Tuscarora War
|
Tuscarora War (1711-1715) - Started 1711 as a war between British, Dutch, and German settlers in North Carolina and the Tuscarora Indians. Officially ended with a 1718 treaty that settled the Tuscarora on a reserve that later became Bertie County. There were two major groups of Tuscarora, a Northern group led by Chief Tom Blunt and a Southern group led by Chief Hancock. Chief Blunt's group occupied the area around present-day Bertie County. Chief Hancock's group occupied the area south of the Pamlico River. Conflicts grew between the settlers and the Tuscarora over land and the enslavement of Tuscarora tribe members. Chief Hancock felt there was no alternative to war but Chief Tom Blunt did not want war. The Southern Tuscarora and their allies attacked and massacred Swiss and German settlers in a wide area on 22 Sep 1711, killing some 140 settlers and carrying off about 20 or 30 women and children as prisoners. The Indians continued to raid and destroy settlements in spite of expeditions mounted against them and the settlers were forced into fortified towns. Chief Blunt was offered control of both factions of the Tuscarora tribe if he joined the settlers. Chief Hancock was then captured and the settlers executed him in 1712. Colonel James Moore mounted an expedition from Fort Barnwell against the main body of Indians at their Fort Neoheroka and Fort Nohoroco). The Tuscarora and their allies were defeated on 23 Mar 1713 with more than 950 Tuscarora men, women and children killed or captured at Fort Neoheroka. With this defeat and their chief dead, the remaining Southern Tuscarora began to migrate to New York to join the Five Nations. The war continued sporadically until a treaty was signed on 11 Feb 1715. The remaining Tuscarora signed a treaty with the settlers in June 1718 that granted them land on the Roanoke River in present-day Bertie County. See Also: Links: |
