The Rear-Guard of the Revolution [A history of the part played by Carolina and other Southern States in the American War of Independence.] By E. K

Front matter

THE REAR-GUARD OF THE REVOLUTION. BY EDMUND KIRKE,^ AUTHOR OP "AMONG THE PINES," "DOWN IN TENNESSEE,1' ETC. NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 1, 8, and 5 BOND STEEET. 1886. COPYRIGHT, 1886, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. All rights reserved. ERRATA. Page 98, line 11, for "groves" read '"graves." Pago 132, line 9, for "a hundred and sixty" read "more than two hundred." Page 145, last two lines, for " regular commission ns lieutenant colonel. Prior to this time ho had " read " unanimous vote of the new and old settlers. Prior to 1780 he always." Page 109, line 21, for "1797" road "1779." PEEFAOE. The materials for the following history were princi pally gathered from old settlers during a recent residence of some length in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. Several of these were descendants of charac ters who appear in the narrative, and one of them was the son of a trusted friend of Sevier, and the secretary of his abortive commonwealth of Franklin.

This gentleman was Dr. J. G. M. Eamsey, of Knoxville, the ven erable author of the "Annals of Tennessee." He had known Sevier and Kobertson intimately in his youth — they not having died till he was nearly of the age of manhood — and during nearly fifty years he had been president of the Tennessee Historical Society, and a dili gent student of Western history. Though when I knew him Dr. Eamsey was bed-rid den and approaching his ninetieth year, his mind was as clear and his memory as distinct as in his prime, and he delighted in nothing so much as recounting those olden days when civilization was first planted beyond the Alleghanies. He was a lovable old man, fond of social converse ; and, knowing this, I often visited him, and at

Preface

. IV times listened for hours, while, with glowing face and gleaming eye, he poured forth a stream of quaint elo quence that was absolutely musical. Both he and his subject fascinated me ; and, seeing this, he at length pro posed that I should write out a full and connected his tory of the early settlers beyond the mountains — a work he had intended to do, but had been prevented from doing by occupations during the war and his subsequent infirmities. Without actually deciding to do this, I set about a systematic investigation of the subject, seeking acquaintance with many of the old settlers, visiting the scenes where important events had occurred, and read ing what little had been written about that early period. Then I investigated collateral events, and attempted to place these pioneers in their appropriate positions on the broad canvas of American history.

In this I had not proceeded far when I discovered a fact which surprised me with its novelty. That fact was this : That three of these unknown backwoodsmen, clad in buckskin hunting - shirts, and leading inconsiderable forces to battle in the depths of a far-away forest, not only planted civilization beyond the Alleghanies, but exerted a most important influence in shaping the destinies of this country. To the reader this statement may appear wildly extravagant; and so the idea seemed to me until I had thoroughly studied the sub ject, and taken a view of all the circumstances. Then I saw clearly two things : first, that two of these men had thrice saved the country by thwarting the British plan to

PREFACE.

. V envelop and crush the Southern Colonies, and by turning the tide of the Eevolution at King's Mountain ; and, second, that, after the Eevolution, the three acting to gether had frustrated the design of Spain to dismember and weaken the Union by causing the erection of a separate republic in the country between the Alleghanies and the Mississippi, which erection would have kept the vast region beyond that river a Spanish province, and closed it forever to the entrance of Anglo-Saxon civilization. These three men were John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, and James Eobertson, all of them characters worthy of the most heroic ages, and so exactly adapted to the work which had to be done that the conclusion is irresistible that they were, like Washington and Lincoln, "provi dential men." They marched to the sound of neither drum nor bugle, and no flaming bulletins proclaimed their exploits in the ears of a listening continent ; their slender forces trod silently the Western solitudes, and their greatest battles were insignificant skirmishes never reported beyond the mountains ; but their deeds were pregnant with consequences that will be felt along the coming centuries.

It is for this reason that their history should be written. In this volume I have attempted to depict the work of these men from the first settlement of Watauga to the close of the Eevolutionary War ; and, in writing it, I have availed myself of Dr. Eamsey's "Annals," and gleaned some facts in reference to the King's Mountain

PREFACE.

. VI expedition from the work of Lyman C. Draper, LL. D. ; but a large part of my material I have derived from what may be termed "original sources" — old settlers, whose statements I have carefully verified and compared with one another. In a second volume I shall hope to bring events down to the deaths of Sevier and Eobertson. I will merely add, in the words of the writer of the book of Maccabees, "Let this be enough in the way of a preface, for it is a foolish thing to make a long pro logue and to be short in the story itself. I have taken in hand no easy task, yea, rather a business full of watch ing and labor. ... If I have done well, and as it be seemeth the history, it is what I desire ; but, if not so perfectly, it must be pardoned me. " Edmund Kieke. PAGE CONTENTS.

Chapter I

England's Allies 9 Description of the country west of the Alleghanies — Character of the first settlers, and of John Sevier — Oconostota, head king of the Cherokees, visits England, and owns allegiance to George II — Account of the Cherokees ; their religion, government, character, manner of living, and history — They side with the English in the war with France for the possession of North America — Treaty, by which they cede lands to the English, and allow them to build Forts Loudon and Prince George — A party of them par ticipate in the capture of Fort Du Qucsne, and fourteen are slain by the settlers on their return through Western Virginia — This leads to a war with the English — Forts Loudon and Prince George invested by the Indians — The former surrendered by Captain John Stuart, on terms that the garrison should retain their arms, and have unmolested passage to Virginia — The garrison treacherously massacred, none being spared but Stuart, Isaac Thomas, and one other person — The friendship of Atta-Culla- Culla saves Stuart from subsequent massacre — The Indian vice-king aids him to escape, and guides him in safety to Vir ginia — A British force chastises the Cherokees and destroys their towns — They submit, and are granted peace on the inter cession of Atta-Culla-Culla — Captain Stuart appointed British Superintendent of Indian Affairs at the South.

Chapter II

The Fiest Settlees 38 Daniel Boone's explorations — A company formed to purchase Kentucky, and a large part of Tennessee, and Boone and Scag- CONTENTS. VIII On PAGE gins employed to explore the country— They are accompanied by James Robertson, who decides to settle at Watauga—De scription of the country— William Bean, the first settler west of the Alleghanies— Robertson plants a crop of corn, and sets out to return to North Carolina— Loses his way in the forest, and narrowly escapes death from starvation — Is rescued by two hunters, who guide him on the way to the settlements — Sixteen families emigrate to Watauga in the following spring— Their outfit and journey described— Arrival at Watauga, where they find immigrants from Virginia — Temporary homes provided — Game abundant — Inducements offered to settlers by Virginia Description of the settlement, and manner of life of the settlers—They enjoy peace and prosperity, though surrounded by savages, and shut out from civilization by a high mountain-barrier.

Chapter III

the Outposts 61 Character and influence of Robertson — Arrival at Watauga of Evan and Isaac Shelby, and John Sevier — Their personal ap pearance — Ancestry and early life of Sevier — His character and remarkable ascendency over the men of the border — He settles at Watauga — A civil government formed, the first beyond the Alleghanies — The settlers not within the limits of Virginia, and warned off their lands by the British Indian agent — A friendly council called with the Cherokees, which is attended by the principal chiefs, who grant the settlers an eight years' lease of the lands on the Watauga — A friendly festivity follows, during which a young brave is shot by a concealed white stranger — The Indians are incensed and depart hastily, with threats of vengeance — Robertson volunteers to visit and attempt to pacify the Cherokees — His hazardous journey ; meets Isaac Thomas, who accompanies him to Echota, the Indian capital — Robertson attends a council of the Indians, allays their animosity, and meets their prophetess, Nancy Ward — While Robertson is away, Sevier builds a fort at Watauga, and prepares to defend the place against the Cherokees. CONTENTS. IX PAGE

Chapter IV

Befoee the Storm 91 Four years of peace and prosperity — Immigration flows in from Virginia ; its character — Boone attempts the settlement of Kentucky, but has to turn back — Lord Dunmore's war — Battle of Point Pleasant, in which Sevier, Shelby, and Robertson are engaged — Robertson and Valentine Sevier save the Virginians from a surprise, and Isaac Shelby decides the victory — In a visit to the Cherokees Boone proposes to buy, for the Transylvania Company, the whole of Kentucky, and all of Tennessee north of the Cumberland — A treaty made at Watauga, by which the pur chase is effected, and the Watauga settlers acquire their lands in fee-simple — The treaty opposed by Oconostota in a prophetic speech — He warns Boone that he will have some difficulty in getting the country settled — News of the battles of Lexington and Concord arrives, and the settlers asked to be enrolled to de fend the seaboard — Watauga is " annexed " to North Carolina — Stuart concerts with General Gage the subjugation of the South ern colonies, by a simultaneous assault in front and rear, and enlists in the plan the Cherokees and other Southern Indians — The plan fully disclosed by a British historian.

Chapter V

The Fiest Steuggle 106 Isaac Thomas warns the settlers that the British are inciting the Cherokees to hostilities — John Stuart appears among them, and they prepare to war upon the whites — The settlements are put in a state of defense, and the forces divided between Forts Patrick Henry and Watauga — The settlers warned that the Indians are advancing under Dragging Canoe and Ocono stota — The garrison of Fort Patrick Henry marches to meet them — The battle of Long Island Flats, which is saved by Isaac Shelby — " A great day's work in the woods " — The wife of William Bean taken prisoner — Oconostota surrounds Fort Lee — Narrow escape of Catherine Sherrill — The Cherokees attack the fort, but are beaten off with considerable loss — Evan Shet CONTENTS. X PAGE by and Parson Cummings come to the rescue — Rage of Drag ging Canoe — Voung Moore burned at a stake — A like fate de termined on for Mrs. Bean, but she is released, and restored to her home by the Indian prophetess — Simultaneous attack by the British upon Charleston, which is beaten off by Moultrie — The two victories very remarkable.

Chapter VI

Reteibution 123 " One with God a majority " — The British plan being discovered by the settlers, it excites universal indignation, and arrays the colonists more strongly against the mother-country — They rise and fall upon the Indians — Patrick Henry orders a descent upon Oconostota on the Tellico — The whites, eighteen hundred strong and guided by Isaac Thomas, invade the Indian country, burning all before them — Sevier and Robertson go with them — Sevier, in command of the scouts, gains accurate knowledge of the hostile country, which is of great value subsequently — Oconostota subdued and forced to make peace, but Dragging Canoe refuses to " come in " — Increased immigration follows the war— The settlers are drilled by the conflict, for the future, and Sevier trained to be their leader— The Chickamaugas still hos tile — An account of these Indians, and descriptions of their stronghold — Sevier proposes the withdrawal of the guard loaned by Virginia— He and Robertson, with their force of two hundred, can attend to the Chickamaugas— North Carolina ex tends civil jurisdiction over Watauga.

Chapter VII

Peace which was not Peace . . . jgg Dragging Canoe makes a raid upon the settlements— With a small party he breaks into Robertson's barn and steals his horses— Is followed and overtaken by Robertson, who recovers the stolen animals, and returns safely home, though pursued by greatly superior numbers— A short war follows, during which Sevier began his long career as an Indian fighter— His military genius-Tired at last of continual defeat, Dragging Canoe re- CONTENTS. XI PAGE treats to his mountain fastnesses — Robertson appointed by North Carolina resident agent among the Cherokees — His im portant services in preventing general hostilities — Sevier sends relief to Boone, who is beleaguered in the fort at Boonesbor ough — Tories infest Watauga, and are hanged or driven out by riflemen — Deplorable condition of Wilkes and Surry Counties, and the Backwater settlements — Some account of their people, and instances of their dealings with Tories — Every man at Watauga required to take an oath of allegiance to the United States, and the region cleared of Tories — Progress of society in Watauga from the hunting and pastoral state to the agricultu ral condition — The first shingled house erected in 1777 — Incor poration of Jonesboro and erection there of a court-house in 1779 — Specifications for the erection of the seat of justice.

The advent of cross-road schools, and the country schoolmis tress — The first church erected, and the arrival of Parson Doak, a man of rare qualities — At the close of 1778 there was peace beyond the mountains.

Chapter VIII

Another Coil of the Anaconda 158 From 1776 to 1779 the Southern colonies had a respite from British invasion — Another front and rear attack now decided upon by Sir Henry Clinton — The gigantic plan : its failure an other miracle in American history — The operations of George Rogers Clark — A raid from Dragging Canoe gives warning of the British plan to Sevier — An expedition against the Chicka maugas decided upon — To it Isaac Shelby contributes the sinews of war — Its success, which paralyzes the Southern In dians and prevents the coiling of the anaconda — Departure of Robertson to found the first settlement on the Cumberland — His belief that he was destined by Providence to be the ad vance-guard of Western civilization.

Chapter IX

The Rear-Gcard at the Feont 177 An enforced peace with the Indians induces increased immigration into Watauga — The British commence a new and CONTENTS. XII PAGE stronger attack upon the Southern colonies — They capture Charleston, and overrun Georgia and South Carolina — A small force under Colonel McDowell on Broad River, the only body of enrolled patriots in South Carolina — Clinton returns to New York, leaving the supreme command to Cornwallis, who delays his northward march until the summer heats are over — The mountain people of the Carolinas mostly Tories — Their charac ter — Cornwallis sends Colonel Ferguson to recruit among them — Character and career of Ferguson — His belief that Washing ton was once at the mercy of his rifle — With two thousand men he moves northward, and then McDowell sends urgent appeals to Sevier and Shelby for aid from over the mountains — Sevier detained at home by the threatening attitude of the Indians, but Shelby, with four hundred men, goes to the aid of Mc- Dowell — A new activity at once apparent among McDowell's forces — Shelby and Elijah Clarke surround Thicketty Fort, and capture the Tory colonel, Patrick Moore, and his entire force — The victors are pursued by Ferguson, fight a strong advance de tachment, but return in safety to McDowell — Shelby and Clarke soon go upon another expedition against a strong British force at Musgrove's Mills — They are victorious, but at the close of the action they hear of the defeat of Gates at Camden, and make a rapid retreat to the mountains — Are pursued by the British, but reach the mountains in safety — Clarke attacks, and is repulsed from, Augusta — The darkness before the dawn.

Chapter X

The Gatheeing of the Claus 200 The marriage of Sevier and Catherine Sherrill — Arrival at Sevier's of Shelby and his men — Conference between Sevier and Shelby — The former's resolution, " The mountains shall be free " —Shelby returns to King's Meadows, and there receives a threatening message from Ferguson — He hastens to Sevier, and the two decide upon the King's Mountain expedition — They muster their forces, and, on the 25th of September, bring them together at Watauga— Here a draft is adopted, not to decide who should go, but who should stay at home — Sevier's two sons CONTENTS. XIII PACE " go to the war," and he borrows, and afterward repays, the money which completes the outfit of the expedition — All told, the force numbers ten hundred and forty, and, after Parson Doak commits them to divine protection, they set out on their march, shouting, "With the sword of the Lord and of our Gideons ! "

CHAPTER XL

The Maech to the Battle 219 Incidents of the march — Desertion of two of Sevier's men, who carry tidings of the patriot approach to Ferguson — The route changed in consequence, and, after sixty miles of unex ampled travel, the expedition arrives at the eastern foot of the Alleghanies — At Quaker Meadows they are joined by Colonel Cleveland, with three hundred and fifty men — With better roads they now proceed more rapidly — Being delayed one day by a violent storm, they mature a plan of operations, and elect Colo nel Campbell as officer of the day — Arrived at Gilbert Town, they find Ferguson had decamped, giving out the false report that he was going to Ninety-six — They follow on the route he took, but lose all trace of him at the Broad River — Are saved from the mistake of marching upon Ninety-six by the oppor tune arrival of Colonel Lacey, of Sumter's command, who pro poses to join them with all his troops — The two commands meet at Cowpens, and then, the best men and horses being selected from the whole body, they set out with a force of only nine hundred and sixty, for a more rapid pursuit of Ferguson — They come up with him at King's Mountain, and at once surround his position, and bring on the battle.

Chapter XII

King's Mountain 248 Description of the mountain — The force of Ferguson num bers about eleven hundred, carefully drilled, and well armed with musket and bayonet — Shelby discovers a gap leading to the enemy's position, and, entering it, is met by a shower of bullets — This begins the battle, which lasts upward of an hour, CONTENTS.

PAGE the patriots alternately driven, and driving the enemy — At last in a desperate charge of the patriots, the British are forced into a confused mass at one end of the hill, and a flag is raised in token of surrender — This flag, and another raised soon after ward, are cut down by Ferguson — But he soon perceives that all is lost, and spurs his horse directly upon Sevier's fines, in the hope to escape down the mountain — He is pierced by no less than six bullets, and falls lifeless— This decides the battle — The entire British force killed, wounded, or taken prisoners — Not a man escaped — A terrible night follows the battle, but morning comes at last, and the little army prepares for its home ward' march, with its seven hundred prisoners — At night they reach a deserted plantation, twelve miles from the field of battle, where they harvest a field of sweet-potatoes, the first food they have tasted for forty-eight hours — Their progress after this slow, and at the end of a week they had gone only forty miles — Then a court-martial was convened to try the Tory criminals they had captured — Thirty-six condemned, but only nine exe cuted, owing to the interference of Sevier and Shelby — Craw ford released on the intercession of Sevier, and becomes a good citizen — After a weary march they cross the Catawba, and are beyond pursuit from the British — Meanwhile, Cornwallis, having heard exaggerated reports of the patriot force, and that they are moving upon him, is retreating much more rapidly toward Charleston, and he does not halt till he is a hundred miles away at Winnsboro.

Chapter XIII

An Indian War 275 Sevier returns by a rapid march to Watauga, where he learns that the Indians are marching on the settlements — With scarcely an hour's rest, he rides forward to meet them — He defeats them at Boyd's Creek, where Dragging Canoe is supposed to have been slain — Then re-enforced, he marches into, and lays waste, the Indian country — Returning to Echota, Sevier offers peace to the Indians — It is accepted by the Ottari Cherokees — For their serv ices Sevier and Shelby are voted a sword and pistols by North Carolina— Now the Erati Cherokees descend upon the settle- CONTENTS. XV PAGE ments, and Sevier invades their stronghold among the Smoky Mountains — With only a small force he defeats them utterly, and destroys their villages— Oconostota now dethroned, and suc ceeded by Old Tassell.

Chapter XIV

The Final Conflicts 302 Sevier and Shelby called again to the aid of Greene in inter cepting Cornwallis, who is suspected of intending to retreat southward from Yorktown — With five hundred volunteers they repair at once to his headquarters, where they hear of the sur render of Cornwallis— But joining Marion they march to the seaboard to aid in driving John Stuart into Charleston — They capture a British post, and, hearing of their arrival, Stuart makes a disorderly retreat to the seaboard, which is the last that history relates of the able man who conceived the wide sweeping but pitiless plan by which the British hoped to subdue the Southern colonies — Concluding remarks. THE REAR-GUARD OF THE REVOLUTION

Chapter I

England's allies. It is related of Daniel Boone that when he climbed to the summit of the Alleghanies, and looked down upon the vast herds of deer and buffalo which were grazing at his feet, he said to his companion, Calla way, "I am richer than the man in Scripture who owned the cattle on a thousand hills : I own the wild beasts in a thousand valleys." It may be questioned if Boone had any adequate conception of the stupendous possessions of the "man in Scripture " ; but he was certainly justified in boast ing of the wide magnificence of this domain, which, by "right of discovery," he claimed as his own. One of its native inhabitants might have told him that two stout braves, with two paddles, could not skirt its southern and western boundaries, and reach its northern limit on the Ohio, in less than "three moons " ; but no language known to the Indian could describe the boundless wealth, animate and inanimate, that lay hidden in its unexplored recesses.

By the leaves on the trees, or the stars of a cloudless night, he might have indicated the countless wild animals that roamed over it ; but how would he have pictured the leafy magnificence of its forests, or the grassy luxuriance of the many "openings" that everywhere dotted its surface — the burial-places of a long-vanished race, which has faded from the earth, leaving only these silent memorials of its existence ? And yet this magnificent domain Charles II had given away, in a fit of lavish munificence, to a few of his favorites, at a time when he neglected to pay his honest debts, and was content to supply himself with pocket-money by the betrayal of his country. But what better could be expected of a man so lamentably ignorant of geography as to describe this kingly tract as bounded by two white stakes on the shore of the Atlantic — one at the twenty-ninth parallel, the other at 36°, 30' — and extending thence westward to the " South Seas " ! — a description more indefinite than that of the famous Fourth of July orator, who, about the time of the Mexi can War, bounded this country "on the north by the Aurora Borealis, on the east by the rising sun, on the west by the horizon, and on the south by as far as you have a mind to go."

Explorers have traversed every square mile of this territory for now more than two cent uries, and yet that western boundary of Charles II is still undiscovered. Uowever, we are now concerned with but a small portion of this vast domain, namely, that which lies be tween the above-mentioned lines of latitude, and extends, east and west, from the Alleghanies to the Mississippi ; for this was the early home of Western civilization. Here was born, and cradled, and fostered into lusty life, the infant Hercules who was to found in those Western wilds a grander empire than the world has seen since the age of Pericles. This volume — with one to follow it — is an imperfect attempt to do tardy justice to the men who not only reared this young giant, but in the darkest hour of our Revolutionary War threw their swords into the trem bling scale, and turned the balance for American freedom.

They were the rear-guard of the Revolution, as well as the advance-guard of Civilization ; and yet they are scarcely mentioned in general history : for their work was done in the silence of the wilderness, and if for a moment they emerged into the view of men to strike a vital blow for their country, they vanished again, as quickly as they came, into the solitudes of the far-off forest. But they were patriots and heroes, and their names should not be suffered to perish. All of them were men of Spartan mould, and one was of a nature so many-sided, and so great, as to be altogether the most unique charac ter in American history. Boone was merely a pioneer, a scout in advance of civilization, and by his very nature he was bound to keep always a length ahead of the battalion of emigration ; but, thanks to Byron and the biographers, he is to-day known half the world over.

But John Sevier was more than a pioneer, more even than a statesman, or a general : he was a civilizer, a great or ganizer, a nation-builder, and one of those absolutely unselfish spirits whom God scatters only here and there through the centuries. And yet his history is still un written, and he is to-day almost unknown east of the Alleghanies. But it is not so beyond the mountains. There he is spoken of with a love and veneration that are seldom accorded by one man to another. I know of no other man who ever held, as he did for forty-five years', the unbroken confidence and undivided affection of a whole people. Even now, when for three fourths of a century he has been in his grave, old men speak his name with loving reverence, and young children listen with wondering delight to the thrilling story of his life, in many a stately home and many a rude cabin west of the Alleghanies.

The lives of such men are the common property of the country ; and in a time like this, when the greed of gold is festering at the very heart of the nation, it is well such a life should be told, that we may contemplate a character who had no ambition but duty, and no greed but the good of his fellows. In writing it, I shall have to relate the lives of his compatriots, and recount the story of the early settlements beyond the Alleghanies ; for his career was so interwoven with the history of the community that one can not be told without relating the other. For more than forty years he was the moving spring of every event, the soul of a whole common wealth ; and this it is which makes his career, as well as his character, so unique in our history. The theatre of his operations is a territory larger than the combined kingdoms of England and Scotland ; and from the great richness of its soil it is capable of sus taining a much denser population than now inhabits the British Islands.

Two noble rivers sweep in concentric circles through its most fertile portion, and the great Father of Waters drains its western boundary, affording ready transportation to the seaboard. It yields abun dantly all the products known to the temperate regions, and has a mild and equable climate — not so hot as to re lax, nor so cold as to benumb, the physical energies ; and hence it possesses all the elements essential to the growth of a country in wealth, intelligence, and civilization. And yet throughout this vast region there could not, until the year 1769, be found a single human habitation, not a solitary hut of the white settler, nor a smoky wigwam of a roving Cherokee. It was the hunting ground and battle-field of the Indians, claimed by hostile tribes, but occupied by none, and hence was an in viting field for civilized settlement.