The Rutherford Light Horse expedition was a punitive military excursion launched against the Lower, Middle, and

Overhill Cherokee Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...

settlements of the

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

Indians in the Appalachian region of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. This was in retaliation for the Native Indian attacks made against the European American settlements of the

Watauga Association The Watauga Association (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Watauga) was a semi-autonomous government created in 1772 by frontier settlers living along the Watauga River in what is now Elizabethton, Tennessee. Although it lasted only a few ...

in July 1776, in an early action of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

. The expedition, which took place on the

American frontier The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of United States territorial acquisitions, American expansion in mainland North Amer ...

and resulted in the destruction of six Cherokee towns, ran from October 17 until November 16, 1776., unavailable The adventure only concluded when the troop was forced to turn back due to a lack of supplies. It was led by Captain William Moore of the

2nd Rowan County Regiment The 2nd Rowan County Regiment was first established in October 22, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina. This regiment was created from the existing Rowan County Regiment of militia. Its original officers we ...

, acting directly under the command of Brigadier General

Griffith Rutherford Griffith Rutherford (c. 1721 – August 10, 1805) was an American military officer in the Revolutionary War, a political leader in North Carolina, and an important figure in the early history of the Southwest Territory and the state of Ten ...

Background

Shortly after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War (April 1775), the members of the Watauga Association organized themselves into the extra-legal "

Washington District The Washington District is a Norfolk Southern Railway line in the U.S. state of Virginia that connects Alexandria, Virginia, Alexandria and Lynchburg, Virginia, Lynchburg. Most of the line was originally built from 1850 to 1860 by the Orange and ...

", a region... "loyal to the united colonies..."John Finger, Tennessee Frontiers: Three Regions in Transition; Bloomington, Ind; Indiana University Press; 2001; pp. 66-71; accessed May 2016 They promptly formed a Committee of Safety to oversee it. In the Spring of 1776, the Washington District Committee of Safety drafted a

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offici ...

asking the

Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia, chartered in 1606 and settled in 1607, was the first enduring English colonial empire, English colony in North America, following failed attempts at settlement on Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland by Sir Humphrey GilbertG ...

annex Annex or Annexe refers to a building joined to or associated with a main building, providing additional space or accommodations. It may also refer to: Places * The Annex, a neighbourhood in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada * The Annex (New H ...

the district. After Virginia's refusal, a similar petition was drafted (July 5, 1776) asking the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

to annex the area. Shortly thereafter, the Cherokee initiated a plan to drive the settlers out of the area as a prelude to a planned invasion of Virginia. The first prong of the attack, led by

war chief,

Dragging Canoe Dragging Canoe (ᏥᏳ ᎦᏅᏏᏂ, pronounced ''Tsiyu Gansini'', "he is dragging his canoe") (c. 1738 – February 29, 1792) was a Cherokee war chief who led a band of Cherokee warriors who resisted colonists and United States settlers in the ...

, was defeated by colonials at Heaton's Station. The second prong, led by Abraham of Chilhowee, was routed at Fort Watauga.Burns, ''History of Blount County, Tennessee'', 11–12. In response to these attacks, several thousand Virginia militia (under General William Christian) attacked the Overhill towns, in what is today northeast

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. The plan of attack was drawn in conjunction with a strategy which called for two thousand

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

militiamen (led by Major Andrew Williamson), as well as a small contingent from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, to join up with the combined infantry and cavalry force from North Carolina (under General Rutherford). This united, southern army invaded the middle and lower Cherokee towns, and burned over 30 settlements, including the major towns of Tuskegee and Citico. The southern and northern forces, however, were unable to link up, due to a lack of supplies, and each group had returned home by mid to late September, 1776. At the end of the late summer engagements, Rutherford's force consisted of 1971 " privates of foot" (down from an initial 2500), and about 80 "light horse" cavalry under Captain Moore.''Letter from Griffith Rutherford to Samuel Ashe''
September 1, 1776; "Colonial and State Records of North Carolina;" University Library, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; accessed January 2016

The Light Horse raid

Rutherford's cavalry commander, Moore, re-activated his cavalry troop on October 19, 1776.
Carolana.com; retrieved May 2016 On the 29th, he met up (near Cathey's fort) with Captain Joseph Hardin, who had been active since August in raising a cavalry troop from Tryon County, then part of the Salisbury Military District in North Carolina.''Report from the Rutherford Expedition – Letter from Captain William Moore to General Griffith Rutherford, November 16, 1776''
Chapter 4: The Rutherford Expedition; Learn NC Digital Archive; accessed January 2016 The next day the combined forces crossed into an area situated between the Swannanoa and

French Broad River The French Broad River is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and Tennessee. It flows from near the town of Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee, where its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville forms ...

s, where they discovered fresh evidence of recent Indian activity. The cavalry quickly headed to the Cherokee town of Too Cowee, but having just a small army of 97 men at that point, found they could not surround the large, spread-out settlement, and opted for a direct raid instead. Charging into town, they found it almost entirely empty. They looted what food they could find, and torched the town. The chase of the main body of the fleeing Cherokee, however, then continued at a brisk pace, which at one point forced the fleeing natives to set fire to the forest to impede the progress of the pursuing cavalry. This conflict became known as the " Battle of Cowee Gap."

Results

The expeditionary force destroyed an additional five Cherokee towns before being forced to retreat due to a lack of supplies. The majority of the Cherokee towns made peace shortly thereafter under the Treaty of Dewitt's Corner (1777). Dragging Canoe and

Ostenaco Otacity Ostenaco (; chr, ᎤᏥᏗᎯ ᎤᏍᏔᎾᏆ, Utsidihi Ustanaqua, or "Bighead"; c. 1710Kate Fullagar, ''The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire,''Yale University Press 2020 p.13. – 1780) was a Cher ...

refused to sign another treaty, and fled south with their followers, the ''

Chickamauga Cherokee The Chickamauga Cherokee refers to a group that separated from the greater body of the Cherokee during the American Revolutionary War. The majority of the Cherokee people wished to make peace with the Americans near the end of 1776, following se ...

'', to the creek which bears their name, in order to continue the armed struggle in what became known as the

Cherokee–American wars The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...

, a decades long struggle which lasted until 1794.

Background

The Light Horse raid

Results

References

Further reading