CONTENT WARNING
Materials in the Library of Virginia’s collections contain historical terms, phrases, and images that are offensive to modern readers. These include demeaning and dehumanizing references to race, ethnicity, and nationality; enslaved or free status; physical and mental ability; and gender and sexual orientation.
Context
The American Revolution was not only fought along the eastern seabord between the Continental Army and patriot militia and the British troops and their loyalist militia allies. An equally fierce battle raged in the Appalachian mountains between the American militia and Indigenous nations who had lived there for centuries.
Tensions between European settlers and the Cherokee had erupted long before the Revolutionary War as settlers moved into tribal land. The Cherokee people lived in villages and cities, called Principal Towns, across what is now North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These groups all had their own leaders, and were loosely aligned in a confederation. Some Cherokee leaders, including Nancy Ward, sought to remain neutral in order to protect Cherokee interests. Others, such as her cousin Dragging Canoe, who was the son of a chief, allied with the British. The British government, after all, had issued the Proclamation of 1763, which established the boundary between colonial settlers and the tribes. The Proclamation was one of the points in the long list of American colonial grievances, but it recognized Cherokee sovereignty.
In 1776, Dragging Canoe led an alliance of Indigenous nations, including the Cherokee, Shawnee, Creek, Iroquois, and Chickasaw in support of the British. Lower-town Cherokee from what is now upstate South Carolina and Middle-town Cherokee from western North Carolina attacked settlements and tried to take American-held forts along the border. Although they inflicted damage and casualties, they failed to take control of the forts. Instead, American militia launched counterattacks that wounded Dragging Canoe and another prominent leader. The militia burned more than fifty towns and displaced thousands of Cherokee. They employed what one historian called a “scorched-earth policy” designed to destroy the Cherokee nation.
After a peace treaty cost the Cherokee five million acres of territory, Dragging Canoe led a group known as the Chickamauga. Allied with the British, they occupied towns in southeast Tennessee and north Georgia. After the British resupplied this group in 1779, they launched an attack on Tennessee settlements, which was met by Virginia and North Carolina militia. As the war in the east turned in favor of the patriots, the frontier battles intensified, and 1782 became known as “the bloody year.” The frontier war did not truly end until 1794, when the Chickamauga negotiated for peace, losing more territory. Some Indigenous people did not stop resisting until the Indian Removal Act of 1832.
In this letter dated Jan. 15, 1781, Colonel Arthur Campbell of Washington County, one of the militia leaders on the western front, informed Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson about an offensive against the Cherokee and Chickamauga in what is now eastern Tennessee in December 1780. He describes the militia’s actions, including the number of men killed, the number of men, women, and children taken prisoner, and the names of the towns the militia burned. While the letter is primarily an account of the troop actions, he ends with a basic request: for his troops to be paid, and that the debts they incurred while securing provisions to be paid off by the Virginia government.
Citation: Arthur Campbell, Washington County, to Gov. Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 15, 1781, Executive Papers of Governor Thomas Jefferson, 1779–1781, Record Group 3, Accession 44393, State Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
Tensions between European settlers and the Cherokee had erupted long before the Revolutionary War as settlers moved into tribal land. The Cherokee people lived in villages and cities, called Principal Towns, across what is now North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These groups all had their own leaders, and were loosely aligned in a confederation. Some Cherokee leaders, including Nancy Ward, sought to remain neutral in order to protect Cherokee interests. Others, such as her cousin Dragging Canoe, who was the son of a chief, allied with the British. The British government, after all, had issued the Proclamation of 1763, which established the boundary between colonial settlers and the tribes. The Proclamation was one of the points in the long list of American colonial grievances, but it recognized Cherokee sovereignty.
In 1776, Dragging Canoe led an alliance of Indigenous nations, including the Cherokee, Shawnee, Creek, Iroquois, and Chickasaw in support of the British. Lower-town Cherokee from what is now upstate South Carolina and Middle-town Cherokee from western North Carolina attacked settlements and tried to take American-held forts along the border. Although they inflicted damage and casualties, they failed to take control of the forts. Instead, American militia launched counterattacks that wounded Dragging Canoe and another prominent leader. The militia burned more than fifty towns and displaced thousands of Cherokee. They employed what one historian called a “scorched-earth policy” designed to destroy the Cherokee nation.
After a peace treaty cost the Cherokee five million acres of territory, Dragging Canoe led a group known as the Chickamauga. Allied with the British, they occupied towns in southeast Tennessee and north Georgia. After the British resupplied this group in 1779, they launched an attack on Tennessee settlements, which was met by Virginia and North Carolina militia. As the war in the east turned in favor of the patriots, the frontier battles intensified, and 1782 became known as “the bloody year.” The frontier war did not truly end until 1794, when the Chickamauga negotiated for peace, losing more territory. Some Indigenous people did not stop resisting until the Indian Removal Act of 1832.
In this letter dated Jan. 15, 1781, Colonel Arthur Campbell of Washington County, one of the militia leaders on the western front, informed Virginia governor Thomas Jefferson about an offensive against the Cherokee and Chickamauga in what is now eastern Tennessee in December 1780. He describes the militia’s actions, including the number of men killed, the number of men, women, and children taken prisoner, and the names of the towns the militia burned. While the letter is primarily an account of the troop actions, he ends with a basic request: for his troops to be paid, and that the debts they incurred while securing provisions to be paid off by the Virginia government.
Citation: Arthur Campbell, Washington County, to Gov. Thomas Jefferson, Jan. 15, 1781, Executive Papers of Governor Thomas Jefferson, 1779–1781, Record Group 3, Accession 44393, State Records Collection, Library of Virginia.
Standards
USI.1, USI.5, VS.1, VS.3, VS.4, VUS.1, VUS.3
Suggested Questions
Preview Activity
Scan It: Look at the document. What words and phrases stand out to you, and why? What do these words say about the American attitude toward these Indigenous people, and why?
Post Activities
Analyze: What does this document tell you about how Americans battled Indigenous people? What were the militia’s methods, and why did they conduct war like this? What do you think of their methods, and why?
Up For Debate: Rewrite this narrative from the perspective of the Chickamauga. How would the descriptions change, and why? What do you think of the Chickamauga people’s alliance with the British, and did it make sense for them to fight the Americans? Why or why not?
Map It: Using the names of the rivers mentioned in the letter, locate on a modern map the general area where the militia was attacking the Cherokee and Chickamauga. How far did Colonel Arthur Campbell's militia have to travel from Washington County, Virginia?
Scan It: Look at the document. What words and phrases stand out to you, and why? What do these words say about the American attitude toward these Indigenous people, and why?
Post Activities
Analyze: What does this document tell you about how Americans battled Indigenous people? What were the militia’s methods, and why did they conduct war like this? What do you think of their methods, and why?
Up For Debate: Rewrite this narrative from the perspective of the Chickamauga. How would the descriptions change, and why? What do you think of the Chickamauga people’s alliance with the British, and did it make sense for them to fight the Americans? Why or why not?
Map It: Using the names of the rivers mentioned in the letter, locate on a modern map the general area where the militia was attacking the Cherokee and Chickamauga. How far did Colonel Arthur Campbell's militia have to travel from Washington County, Virginia?