sudden stroke upon them, and early in March
of the same year. 1781, with 150 picked horsemen, he started to cross
the Great Smoky mountains over trails never before attempted by
white men. and so rough in places that it was hardly possible to lead
horses. Falling unexpectedly upon Tuckasegee, near the present
Webster, North Carolina, he took the town completely by surprise,
killing several warriors and rapturing- a number of women and chil-
dren. Two other principal towns and three smaller .settlements were
taken in the same way. with a quantity of provision and about 200
horses, the Indians being entirely off their guard and unprepared to
make any effective resistance. Having spread destruction through
the middle towns, with the loss to himself of only one man killed and
another wounded, he was off again as suddenly as hehad come, moving
so rapidly that he was well on his homeward way before the Cherokee
could gather for pursuit. 1 At the same time a smaller Tennessee expe-
dition w r ent out to disperse the Indians who had been making head-
quarters in the mountains about Cumberland gap and harassing travelers
along the road to Kentucky.- Numerous indications of Indians were
found, hut none were met, although the country was scoured for a con-
siderable distance. 3 In summer the Cherokee made another incursion,
this time upon the new settlements on the French Broad, near the present
Newport, Tennessee. With a hundred horsemen Sexier fell suddenly
upon their camp on Indian creek, killed a dozen warriors, ami scat-
tered the rest. 1 By these successive blows the Cherokee were so worn
out and dispirited that they were forced