Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1888-03-21

JOHN SEWER.
The general who in the course oil
twenty years fights thirty-fve battles,
all against desperate odds, and is always
victorious, must be a military genius.
Such general was John Sewer, who
broke the power of the British over the
Thirteen Colonies at Kings Mountain,
and subsequently, for fifteen years, was
the first governor of Tennessee His
field was narrow and his forces were
small; but what he did was essential to
the securing of American independence.
He was 4 most remark able man and
had he acted in a wider sphere, his
fame would have filled the world. 1t
may be questioned If any one of the
generals of our late war will compare
with him in military ability. They &C
complished great results, but they
handled immense resources. He knew
how to secure great ends with slenoer
means. Before Napoleon was born, he
discovered that principle of dynamics
by which a small body, driven with i'm
mense force, deals heavier blow than
much larger one, having only the or
binary momentum.
In Sewers time the people beyond
the Alleghenies were too much en-
crossed in making history to give any
thought to the writing of it, and hence,
the country knows very little of his
great services; but now that careful
investigator is exploring his career and
making it known to the public, we have
another hero added to our roll of hon
or, and not merely hero, but also one
of those pivotal characters on whom
turn the hinges of history. For, we
think it not too much to say that had
not John Sewer been victorious at
Kings Mountain, and SO heroically held
the rear all through the revolutionary
war, this country could not have
achieved its independence. From Ed
mund hirke's recently published Rear
Guard Of the Revolution, We extract an
account of one of Sewers exploits soon
after the battle of Kings Mountain.
The Western country was infested
with the Cherokes. one of the bravest
ami strongest of the Indian tribes that
sided with the British during the revo-
luton. ''They did not appear In any
large body, but small parties hung
about the more remote settlements, de-
scending upon some unguarded dwell
ing and whelming men, women and
children in discriminate massacre. In
stantly garrisons were stationed in the
most exposed positions, and a Gordon Of
light troops was placed along the
frontier.
s'rhe wide extent of territory to be
guarded involved the employment of so
many Of Sewers men that 1t would
seem to have been impossible for him
to have mustered a force strong enough
for any important operation. And yet,
at this very time, he undertook and eX-
Cd IF I ha hPIl iIar
in his history-one which, / think, has
no parallel in the achievements of
George Rogers Clark, or any other Dor
der soldier He had been convinced
that some of the recent raids had been
perpetrated by Erati Cherokees, who
had their homes high up in the gorges
of the Smoky Mountains, the gigantic
range which is now the southwestern
boundary between Tennessee and North
Carolina These Indians were a body
of bold, hardy mountaineers, 1,200
strong, and their country was en-
trenched amid rocky Businesses that
were reported to be impregnable. Few
white men had ever visited their
stronghold and those who had report
ed it unassailable by any civilized sol
diery. By any route that could be
taken it was 200 miles from Wautauga,
and the way to 1t was through trackless
forests, across furious torrents and dan
geroa6 rivers, and over mountains steep
and rugged, and loftier than any east of
the Mississippi. Only one white man
at Watauga-Isaac Ihomas-had ever
entered this stronghold, and he had
gone 10 it through the Indian country
from its southwestern side, from which
it was always approached by It's lnhab-
itants. No Indian, no white trader, was
known to have ever entered it from the
eastern side, and of this region civilized
man was as ignorant as Of the interior
of Africa. 1t is to-day as wild country
as IS anywhere to be found on this con-
tinent. But from this side Sewer de-
termined to approach it and with l3u
men to storm this inaccessible position,
defended as it was by l 200 brave noun
taineers He took but $780, because not
another man could be spared from the
defense OF the settlement. With Isaac
Thomas as guide, he set out early IN
March, when the streams are at their
highest, and the snow still lies upon the
upper slopes of the mountains. L say
with Isaac Thomas as guide, but
Thomas knew nothing Of the route; he
could only direct Sewer when they
should have arrived In the enemy
country.
80, with only a compass to direct
his way, Sewer set out on his adyentur-
Gus expedition. Crossing the Noli-
chucky near his home, he followed uI
the western bank of the French Broad
fording the river near what is known as
the Painted Rocks, and thence passing
on to Warm Springs, which had beer
discovered by two hunters in 1878, bu
had not as yet single inhabitant. Here