Tuscarora War
Bloodiest colonial war in North Carolina, 1711–1715.
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The Tuscarora War, the deadliest colonial conflict in North Carolina, raged from September 1711 to February 1715. It pitted the Tuscarora and their allies against European settlers, the Yamasee, and other groups. Afterward, most Tuscarora left for New York, becoming the sixth nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
History
The Tuscarora are an Iroquoian people believed to have migrated from the Great Lakes area into the Piedmont centuries before European colonization. As the English settled Carolina, the Tuscarora benefited from trade, acquiring weapons and metal goods that allowed them commercial dominance over other tribes. These benefits were greater for the Northern Tuscarora than for the Southern Tuscarora, who became cut off by increasing European settlement. Conflict arose over competition for resources, shared hunting grounds, and cultural differences.
The Tuscarora held John Lawson accountable for his role in settlers' expansion into their territory, resenting his writings that emphasized the land's potential and his perceived role in founding New Bern. Settlers found eastern North Carolina swampy and difficult to farm, pushing westward into more fertile uplands, which increased demand for Indian slaves. Two groups of Tuscarora existed: a northern group led by Chief Tom Blount near Bertie County, and a southern group led by Chief Hancock near New Bern. Blount befriended the influential Blount family, while Hancock's people suffered raids and kidnappings by slave traders.
Barnwell's expedition
In 1711, North Carolina, weakened by Cary's Rebellion, requested assistance from South Carolina. Colonel John Barnwell led a force of 30 white officers and about 500 Native Americans, including Yamasee, Wateree, Congaree, Waxhaw, Pee Dee, and Apalachee.
They attacked the Tuscarora, who retreated to Fort Neoheroka and negotiated a truce, releasing prisoners. Barnwell's expedition did not win the war; North Carolina settlers were displeased, and South Carolinians were unhappy with lack of payment. Some South Carolina officers retained Tuscarora as slaves, inciting new attacks amid a yellow fever outbreak, causing many settlers to flee.
Chief Blount and the Moore Expedition
South Carolina dispatched Colonel James Moore with 33 colonists and nearly 1,000 Native Americans in December 1712. Settlers offered Blount control of the entire Tuscarora tribe if he assisted in defeating Hancock; Blount captured Hancock, who was executed in 1712.
In 1713, the Southern Tuscarora lost Fort Neoheroka, one of several forts destroyed during the war. Archaeological analysis shows the fort was equal to or superior to comparable Euro-American frontier fortifications, but the Tuscarora lacked sophisticated artillery and explosives. About 950 people were killed or captured and sold into slavery by Moore's troops.
More in Wars Involving the Indigenous Peoples of North America
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Tuscarora War (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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