Louisiana and Aaron Burr 197 



land settlements. The best way to meet them was 

 by a stroke in advance, and he determined to send 

 an expedition against them in their strongholds. 

 There was no question whatever as to the hostility 

 of the Indians, for at this very time settlers were 

 being killed by war parties throughout the Cumber- 

 land country. Some Kentuckians, under Colonel 

 Whitley, had joined the Tennesseeans, who were 

 nominally led by a Major Ore ; but various frontier 

 fighters, including Kaspar Mansker, were really as 

 much in command as was Ore. Over five hun- 

 dred mounted riflemen, bold of heart and strong 

 of hand, marched toward the Chickamauga towns, 

 which contained some three hundred warriors. 

 When they came to the Tennessee they spent the 

 entire night in ferrying the arms across and swim- 

 ming the horses ; they used bundles of dry cane for 

 rafts, and made four "bull-boats" out of the hides of 

 steers. They passed over unobserved and fell on 

 the towns of Nickajack and Running Water, taking 

 the Indians completely by surprise ; they killed fifty- 

 five warriors and captured nineteen squaws and chil- 

 dren. In the entire expedition but one white man 

 was killed and three wounded. 80 



Not only the Federal authorities, but Blount him- 



80 Robertson MSS., Robertson to Blount, Oct. 8, 1794; 

 Blount to Robertson, Oct. i, 1794, Sept. 9, 1794 (in which 

 Blount expresses the utmost disapproval of Robertson's con- 

 duct, and says he will not send on Robertson's original letter 

 to Philadelphia, for fear it will get him into a scrape ; and re- 

 quests him to send a formal report which can be forwarded) ; 

 "Knoxville Gazette," Sept. 26, 1794; Brown's Narrative. 



