In 1802, after Baranov had returned to Kodiak to tend to matters there, the Tlingit tribe on Sitka Island decided to expel the Russians. The latter disregarded the Tlingit warnings to evacuate. Led by war chief Katlian (spelled "Kot-le-an" in Michener's "Alaska"), the Tlingit attacked and massacred nearly everyone at the Sitka settlement. Baranov responded by gathering naval forces and an army of about 700 Aleut warriors to attack Katlian's new fort on Sitka at Indian River. He intended to push the Tlingit off Sitka Island temporarily in order to build a new Russian fort at the most strategic site on Sitka Sound. This would be at a place that had been long occupied by the Tlingit, who also knew its strategic value.