Anglo - Cherokee War The Anglo – Cherokee War ( 1758 – 1761 ) ( in the Cherokee language : the " " war with those in the red coats " " or " " War with the English " " ) , was also known from the Anglo - European perspective as : the Cherokee War , the Cherokee Uprising , or the Cherokee Rebellion . The war was a conflict between British forces in North America and Cherokee Indian tribes during the French and Indian War . The British and the Cherokee had been allies at the start of the war , but each party had suspected the other of betrayals . Tensions between British - American settlers and the Cherokee increased during the 1750s , culminating in open hostilities in 1758 . Prelude . After siding with the Province of Carolina in the Tuscarora War of 1711 – 1715 , the Cherokee had turned on their British allies at the outbreak of the Yamasee War of 1715 – 1717 , until switching sides , once again , midway through the war . This action ensured the defeat of the Yamasee . The Cherokee then remained allies of the British until the French and Indian War . At the 1754 outbreak of the war , the Cherokee were allies of the British , taking part in campaigns against Fort Duquesne ( at Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania ) and the Shawnee of the Ohio Country . In 1755 , a band of Cherokee 130 - strong under Ostenaco ( or " Ustanakwa " ) of " Tamali " took up residence in a fortified town at the mouth of the Ohio River at the behest of the Iroquois ( who were also British allies ) . For several years , French agents from Fort Toulouse had been visiting the Overhill Cherokee on the Hiwassee and Tellico Rivers , and had made inroads into those places . The strongest pro - French Cherokee leaders were Mankiller ( " Utsidihi " ) of " Talikwa " , Old Caesar of Chatuga ( or " Tsatugi " ) , and Raven ( " Kalanu " ) of " Ayuhwasi " . The " First Beloved Man " ( or " Uku " ) of the nation , " Kanagatoga " ( or " Stalking Turkey " , aka ' Old Hop ' ) , was very pro - French , as was his nephew , " Kunagadoga " , who succeeded him at his death in 1760 . The former site of the Coosa Chiefdom was reoccupied in 1759 by a Muscogee contingent under Big Mortar ( " Yayatustanage " ) in support of the pro - French Cherokee then residing in Great Tellico and Chatuga . This was a step toward his planned alliance of Muscogee , Cherokee , Shawnee , Chickasaw , and Catawba ( which would have been the first of its kind in the South ) . Although such an alliance did not come into being until the days of Dragging Canoe , Big Mortar still rose to leading chief of the Muscogee after the French and Indian War . Early stages . The Anglo – Cherokee War broke out in 1758 when Virginia militia attacked Moytoy ( " Amo - adawehi " ) of Citico in retaliation for the requisition of some horses by the Cherokee . Moytoy ' s actions at the time , including scalping raids on the Yadkin and Catawba Rivers in North Carolina began a domino effect that ended with the murders of Cherokee hostages at Fort Prince George near Keowee and the massacre of the garrison of Fort Loudoun near Chota ( " Itsati " ) . These events ushered in a war which didn ' t end until 1761 . The Cherokee were led by " Aganstata " of Chota , Attakullakulla ( " Atagulgalu " ) of Tanasi , Ostenaco of Tomotley , Wauhatchie ( " Wayatsi " ) of the Lower Towns , and Round O of the Middle Towns . During the second year of the French and Indian War , the British had sought Cherokee assistance against the French and their Indian allies . The English had reports , which proved accurate , that indicated the French were planning to build forts in Cherokee territory ( as they had already done with Ft . Charleville at Great Salt Lick on the Cumberland River ) ; Ft . Toulouse , near present day Montgomery , Alabama ; Ft . Rosalie at Natchez , Mississippi ; Ft . St . Pierre at modern day Yazoo , Mississippi ; and Ft . Tombeckbe on the Tombigbee River ) . Once the Cherokee agreed to be their allies , the British hastened to build forts of their own in the Cherokee lands , completing Fort Prince George near Keowee in South Carolina ( among the Lower Towns ) ; and Fort Loudoun ( near Chota at the mouth of the Tellico River ) in 1756 . Once the forts were built , the Cherokee raised 400 warriors to fight in western Virginia Colony under Ostenaco . Oconostota and Attakullakulla led another large group to attack Fort Toulouse . In 1758 , the Cherokee participated in the taking of Fort Duquesne ( present - day Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . ) However , they felt their efforts were unappreciated . Kanagatucko , then the leading chief of the Cherokee , ordered his warriors home . Later , a contingent of Cherokee warriors under Moytoy accompanied Virginian troops on a campaign against the Shawnee of the Ohio Country . During the expedition , the enemy proved elusive . After several weeks , the Tuscarora contingent left , while that of the Cherokee stayed , but dwindled . The Cherokee and Virginians fell to fighting each other , with the Virginians killing and scalping about 20 of them . Later , the Virginians claimed the scalps as those of Shawnees and collected bounties for them . War . While some Cherokee leaders still called for peace , others led retaliatory raids on outlying pioneer settlements . The Cherokee finally declared open war against the British in 1759 ( but were fighting independently and not as allies of France ) . A number of Muskogee under Big Mortar moved up to Coosawatie . These people had long been French allies in support of the Cherokee pro - French faction centered in Great Tellico . The governor of South Carolina , William Henry Lyttelton , embargoed all shipments of gunpowder shipments to the Cherokee and raised an army of 1 , 100 men which marched to confront the Lower Towns of the Cherokee . Desperate for ammunition for their fall and winter hunts , the nation sent a delegation of moderate chiefs to negotiate . The twenty - nine chiefs were taken prisoner as hostages and sent them , escorted by the provincial army , to Fort Prince George . Lyttleton thought this would ensure peace . Governor Lyttleton returned to Charleston , but the Cherokee were still angry , and continued to attack frontier settlements into 1760 . In February 1760 , they attacked Fort Prince George in an attempt to rescue their hostages . The fort ' s commander was killed . His replacement massacred all of the hostages and fended off the attack . The Cherokee also attacked Fort Ninety Six , but it withstood the siege . An attack on Fort Dobbs in North Carolina was similarly repulsed by General Hugh Waddell . However , lesser posts in the South Carolina back - country quickly fell to Cherokee raids . Governor Lyttleton appealed for help to Jeffrey Amherst , the British commander in North America . Amherst sent Archibald Montgomerie with an army of 1 , 200 troops ( the Royal Scots and Montgomerie ' s Highlanders ) to South Carolina . Montgomerie ' s campaign razed some of the Cherokee Lower Towns , including Keowee . It ended with a defeat at Echoee ( " Itseyi " ) Pass when Montgomerie tried to enter the Middle Towns territory . Later in 1760 , the Overhill Cherokee defeated the British colonists at Fort Loudoun and took it over . In 1761 , Montgomerie was replaced by James Grant . He led an army of 2 , 600 men ( the largest force to enter the southern Appalachians to date ) against the Cherokee . His army moved through the Lower Towns , defeated the Cherokee at Echoee Pass , and proceeded to raze about 15 Middle Towns while burning fields of crops along the way . Treaties . In November 1761 , the Cherokee signed a peace treaty with Virginia . They made peace with South Carolina the following year . Lt . Henry Timberlake ; Sgt . Thomas Sumter , an African slave ; and the interpreter , William Shorey , traveled into the Overhill area to deliver a copy of the treaty with Virginia to the Cherokee . Timberlake ' s diary and map of his journey ( " see to the right of text " ) , were published in 1765 . His diary contained what historians assessed was an accurate description of Cherokee culture . Pro - French leader , Standing Turkey , was deposed and replaced as " First Beloved Man " with the pro - British Attakullakulla . John Stuart became British Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Southern District , based out of Charlestown , South Carolina , and was the main liaison between the Cherokee and the British government . His first deputy , Alexander Cameron , lived among the Cherokee , first at Keowee , then at Toqua on the Little Tennessee River , while his second deputy , John McDonald , resided a hundred miles to the southwest on the west side of Chickamauga River where it was crossed by the Great Indian Warpath . During the war , a number of Cherokee towns had been destroyed under General Grant and were never reoccupied . The most notable of these was Kituwa , the inhabitants of which migrated west , taking up residence at Great Island Town ( on the Little Tennessee ) , living among the Overhill Cherokee . As a result of the war , Cherokee warrior strength estimated at 2 , 590 before the war in 1755 was now reduced by battle , Smallpox and starvation to 2 , 300 . Aftermath . In the aftermath of the war , French Louisiana east of the Mississippi went to the British , along with Canada , while Louisiana west of the Mississippi went to Spain ; in return , Spanish Florida went to Britain , which divided it into East Florida and West Florida . After the conclusion of the treaties , Henry Timberlake visited London with three Cherokee leaders : Ostenaco , Standing Turkey , and Wood Pigeon ( " Ata - wayi " ) . The Cherokee visited the Tower of London , met the playwright Oliver Goldsmith , drew massive crowds , and had an audience with King George III . On the voyage to England , their interpreter , William Shorey , died . This made communication nearly impossible . Hearing of the Cherokees ' warm welcome in London , South Carolinians viewed their reception as a sign of imperial favoritism at the colonists ' expense , especially in view of the Royal Proclamation of 1763 , which prohibited settlement west of the Appalachian Mountains , laying the foundation of one of the major irritants for the colonials leading to the American Revolution .