Complex sentence: The raid was thwarted when a Cherokee conjurer named Deadwood Lighter envisioned the position of the Shawano ambush, and the Cherokees surprised the raiders from the rear, killing many of them and chasing the rest back over the crest of the Smokies.
Split into simpler sentences: The raid was thwarted when a Cherokee conjurer named Deadwood Lighter envisioned the position of the Shawano ambush. The Cherokee surprised the raiders from the rear, killing many of them and chasing the rest back over the crest of the Smokies.