Editor’s Note: The following is a teaser-sized excerpt from Peter Wood’s latest contribution to our American Revolution series, which you can read in full on Substack.

Nan-ye-hi warned us in time. At least she warned the white settlers near the Holston River, Tennessee, that the Cherokee, under the leadership of her cousin, war chief Tsi-yugunsini (Dragging Canoe), were about to attack.

It was not that Nan-ye-hi (also known as Nancy Ward) loved the Americans. She just thought that the Cherokee had a better chance if they stayed neutral in the war between the British and the colonists. Many Cherokee agreed, but Dragging Canoe was eager for action, even against the advice of the British agents. They wanted the Cherokee to stand fast against the American rebels but not provoke wider hostilities across the frontier.

But Dragging Canoe decided to “take up the hatchet…”

Follow the National Association of Scholars on X.