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GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS 577
teer companies were formed in all parts of the state, but these were
employed chiefly in protecting the border. General Scott, with his army
of regulars, marched into the interior of the Creek Nation, then wholly
within the bounds of Alabama, and, after several skirmishes forced the
Creeks to sue for quarter.
Georgia suffered severely in consequence of these border hostilities.
On the night of May 15, 1836, a party of Indians—300 strong—made an
attack upon Roanoke, a small village on the Chattahooch.ee, located in
what is now Stewart, then Lee County, Georgia. Due to the lateness of
the hour, all had retired for 'the night. The inhabitants, therefore, were
taken completely unawares; and the first intimation of danger came
to them in the fiendish yells of the savages who were even then upon
them, some with weapons, others with blazing pine-knots ready to con
vert the village into a mass of seething flames. Resistance was useless,
though a brave effort was made to stay the savage onslaught. Nine
whites and three blacks were killed, in the brief struggle which ensued;
the rest fled only to look back in horror upon a reddening scene of de
struction.
These same Indians also burned a boat, the Georgian, lying at anchor
near Roanoke, not a soul on board of which escaped except the engineer.
They also attacked a boat, the Hyperion, while ascending the river. Some
of the passengers, leaping into the water, swam to shore under cover
of darkness, but many were killed.
On June 9, 1836, a small body of troops under command of Captain
Garmany came suddenly upon these savage fiends and engaged them in
one of the bloodiest struggles of the war. Captain Garmany, in a hand
to hand encounter laid three Indians upon the ground, but he fell
severely wounded in the right thigh. The Indian who inflicted this
wound then approached him with a drawn knife but the brave captain
firing at an opportune moment killed the savage just in time to prevent
the knife from piercing his own breast. Major Jernigan, with a small
detachment of men, not exceeding thirty in number came to the assistance
of Captain Garmany but the whites were still greatly outnumbered and
in the end were forced to retreat.
En route to join the Seminoles in Florida, these Indians marched into
Baker County, murdered several families, and afterwards, • to the num
ber of 300, hid themselves on an island in the center of a swamp; but
here the militia of Baker County, surrounding the island, held -them in
a cordon from which, in a final effort to escape many were killed leading
behind them a number of riderless horses, besides numerous articles
plundered from the whites. This defeat prevented a junction of the
Creeks with the Seminoles in Florida.*
During the month of July, at Echo-wa-notch-away, Major Jernigan's
command again encountered a body of Indians, and, after a severe en
gagement, routed the savages with much slaughter. The following ac
count of the battle has been preserved by Doctor "White. Says he: t
"On the 25th of July, 1836, at the Echowanotechaway Swamp, Major
Jernigan had a sharp contest with the Indians. The enemy having the
* "History of Georgia," Lawton B. Evans, p. 230.
t White's '•' Collections of Georgia," pp. 591-592.
Vol. 1—37