286 The Winning of the West 



ginia, North Carolina, and Georgia; and at this 

 time he accepted an offer from the Continental Con 

 gress to serve in the same capacity for all the South 

 ern Indians. 45 Nevertheless he led a body of militia 

 against the Chickamauga towns. He burnt a couple, 

 but one of his detachments was driven back in a 

 fight on Lookout Mountain; his men became dis 

 contented, and he was forced to withdraw, followed 

 and harassed by the Indians. On his retreat the 

 Indians attacked the settlements in force, and cap 

 tured Gillespie's station. 



Sevier was the natural leader of the Holston rifle 

 men in such a war; and the bands of frontiersmen 

 insisted that he should take the command whenever 

 it was possible. Sevier swam well in troubled wa 

 ters, and he profited by the storm he had done so 

 much to raise. Again and again during the summer 

 of 1788 he led his bands of wild horsemen on 

 forays against the Cherokee towns, and always with 

 success. He followed his usual tactics, riding hard 

 and long, pouncing on the Indians in their homes 

 before they suspected his presence, or intercepting 

 and scattering their war parties ; and he moved with 

 such rapidity that they could not gather in force 

 sufficient to do him harm. Not only was the fame 

 of his triumphs spread along the frontier, but vague 

 rumors reached even the old settled States of the 

 seaboard, 46 rumors that told of the slight loss suf- 



45 State Dept. MSS., No. 50, Vol. II, p. 505, etc. 



46 "Columbian Magazine" for 1789, p. 204. Also letter from 

 French Broad, December 18, 1788. 



