professions of friendship and assistance were "only to put a
gloss on their knavery." So it proved; for instead of the four
hundred warriors promised under the treaty for service in
Virginia, the Cherokees sent only seven warriors, accompanied by
three women. Al though the Cherokees petitioned Virginia for a
number of men to garrison the Virginia fort, Dinwiddie postponed
sending the fifty men provided for by the Virginia Assembly until
he could reassure himself in regard to the "Behaviour and
Intention" of the treacherous Indian allies. This proved to be a
prudent decision; for not long after its erection the Virginia
fort was destroyed by the Indians.

Whether on account of the dissatisfaction expressed by the
Cherokees over the erection of the Virginia fort or because of a
recognition of the mistaken policy of garrisoning a work erected
by Virginia with troops sent from Charleston, South Carolina
immediately proceeded to build another stronghold on the southern
bank of the Tennessee at the mouth of Tellico River, some seven
miles from the site of the Virginia fort; and here were posted
twelve great guns, brought thither at immense labor through the
wilderness. To this fort, named Fort Loudoun in honor of Lord
Loudoun, then commander-in-chief of all the English forces in
America, the Indians allured artisans by donations of land; and
during the next three or four years a little settlement sprang up
there.

The frontiers of Virginia suffered most from the incursions of
hostile Indians during the fourteen months following May 1, 1755.
In July, the Rev. Hugh McAden records that he preached in
Virginia on a day set apart for fasting and prayer "on account of
the wars and many murders, committed by the savage Indians on the
back inhabitants." On July 30th a large party of Shawano Indians
fell upon the New River settlement and wiped it out of existence.
William Ingles was absent at the time of the raid; and Mrs.
Ingles, who was captured, afterward effected her escape. The
following summer (June 25, 1756), Fort Vaux on the headwaters of
the Roanoke, under the command of Captain John Smith, was
captured by about one hundred French and Indians, who burnt the
fort, killed John Smith junior, John Robinson, John Tracey and
John Ingles, wounded four men, and captured twenty-two men,
women, and children. Among the captured was the famous Mrs. Mary
Ingles, whose husband, John Ingles, was killed; but after being
"carried away i