The Battle of the Neches was the main engagement of the Cherokee War, fought July 15 and 16, 1839, between 800 Indians, including Delawares and Shawnees, and 500 troops of the Republic of Texas. An extraordinary fact of the fighting was that David G. Burnet, vice president of the Republic, Albert Sidney Johnston, Secretary of War, and two other high officials took active parts in the battle. When Chief Bowles, the aged Cherokee leader, was killed, he carried a sword given him by Gen. Sam Houston. After the tribes were defeated, they scattered, virtually ending Indian troubles in the settled eastern part of Texas.