ss women of the
settlements in their rear.

It was a step of extreme boldness, for they supposed they would
encounter the whole body of seven hundred Cherokees; but it was
unanimously agreed to, and early on the following morning the little
army, with flankers and an advance guard of twelve men, marched out to
meet the enemy. They had not gone far when the advance guard came upon a
force of about twenty Indians. The latter fled, and the whites pursued
for several miles, the main body following close upon the heels of the
advance, but without coming upon any considerable force of the enemy.
Then, being in a country favorable to an ambuscade, and the evening
coming on, they held a council and decided to return to the fort.

They had not gone upward of a mile when a large force of the enemy
appeared in their rear. The whites wheeled about at once, and were
forming into line, when the whole body of Indians rushed upon them with
great fury, shouting, "The Unacas are running! Come on! scalp them!"
They attacked simultaneously the centre and left flank of the whites;
and then was seen the hazard of going into battle with a many-headed
commander. For a moment all was confusion, and the companies in
attempting to form in the face of the impetuous attack were being
broken, when Isaac Shelby rushed to the front and ordered each company a
few steps to the rear, where they should reform, while he, with
Lieutenant Moore, Robert Edmiston, and John Morrison, and a private
named John Findlay,--in all five men,--should meet the onset of the
savages. Instantly the six captains obeyed the command, recognizing in
the volunteer of twenty-five their natural leader, and then the battle
became general. The Indians attacked furiously, and for a few moments
those five men bore the brunt of the assault. With his own hand Robert
Edmiston slew six of the more forward of the enemy, Morrison nearly as
many, and then Moore became engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand fight
with an herculean chieftain of the Cherokees. They were a few paces in
advance of the main body, and, as if by common consent, the firing was
partly suspended on both sides to await the issue of the conflict.
"Moore had shot the chief, wounding him in the knee, but not so badly as
to prevent him from standing. Moore advanced toward him, and the Indian
threw his tomahawk, but missed him. Moore sprung at him with his large
butcher-knife drawn, which the Indian caught by the blade and at