The Horns of a Dilemma: Cherokee Alliances in the American Revolution
The year is 1776. Thirteen colonies are ablaze with revolutionary fervor, clamoring for independence from Great Britain. But for the Indigenous nations of North America, particularly the powerful Cherokee, this was not a simple fight between two European powers. It was a cataclysmic conflict that tore through their lands, fractured their communities, and forced them into a series of agonizing alliances, each fraught with peril and devastating consequences. Caught between the relentless tide of colonial expansion and the shifting sands of imperial politics, the Cherokee Nation faced a choice: align with the British, with the nascent American rebels, or attempt a perilous neutrality. Each path led to a crucible of war, land loss, and the tragic erosion of sovereignty.
For decades leading up to the Revolution, the Cherokee had navigated a treacherous landscape of encroaching European settlements, particularly from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The British Crown, through treaties like the Proclamation of 1763, had attempted, often ineffectively, to stem this tide and regulate land acquisition. Yet, the colonists’ hunger for land was insatiable. This pre-existing tension was a critical backdrop to the choices the Cherokee would make. They understood that their very survival depended on maintaining control over their ancestral territories, and both British and American interests posed a direct threat.
Initially, many Cherokee leaders sought to remain neutral, recognizing the existential danger of entanglement in a "white man’s war." The venerable chief Attakullakulla, also known as Little Carpenter, epitomized this sentiment, advocating for peace and cautious diplomacy. However, the relentless pressure from settlers and the machinations of British agents made neutrality increasingly untenable. The British, eager to disrupt the burgeoning rebellion, saw the Indigenous nations as crucial allies. They promised to protect Cherokee lands from colonial encroachment, supply them with vital trade goods – arms, ammunition, and other provisions – and offer a bulwark against the land-hungry frontiersmen. For many Cherokee, especially the younger, more militant leaders, the British seemed to be the more reliable, or at least the less immediate, threat to their territorial integrity.
This perspective was powerfully articulated by Dragging Canoe, son of Attakullakulla, who emerged as a dominant voice for resistance. A fierce advocate for his people’s land rights, Dragging Canoe viewed the American settlers as the primary aggressors. In 1775, during negotiations for the illegal Transylvania Purchase (Treaty of Sycamore Shoals), he famously warned Richard Henderson and his fellow land speculators, “You have bought a tract of land not yet purchased, but what is more, you have bought a tract of land which the Cherokees will not sell.” This defiant stance encapsulated the sentiment that would drive the Cherokee’s initial, fateful alliance with the British.
The spring of 1776 saw the alliance solidify. British agents, particularly John Stuart and his deputies, actively encouraged the Cherokee to launch attacks on frontier settlements, aiming to divert American forces and sow chaos. The Cherokee, believing they were fighting for their very existence and supported by British arms, launched a series of devastating raids across the colonial borders in July 1776. Known as the "Cherokee War" by the Americans, these attacks targeted settlements in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. Houses were burned, crops destroyed, and many settlers were killed or captured.
The American response was swift, brutal, and coordinated. General Charles Lee, commanding the Southern Department, ordered a concerted offensive against the Cherokee. Four separate expeditions, led by figures like Colonel William Christian of Virginia, General Griffith Rutherford of North Carolina, and Colonel Andrew Williamson of South Carolina, converged on Cherokee lands. These campaigns were not merely defensive; they were punitive expeditions aimed at crushing Cherokee power and seizing their lands. Throughout the late summer and fall of 1776, American militias systematically laid waste to Cherokee towns, particularly the Lower Towns and Overhill settlements. Homes were razed, cornfields burned, and thousands of Cherokee were left homeless and starving. The sheer scale of destruction was catastrophic. One American officer reported, "We have burned every Cherokee town east of the Blue Ridge mountains." This scorched-earth policy was a deliberate tactic to break the Cherokee’s will to fight and to clear the way for further colonial expansion.
The ferocity of the American retaliation had a profound impact, fracturing the Cherokee Nation internally. Many leaders, particularly those from the Overhill and Valley Towns, saw the futility of continued direct confrontation. They were forced to sue for peace, leading to a series of humiliating treaties in 1777 – the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner with South Carolina and Georgia, and the Treaty of Long Island of Holston with North Carolina and Virginia. These treaties compelled the Cherokee to cede vast tracts of their most fertile and desirable lands, effectively punishing them for their alliance with the British.
However, Dragging Canoe and his followers, refusing to accept these terms, relocated further southwest to the Chickamauga River region (near modern-day Chattanooga, Tennessee). Here, they established new, fortified towns and continued their resistance, earning them the moniker "Chickamauga Cherokee." They remained steadfast in their alliance with the British, forging deeper ties with other disgruntled Indigenous nations like the Creek and Shawnee, as well as Loyalist factions. From their new base, Dragging Canoe and his warriors launched a protracted guerrilla war that would last for nearly two decades, long after the official end of the American Revolution. This sustained conflict, often referred to as the "Chickamauga Wars," underscored their unwavering commitment to defending their homeland, even as British support dwindled following the American victory.
The strategic choices made by the Cherokee during the American Revolution were born of desperation and a profound struggle for self-preservation. Their alliance with the British, while seemingly logical in promising land protection and resources, ultimately brought down the wrath of the American rebels, resulting in catastrophic land losses and the internal fragmentation of their nation. The Revolution, for the Cherokee, was not about liberty from tyranny but about the devastating impact of that struggle on their ancient way of life. It marked a turning point, accelerating the process of land dispossession and setting a tragic precedent for future U.S.-Indigenous relations.
By the time the Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolution in 1783, the Cherokee Nation was severely weakened, its population decimated, its lands drastically reduced, and its communities deeply scarred. The British, their former allies, made no provisions for their Indigenous partners in the peace treaty, leaving them exposed to the full might of the newly independent United States. The Cherokee’s alliances, forged in a desperate bid for survival, became a testament to the impossible choices faced by Indigenous peoples caught in the crosscurrents of imperial ambition and colonial expansion. Their struggle was a fight for sovereignty and homeland, a complex and ultimately tragic chapter in the larger narrative of American independence, one that reverberates through history as a poignant reminder of the enduring costs of conflict for those caught in its path.
