followers, whose love for and trust in "Chucky Jack" were absolutely
unbounded; for he possessed in the highest degree the virtues most
prized on the frontier. He was open-hearted and hospitable, with winning
ways towards all, and combined a cool head with a dauntless heart; he
loved a battle for its own sake, and was never so much at his ease as
when under fire; he was a first-class marksman, and as good a horseman
as was to be found on the border. In his campaigns against the Indians
he adopted the tactics of his foes, and grafted on them some important
improvements of his own. Much of his success was due to his adroit use
of scouts or spies. He always chose for these the best woodsmen of the
district, men who could endure as much, see as much, and pass through
the woods as silently, as the red men themselves. By keeping these
scouts well ahead of him, he learned accurately where the war parties
were. In the attack itself he invariably used mounted riflemen, men
skilled in forest warfare, who rode tough little horses, on which they
galloped at speed through the forest. Once in position they did the
actual fighting on foot, sheltering themselves carefully behind the
tree-trunks. He moved with extreme rapidity and attacked with
instantaneous suddenness, using ambushes and surprises wherever
practicable. His knowledge of the whereabouts and size of the hostile
parties, and the speed of his own movements, generally enabled him to
attack with the advantage of numbers greatly on his side. [Footnote: The
old Tennessee historians, headed by Haywood, base their accounts, of the
actions on statements made by the pioneers, or some of the pioneers,
forty or fifty years after the event; and they do a great deal of
bragging about the prowess of the old Indian fighters. The latter did
most certainly perform mighty deeds; but often in an entirely different
way from that generally recorded; for they faced a foe who on his own
ground was infinitely more to be dreaded than the best trained European
regulars. Thus Haywood says that after the battle of the Island Flats,