Battle of Hightower

Part of Cherokee–American wars

Date	October 17, 1793
Location	Etowah Town, across the river from the Etowah Indian Mounds and near Cartersville, Georgia
Result	Cherokee defeated

Belligerents

Cherokee

Tennessee Militia

Commanders and leaders

Kingfisher

General John Sevier
Colonel John Blair
Colonel Christian
Colonel Kelly
Captain Evans

Strength

Several hundred Cherokee

800 mounted Tennessee volunteers

Casualties and losses

At least 3 killed and many wounded

3 killed, 3 wounded

The Battle of Hightower (also called Battle of Etowah) in 1793 was part of the Cherokee–American wars, in which the Cherokee sought to defend their territory from illegal immigration by white settlers. This particular battle took place at the Cherokee village of Etowah Town (Itawayi), overlooking Downtown Rome, GA in the modern Floyd County, Georgia, resulting in the defeat of the Cherokee by a force led by John Sevier, future Governor of Tennessee.

In the 1785 Treaty of Hopewell, the Cherokee agreed to come under the sovereignty of the new United States and the treaty specified boundaries of a huge area of Tennessee, Eastern North Carolina and South Carolina, and Northern Georgia to be reserved as Cherokee hunting grounds. Article 5 stated that any non-Indians settling in this area would lose the protection of the United States and that the Cherokee could punish them any way they pleased.

New settlers continued to move into the Cherokee area, however, and attacks by the Cherokee to drive them out and counter-attacks by the settlers became widespread and vicious. Technically, the United States violated the 1785 Treaty of Hopewell by failing to enforce Article 7, which required the United States to enforce justice on U.S. citizens who murdered Cherokee, and the Cherokee violated the treaty by failing to adhere to Article 9 by trading directly with Spain. Arguments could be made that both sides violated Article 8 regarding retaliation.

With the approval of President George Washington, an attempt was made to negotiate a new treaty in the Southwest Territory (now the State of Tennessee), but the meeting place was raided by a party headed by John Sevier. Sevier ordered Captain John Beard to attack, and many Cherokee were killed. Washington ordered the arrest and trial of Beard, but Sevier helped him escape and avoid trial.

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Wikipedia