regulars.  Thus Haywood says that after the battle of the Island Flats, the whites were so encouraged that thenceforward they never asked concerning their enemies, “how many are they?” but “where are they?” Of course, this is a mere piece of barbaric boasting.  If the whites had really acted on any such theory there would have been a constant succession of disasters like that at the Blue Licks.  Sevier’s latest biographer, Mr. Kirke, in the “Rear-guard of the Revolution,” goes far beyond even the old writers.  For instance, on p. 141 he speaks of Sevier’s victories being “often” gained over “twenty times his own number” of Indians.  As a matter of fact, one of the proofs of Sevier’s skill as a commander is that he almost always fought with the advantage of numbers on his side.  Not a single instance can be produced where either he or any one else during his lifetime gained a victory over twenty times his number of Indians, unless the sieges are counted.  It is necessary to keep in mind the limitations under which Haywood did his work, in order to write truthfully; but a debt of gratitude will always be due him for the history he wrote.  Like Marshall’s, it is the book of one who himself knew the pioneers, and it has preserved very much of value which would otherwise have been lost.  The same holds true of Ramsey.] He could then outflank or partially surround the Indians, while his sudden rush demoralized them; so that, in striking contrast to most other Indian fighters, he inflicted a far greater loss than he received.  He never fought a big pitched battle, but, by incessantly harrying and scattering the different war bands, he struck such terror to the hearts of the Indians that he again and again, in a succession of wars, forced them into truces, and for the moment freed the settlements from their ravages.  He was almost the only commander on the frontier who ever brought an Indian war, of whatever length, to an end, doing a good deal of damage to his foes and suffering very little himself.  Still, he never struck a crushing blow, nor conquered a permanent peace.  He never did any thing to equal Clark’s campaigns in the Illinois and against Vincennes, and, of course, he cannot for a moment be compared to his rival and successor, grim Old Hickory, the destroyer of the Creeks and the hero of New Orleans.

    Sevier’s Cherokee Campaigns.

When the men of the Holston or upper Tennessee valley settlements reached their homes after the King’s Mountain expedition, they found them menaced by the Cherokees.  Congress had endeavored in vain to persuade the chiefs of this tribe to make a treaty of peace, or at least to remain neutral.  The efforts of the British agents to embroil them with the whites were completely successful; and in November the Otari or Overhill warriors began making inroads along the frontier.  They did not attack in large bands.  A constant succession of small parties moved swiftly through the county, burning cabins,