A second attack on Ninety Six was repulsed early in March, but the Indians wrought havoc in the Saluda valley. Petitions from the Enoree forts declared the inability of the settlers to hold them longer without assistance. They were promised reinforcements and warmly commended for their brave defense. The militia colonels were ordered to call out companies for patrol duty. On June 20, 1760, Lieutenant Governor Bull requested the Assembly to provide funds to relieve the needs of the refugees in the Forts; 5,000 pounds was appropriated for this purpose. Bull spent 2,000 pounds for relief from July 1760 to January 1761, and the colony later paid for provisions and wagon hire for Brooks' (or Rhall's) Fort, Pennington's Fort and Turner's Fort. In July 1761 it appeared that at least some of the commanders of the forts had conspired to defraud the needy settlers. Abraham and Jacob Pennington were suspected, but the investigating committee appointed by the Assembly was unable to gather sufficient evidence to document the charges. In present Newberry County, Llewellin and Hughes were killed and scalped in October 1760 near Pennington's Fort on Enoree. On March 16, 1761, eight Bush River settlers who ventured out of Brooks' Fort were attacked by twenty-seven Cherokees, who killed and scalped Cadwallader Eaton and took Edward Box prisoner. The Assembly resolved to provide for seven troops of rangers of seventy-five men each to be continued in service until July. The commanders were Captains Grinnan, Brown, Watts, Pearson, Russel, Brooker and McNeal. Major William Thomson was appointed commandant of the entire force. An eighth troop was organized in January 1761, forming a regiment of 600 men. These rangers took part in the campaigns of both Colonel Montgomery and colonel Grant, being disbanded July 1, 1762. These rangers were from the middle and backcountry and included many men from the Fork of the Broad and Saluda. Colonel Montgomery, with 1,200 regular British troops, marched from Charleston to Ninety Six and thence in May 1760 into the Cherokee stronghold on the Little Tennessee. After being ambushed and suffering some losses, Montgomery retreated, abandoning Fort Loudoun. The defeat of Montgomery's force caused many settlers to flee the upcountry; many went to Saxe Gotha and others further toward the coast. Others held firm in their stockaded forts. In 1761, a second campaign under Colonel James Grant was launched against the Cherokees. Although Grant burned fifteen Indian villages the results were inconclusive; the war came to an inglorious end by the Treaty of Charleston made in December 1761. Thanks to government assistance, the upcountry escaped starvation, but the war meant economic ruin for those who held out. The farms lay vacant and uncultivated, their stock ran wild, and they had been unable to harvest a third of their normal crops. Richard M. Brown says that the backcountry during the Cherokee War was a huge disaster area. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com