On June 27, 1760, Chief Occonostota, leading a band of Cherokee warriors, attacked British forces near what’s now Franklin in Macon County, pushing them back into South Carolina.
When the French and Indian War broke out in 1754, the Cherokee allied with the British against the French. However, by 1758, relations between the Cherokee and British had soured. A dispute that year over stolen horses touched off an escalation of hostilities between the two groups, culminating with the British murder of several chiefs who had traveled to Charleston to negotiate peace in 1759.
Following the deaths of the would-be peacemakers, the Cherokee tribes united in their efforts to resist the British in the Carolinas. As part of their strategy, they laid siege to Fort Loudon in eastern Tennessee. Col. Archibald Montgomery and his men responded by burning the Cherokee villages along the trading path near the Keowee and Oconee Rivers.
As a result of this victory, Fort Loudon was surrendered to the Cherokee the following month. The Anglo-Cherokee War would last until 1762, when the two nations came to an uneasy peace.
Other related resources:
- The French and Indian War, Fort Dobbs and Hugh Waddell from NCpedia