Originally published in the "Bicentennial Bites" article series by Billie R. McNamara in The Standard-Banner in celebration of Tennessee's 200th statehood anniversary (1996).
In 1754, the French and Indian War began. This was not a confrontation between the French and the Indians; rather, the Kings of France and England were fighting for dominion over lands in the eastern Mississippi Valley -- including Tennessee. British and French settlers in Tennessee started battling much earlier, however: in 1736, the French attacked Chickasaw villages along the Mississippi, and British traders supported the Indians.
By 1755, the Cherokee living in East Tennessee were concerned about potential attacks on their villages by the French and other Indians allied with them. The governors of Virginia and South Carolina talked of jointly building one fort in the Overhill Cherokee country (now southeastern Tennessee), but Virginia did not want to wait for South Carolina. In June, 1756, Virginia's Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, responded to Cherokee concerns by sending troops to build a fort near the Cherokee capital of Chota. The fort, 105-feet square and built of heavy logs, was never garrisoned and was soon destroyed by the Cherokee. No one knows the actual location of this first fort.
Meanwhile, Governor Glen of South Carolina led a group into the Overhill country to build another fort, named Loudoun after the commander-in-chief of British troops in North America. Many soldiers brought their families and established the "English Camp" at the edge of the Cherokee village, Toskegee. This was the first full-fledged English settlement -- complete with homes, mothers, and children -- made in present-day Tennessee.
Before Fort Loudoun was completed, its commander decided he had had enough of life so far from civilization. He left, filling the Indians with contempt and his soldiers with disgust. Six months later, under a new leader, the fort was finished. Residents of the English Camp moved into the fort, and life between them and nearby Indians was peaceful from 1756 until late 1759. Things changed as the English were winning their war against the French in the northern part of America, and tensions developed between the whites at Fort Loudoun and their Indian neighbors.
The fort's residents cut themselves off from the outside world, hoping reinforcements would arrive from Carolina or Virginia before their food supply ran out. Some sympathetic Indians helped smuggle food into the fort. When there was nothing left to eat but horse meat, the fort surrendered to Cherokee chiefs at Chota. In return for the whites' safe passage back to Charles Town (Charleston, SC), the Indians would receive the fort and all its munitions. Two days later, the white settlers started home. Marching just fifteen miles to near the junction of Cane Creek and Tellico River, these now-refugees camped for the night. Early the next morning, their Cherokee escorts surrounded the camp and killed all but a handful of the whites. Those who did not die were taken to Cherokee villages. Some were tortured and killed; others were ransomed by the English and returned home. The great chief, Attacullaculla, rescued John Stuart, an English officer who played a later role in the American Revolution.
After Fort Loudoun fell, 2600 English troops from New York, South Carolina, and Virginia joined in a massive attack on the Cherokee. They destroyed all the Middle Towns, located in the Carolina mountains. Before the soldiers could destroy the Overhill Towns, their leaders begged for peace and a treaty was signed in December, 1761. This ended the first Cherokee War. King George of England was tired of fighting in the American colonies, so he declared the crest of the Appalachian Mountains to be a boundary between white and Indian settlers. It did not take long, however, for whites to ignore the "Proclamation Line" and encroach on Indian lands.
During this period, the Virginia colony built other forts in East Tennessee, although none had the importance of Fort Loudoun. About 1758, an unidentified station was constructed on the Holston River at the lower end of the Long Island (now the site of Tennessee Eastman Company in Kingsport). In the late Fall of 1761, Fort Robinson members of the Byrd Expedition against the Cherokee built Fort Robinson. It was probably on the same location as Fort Patrick Henry, which was built during the Revolutionary War on the upper end of the Long Island.
Several years ago, the site of Fort Loudoun was excavated. It is now preserved as a state historic site with a Visitors' Center and reconstruction of the original fort. The Tellico Blockhouse, just across the Tellico River from the Fort, also has a tour. To visit these and nearby historic sites, take U. S. Highway 411 South to Citico Road (near Vonore, about 15 miles south of Maryville). Citico Road leads to the island where the Visitor's Center and fort are.
An English soldier went to live with the Cherokee after the peace treaty was signed. After he returned to London, Lieutenant Timberlake wrote an interesting account of his life in the villages. Memoirs of Lieutenant Henry Timberlake was published over 200 years ago, but it has been reprinted and is available at many area libraries. Paul Kelley's Historic Fort Loudoun, published in 1958 by the Fort Loudoun Association in Vonore, Tennessee, is another excellent resource.
