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History of Old
Sumner
Bledsoe’s Creek, Part Five - Attack and Counterattack, Chapter 1
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Courage is the greatest virtue –
unless a man has that, he has nothing to base any other on.
Samuel Johnson
The valley of
Bledsoe’s creek is today the very image of rural peace. A fisherman
plying its languid waters for smallmouth below the mouth of Dry Fork
by the old Rogan place might be surprised to learn of the bloody
fights which took place just up the hill at Morgan’s Fort or at
nearby Greenfields.
Bledsoe At Rogana – Artist, Bill Puryear
Only three bridges
cross the creek today as it meanders from the hills above Bethpage
to the river at Cairo – at Hartsville Pike, Rogana, and Bransford. A
fourth, near the old river town of Cairo, was closed by Old Hickory
Lake, as was the rail trestle at Rogana, felled when tobacco
withered as a cash crop and the lines to Kentucky and Hartsville
were abandoned. Even the swinging bridge, which crossed to the bluff
housing the old Indian cave, has fallen disused into the creek.
Despite this limited
access, subdivisions march north from the pike almost to the creek
and now fill this field, once a part of the old Greenfield grant to
Anthony Bledsoe.
Windrows – Artist, Bill Puryear
(The same location today as shown on in The Repulse Of The Attack on
Greenfields on 4th page following )
Today our cars take us
wherever whim may lead us, our cellphones connect us with our loved
ones and associates wherever they may be, our malls supply us with
the goods and produce of the world, and our televisions and internet
connections give us the news of everywhere in real time. Electricity
fills our world with light, music and entertainment, our gas logs
cheer the winter den with a glow from Texas, and police and firemen
secure our sleep. The mail comes daily to our home and we may
breakfast at home, play a round of golf in Arizona, and return to
our own bed for a night’s sleep.
These conveniences unfit us to imagine the state of our ancestors’
lives in the valley of Bledsoe in the early years of its settlement.
He might well have
been speaking of such a life when Thomas Hobbes described in his
Leviathan the life of man in his natural state: No arts; no
letters; no society; and what is worst of all, continual fear and
danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty,
brutish, and short.
While there was
generally plenty of food and drink from field and stream, the
necessary clothing, implements, crockery, medicines, all had to be
made or brought across the mountains at great cost of time and in
danger of life. Baths and sanitation were all but unknown. Large
families of six, eight or ten people crowded into a single cabin
together, often with their servants and dogs sleeping at their feet.
Their cattle and precious horses were penned just outside.
Water was a daily need
and the settlers’ homes were invariably located near a spring. But
someone had to fetch it, sometimes at risk of their lives. The
Indians knew the settlers’ needs and lay in wait for them along
paths to springs, crops, or neighbors. They wanted the settlers’
horses and they wanted the settlers out.
Fetching Water From The Spring – Detail from Bledsoe’s Fort
Bill Puryear – Artist
Night brought total
darkness punctuated only by the flickering firelight from the
hearth, or, if there were a winter supper to be eaten, a letter to
be written, or a document to be drawn, a candle. A lantern carried
to illumine the trail to a neighbor’s made an easy marker for an
ambush.
Transportation meant
horses, which must be fed and protected. Communication was slow and
labored via courier, sometimes a girl or small boy travelling alone
from Bledsoes to Morgans, Hall’s or Zeigler’s to warn the neighbors
to come into the fort for a season. Once there, life was even more
crowded, with as many as 100 souls living together with their
livestock in one enclosed acre.
Inside The Fort – detail from Bledsoe’s Fort, Bill Puryear, Artist
In April of 1793 the
Indians mounted their largest-ever concerted attack in Sumner County
upon Greenfield’s Fort. Eighteen-year-old William Hall, who had lost
his father, two brothers, two brothers-in-law, a sister, and her
child by the Indians was there. His story of how 4 men stood off an
attack by 260 warriors breathes through his own words.
Greenfield was an
old stockade fort, about two and a half miles from the fort at
Bledsoe's Lick in a direct line North, and whilst I was recovering
from the effects of the operation, (smallpox vaccination) I
concluded to go over there and stay, as it was not very well manned.
I had been engaged by the government of the territory under Governor
Blount at the time, in company with Wm. Neely, to serve three months
as a spy; and taking our knapsacks and arms, we would depart every
Monday morning, and come back to the settlements no more until
Saturday night, spending the time meanwhile in the forest in search
of Indian signs. At the time I was inoculated, my time was nearly
out, and I was lounging around the fort, almost well, when one
evening I said to Mrs. Parker, that I would go out to where three
negro men were ploughing, watched by an Irishman named Jarvis who
was sentry to see that no harm came to them. The fort stood on a
high eminence, with an abundance of cleared ground around it; and
where the men were at work, the field adjoined a very dense
cane-brake, the green cane being about fifteen feet in height. Not
far off was a patch of fruit trees, a small nursery of about half an
acre, which had grown up very closely, and it being the 27th of
April, the leaves were all out, making it a very dense thicket. When
I went down to where the men were at work, the sun was about two
hours high, the evening pleasant. Jarvis was leaning against the
fence surrounded by several dogs, and as the negro men went
backwards and forwards, I walked along with them talking with one of
them, whose name was Abraham, a very intelligent fellow, a servant
of Col. Anthony Bledsoe's. Jarvis, a brave but hotheaded little
fellow was stationed pretty near the edge of the field, next to the
cane-brake. Suddenly, the dogs ran off towards the fence, leaped it,
and appearing much excited, soon came back barking and growling, and
with their hair erect. I at once ordered the ploughman to stop, and
called to Jarvis to come to me. I told them all, that I was sure the
Indians were lurking near, and that if they did not attack us at
once, they were evidently reconnoitering the place, and that all
must go at once to the fort. Accordingly, they did so.
Nothing more
occurred of note that night, but in the morning, whilst the women
were milking the cows near the fort, a large number of half wild
cattle that usually lay pretty well distant from the stockade, came
charging up to the fort, nearly running over the women who were
milking near by, and just about that time, Jarvis went along with
the ploughman, on his way back to the locality from which he had
gone the night before. Mrs. Clendenning called to him to come back,
telling him that she knew the cattle were alarmed at the Indians;
but he, scoffing at her fears, told her that I had induced them to
quit work the night before, two hours before sundown; and that he
was going on, "come what might." Much alarmed, Mrs. Clendenning ran
into the fort, and told her mother, Mrs. Parker, (the former Mrs.
Anthony Bledsoe,) that Jarvis and the negroes were going out to be
killed; and that the men in the fort ought to be awakened to protect
them, if necessary. Mrs. Parker came accordingly to my door in great
haste, and awakening me, requested me to go out and see what was
best to be done! I therefore jumped up and whilst getting ready to
go out, I heard a heavy firing, and stopping only to put on a pair
of pantaloons I seized my gun and shot-pouch, ran out, and met
William Wilson, a tried soldier, and two others.
We all went
outside, and saw Jarvis and the negroes riding across the field,
pursued by a large body of Indians. It appeared, they had just got
to their ploughs, and were turning their horses to hitch up, when
Abraham, the mulatto fellow, mentioned, happening to cast his eyes
around, saw the fence not far off lined with the Indian's heads,
just in the act of rising up. Giving the alarm to the rest, the
whole of them sprang to their horses, and dashed across the field,
as they had to ride around in order to get to a lane leading towards
the fort. Meanwhile, a large body of Indians fired upon the
fugitives a tremendous volley; but fortunately, without hitting any
of them.
Looking down to
where they were, I told Wilson (the other two men having ran off
from us, one into the fort, the other away altogether,) that our
best plan was to run down and try to drive back a party of twenty
Indians, who were attempting to cut off Jarvis and the others from
the fort. We accordingly started, and endeavored to reach a fence
between the party and ourselves, our red foes meanwhile straining as
hard to reach another fence about as far in advance of them, as ours
was in front of us. The space across the little meadow between the
two fences was about eighty yards. We dashed into the comers of our
shelter, just as the Indians reached theirs; and we had scarcely
stooped to our position when their entire volley whistled past over
our heads, scattering the splinters in all directions.
Reserving our fire,
we at once leaped the fence and charged right up to the troop, who
with their guns empty, turned and fled as hard as they could dash up
the hill in front. An angle of their fence reaching around, we ran
on without getting over into the field-a wheat field, and as we
approached the nursery, mentioned, up rose about twenty-five more
who were in ambush there, and delivered their volley. At their first
appearance, Wilson called out to me to know what we should do? I
replied that we must dash right up to them, for I knew that that was
our only chance; and I hoped, that disconcerted by our audacity,
they might miss us. I knew we were lost if they took deliberate aim
at us at so close a distance, when we were running from them. We
accordingly ran right up to them, the bullets whistling past our
ears, in great numbers; but having delivered their fire, they also
turned in the most cowardly manner and fled. Had we known, however,
of their proximity, we would not have approached their position, for
any consideration on earth.
Repulse of the Attack on Greenfields – Bill Puryear
Sumner County Bicentennial Print
Meanwhile, Wm.
Neely and James Hays came out from the fort, and ran down to our
assistance; and three more Indians, not having seen us, we being
hidden from view by the uneven ground came right up to us in another
direction, their whole attention absorbed by the sight of Hays and
Neely. We met right at the fence; and seeing us, the Indians threw
themselves flat upon the ground, we being one side of the fence,
they the other. I brought my gun to bear upon one who lay in the
wheat, then about knee high, and as he rolled his eyes around
towards me, he saw he was lost if he remained there, so rolling
over, he jumped to his feet and fled. At about ten steps distance, I
fired upon him as he was running, and I saw the bottoms of his
moccasons fly up in the air as he went over on his face, shot
through the body. Wilson shot another, and the third ran off to join
the rest.
All this time,
large bodies of the Indians were doing their best to cut off Jarvis
and the negroes; and we, having driven back those mentioned, started
and got into the lane referred to. Here a large body of them fired
upon and killed poor Jarvis, and one of them, a large Indian, ran
Abraham, who had killed an Indian, pretty close to the fort, firing
at last upon him but without any effect. As he stopped deliberately
to load his gun, I told Neely who with Hays had joined us, to take a
chance at him. He accordingly snapped his gun at him two or three
times, when he discovered that the flint was turned; preventing its
going off. Meanwhile, the parties we had first encountered had
re-loaded their guns, and ran down to the aid of the rest, and the
big Indian who had chased Abraham carne running back. He mounted the
fence and deliberately looking about him, Hays, who was ready for
him, took cool aim, and shooting him through the arm-pits, he fell
over backwards upon a hill of corn, quite dead, the blood spouting
out a foot on each side of him. I should have mentioned before, that
Jarvis and the negroes abandoned the horses at the fence near the
mouth of the lane, and Jarvis, stopping with Abraham to take a shot
at them, was killed, after getting over the fence and advancing some
sixty yards from it out into the field.
The rest of us
being at the fence, I proposed that we should fire a regular
plattoon upon the crowd, some fifty or sixty in number, who had
surrounded the body of poor Jarvis, and were scalping and hacking at
it. I was to give the word, so that we should fire together.
As we were fixing
our guns at a rest, a volley was fired upon us from the rear, the
bullets flying past both sides of my face, one of them tearing the
bark loose from the rail against my cheek. Calling on the rest to
stop, I looked around, and another volley of some twenty guns
followed. I wore my hair very long at the time, and a bullet cut a
large lock of it from the side of my head, throwing it up into the
air a foot high, as Neely said, who saw it. He called to me to know
if I was killed? and I telling him-no!-we all broke past this party
who were trying to head us off.
General William Hall of Bledsoe’s Lick
As I ran on down
the lane, I passed the body of "'Prince," one of the negroes, who
had been shot whilst some forty yards ahead of the rest of us. In my
haste I ran several steps past him; but determined to see which of
them it was, as he was lying upon his face in a gully, I went back,
and hastily seizing him by the collar, turned him over. He gave a
gasp or two, his last, and I again turned and fled. Neely and the
others were by this time a long way in advance, and more of the
Indians having stationed themselves at the 'Spring Branch, again
fired on me. Being below them, their bullets splashed the water on
my legs as I leaped the branch, and we all reached the fort in
safety.
We had killed four
of the Indians, whilst we lost Jarvis and the negro man, Prince. The
Indians secured the horses, which had been abandoned in the lane. To
keep us engaged, and prevent our attacking them, they kept firing at
the fort until they collected the horses, when they marched off. It
was estimated by us that the Indian force on this occasion was the
largest ever mustered in Middle Tennessee, except at the attack on
Buchanan's Station; it being supposed that the party numbered at
least 260. It seemed almost miraculous that we were able with such
slim numbers to keep them at bay. The fort was poorly calculated to
stand a regular siege, and, if they had had any bravery equivalent
to their numbers, they might have taken it at the first assault.
The firing having
been heard at the forts around, for several miles, a number of
parties came to the fort, in the course of the day, to afford aid if
it should be necessary. The whole number that came during the day,
amounted to about fifty men, under command of Major Geo. Winchester.
We held a council to see whether we should follow the Indians, but
Major Winchester overruled our wishes, and very wisely, too, as it
afterwards proved, ordering us back to the fort. A few of us, the
late Governor Desha of Kentucky amongst the number, determined to go
at all events; but gave it up, finally, and went back with the rest.
In the evening, however, we made up a scouting party of eight men,
and taking a circuit whilst we left the rest to guard the fort in
case of another attack, we came upon the trail of the Indians about
three miles off from the fort, on the East fork of Bledsoe's Creek.
The Indians had just passed, the water being still muddy from their
footsteps, and we then taking the back track, came to where the
Indians had laid in ambush for the whites, upon their own trail.
They had passed through a dead cane-brake, containing five or six
acres, and tying their horses beyond it, they had squatted in the
green cane around, ready to fire upon us had we followed them up as
they expected we would do. We saw the places where they had thus,
nearly through the day, been seated. The precaution of Major
Winchester was well justified. 1
Hall’s service to his
country continued throughout his long life in which he served as
Representative of Sumner County in the State Legislature, Brigadier
General in the War of 1812, State Senator from Sumner County, and
Speaker of the Senate. He succeeded Sam Houston as Governor of
Tennessee and two years later was elected to the US Congress, where
he served from 1831-1833. His death at 81 in 1856 spared him the
agony of the Civil War, but allowed him to be photographed, one of
the very few pioneers, including William Martin, thus available to
us.
An orphaned teenager
when the Bledsoes were struck down, he picked up the flag and
carried it well into the next century. He still lived in the same
forted station his father built above Bledsoe’s Lick when he died,
full of years and honors. As much as any of the pioneers, he
demonstrated that, although isolated and assailed on all sides,
without commerce or friends in high places, short of the goods or
comforts of this world, they had the one thing that saw them through
– courage.
Next Month – The Settlers
Counterattack
1
William Hall, Early History of the Southwest, Published by The
South-Western Monthly, 1852,
reprinted 1968 by The Edward Ward Carmack Sumner County Public
Library, Nashville, 1968,
p. 21-26.
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