The four companies of the second battalion left in South Carolina, under Major Hamilton, were stationed at Charleston; and, the _Cherokee Indians_ having rejected the proposed conditions for a peace, these companies, with two of the 17th, three of the 22nd, and eight of newly-raised provincials, proceeded up the country in March, 1761, again to make war on the refractory Indians. These companies encamped a short time on the banks of the Congaree, from whence they proceeded in May to Fort Prince George, and were joined by twenty Chickasaw warriors from the country on the east side of the Mississippi, and by King Heigler, with twenty Catawbas warriors. From Fort Prince George this company of regulars, provincials, and savages, advanced in the early part of June against the middle Cherokees, through a most difficult country. An officer of the expedition, in a letter published in July, 1761, observes:--"The defiles and passes along War-woman's Creek are horrid; on one side high and rocky mountains hanging over our heads, the path rocky, and no wider than for a single pack-horse; and on the other side a deep and frightful precipice, at the bottom of which is the creek." On the 10th of June, as the troops were on the march along the banks of a river, the Indian army was discovered, arranged for battle on a high woody hill on the right of the line of march, with a straggling line of warriors beyond the river. The Indian riflemen opened an irregular fire, and immediately afterwards more than a thousand warriors raised the dismal war-whoop, which echoed in the woods and dells. This produced little effect on the soldiers, who advanced in regular order to engage their savage antagonists. The commanding officer observed, in his report:--"The troops behaved with great spirit and coolness, and by the heavy fire of their platoons dislodged the enemy from the advantageous posts which they had taken possession of." The firing continued until two in the afternoon, when the Indians were driven from their posts and fled. The loss of the four companies of the ROYALS was three men killed; with Ensign Joseph Knight, and six men wounded. After this victory the expedition continued its advance into the Cherokee country: the Indians fled to their mountain fastnesses; and the soldiers laid fifteen towns and villages in ruins, destroyed the crops of corn, and afterwards returned to Fort Prince George. This proceeding convinced the Indians of their inability to resist the King's forces, and they sued for peace, which was accordingly granted them.