Battle of Lindley's Fort
Battle of Lindley's Fort | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War and the Cherokee–American wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
S. Carolina Patriots |
S. Carolina Loyalists Cherokees | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Jonathan Downs | |||||||
Strength | |||||||
150 militia | 190 Loyalists and Cherokee warriors | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed, 13 captured |
The Battle of Lindley's Fort (July 15, 1776) was part of a campaign by
Background
The
By early 1776, a delegation of northern Indians had arrived in the
Battle
The Cherokee went on the warpath on July 1, 1776. Henry Laurens wrote that the Cherokee attacked "very suddenly, without any pretense to Provocation those treacherous Devils in various Parties headed by White Men", killing as many as 60 South Carolinians.[4] The timing of this campaign was fortuitous for the Cherokee: a major British force had been anchored off Charleston, South Carolina since early June, but its attack on the city had been repulsed in the June 28 Battle of Sullivan's Island. As a result, Continental Army general Charles Lee was unable to provide any sort of relief.[5]
When the Cherokee attacks began in South Carolina, refugees began fleeing the outlying settlements for frontier fortifications. One of these was Lindley's Fort, a vestige of the Anglo-Cherokee War of the early 1760s that was rehabilitated and strengthened by the refugees. A militia company under Major Jonathan Downs arrived at the fort on July 14, raising the total number of armed defenders to about 150.[3]
The next day a force of about 190 Loyalists and Cherokee arrived.
Aftermath
The Cherokee raids in the spring and summer of 1776 sparked a major backlash. The Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia all devoted significant militia resources to campaign against the Cherokee. Between late July and early October 1776, militia forces numbering in the thousands entered Cherokee land, destroying crops and villages. The Cherokee themselves fled before the advance, and ended up taking refuge in lands further west and south.[5]
The site of Lindley's Fort outside Laurens, South Carolina is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[citation needed]
References
- ISBN 9781455612123.
- OCLC 30736572.
- ^ OCLC 248463833.
- ^ OCLC 185031351.
- ^ OCLC 52963301.