Primary Source: The Killing of Chief Benge and The Recapture Of White Captives

Life on the frontier was hard. Added to this danger was the near constant threat of Indian attacks. One of the most feared Indians in Southwest Virginia was Chief Robert Benge. Born around 1760 in the Cherokee village of Togue, possibly on the Little Ta ni si river, Bob Benge - also called Captain Benge and The Bench - was the son of a Scottish trader John Benge and a full blood Cherokee named Wurtah. On April 6, 1794 Benge, and his band of frontier marauders entered the quiet little settlement fifteen miles west of the present town of Abingdon and attacked the home of Peter Livingston. At the time Peter and his brother Henry were out on the farm and the women folk, children and a few slaves were in or near the house. Benge and his raiders captured Elizabeth Livingston and the party fled as far as the foot of Stone's Mountain in Lee County. There they were ambushed by a band led by Lieutenant Vincent Hobbs and Benge was killed. The following is Elizabeth Livingston recounting of the ambush.

The Killing of Chief Benge

April 9. After traveling about five miles, which was over Powell's Mountain and near the foot of Stone Mountain, a party of 13 men, under command of Lieutenant Vincent Hobbs, of the militia of Lee County, met the enemy in front, attacked and killed Benge the first fire. I was at that time some distance off in the rear. The Indian who was my guard at first halted on hearing the firing. He, then, ordered me to run, which I performed slowly. He, then, attempted to strike me in the head with the tomahawk, which I defended as well as I could with my arm. By this time two of our people came in view, which encouraged me to struggle all I could. The Indian at this instant pushed me backward; and I fell over a log, at the same time aiming a violent blow at my head, which in part spent its force on me and laid me out for dead. The first thing I afterward remembered was my good friends around me giving me all the assistance in their power for my relief. They told me I was senseless for about an hour.

1) Why do you think Indians in Southwest Virginia would have resented and attacked the settlers?
2) What do you think the settlers could have done to prevented attacks or at least made them less likely?

For More Information About Chief Benge
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaschs2/chief_benge.htm

http://donchesnut.com/genealogy/pages/bobbenge.htm