| Sources |
- [S84] E-Mail, Joe Dunn [djoedunn@comcast.net], 13 Feb 2011.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 12 Dec 2014.
Upland Chronicles: Battle of Boyd’s Creek was pivotal to early settlers
CARROLL MCMAHAN
Col. John Sevier commanded troops at the Battle of Boyd’s Creek just two months after participating in the Battle of King’s Mountain.
This monument located along Boyd’s Creek Highway marks the site of the Battle of Boyd’s Creek.
On Dec. 16, 1780, two months after the Battle of Kings Mountain, the Battle of Boyd’s Creek took place. The battle was fought, not against the British, but their sometime-ally, the Cherokee. A number of East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia’s leaders had been calling for an expedition against the Cherokee for some time. British agents led by John McDonald had allegedly been encouraging the Indians to attack white settlements.
Regardless of the outcome the British would benefit, since either way, the number of white frontiersmen able to fight the British would be reduced. Maj. Joseph Martin, Virginia Cherokee Indian Agent and husband of Betsy Ward, daughter of Nancy Ward, beloved woman of the Cherokee, had been successful maintaining relations with the older Indian chiefs. But the younger chiefs were unable to convince Dragging Canoe to join them.
Somehow, Nancy Ward was able to get word by way of Isaac Thomas, Ellis Hardin and William Springstone, white traders who were able to alert the settlements, with Thomas and Hardin reporting at Nolichucky and Springhouse to Col. Arthur Campbell at Washington County, Va.
Col. John Sevier returned from the victory against the British at Kings Mountain to his home in Jonesboro to find Isaac Thomas and Ellis Hardin waiting. Nancy Ward had sent them to find Sevier to warn that both Creek and Cherokee nations were staging attacks against the settlers.
After listening to the report of Thomas and Hardin, Sevier announced the necessity of setting out at once to meet the Indians. Thomas and Hardin went with him to serve as guides and scouts. Sevier led the small advance force, consisting of Russell’s Company, joined by Capt. Thomas Gist as he marched southwestward. Other volunteers were being equipped and soon followed. The meeting place was to be at Swan Pond on Lick Creek in Greene County.
After a treacherous march that involved the exchange of gunfire, the troops crossed the French Broad River at the big island that would later be named Buckingham Island and encamped at Boyd’s Creek. The next day, the advance guard under the command of Capt. Stinson, continued the march and soon found the encampment of the enemy and their camp fires still burning. Reinforcement was immediately ordered to the front, and the guard was directed, if it came upon the Indians, to fire upon them and retreat, and thus draw them on.
Less than a mile from their camp, the enemy fired upon the advance from an ambuscade. They returned the fire and retreated, and, as had been anticipated, were hastily pursued by the enemy until it joined the main body. Formed with three divisions, the center of which was commanded by Col. Sevier, the right wing by Maj. Jesse Walton, and the left wing by Major Jonathan Tipton; they met the Indians near the confluence of Cedar Springs and Boyd’s Creek.
Col. Sevier and his men fired upon the Indians, killing a great number of enemy warriors. In the charge, Col. Sevier was in close pursuit of a warrior who, finding that he would be overtaken, turned and fired at him. The bullet cut the hair of his temple without doing further injury. Col. Sevier then spurred his horse forward and attempted to kill his assailant with his sword, having emptied his pistols in the first moments of the charge.
The warrior paired the licks from the sword with his empty gun. The conflict was becoming doubtful between the two combatants when one of the soldiers came up and shot the warrior, deciding the conflict in favor of his commander.
The Indians retreated, running into a swamp, and therefore escaping the destruction for which they would otherwise been doomed. The victory was decisive. The loss of enemy amounted to 28 killed, and very many lay on the ground wounded. On the side of Sevier's troops not a man was wounded.
The victorious returned to the big island and awaited the arrival of reinforcements that promised to follow. The prompt collection of troops and rapid expedition of Col. Sevier saved the frontier settlements from a bloody invasion. Had he not arrived when he did, the Indians would have reached the settlements, scattered themselves along the extended border, then driven them into stations, or perhaps massacred them in their cabins and fields.
The Battle of Boyd’s Creek did not signal the end of Cherokee Expedition. Col. Sevier remained only a few days at his encampment on the French Broad Island that would later be called Sevier Island before being renamed Buckingham. He was joined by Col. Arthur Campbell with his regiment from Virginia, and Major Martin with his troops from Sullivan County. The army consisted of seven hundred men. The soldiers went on to burn out town after town and by the end of the expedition were claiming victory every step of the way.
According to Ramsey’s "Annals of Tennessee," the Battle of Boyd’s Creek was considered to be one of the best-fought battles in the border war of Tennessee history. On July 4, 1927, the John Sevier Chapter of Tennessee Society Sons of the American Revolution erected a monument to mark the site of the Battle of Boyd’s Creek.
While it is not recorded, perhaps Sevier County was named in honor of John Sevier in appreciation of his involvement at the Battle of Boyd’s Creek.
Carroll McMahan is special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and serves as Sevier County historian.
The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics, would like to submit a column or have comments, please contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or cmcmahan@scoc.org; or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 3 Mar 2015.
Upland Chronicles: Gov. John Sevier was a controversial figure
CARROLL MCMAHAN
Crowd gathered at the first grave of John Sevier in Macon County, Ala.
Statue of John Sevier in the National Statuary Hall Collection in Washington, D.C.
SEVIERVILLE —
Gov. John Sevier, the man for whom Sevier County and Sevierville were named, died 200 years ago this year. His demise came suddenly on Sept. 24, 1815, in the Alabama territory, where he was on a congressional mission conducting a survey of lands in the Creek Indian country. He was 70.
He had been appointed by President James Madison earlier that year as commissioner to run the boundary line of the Creek nation in Alabama, as provided in the treaty made by Gen. Andrew Jackson after he defeated the Creeks in 1814. Sevier’s service lasted from early June 1815 until his death.
Sevier was buried on the east bank of the Tallapoosa River at the Indian village called Tuckabotchee, near Fort Decatur, in Macon County.
But Alabama was not to be Sevier’s final resting place. His neglected grave was discovered in 1889, and the remains were moved to Knoxville, where he was first elected governor. After a ceremony attended by thousands, the first governor of Tennessee was interred on the grounds of the Knox County Courthouse.
Three years later, his remains were again exhumed and moved to another spot on the same courthouse grounds. The move was necessary in order to accommodate an impressive, tall monument that was to be erected in his memory. The third interment was witnessed only by a few county officials, a few curious hangers-on, and some people attracted from the street.
The removal of the remains of the famous frontiersman was not without contention. There were those who felt his remains should not be disturbed, while others argumed that Marble Springs Plantation, a 350-acre farm in southwest Knox County where Sevier lived from 1801 until the end of his life, should be his final resting place.
Perhaps it is fitting that the final resting place of John Sevier has been controversial. After all, Sevier managed to be quite a lightning rod during his lifetime.
Born in Virginia on Sept. 23, 1745, Sevier made a name for himself as a Revolutionary War hero during the Battle of King’s Mountain. He was a key player and governor of the short-lived state of Franklin. In 1784, that new state was formed out of lands west of the Appalachian Mountains offered by North Carolina.
On May 16, 1785, a delegation submitted a petition for statehood to Congress. Eventually seven states voted to admit what would have been the 14th state. This was less than the two-thirds majority required. Led by Sevier, the fledgling government began operating as an independent republic after the failed statehood attempt.
As the new government began to make treaties with Native American tribes, create courts, assess taxes, and organize counties, the governor of North Carolina asked members of the group to disband and return their allegiance to his state.
When this offer was rejected, North Carolina moved in with troops under the leadership of Col. John Tipton and re-established its government. The two rival governments now competed side by side.
Loyalties among residents remained divided and came to a head on Feb. 29, 1788, when Sevier and a group of his supporters attacked Tipton and his men at Tipton’s farm. Sevier and his troops were defeated.
North Carolina officials arrested Sevier in August 1788. Sevier’s supporters quickly freed him from the local jail and retreated to “Lesser Franklin.”After the dissolution of the state of Franklin in February 1789, continued support of the separate state movement was confined largely to Sevier County.
The first Legislature was organized for what would become the state of Tennessee on March 28, 1796, and it elected Sevier governor two days later. He could serve up to three two-year terms, and did. After Archibald Roane served one two-year term, Sevier was re-elected for three more terms that ended in 1809.
During his first term as governor, Sevier developed a rivalry with rising politician Andrew Jackson. In 1796, Jackson campaigned for the position of major-general of the state militia, but was thwarted when Sevier threw his support behind George Conway. Jackson also learned that Sevier had referred to him as a “poor pitiful petty fogging lawyer” in private correspondence.
After Sevier’s third term as governor, term limits prevented him from seeking a fourth consecutive term and Archibald Roane was elected as his replacement. Both Sevier and Jackson campaigned for the major-general of the militia, and when the vote ended in a tie, Roane chose Jackson.
When Sevier announced his candidacy for governor in 1803, Roane and Jackson made documents from the Nashville land office scandal public, and accused Sevier of bribery. Their efforts to smear Sevier were unsuccessful, however, and Sevier easily defeated Roane in the election.
Following his inauguration, Sevier encountered Jackson in Knoxville. They had an argument during which Sevier accused Jackson of adultery in his marriage to Rachel Donelson. An enraged Jackson challenged Sevier to a duel, which Sevier accepted. Sevier’s wagon stalled en route to the duel. As Jackson returned to Knoxville, he encountered Sevier and his entourage. The two loudly exchanged insults, and Sevier’s horse ran away, carrying his pistols. Sevier hid behind a tree. Members of both parties managed to resolve the incident before bloodshed took place.
When term limits prevented him from a fourth consecutive term, Sevier sought one of the state’s U.S. Senate seats in 1809. The legislature chose Joseph Anderson. Sevier then ran for the Knox County state senate seat, winning easily. In 1811, Sevier was elected to the U.S. Congress representing the state’s second district. Sevier was a staunch supporter of the War of 1812, and President Madison offered him a command in the army, but Sevier turned it down.
In 1922, the remains of his second wife, Catherine Sherrill, were re-interred next to Sevier’s. A monument recognizing his first wife, Sarah Hawkins, was placed at the site in 1946. In 1931, a statue of Sevier created by Leopold and Belle Kinny Scholz was dedicated at the National Statuary Hall Collection of the U.S. Capitol.
Carroll McMahan is special projects facilitator for the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce and serves as Sevier County historian.
The Upland Chronicles series celebrates the heritage and past of Sevier County. If you have suggestions for future topics or would like to submit a column, contact Carroll McMahan at 453-6411 or cmcmahan@scoc.org, or Ron Rader at 604-9161 or ron@ronraderproperties.com.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 6364660).
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