So terrible was their situation that panic took hold on them, and they would have fled but for the influence of Robertson.

He may have put the question to them in the biblical words, "Whither shall I flee ?" For they were surrounded, and those who did attempt to escape were "weighed on the path and made light." Robertson knew that their only chance of survival was to stand their ground.

The greater risks he was willing to take in person, for it was he who made trips to Boonesborough and Harrodsburg for a share of the powder and lead which John Sevier was sending into Kentucky from time to time.

In the stress of conflict Robertson bore his full share of grief, for his two elder sons and his brother fell.

He himself was often near to death.
One day he was cut off in the fields and was shot in the foot as he ran, yet he managed to reach shelter.