Catawba Indians sided with colonists in Revolutionary War

The birth of America, celebrated with fireworks and fanfare today, was more complicated than a simple declaration of independence of 13 loosely affiliated colonies.

While it was a war of rebellion, it was also a civil war, pitting those loyal to King George against those wanting independence.

Pro-British sentiment was particularly strong in the back country of South Carolina where the residents had no real quarrel with the king, but the mention of Charleston would stir up old wounds, historians say.

It also was an Indian war, pitting tribes against each other, some maintaining long-standing loyalties to the British, while others cast their fate with the colonists.

With the tensions of war rising in 1775, the Catawba Indians of South Carolina’s back country debated their loyalties.

Many Catawba warriors had fought with the British in the French and Indian War, battling the French and other Indians. The Catawba fought in the Ohio campaigns and as far north as the Canadian province of Quebec. Tribal leaders counted colonial Col. George Washington of the Virginia militia among their allies. Returning warriors, though, brought smallpox to the Catawba homeland, which decimated the tribe.

The returning warriors came home to a land they shared with a growing population of settlers and squatters. The Catawba petitioned South Carolina Gov. William Bull several times to enforce provisions of the 1763 Treaty of Augusta designed to protect their homeland.

As they saw the men of South Carolina cleaning their rifles and putting on their shooting pouches, the Catawba warriors were confused, historians say. Who would they fight?

The Catawba sent a delegation to Charleston and the Council on Safety, the pro-revolutionary group of state leaders.

They wanted answers, but not verbally. The delegation sought a letter they could read to the tribe before making a decision.

William Henry Drayton, a planter and member of the Council of Safety, said the council would appreciate their help against the British and for their aid, Catawba warriors would be paid 10 shillings a day, the standard rate for a Revolutionary War militia man.

The Catawba decided to accept the committee’s offer, replying they were “ready in our interest.” For the next seven years, Catawba warriors fought against the British, against South Carolina Loyalists, and against the Cherokee Indians.

As a result, says historian James H. Merrell, “the Catawba Nation shared in the most fundamental American experience. They were important actors in the unfolding American drama.”

In battle

While the historical record is a bit hazy, it appears that Catawba warriors fought in many of the battles and skirmishes in South and North Carolina. They served in the defense of Charleston, the 1776 campaign against the Cherokee, in the North Carolina battle of Haw River, local battles of Fishing Creek and Rocky Mount in what is present day Chester County, and Hanging Rock in present day Lancaster County and one of the war’s last major battles at Eutaw Springs in 1781. The Catawba lands also served as encampments for South Carolina troops and the tribe helped procure food for them.

Because of their ability to read the land, Catawba were often used as scouts. During the 1776 campaign against the Cherokee, Col. Maurice Moore wrote about their skills during an attack on the village of Keowee at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and two major trade roads. The village, now underwater as part of Lake Keowee, is north of Clemson.

Moore wrote how the Catawba would carefully examine trees to see if they had been climbed. When they saw signs of trampled brush they warned the vanguard of the militia to stop and wait for more troops. The vanguard kept moving forward.

When the Catawba discovered “corn field beans” near a spring and a footprint on a rock they advised the militia to wait. The militia did not and were soon attacked by the Cherokee, Moore wrote.

The Catawba wore deer tails in their hair so that the militia would know they were friends and not Cherokee.

When the Catawba fought under the overall command of Gen. Thomas Sumter, they were used as militia, said Michael Scoggins, historian of the York County Cultural and Heritage Museum.

The tribe suffers

Catawba women and children suffered during the war.

In 1780, Lord Charles Cornwallis threatened to destroy anyone who fought against the British.

The Catawba warriors left the battlefield to return to their homes near Twelve Mile Creek in what is now Lancaster County. The Catawba families moved to North Carolina and then Virginia. They were not the only ones to leave, said historian Tom Blumer. Other settlers in the region fled in fear, he said.

British Lt. Col. Francis Rawdon promised the Catawba protection if they would return home. When the Catawba stayed in Virginia, Rawdon burned their homes and crops. The Catawba returned in 1781 to nothing but scorched earth.

Their families resettled, and Catawba warriors returned to the battlefield.

After the war

After the war, the Catawba resumed their way of life with the tribe becoming more entrepreneurial, leasing lands and selling and bartering goods – especially pottery. Some Catawba traveled as far as Europe as entertainers, demonstrating their prowess in shooting arrows and dancing.

And, as one story goes, when the Catawba found that some of their tenants were Tory sympathizers during the war, they tore down the offenders’ buildings and removed them from Catawba land.

In 1790, the South Carolina government awarded decorative medals or gorgets to Catawba warriors. A gorget owned by Piney George – and buried with him and then stolen – was returned to the tribe in 1998 by a museum.

Peter Harris, the only Catawba to serve in the regular Continental Army, asked the state for a pension in 1818. In his petition, Harris, a Catawba orphan who had been raised by Thomas Spratt, wrote, “I fought against the British for your sake, The British have Disappeared, and you are free. Yet from me the British took nothing, nor have I gained anything from their defeat.

“I pursued the deer for my subsistence, the deer are disappearing, and I must starve. God ordained me for the forest, and my ambition is the shade, but the strength in my arms decays, and my feet fail in the chase, the hand which fought for your liberties is now open for your relief.

“In my Youth I bled in battle, that you might be independent. Let not my heart in my old age bleed for the want of your commission.”

The state of South Carolina awarded him $60. He died a year later and was buried in the Spratt family cemetery near Fort Mill.

Historian Merrell wrote while it is difficult to gauge the military effectiveness of the Catawba during the war, their active and visible participation in the cause changed some people’s opinion about them.

“Serving along side and suffering with the American forces, made the Catawba part of that experience and part of that celebration,” Merrell wrote.

The decision to fight for the freedom may too have ensured that the Catawba still live on their original ancestral land, historian Blumer said. Undoubtedly, if they had backed the British, American settlers would evicted them from their land and forced them out of South Carolina to face an unknown future, he said.

This story was originally published July 3, 2015 at 6:17 PM with the headline "Catawba Indians sided with colonists in Revolutionary War."