The Hornet's Nest
A Novel of the Revolutionary War
Chapter One
Massacre of the Indians
Having experienced troubles with
doubtful land titles in the Carolinas,
Elijah Clarke and his neighboring
families were careful to get the
proper documents when they
obtained rights to settle near the
Savannah River along the northern
border of the 1773 land grant. Elijah
encouraged the other men to locate
their homesteads so that the entire
group could remain in close contact
with one another. All of the cabins
were soon connected with a
spiderweb of trails. Elijah and
Hannah decided to build a new
cabin and barn that almost joined
each other, and to accept the
constant animal sounds and odors
in lieu of risking another fire being
set by undetected intruders. This
proximate location made possible
an additional safety precaution, as
they spent weeks of hard work
putting up a stockade of upright
poles, just large enough to
encompass the two buildings and a
small yard. Except for slits left as
rifle ports and the large swinging
entrance gate, the barricade cut off
their view of the sur ... read full excerpt from: The Hornet's Nest: A Novel of the Revolutionary War ebook
