Cherokee War and Byrd Expedition in Aug-Oct 1760 Timetable
South Carolina's Fort Loudoun officers vote to surrender August 6, 1760. The next day, the fort's commander, Paul Demere, and two Cherokees, Standing Turkey, and Oconostota sign the Articles of Captiulation. On August 9, 1760, the fort's cannon and blackpowder is released to the Cherokees. On August 10, 1760, Cherokees massacre the prisoners. There are varying versions of this massacre.
August 19, 1760 The Articles of Capitulation of South Carolina's Fort Loudoun, in today's Tennessee, is sent from the already dead Captain Paul Demere and arrives in Charleston SC.
They do not know about the massacre yet.
September 16, 1760 Virginia's executive Council to the Governor receives a letter from Colonel William Byrd who enclosed a letter from Major Andrew Lewis about the massacre. The Council sends a message asking Gov Dobbs of NC and Gov Bull of SC what they suggest doing about this.
October 9, 1760 Governor Bull of South Carolina reports the massacre of 32 killed to the legislature.
Byrd's Expedition
Byrd's wife, Elizabeth Carter, dies by alleged suicide 25 July 1760.
Does he learn of her death in August 1760 while he is on this expedition?
During July and August of 1760, Byrd's Virginia Regiment receive deserters from South Carolina's Fort Loudoun (in today's Tennessee).
Most trying to escape, die from the ring of Cherokees watching the fort. The leader of this encirclement is Oconostota. He is starving Fort Loudoun. Under threat of death, no one can go in, no one can leave. The Cherokee women and white traders cannot supply the fort. The Fort is starving.
"On August 27, 1760, Attakullakulla ransomed Stuart and a few others. He secretly carried them toward Byrd's army on September 3, 1760. By this time, the soldiers who had deserted Fort Loudoun in early August 1760 had reached Byrd's camp, then at Reed's Creek [also known as Sayer's Mill and later as Fort Chiswell]. Major Andrew Lewis and three hundred Virginians found Attakullakulla and his party a few days later. On September 14, 1760, Stuart and the others told Byrd about the fort's surrender and the attack [massacre] on Cane Creek. They also reported that the Cherokees aimed to take Fort Prince George next." -- page 134 Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
Nathaniel Gist, son of Christopher Gist, was on this Byrd Expedition. Nathaniel Gist is the alleged father of Sequoyah (also known as George Guess) who created a written Cherokee language.
One year later, 1 August 1761, Byrd resigns his command.
Adam Stephen, who is already on this expedition, becomes commander and Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and takes over this expedition in September 1761.
By October 1761 Adam Stephen builds Fort Robinson, naming it after the Speaker of the House of Burgesses. He builds this fort on Long island, in the South Fork of the Holston river. That area is now known as Kingsport, Tennessee. It lies just northwest of South Carolina's Fort Loudoun in today's Tennessee.
Researched in 2020, compiled by Jim Moyer 8/7/2024, 8/11/2024, 8/12//2024, 8/24/2024, 8/27/2024, 8/29/2024
That's it.
That's our lead stories.
There's always more.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
Table of Contents
Fort Loudoun sits on top left corner of this map. The Cherokees were supposed to take these prisoners to Fort Prince George, sitting on bottom right of this map. The 1761 Fort Robinson on Long Island in today's Kingston TN lies just northwest of Fort Loudoun on this map. The location of Byrd's Expedition in 1760 is north of this map. amd is shown on 2nd map below.
Touch or click on link below to go to interactive map.
Researched in 2020, compiled by Jim Moyer 8/7/2024, 8/11/2024, 8/12//2024
That's it.
That's our lead stories.
There's always more.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
Table of Contents
Previous Expeditions: Lyttelton and Montgomery
Fort Loudoun Massacre
Some prisoners are saved
from this massacre.
Some are made healthy and strong enough to move the cannon from Fort Loudoun to attack Fort Prince George. Fort Prince George is still an Alamo surrounded by a ring of Cherokees. It sits near Keowee, one of the outermost eastern towns of this de-centralized federation of Cherokees.
The Story of Captain John Stuart
One prisoner in particular, Captain John Stuart, was saved by Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter) under pretense of needing a fellow hunter to provide for this caravan of Cherokees and prisoners. Instead he took Stuart to Byrd's Virginians.
The Cherokee "offered Captain Stuart his freedom should he manage the cannon for them. But the Little Carpenter, who from his retreat must have regard the proceeding with dismay, took the Captain into the woods on a pretext of hunting and led him to Colonel Byrd" - Maryland Gazette, Nov 6 1760, page 221 The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
Another version states, "The Round O's brother, Onatoy of Toqua, whisked Stuart across the creek to safety during the fighting. The Captain had a close bond with many Cherokees. "Bushyhead" also had an Indian wife --- and reportedly had fathered a child --- and therefore must be protected by his wife's clan. Demere was not so lucky. . . . . . As Captain Stuart once admitted, Demere "always has been the most heartyly hated by the Indians. Nor is he greatly Esteemed by any white man here." - Page 133, Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
BTW, Round O, not wanting to be separated from his son held prisoner, died of Small Pox after volunteering to be a prisoner at Fort Prince George.
MASSACRE
Corkran states, on page 220 Ball Play Creek
This massacre occurred 10 miles from the fort at Ball Play Creek, 10 August 1760.
Tortora states on page132 Cane Creek
This massacre occurred "where Cane Creek flows into the Tellico River . . . just two miles from the Great Tellico . . . "
This massacre is not be confused with the Long Cane Massacre of Feb 1760.
Twenty Five to 30 privates and 3 women were killed.
"Some were beaten in the face with raw scalps to hasten their movement. Parading the captives through each of the river towns, the warriors herded them into the chunky yards near the town house, and, flailing them with switches and clubs, made them dance." page 221 The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
Epilogue of Captain Paul Demere
Those officers tortured first and then killed were the commander Captain Paul Demere of the Independent companies of South Carolina's Fort Loudoun (today's Tennessee).
"A warrior darted in and lifted the commandant's scalp without killing him. Others forced him to dance.
When taken captive, Indians generally sang and danced as they recalled their martial deeds. By making Demere do this, the Indians completed a familiar ritual. And singling out a powerful leader like this sent a message that intended to deter future villains. According to Samuel Terron, Ostenaco next "ran to every part of the Camp, and ordered the Indians to stop their hands [stop the massacre] for that they had got the many they wanted," Captain Demere.
Then they chopped of his limbs one by one.
Word soon reached the French in Louisiana that the Indians stuffed dirt down his throat and sneered, "Dog, since you are so hungry for land, eat your fill. " [this story is repeated in other Indian incidents - especially by Kercheval about Bemino (aka Killbuck].
Page 133, Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
Also killed were Lieutenant James Adamson and Ensign William Wintle of the South Carolina provincials.
Articles of Capitulation
The specific Articles of Capitulation are presented here in their entirety:
ARTICLE I That the garrison of Fort Loudoun march out with their arms and drums; each soldier having as much powder and ball as their officers shall think necessary for the march, and what baggage he may chuse to carry.
ART. II. That the garrison be permitted to march for Virginia or Fort Prince George, as the commanding officer shall think proper, unmolested: And that a number of Indians be appointed to escort them, and to hunt for provisions on the march.
ART. III. That such soldiers as are lame, or by sickness disabled from marching, be received into the Indian towns, and kindly used until they recover, then to be returned to fort Prince George.
ART IV. That the Indians do provide the garrison with as many horses as they can conveniently, for the march; agreeing with the officers or soldiers for payment.
ART. V. That the fort, great guns, powder, ball, and spare arms be delivered to the Indians without any fraud, on the day appointed for the march of the troops
(SCG, August 23, 1760, No. 1360).
Page 56-57 (74-75)
CHRONOLOGY
A Timeline of the Virginia Cherokee Expedition 1760-1761
23 July 1760 BYRD'S VA REGIMENT
Virginia's Council tells Byrd not to build forts every 25 miles. Don't imitate the Forbes Expediton. Just build one impressive fort on the Big Island on the Holston River (today's Kingsport TN). They do give permission for one other fort if neccessary to build - at Stalnakers.
25 July 1760 Byrd's wife, Elizabeth Carter, dies by alleged suicide
August 1760 Does he learn of her death in August while he is on this expedition?
August 2, 1760 peace maneuvers
"The Middle Settlements, their food and amunition taxed by 2000 refugee Lower Townsmen, had lost enthusiasm for the war. On August 2 at Watoga, headed by the Mankiller of Nequassee and Chistocohea, they composed a talk to [Lt Gov] Bull "to cleanse the path of blood and to brighten the chain of friendship.' They blamed the battle of Tessuntee upon the Lower Towns. The Lower Towns, too were unhappy. With winter ahead they thought to rebuild their burned out towns and to harvest the corn the English had failed to destroy in the fields. "
Seroweh felt otherwise. He wanted the "English" to evacuate all the forts. Only traders were to be allowed in Cherokee lands. He wanted the English frontier to halt at Fort Ninety Six. He wanted Charleston to give up one of its Cherokee prisoners in exchange for the Cherokees to give up all their "English" prisoners. Failing any of this, Seroweh was going to preach war.
Page 225 Corkran, The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962)
August 6, 1760 South Carolina's Fort Loudoun
South Carolina's Fort Loudoun (in today's Tennessee) officers vote to surrender
August 7, 1760 South Carolina's Fort Loudoun
The fort's commander, Demere, and two Cherokees, Standing Turkey, and Oconostota sign the Articles of Captiulation.
August 9, 1760, South Carolina's Fort Loudoun
The fort's cannon and blackpowder is released to the Cherokees.
August 10, 1760, South Carolina's Fort Loudoun
Cherokees massacre the prisoners of Fort Loudoun. There are varying versions of this massacre.
August 18, 2024 South Carolina's Fort Prince George
" . . . at Fort Prince George, Setticoes seized two soldiers outside to gather fruit. One they burned and the other they gave to Chota, for questioning. On the 29th a wood detail was attacked and one man killed. " - page 226, Corkran
August 19, 1760 South Carolina's Fort Loudoun
the message about signing Articles of Captiulation of Fort Loudoun comes from the already dead Captain Paul Demere arrives in Charleston SC. All the provinicial government knows is that the fort surrendered and there was a peace agreement. They do not know about the massacre yet.
"On August 27, 1760, South Carolina's Fort Loudoun AND BYRD'S VA REGIMENT
Attakullakulla ransomed Stuart and a few others. He secretly carried them toward Byrd's army on September 3, 1760. By this time, the soldiers who had deserted Fort Loudoun in early August 1760 had reached Byrd's camp, then at Reed's Creek [also known as Sayer's Mill and later as Fort Chiswell]. Major Andrew Lewis and three hundred Virginians found Attakullakulla and his party a few days later. On September 14, 1760, Stuart and the others told Byrd about the fort's surrender and the attack on [the massacre] Cane Creek. They also reported that the Cherokees aimed to take Fort Prince George next." -- page 134 Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
August 1760 BYRD'S VA REGIMENT
It was on the Great Road that Colonel William Byrd III ordered cut through the wilderness on to Kingsport, Tennessee.[6] Walker called it the Wolf Hill Tract.[7] --- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abingdon,_Virginia#History
September 5, 1760
". . . the Mankiller, first having sent an Indian girl to learn if he would be welcome, came to see Milne (he is Ensign and commander of Fort Prince George) and scout the fort. He depicted himself as an emissary of peace. He said he would stay at Keowee (the Cherokee town sitting very near the fort) until McLamore returned with Oconostota's answer to Bull (Lt Gov of SC); and, if it were good, he would go to Charlestown (Charleston SC) with the deputies he thought could be sent. After he left, other signs of a friendly disposition appeared. An old Indian brought a leg of mutton, and Indian women smuggled green corn in the fort for barter.
page 227 orkran, The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962)
September 7, 1760
Thomas Hawkins, a renegade, styled "the Indian's secretary of state" by reason of his transcribing into English their talks, came to Keowee ford and called out that the Overhills with 3 cannons were coming. The garrison (of Fort Prince George) also heard that 2000 Cherokees confident that the fort would be abandoned, lay in wait at Twelve Mile Creek. The next day the Mankiller came again. He wared Milne that Cold Weather, an Overhill from Chilhowee, lay in the grass near by to take a scalp. He said that he himself had been up all night looking for hostile Chickasaws, but Milne surmised he have been blockading the fort.."
page 227 Corkran, The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962)
September 16, 1760 Virginia's executive Council to the Governor receives a letter from Colonel William Byrd who enclosed a letter from Major Andrew Lewis about the massacre. The Council sends a message asking Gov Dobbs of NC and Gov Bull of SC what they suggest doing about this.
September 19. 1760
The Council of Virginia of 6 Oct 1760 considers a letter by Byrd written on 19 Sept 1760. Little Carpenter (Attakullahkulla) appeared with Major Andrew Lewis, 3 more Indians, Captain John Stewart (Steuart) and 3 prisoners to exchange. Also two squaws came. Could these squaws be important? Could one of them had relations with Nathaniel Gist to beget a famous son, Sequoyah (aka George Guess) who went on to create a written Cherokee language out of a syllabary?
". . . a Letter from Colonel Byrd ,
dated Camp at Sayer's September the 19th
signifying that Major Lewis return'd the Sunday before
and brought in the little Carpenter and three more Indians , Captain Steuart [ John Stuart, aka "Bushy head"] and three more Prisoners , besides two Squaws - that he is convinced by the conferences he has had with the Carpenter , that he is well inclined - informing of the designs which he learnt from him , the Enemy had against Fort Prince George -
also that the Cherokees are in General desirous of Peace , in consequence of which he has sent a Letter ( of which a copy was inclosed ) to the Warriours by one of the Indians , and the Carpenter has sent to summon all the Chiefs to meet him at Chotte [Chota, capital of Cherokee confederation ] at the New Moon of October
- that by him , who goes in a few Days , he shall send them his Terms of Peace , a Copy whereof was inclosed , that the Carpenter was to be back at all Events by th ' full Moon of October , and promises , if they accept the offers of Peace , to bring in the Heads of each Town , all our Prisoners , and the Offenders ; if not , to bring in his own Friends , and as many of our People as he can . . . . "
End of excerpt.
September 20, 1760
Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter) left Byrd's camp for Chota, a capital for the loosely federated towns of Cherokee lands.
Page 225 Corkran The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
October 9, 1760 Governor Bull of South Carolina reports the massacre of 32 killed to the legislature.
November 1, 1760 Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter) and Willinawaw (headman of Toquo) arrive a Byrd's camp at Sayer's (Sawyers?) also known as Sayer's Mill, or Reed Creek or later as Fort Chiswell. - page 235 The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
Later December 1760? "Since 600 of his men had gone home, Byrd had no choice but ot accept Chota's truce. He made splendid gifts to Little Carpenter's followers and penned a talk to be given at Chota (a kind of capital of the decentralized federation of Cherokees). Then putting his remaining 300 men into winter quarters, he went north to enjoy a social winter in Philadelphia and New York.". - page 235 The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
1761
July 1761
"Virginia troops again massed at Fort Chiswell, and then on to Stalnaker's plantation on the Holston river. By July 1761, Byrd reported that "My whole force is only six hundred and seventy men fit for duty. Those I have employ'd since I came here in building a block-house, & throwing up an intrenchment round it, for the security of themselves & provision." This fort at Stalnaker's was named after Attakullakulla and was near the modern town of Chillhowie Virginia, about 58 miles from the Great Island. Twenty years later visitor described this fortification as "a kind of a wretched stockade." (A tour in the United States of America: containing an account of ..., Volume 1 By John Ferdinand Smyth Stuart)."
Approximate location of Byrd's camp at Stalnakers
Looking at the map, a question arises. Why did the men not follow the Holton river? Stalnakers is down the valley but not on the Holton. The men leave the area that will become Fort Chiswell, then known as either Reed's Creek or Alexander Sayer's mill place. They could just go down the Holston? Too shallow is it?
Town house maker
Chilhowie
Detail from the 1755 Mitchell Map showing the site of Stalnaker's cabin, the furthest western English settlement in Virginia, which was erected in 1750 with the help of Dr. Thomas Walker.
1 August 1761 Colonel William Byrd III resigns his command.
Sept 1761 Adam Stephen, who is already on this expedition, becomes commander and Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and takes over this expedition in
October 1761 Adam Stephen is builds Fort Robinson, naming it after Virginia's Speaker of the House of Burgesses. He builds this fort on the island in Big Holston river. That area is what is now known as Kingston Tennessee.
Prior to this time frame
Lyttelton's 1759 expedition
Lyttelton's Expedition part I - Little Carpenter can just cry
Lyttelton's Expediton II - in an enchanted, dangerous forest
Lyttelton's Expediton Part III - the salute or salute? at Keowee
Lyttelton's Treaty with the Cherokees 26 Dec 1759 - Part IV
Byrd's and Montgomery's Expeditions in 1760
The Anglo Cherokee War
August 1760
Pages 129-133
Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
Pages 219-226
The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
.
Captain Paul Demere
.
Cherokee Vengeance
Ken Smith art
Massacre
Fort Loudoun history and archaeology
The Story of Captain John Stuart
One prisoner in particular, Captain John Stuart, was saved by Attakullakulla (Little Carpenter) under pretense of needing a fellow hunter to provide for this caravan of Cherokees and prisoners. Instead he took Stuart to Byrd's Virginians.
The Cherokee "offered Captain Stuart his freedom should he manage the cannon for them. But the Little Carpenter, who from his retreat must have regard the proceeding with dismay, took the Captain into the woods on a pretext of hunting and led him to Colonel Byrd" - Maryland Gazette, Nov 6 1760, page 221 The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
Another version states, "The Round O's brother, Onatoy of Toqua, whisked Stuart across the creek to safety during the fighting. The Captain had a close bond with many Cherokees. "Bushyhead" also had an Indian wife --- and reportedly had fathered a child --- and therefore must be protected by his wife's clan. Demere was not so lucky. . . . . . As Captain Stuart once admitted, Demere "always has been the most heartyly hated by the Indians. Nor is he greatly Esteemed by any white man here." - Page 133, Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
BTW, Round O, not wanting to be separated from his son held prisoner, died of Small Pox after volunteering to be a prisoner at Fort Prince George.
.
William Byrd III
Colonel Byrd is often referred to as William Byrd III but he styled himself simply as William Byrd.
.
.
.
Dabney, Virginius (1990). Richmond: The Story of a City: Revised and Expanded Edition. Charlottesville, Virginia: University Press of Virginia. p. 19. ISBN 0813912741. OCLC 20263021. At Google Books.
.
.
.
Byrd remarried, and fathered ten more by his second wife, Mary Willing, daughter of Charles Willing of Philadelphia." By January 1st or 2nd of 1777 Byrd commits suicide.
.
.
.
Adam Stephen
Birth date unknown
1719 in wikipedia and find a grave
1721 in Mt Vernon site
Mt Vernon website on Adam Stephen
Wikipedia
Apologist for Adam Stephen
Very brief bio
.
Ranks and Commissions
I have appointed Mr Peyroney Capt. agreeable to Your recommendation.9 And I now send You Commisss. agreeable to Your List, which deliver to them, & let them know, that I expect they will discharge their Duties with good Spirit, & a proper Example of Courage & good Conduct.10 I have only sent You four Commissions for Ensigns, till I have a proper Supply for their Payment. I think You may order Wm Wright to join Capt. Lewis when he goes to Augusta. As to Fraizer he is not here at present, I shall consider what You write in regard to him.11
10. Dinwiddie’s “Commissions sent Colo. Washington for the Officers of his regimt” appears in Dinwiddie’s letter book after the entries of 11 Sept. (ViHi: Dinwiddie Papers). In addition to Lt. Col. Adam Stephen (20 July) and Maj. Robert Stobo (20 July), he listed captains Peter Hog (9 Mar.), Andrew Lewis (18 Mar.), George Mercer (4 June), Thomas Waggener (20 July), William Polson (21 July), and William La Péronie (25 Aug.); lieutenants John Savage (9 Mar.), James Towers (4 June), William Bronaugh (20 July), John Mercer (21 July), and James Craik (23 July); and ensigns William Wright (20 July), Carolus Gustavus de Spiltdorf (21 July), Thomas Bullitt (22 July), and Walter Steuart (25 July). He also listed the dates for which the ensigns were promoted to lieutenant: 28 Oct. 1754 for Wright, 29 Oct. for Spiltdorf, 30 Oct. for Bullitt, and 31 Oct. for Steuart.
To George Washington from Robert Dinwiddie in Williamsburg, 11 September 1754
.
8. GW is possibly referring to Lt. John Fraser’s refusal to leave his store at Turtle Creek on 14 April 1754 to go to the stockade being built at the Forks of the Ohio at the moment a large force of Frenchmen was expected. See Dinwiddie to GW, 4 May 1754, n.4. However, more likely the reference is to Simon Fraser who served as adjutant to the Virginia forces during the Braddock campaign. See Peter Hog to GW, 26 June 1756. For La Péronie’s adjutancy, see GW to Dinwiddie, 10 June 1754, n.17.
From George Washington in Alexandria to Robert Dinwiddie, 20 August 1754
FORT ROBINSON
One year later, 1 August 1761, Byrd resigns his command.
Adam Stephen, who is already on this expedition, becomes commander and Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and takes over this expedition in September 1761.
By October 1761 Adam Stephen builds Fort Robinson, naming it after the Speaker of the House of Burgesses. He builds this fort on the island in Big Holston river. That area is now known as Kingston, Tennessee.
This is the best website on Fort Robinson:
Field Trip: Fort Robinson
Posted on September 11, 2013 by Kari
.
The article was from the Sunday, August 8, 1937 edition of the Kingsport Times. I also found the following photograph in another part of the Spoden Collection.
.
.
The image is date stamped in the corner, 1937. Notice in the above photo that there was no unsightly breakwater separating the two rivers back then.
Today, the site looks like this:
.
.
Field Trip: Fort Robinson
Posted on September 11, 2013 by Kari
.
Right by that car in the center is that rock monument.
That rock monument sits at the Kingsport Greenbelt Parking area.
Long Island on the Holston historical marker
.
Long Island on the South Branch of the Holston river --- excellent aerial photo of it:
Fort Robinson was bulit at the top end of that island in this photo.
.
Box 71.
East Tennessee Indians – Cherokee, 1972-1976
Fort Robinson & Fort Loudon, 1987-1988
Byrd resigns his commission
Colonel William Byrd III, head of the Virginia Regiment, resigns 1 August 1761.
" . . . Amherst annoyed at his [Byrd's] delays, prodded him, he [Byrd] cautiously advanced 100 miles in 2 weeks to Stalnaker's where he halted in forboding at what lay in the gloomy forests ahead. There on July 16 [1761], the Little Carpenter [Attakullakulla] came to him. Though the Colonel [Byrd] offered his visitor the usual presents and entertainment, he had to tell him for terms [any peace agreement] he must go to [South] Carolina. On August 1 [1761], writing resentfully to Amherst, the Virginian [Byrd] resigned his command."
Page 256,
The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
"Byrd had no desire to attack Chota [a sort of capital of all the decentralized confederation of Cherokee towns]. His doting mother urged him to "no more I beseech you expose your self among those barbarians the Chirekees, as you have so ften hazzard'd your life & been at vast expense to serve an ungreatful people." His army remained incomplete, and as one officer put it, "encumbered with Stores, Baggage, Sick and diminish'd," with 10 percent desertion rate. Three hundred unarmed North Carolina troops and 50 Tuscarora Indians from that province had not yet left the piedmont post of Fort Dobbs. Byrd and Fauquier feared the political cost of alienating South Carolina. With heavy heart, Byrd obeyed Amherst's orders and referred Attakullakulla to Colonel Grant and Lieutenant Governor Bull. "I certainly must appear in a very despicable Light to them, as I real[ly] to do to myself," the colonel wrote to General Amherst. On August 1 [1761], Byrd resigned his command and set out for Philadelphia. Attakullakulla returned home dejected and unsure where to turn. It would be months before the signing of a treaty."
page 154
Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
The best books on the Cherokee Anglo War
Carolina in Crisis: Cherokees, Colonists, and Slaves in the American .Southeast 1756-1763 By Daniel J. Tortora, published by the University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2015.
The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962).
Previous Expeditions: Lyttelton and Montgomery
Lyttelton's Expedition has left - Tricky Trader John Elliott's end
Jan 2, 2024
jimmoyer1
Lyttelton's Treaty with the Cherokees 26 Dec 1759 - Part IV
Dec 26, 2023
jimmoyer1
Lyttelton's Expediton Part III - the salute or salute? at Keowee
Dec 6, 2023
jimmoyer1
Lyttelton's Expediton II - in an enchanted, dangerous forest
Dec 6, 2023
jimmoyer1
Lyttelton's Expedition part I - Little Carpenter can just cry
Dec 5, 2023
jimmoyer1
Lyttelton's Expedition mid to end of Nov 1759
Nov 19, 2023
jimmoyer1
Governor Lyttelton of SC
Nov 1, 2023
jimmoyer1
Aug & Sept 1759 before Lyttleton Expedition of Oct 1759
Sep 13, 2023
jimmoyer1
Willinawaw (headman of Toquo)
Corkran 29, 42, 68, 143,164, 232-33, 235, 241,257, 264
Tortora 79, 117-18, 137, 141, 166, 172
Tullatahee of Toquo
Tortora 93
Toqua
Tortora 12 map, 124
Corn Tassel of Toquua
Ornatoy of Toqua
Raven of Toqua
Tullatahee of Toquo
Willinawaw (headman of Toquo)
Tomotley 12 (map) 28, 37, 122, 124,
Attakullakulla of Tomotley
Tistoe
Wolf of Keowee
Tortora 135, 163
Wolf of Settico
Tortora 120
Wawhatchee
Tortora 43, 44-45, 55, 69, 102
Wautauga
Tortora 94, 175
Warrior of Stecoe
Tortora 216 (n26)
Warrior of Estatoe
Tortora 79
Nancy Ward (Nanyehi) 61, 224 (n73)
Toxaway warriors
Tortora 51, 55, 122
Comments