1776 and the fall of the Cherokee at the Ring Fight at Tamassee-“The Place of the Sunlight of God”
The history of the conflict between the 17th & 18th century immigrants to South Carolina and the Cherokee Indians is long and complicated. The native Indians were concerned about the encroachment of settlers into their ancestral lands, but with no formal government in place who is to say who owned the land? At the time of the revolution no formal government existed to explain and enforce the laws of the lightly inhabited area of upstate of South Carolina and to control and regulate the governing of the land. Yes it was a royal colony governed by England, but that authority was mostly concentrated in the more populous area near Charleston, S C. The backcountry was wild and ungoverned. Therefore, was it really owned by anyone? (except those who choose to squat on it at any given time? Or maybe those who got land grants from the King of England who called all of America his own?) In reality none of us ever really own any land because our lives our short and we are just renting whatever we have on this earth until we pass into the next life and those possessions are left for someone else to fight about. It’s a question I can’t answer, nor will attempt. In short, during the time of the Revolution the Cherokee sided with the British and that meant they were in all out full scale war with the Whigs(we now know them as the Patriots) who eventually defeated the Indians and the British to gain the new nation of the United States of America. My purpose in this story is not to debate the political issue of who was right or wrong. My goal is to tell the story about what happened and why it was important.
The Chattooga Ridge is the first formation of mountains in the western portion of the Pickens District of South Carolina. Oconee Station is immediately at the base of this ridge; During the American Revolution troops were stationed there for the protection of the western portions of South Carolina. Today, in this same area, eleven miles from Walhalla, South Carolina sits “Tamassee”, surrounded by overshadowing mountain peaks and sporting views that stretch the eyes to new heights of imagination. The town has only 924 residents and is within the boundaries of what is now Oconee County South Carolina. In the 1800s the area was known as the Pickens District but in 1868 it was divided into Pickens and Oconee counties. The town’s most famous resident, American Revolutionary General Andrew Pickens died there under a cedar tree on August 11, 1817, at his mountain home, “the Red House”
Red House Marker
Pickens called his final home Red House. This stone marker is located on a hill 1/2 mile west of the Tamassee Town marker. The marker, now missing, was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and read, in part: This boulder marks the place where Gen. Andrew Pickens died August 11, 1817 Photo by Cindy Bullard-Feb 15 2010
Forty-one years earlier in the very same place, General Andrew Pickens was in the fight for his life only steps away from the Red House. In the sweltering summer of 1776, the town was much smaller and was considered by the Indians to be theirs because it was their ancestral homeland. The Indians named it Tamassee, because they believed the area to be the home of a magical and powerful Cherokee prophet.
Friends of General Pickens shared information on him after his death. “He was taciturn, but communicative to his personal friends. Pickens’ friend William Martin said of him, “he was a man of strong character, few words, and much wisdom. In fact, he would first take the words out of his mouth, between his fingers and examine them before he uttered them.” Pretty telling description of the kind of person Andrew Pickens was. Physically, Pickens was tall, thin and muscular. Much needed traits to endure the physical and emotional trials of warfare against Indians and the British in the rugged lands of South Carolina.
Pickens had a long history of fighting against the Indians. Regardless of the reasons warring began between the American colonists and Cherokee Indians, there had to be a winner and there had to be a loser for history to turn out like it did. It's only conjecture as to whether the history would have been markedly better had the Cherokees been left to their own devices to kill at will those who they felt were encroaching on their land. America as we know it might not exist had things not happened the way they did. But alas, conjecture is not history. What ifs and could have beens won't tell the story or change the outcome.
On the first day of February 1760, long before the American Revolution, 17 year old Andrew Pickens was with his brother Joseph and the Calhoun family at the Long Canes settlement making their way to Augusta Georgia to take refuge from Indian attacks. While there the party of about 150 refugees was attacked by about 100 Cherokees and 23 white settlers were killed including the matriarch of the Calhoun family, 76 year old Catherine Calhoun and her son James. Daughter Rebecca Calhoun escaped the massacre by hiding in a canebrake where she remained until her uncle arrived to rescue the wounded and bury the dead. The survivors of that massacre, fled to the Waxhaws in North Carolina, while Rebecca and her brother Patrick went to the Ninety-Six District of South Carolina. Andrew Pickens was taken in by the wiles of Rebecca Calhoun, who would then become his wife. Intimate friends said General Pickens stated the most hazardous and critically dangerous battle he fought at any time in the American Revolution happened a mere 300 yards from his red house. Of all the engagements he was in, the “Ring Fight” at Tamassee was the most frightening. Pickens feared his 25 scout troops would be killed and scalped; because they were surrounded, and because they were heavily outnumbered by the Cherokee. Some accounts say the Cherokee brought as many as 185 warriors to the attack. Here is General Andrew Pickens’ account of what happened that fateful August day in 1776 in Tamassee South Carolina. “I was out looking at the valley, to ascertain the mountain passes, with a detachment of 25 men. Suddenly the Indians showed themselves from an immense canebrake. They outnumbered us probably seven fold. My knowledge of Indian character convinced me that they were determined to fight, and that they had surrounded us. I informed my men that we would have to act with coolness and circumspection: that we had but little ammunition, and that no man should fire until he came within point blank range. They made the onset. Our fire was so destructive, they recoiled: after a few minutes of maneuvering, they made the second attack; our fire was more destructive than the first; they maneuvered for a few moments, and again recoiled. Several of my men understood the Indian dialect well; they heard the word of command from different points, that the attack should be renewed with tomahawks. While they were planning for the onslaught the troops at Oconee Station heard the firing and troopers coming up in the rear, with considerable noise, and the Indians fled, and by good luck we were out of the ring fight. The ring fight was important because it provided a bit of peace for a time. Sadly, war and destruction often brings temporary peace but then ugliness rears its head again and humans resort to fighting again, ad infinitum. It's a process we wish didn't have to happen and sadly, never ends.
Tamassee Marker erected in 2006 by the Oconee Arts and Historical Commission and the Walhalla Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Photo by David Bullard February 11, 2010 This Marker is near Tamassee, South Carolina, in Oconee County. Marker is at the intersection of Tamassee Knob Road (State Highway S-37-95) and Cheohee Valley Road (State Highway S37-375), on the right when traveling east on Tamassee Knob Road.
The Ring Fight Marker erected by the Tamassee Chapter of the DAR in 1925. The "Ring Fight" marker was moved to the left side of Cheohee Valley Road if you are driving from Highway 11. It is just past the "Tamassee Town" marker...maybe a half a mile in a shaded area facing and visible from Cheohee Valley Road.
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