Beginning on May 26, 1838, soldiers began rounding up Cherokee women, men, and children with little concern or respect for families or their property. In the first days, confusion abounded as soldiers and militiamen gathered individuals wherever they were found, dividing families and splitting communities. Military forces were divided into companies and assigned districts to clear of Cherokee inhabitants; some neighborhoods were taken by foot soldiers and prisoners were marched at the point of bayonet, while others were taken by parties on horseback, some were permitted to ride their own horses, and small children were often conveyed in wagons. After the initial roundup and concentration, large groups of Cherokees marched overland to emigration depots near the Tennessee River. Jammed together in unsanitary encampments, hundreds of Cherokees suffered from diarrhea, dysentery, measles, and whooping cough. Dependent on the United States Army for food and clothes, many suffered from exposure and from lack of food they were accustomed to eating. By June 16, 1838, the Cherokees were nearly all prisoners, dragged from their houses and encamped at forts and military posts all over the nation; in Georgia especially, multitudes were allowed no time to take anything with them except the clothes they had on, and well-furnished houses were left prey to plunderers who stripped the helpless owners of all they had.