35 6 The Winning of the West 



owners of the soil, who were ever ready to take 

 advantage of any momentary disaster that befell 

 their hereditary and victorious opponents, the in- 

 vading settlers. 



For many years Sevier was the best Indian fighter 

 on the border. He was far more successful than 

 Clark, for instance, inflicting greater loss on his foes 

 and suffering much less himself, though he never 

 had anything like Clark's number of soldiers. His 

 mere name was a word of dread to the Cherokees, 

 the Chickamaugas, and the upper Creeks. His suc- 

 cess was due to several causes. He wielded great 

 influence over his own followers, whose love for and 

 trust in "Chucky Jack" were absolutely unbounded ; 



he saw him in the rear. This is the only piece of positive 

 testimony in the case. Some of Campbell's witnesses (as 

 Matthew Willoughby) swore that this, brother of Shelby was 

 a man of bad character, engaged at the time in stealing cattle 

 from both whigs and tories. 



4th, on the testimony of a number of soldiers who swore 

 they did not see Campbell in the latter part of the battle, 

 nor until some moments after the surrender. Of course, 

 this negative testimony is simply valueless ; in such a hurly 

 burly it would be impossible for the men in each part of the 

 line to see all the commanders, and Campbell very likely did 

 not reach the places where these men were until some time 

 after the surrender. On the other hand, forty officers and 

 soldiers of Campbell's, Sevier's, and Shelby's regiments, 

 headed by General Rutledge, swore that they had seen 

 Campbell valiantly leading throughout the whole battle, 

 and foremost at the surrender. This positive testimony 

 conclusively settles the matter; it outweighs that of 

 Shelby's brother, the only affirmative witness on the other 

 side. But it is a fair question as to whether Campbell or an- 

 other of Shelby's brothers received De Peyster's sword. 



