Location
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Coordinates: 35.1848, -83.3739.
Type: Sight
Tour: Cherokee
County: Macon
Full
Though it looks like a parking lot, Nikwasi Lane at the coordinates is a public street. Park next to the grass-covered mound. If you wish, walk to the display at the south end of the mound (to the right).
Context
In retaliation for a series of attacks on European-Americans by Cherokees resisting incursions on their lands in 1776, commanders from the Carolinas and Virginia have launched coordinated campaigns to destroy their villages.
Situation
Cherokee
Warned by people retreating across Cowee/Watauga Gap of the approaching North Carolina army, those unable to fight have crossed the western mountains to refuge. Most of the men await the armies along the main route deeper into the mountains at Wayah Gap (see Battle of the Black Hole).
Militia
After crossing the Cowee/Watauga Gap, the army of part-time “militia” soldiers under Brig. Gen. Griffith Rutherford has occupied the village of Wata´gi to the north of modern Franklin.
Dates
Tuesday, September 10–Monday, September 30, 1776.
Timeline
