Before returning, the three commanders, Campbell, Sevier, and Martin, issued an address to the Otari chiefs and warriors, and sent it by one of their captured braves, who was to deliver it to the head-men. [Footnote:  Campbell MSS.  Issued at Kai-a-tee, Jan. 4, 1781; the copy sent to Governor Jefferson is dated Feb. 28th.] The address set forth what the white troops had done, telling the Indians it was a just punishment for their folly and perfidy in consenting to carry out the wishes of the British agents; it warned them shortly to come in and treat for peace, lest their country should again be visited, and not only laid waste, but conquered and held for all time.  Some chiefs came in to talk, and were met at Chota [Footnote:  The Tennessee historians all speak of this as a treaty; and probably a meeting did take place as described; but it led to nothing, and no actual treaty was made until some months later.]; but though they were anxious for peace they could not restrain the vindictive spirit of the young braves, nor prevent them from harassing the settlements.  Nor could the white commanders keep the frontiersmen from themselves settling within the acknowledged boundaries of the Indian territory.  They were constantly pressing against the lines, and eagerly burst through at every opening.  When the army marched back from burning the Overhill towns, they found that adventurous settlers had followed in its wake, and had already made clearings and built cabins near all the best springs down to the French Broad.  People of every rank showed keen desire to encroach on the Indian lands. [Footnote:  Calendar of Va.  State Papers, II., letter of Col.  Wm. Christian to Governor of Virginia, April 10, 1781.]

The success of this expedition gave much relief to the border, and was hailed with pleasure throughout Virginia [Footnote:  State Department MSS., No. 15, Feb. 25, 1781.] and North Carolina.  Nevertheless the war continued without a break, bands of warriors from the middle towns coming to the help of their disheartened Overhill brethren.  Sevier determined to try one of his swift, sudden strokes against these new foes.  Early in March he rode off at the head of a hundred and fifty picked horsemen, resolute to penetrate the hitherto untrodden wilds that shielded the far-off fastnesses where dwelt the Erati.  Nothing shows his daring, adventurous nature more clearly than his starting on such an expedition; and only a man of strong will and much power could have carried it to a successful conclusion.  For a hundred and fifty miles he led his horsemen through a mountainous wilderness where there was not so much as a hunter’s trail.  They wound their way through the deep defiles and among the towering peaks of the Great Smoky Mountains, descending by passes so precipitous that it was with difficulty the men led down them even such surefooted beasts as their hardy hill-horses.  At last they burst out of the woods and fell like a thunderbolt