewell-Continuance of hostilities-Robert- son's expedition-Attack on Hay at the mouth of Duck River-Surprise of Indian village by Robertson, and capture of traders-Capture of French trading boats-Division of the spoils.
IT will be remembered that, in 1779, a party of emigrants under James Robertson first com- menced a settlement on the Cumberland. To these was subsequently added a party under Colonel Donaldson. As the reports of the ferti- lity of that region became more disseminated, other emigrants made their appearance in the new settlement; which, as it grew in population, aroused the hostility of the Upper Creeks and Cherokees, whose war-parties were constantly on the alert to cut off all stragglers, and to lay
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170
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1780.
waste those plantations that were either badly defended or too remote from timely assistance. To the sufferings and privations of a winter pe- culiarly severe was added the constant dread of assassination. In the spring of 1780, Keywood, a hunter, fell a victim to outlying savages on Richland Creek, a few miles only from the sta- tion at the Bluff. Soon after this a Mr. Hay was killed on the Lick Branch. Freeland's sta- tion was invested; and from this time small bands of warriors pursued their sanguinary career, murdering the settlers, burning their houses, and laying waste their crops, whenever an opportu- nity offered. Being weak in numbers, and too far distant from the Holston and Watauga to receive assistance from their countrymen, the Cumberland emigrants were obliged to abandon such of their farms as were most exposed to the ravages of the enemy, and fly with their families to the shelter of a few forts and block-houses. The cause of this implacable warfare may be found in the encroachments of the whites.
General George Rogers Clarke, by whose bold and romantic exploits the British forts in Illinois had been captured, undertook to overawe the . Chickasaws by building Fort Jefferson, on the east bank of the Mississippi, eighteen miles be- low the mouth of the Ohio. A few plantations had also been opened on Red River; and, as the Chickasaws claimed all the territory west of the
171
DESULTORY WARFARE.
1780.]
Tennessee, they resolved to resist these intru- sions by force of arms. The emigrants on Red River were the first to feel the effects of their enmity. The settlement was broken up, two of the men killed, and the remainder compelled to fly for refuge to the fort at the Bluff. Even the latter, though better protected, was not secure from Indian depredations. A party under Co- lonel Donaldson, which had ascended the Cum- berland for the purpose of freighting two boats with corn, was intercepted by the Indians, who killed three persons, and wounded and took pri- soners several others. Among the killed was a son of Captain Robertson.
Disheartened by the pertinacity with which the Indians continued their attacks, and by the loss of the greater portion of the corn upon which they had relied for their winter supplies, a large number of inhabitants abandoned the country, and sought safety in Kentucky and Illinois. Others, more daring or more hopeful, unwilling to lose the result of their labours, resolved to re- main and defend themselves in the best manner they could. The leader and adviser of these resolute men was Captain James Robertson. About the middle of January, a few hours only after the return of the latter from Kentucky, the station at Freelands was surprised by an armed band of Indians. Their success was only partial. Roused from their slumbers by the
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1782
vigilant Robertson, the garrison, eleven in num- ber, repelled the assailants, with the loss, during the attack, of Major Lucas, and a negro belong- ing to Captain Robertson. This repulse only stimulated the revengeful savages to commit other outrages in quarters more defenceless. Being joined by reinforcements of Cherokees, they cut off many of the inhabitants who had not yet abandoned their plantations, drove in the garrison at Mansco's station, killed two of the men who had loitered behind their com- panions, and, lying ambushed in the woods, shot down many who were seeking safety in flight.
Early in April a large body of Cherokee war- riors secretly invested the fort at the Bluff. Nineteen of its garrison, drawn out by a strata- gem, were surrounded and eight of them killed- the remainder, many of whom were grievously wounded, succeeded in fighting their way back to the fort. Frustrated in their main design, the Indians presently retired ; but throughout the summer of this year, and the whole of 1782, they kept up their desultory attacks until nearly all the isolated stations were broken up, and the remaining inhabitants had taken refuge at the Bluff or had abandoned the territory in despair. Those who still sturdily sought to maintain pos- session of a soil already ensanguined with the blood of their kindred and friends, were com- pelled to exercise a constant vigilance. "It
173
1783.] VIGILANCE OF SETTLERS.
became a custom of the country for one or two persons to stand as watchmen or sentinels, while others laboured in the field; and even while one went to a spring to drink, another stood on the watch with his rifle ready to protect him by shooting a creeping Indian or one rising from the thickets of canes and brush that covered him from view ; and wherever four or five were as- sembled together at a spring, or other place where business required them to be, they held their guns in their hands, and with their backs turned to each other, one faced the north, another the south, another the west-watching in all directions for a lurking or creeping enemy."
During the period when most harassed by their subtle enemies, and consequently least able to pursue their customary labours without ex- posing themselves to the utmost danger, the inhabitants at the Bluff seriously contemplated the abandonment of a territory they were too few in number adequately to defend. But the de- sign being strenuously opposed by Captain Ro- bertson, they yielded to his mature experience, and finally concluded to remain where they were. Happily for the safety of this little community the Revolutionary war was terminated soon after, and the Indians, no longer instigated by British agents, began to relax in their hostility, while the increase of emigration from the older states
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174
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1784.
rendered the settlement upon the Cumberland better able to meet and retaliate upon their enemies the outrages they were still disposed to commit. During the year 1783 some few set- tlers lost their lives ; but events were now assum- ing a more pacific aspect. The Chickasaws, responding to overtures made them by commis- sioners appointed for that purpose, held in the spring of this year a council at the Bluff, which terminated in the cession to North Carolina of all that region, " extending nearly forty miles south of the Cumberland River to the ridge di- viding the tributaries of that river from those of Duck and Elk."
But Spain, whose possessions in Florida and Louisiana were menaced by the advance of Ame- rican settlers, was not disposed to permit the latter to maintain peaceful possession of the territory they occupied. Spanish agents w accordingly sent among the southern Indians to provoke them to a renewal of hostilities; and in this they were so far successful as to induce va- rious small war parties to take up the hatchet and lay waste those portions of the frontiers which were most open to attack. In this way various hunters, stragglers, and exploring par- ties were surprised and killed. Impressed with the belief that these incursions were encouraged by the Spanish authorities, Robertson, during the year 1784, wrote to M. Portell, an officer
175
DESPERATE SKIRMISHES.
1784.]
of that government, expressing his desire to maintain amicable relations ; but though he re- ceived a friendly response, the Indians continued their incursions. They fired upon Philip Tram- mell and Philip Mason while in the act of skin- ning a deer at the head of White's Creek; Mason was wounded, but both the men succeeded in reaching Eaton's station, from whence they ob- tained a reinforcement of volunteers, and set out in pursuit of the marauders. The Indians being overtaken, a skirmish ensued, wherein Mason re- ceived a second wound which proved mortal. Trammell killed two of the Indians, but the lat- ter being reinforced, compelled the Americans to retreat. These in their turn receiving an accession to their force again started in pursuit of their enemies, and brought on the fight anew. Trammell and an associate named Hopkins threw themselves into the midst of the Indians, and fell fighting gallantly to the last. The contest was kept up by the survivors until both parties were weary, and separated by common consent. Another skirmish, in which equal bravery was exhibited, took place at the head waters of Drake's Creek. In the latter contest a man. named Aspie received a wound which completely disabled him. At the same time Andrew Lucas was shot through the throat. Johnson and Spencer, the only two remaining unhurt, stood their ground with great determination, but were
176
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787.
at length compelled to give way and leave Aspie to his fate. Lucas, who had fallen behind a bush, escaped the search of the Indians, and reached his home soon after the battle. But though parties of Chickasaw and Cherokee war- riors continually hovered around the settlement, waylaying and murdering small bands of hunters and emigrants almost with impunity, their cease- less hostility did not deter pioneers from spread- ing themselves over the territory and taking up such lands as promised to yield the best return for their labours. The constant peril to which these hardy borderers were exposed at length induced the United States government to send commissioners to the Chickasaws, by whose ex- ertions a council was held at Hopewell on the 10th of January, 1786. It resulted in a treaty, defining the boundary of the lands belonging to the Chickasaws, and confirming the treaty made in 1783 with the commissioners of North Carolina.
But treaty stipulations were not likely to be kept by savage warriors who daily saw their hunting-grounds restricted by the steady increase of a white population; and in 1787 their inroads became so frequent that the assembly of North Carolina authorized the organization of a batta- lion for the protection of the frontiers. From some cause or other this necessary measure was delayed, and Robertson, finding his colony con-
177
ROBERTSON'S EXPEDITION.
1787.]
tinued to be harassed by the Creeks and Chero- kees, determined to assume the offensive and march against the nearest of their towns. He was the more disposed to adopt this resolution from the belief that hostilities were now fomented by French traders from the Wabash, who sup- plied the Indians with arms, and found their own aggrandizement in fostering a hostile feel- ing against the Americans. On the 1st of June, 1787, he placed himself at the head of one hun- dred and thirty mounted volunteers, who had assembled at his station from different parts of the Cumberland region. Accompanied by Colo- nels Hays and Ford, he set out for the Tennes- see River, piloted by two Chickasaws. At the same time Captain David Hay, with his company and three boats freighted with supplies, left Nashville for the muscle shoals. . While passing up the Tennessee River the flotilla was suddenly attacked by a party of Indians ambushed among the cane at the mouth of Duck River, who killed several of the crew, and wounded so many others, that Hay was compelled to return to Nashville for surgical assistance.
This unfortunate occurrence reduced the troops under Robertson to great straits, by de- priving them of provisions upon which they had relied.
After a long and fatiguing march, Robertson struck the Tennessee River at the lower end of
.
178
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787.
the muscle shoals, where the troops concealed themselves until night. Having discovered veral Indian cabins on the opposite side of the river, seven men crept down the bank, and se- creting themselves in the canes below, kept up a keen watch upon the southern shore. Pre- sently some Indians made their appearance, who, after looking cautiously around them, entered a canoe and paddled out some distance into the stream. Seemingly satisfied by this reconnois- sance that no enemies were near, they returned from whence they had started. Desirous of cap- turing an Indian alive, Robertson despatched Captain Rains with fifteen men up the river for that purpose ; but after ascending nearly to the mouth of Blue Water, the party returned with- out succeeding in their object. It being deter- mined to cross the river under cover of the night, soon after sunset the seven men in ambush below swam to the opposite shore. Approaching noise- lessly the cabins, they found them deserted ; but they returned to their companions with an im- mense canoe having a hole in its bottom. Stop- ping the leak with their shirts, forty men embarked with their firearms. The crazy ves- sel had scarcely left the shore before it began to fill, and they were compelled to put back. After this mishap the design was abandoned until day- light, when the hole was covered with a piece of linn bark, and some forty or fifty men suc-
179
INDIAN VILLAGE SURPRISED.
1787.]
ceeded in reaching the southern shore, leaving their companions to swim the river with the horses. A heavy rain coming on, they took shelter in the deserted cabins until the clouds dispersed, when they mounted their horses, and, taking a well-beaten path leading westwardly, pressed rapidly forward. After riding some five miles they passed some cornfields, and came soon after to Cold Water Creek, which the greater portion of the troops crossed in single file. On the low grounds, within three hundred yards of the river, stood a number of cabins.
Surprised by this unexpected invasion, the people of the town fled hastily to their boats ; but being closely followed by the main body of the troops under Robertson, suffered severely during their flight. Such as crossed the river fell under the fire of a detachment headed by Captain Rains, which had been left on the other side of the creek for the purpose of intercepting the fugitives. Twenty-six Indians, accompanied by three French traders and a white woman, sought to effect their escape in a boat. Refusing to surrender, they were fired upon and every one killed. The principal trader and several other Frenchmen were made prisoners. In the town the Americans made prize of large stores of taffai, arms and ammunition, and a great variety of articles adapted to Indian traffic. After collect- ing all the canoes upon the river and placing a
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1787.
guard over them, the troops killed all the live stock they could capture, and set fire to the town. The following morning they buried the whites, and having liberally rewarded their Chickasaw guides, loaded several of the boats with the re- mainder of the captured stores and despatched them down the river in charge of three men. Robertson, marching by land, overtook the boats during the second day, and crossing the Tennes- see near Colbert's Ferry, encamped on the north shore.
At this encampment all the wearing apparel belonging to the French prisoners was restored to them. Being set at liberty, and provided with a canoe and a liberal supply of provisions, they presently took their departure. When the re- mainder of the sugar and coffee had been divided among the troops, the boats containing the mer- chandise were sent round to Nashville, while the mounted men struck across the country in the direction of the Cumberland. As the boats de- scended the Tennessee, the men in charge of them met a party of French traders with addi- tional supplies of goods. The latter mistaking the boatmen for their own countrymen, saluted them by firing off their guns, and before they could reload the Americans boarded the boats and made them prisoners.
In due time the daring voyagers reached the
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1787.] INDIAN WARFARE CONTINUES.
Cumberland settlement, and the merchandise being sold soon after at Eaton's station, the proceeds were divided among the troops.
CHAPTER XV.
Desultory Indian warfare continued-American attempts at retaliation-Robertson and Bledsoe remonstrate with McGil- livray-Death of Colonel Bledsoe-Robertson's negotiations with the Creeks-Hostilities continue-Increase of emigra- tion-Causes which influenced it-State grants and reserva- tions-District of Morgan established-Courts of law-Da- vidson county established-Nashville receives its name- Partial cessation of hostilities-Road opened through the wilderness-Sumner and Tennessee counties established- Voyage of Colonel Brown down the Tennessee-Massacre of his party by the Chickamauga Indians-Captivity of Mrs. Brown and the younger children-Their release-North Carolina cedes her western lands to the United States.
THE relief afforded by the destruction of the Indian town at Coldwater was but temporary. Exasperated by the losses experienced on that occasion, numerous small bands of warriors pre- sently attacked all the weak points along the frontiers, carrying terror and devastation wher- ever they went. In the fall, a war-party under Blackfoot was pursued by a company of mounted men under Captain Shannon. They came up with them on the bank of the Tennessee River, and, after a desperate conflict, during which
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182
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1788.
Blackfoot and five of his followers were killed, succeeded in putting them to flight. This suc- cess stimulated the Americans on the Duck and Elk Rivers to form themselves into parties to retaliate the murders which had been committed. The security of the frontiers was further promoted by the arrival of a battalion of mounted men under Major Evans, by reinforcements of emi- grants, and by the formation of a company of rangers whose duty it was to traverse the forest in all directions, and afford timely warning to the settlers of the approach of their insidious enemies. In this service Captain Rains was particularly conspicuous. Notwithstanding, how- ever, all the precautions which had been taken, the savages penetrated into the settlement, and killed several persons near the mouth of the Harper and in the vicinity of the Bluff. Being hotly pursued by Rains, with a body of mounted men, they were overtaken at Rutherford's Creek, and dispersed with the loss of one of their num- ber. On a second occasion Rains succeeded in putting another war party to the route, after killing four men and capturing an Indian boy. Several other excursions were made toward the close of 1787, which resulted in a similar man- ner; but they only afforded a partial relief. In 1788 the war broke out afresh, and a number of settlers were killed; among the slain was a son of Colonel Robertson.
183
1780.] ROBERTSON'S NEGOTIATIONS.
Believing that the Spanish authorities in Flo- rida encouraged the Creeks to persevere in their repeated attacks upon the American frontiers, Colonels Robertson and Bledsoe addressed a re- monstrance to Colonel McGillivray, a half-blood chief, who exercised almost unlimited influence over the Creek nation ; but though the response was couched in pacific language, the sanguinary excesses of the savages were not abated.
Colonel Bledsoe was slain soon after in a mid- night attack upon his brother's station. Repress- ing his resentment at the inestimable loss which the colony had sustained by the death of his able and energetic associate, Robertson continued his negotiations with McGillivray, and earnestly called upon him to restrain the ferocious incur- sions of his warriors. " It is a matter of no reflection," wrote Robertson sorrowfully, "to a brave man, to see a father, a son, or a brother fall in the field of action ; but it is a serious and melancholy incident to see a helpless woman or an innocent child tomahawked in their own houses." But though he appealed thus earnestly to the better feelings of McGillivray, and though Congress attempted to open negotiations, that wily chieftain listened alike to the Americans and the Spaniards, and while professing to the one a desire for peace, was covertly intriguing with the other to prosecute the war.
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