In 1753, Anglo-European settlers built Fort Prince George across the river from Keowee Town. But Keeowee was destroyed and largely razed by British forces in retaliation for Cherokee killings during tensions in 1760. By the American Revolutionary War, the Cherokee mostly allied with the British Crown, in the hopes of expelling the American frontier people from their lands. Some had moved out of the Lower Towns to areas more removed from Anglo-American colonists. They were largely left on their own during the Revolution but defeated after the British loss at Sullivan's Island in 1776.