Shortly after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, the members of the Watauga Association organized themselves into the extra-legal "Washington District", a region... "loyal to the united colonies..." They promptly formed a Committee of Safety to oversee it. In the Spring of 1776, the Washington District Committee of Safety drafted a petition asking the Colony of Virginia to annex the district. After Virginia's refusal, a similar petition was drafted asking the North Carolina Assembly to annex the area. Shortly thereafter, the Cherokee initiated a plan to drive the settlers out of the area as a prelude to a planned invasion of Virginia. The first prong of the attack, led by Cherokee war chief, Dragging Canoe, was defeated by colonials at Heaton's Station. The second prong, led by Abraham of Chilhowee, was routed at Fort Watauga. In response to these attacks, several thousand Virginia militia attacked the Overhill towns, in what is today northeast Tennessee. The plan of attack was drawn in conjunction with a strategy which called for two thousandSouth Carolina militiamen, as well as a small contingent from Georgia, to join up with the combined infantry and cavalry force from North Carolina. This united, southern army invaded the middle and lower Cherokee towns, and burned over 30 settlements, including the major towns of Tuskegee and Citico. The southern and northern forces, however, were unable to link up, due to a lack of supplies, and each group had returned home by mid to late September, 1776. At the end of the late summer engagements, Rutherford's force consisted of 1971 "privates of foot", and about 80 "light horse" cavalry under Captain Moore.
Rutherford's cavalry commander, Moore, re-activated his cavalry troop on October 19, 1776. On the 29th, he met up with Captain Joseph Hardin, who had been active since August in raising a cavalry troop from Tryon County, then part of the Salisbury Military District in North Carolina.; Chapter 4: The Rutherford Expedition; Learn NC Digital Archive; accessed January 2016 The next day the combined forces crossed into an area situated between the Swannanoa and French Broad Rivers, where they discovered fresh evidence of recent Indian activity. The cavalry quickly headed to the Cherokee town of Too Cowee, but having just a small army of 97 men at that point, found they could not surround the large, spread-out settlement, and opted for a direct raid instead. Charging into town, they found it almost entirely empty. They looted what food they could find, and torched the town. The chase of the main body of the fleeing Cherokee, however, then continued at a brisk pace, which at one point forced the fleeing natives to set fire to the forest to impede the progress of the pursuing cavalry. This conflict became known as the "Battle of Cowee Gap."
Results
The expeditionary force destroyed an additional five Cherokee towns before being forced to retreat due to a lack of supplies. The majority of the Cherokee towns made peace shortly thereafter under the Treaty of Dewitt's Corner. Dragging Canoe and Ostenaco refused to sign another treaty, and fled south with their followers, the Chickamauga Cherokee, to the creek which bears their name, in order to continue the armed struggle in what became known as the Cherokee–American wars, a decades long struggle which lasted until 1794.
