University of Virginia Library

The name of John Sevier is held in honor to this day by the mountaineers of Eastern Tennessee, who insist that their favorite, and not Shelby, Campbell or Cleveland, was the hero of King's Mountain. The claim is too large; but there is no doubt that his skill, promptness and courage did much to aid in the victory over Ferguson and his loyalists. Sevier was a man of note. He was the leading spirit in the settlement of Eastern Tennessee; and after the State was organized became its first and most popular governor. The attempt to try him for treason against North Carolina, and especially the mode of his arrest, excited the indignation of the mountain hunters, and a thousand of them, arms in hand, spontaneously assembled, threatening fight. Had civil war been begun, whatever might have been its immediate result, the bad blood and the consequent feuds following it, would have retarded progress. One of Sevier's friends, James Cosby, aided by Evans, and the two Sevier boys, effected his rescue, or, as an old Holston settler said: “Snaked him outen the court.” His neighbors welcomed him back with acclamations, and stood ready to resist his re-capture. The trial was wisely dropped. Sevier was at once elected to the Senate of the State, and President Washington appointed him to the command of the district around him with the rank of Major-General. After that he led a campaign against the Cherokees, whom he signally chastised. He was elected governor for six successive terms, and his administration was marked by tact and firmness.