Tahlonteeskee (or Talotisky, better known as Talotiskee) of the Broken Arrow clan, was a Creek chief who, as a skiagusta in a time of war, led a contingent of his warriors united with the Chickamauga Cherokee and Shawnee fighters in an attack into the Cumberland settlements. He was killed fighting alongside his allies during the failed attack against Buchannan's Station, [1] a private frontier fort near Nashville, Tennessee (in the Southwest Territory), on September 30, 1792.
In a surreptitious war plan made against Nashboro and its neighboring frontier settlements, Cherokee Chief John Watts (or Kunokeski, 'Young Tassel') assembled a coalition of Cherokee, Creek, and Shawnee warriors. Set on the destruction of White settlements in the Mero District, various Native American war parties left Running Water Town in late September 1792 with the intent of meeting up to attack and destroy Nashville and its fort, as the opening gambit of a war to rid Middle Tennessee once and for all of frontier settlers from the American east. The Creek faction included Chiefs Tahlonteeskee and Unacata. [2] [1] [3] Fighting for the few Shawnee that were then living at Running Water Town was a young warrior, Tecumsah, under the command of his older brother, Cheeseekau (or Shawnee Warrior", also Siksika). For the Cherokee, the leaders included Watts, Little Owl, Bob Benge, Middle Striker, Pumpkin Boy and his brother, Doublehead. [3]
When they reached the vicinity of the station, there was a heated debate among the war party's leaders about whether to bypass the stockade and press on directly to Nashville. The choice of the expedition's leader, Chief Watts, was to strike at Nashville first, thus by-passing the fortified station for the moment. Talotiskee's counsel was to first attack the small, and apparently weak way-station that the Creeks expected to fall quickly, and then move on to Nashville. Watts finally acquiesced, and the latter action was chosen. [4] [5] [6]
The Battle of Buchanan’s Station took place on the night of September 30, 1792, when the settlement was attacked by the combined force of over 300 [lower-alpha 1] [1] Lower Cherokee, Shawnee, and Creek Indians now under the leadership of Talotiskee, (upon whose counsel the decision to attack the station first had been made). [2] [1] [8] The attack was repelled after about an hour of battle that included several attempts to set the bunkhouse, where the less than 20 defenders were situated, on fire. The raiders gave up when those in defense of the station caused an explosion that resembled cannon fire. Fearing that Fort Nashborough, only four miles away, was signalling that aide was on the way, the war parties dispersed back into the wild. This explosion may have been the result of an over-loaded blunderbuss exploding when fired at the Indians. [2]
The battle was costly to the raiding parties: Talotiskee was killed, along with Unacata, Cheeseekau, Little Owl, and about 25 others (all together, about 10% of the original raiding party). Watts was badly wounded and barely survived. After the battle, the remainder of Talotiskee's party stayed out into early October, attacking Black's Station on Crooked Creek, where they killed three men, wounded several more, and captured several horses. [9] [10]
Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the expansion of the United States onto Native American lands. A persuasive orator, Tecumseh traveled widely, forming a Native American confederacy and promoting intertribal unity. Even though his efforts to unite Native Americans ended with his death in the War of 1812, he became an iconic folk hero in American, Indigenous, and Canadian popular history.
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Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settlement that would become the city of Nashville, Tennessee. The fort was not a military garrison. The log stockade was square in shape and covered 2 acres (8,100 m2). It contained 20 log cabins and was protection for the settlers against wild animals and Indians. James Robertson and John Donelson are considered the founders, and colloquially, the "founders of Tennessee". The fort was abandoned in 1794, but the settlement, now the town of Nashville, became the capital of the new state of Tennessee in 1796.
Cheeseekau was a war chief of the Kispoko division of the Shawnee Nation. Also known as Pepquannakek (Gunshot), Popoquan (Gun), Sting, and Chiksika. Although primarily remembered as the eldest brother and mentor of Tecumseh, who became famous after Cheeseekau's death, Cheeseekau was a well-known leader in his own time, and a contemporary of Blue Jacket.
The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American settlers on the frontier. Most of the events took place in the Upper South region. While the fighting stretched across the entire period, there were extended periods with little or no action.
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Takatoka was the second Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation—West (1813–1817) established in the old Arkansaw Territory.
Doublehead (1744–1807) or Incalatanga, was one of the most feared warriors of the Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Following the peace treaty at the Tellico Blockhouse in 1794, he served as one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee, and he was chosen as the leader of Chickamauga in 1802.
John Watts, also known as Young Tassel, was one of the leaders of the Chickamauga Cherokee during the Cherokee–American wars. Watts became particularly active in the fighting after frontiersmen murdered his uncle, Old Tassel Carpenter (1708–1788), in 1788, while he traveled with Cherokee delegates to a peace conference.
Turtle-at-Home, or Selukuki Wohelengh, was a Cherokee warrior and leader, brother and chief lieutenant of Dragging Canoe, a war-chief in the Cherokee–American wars.
The Cherokee people of the southeastern United States, and later Oklahoma and surrounding areas, have a long military history. Since European contact, Cherokee military activity has been documented in European records. Cherokee tribes and bands had a number of conflicts during the 18th century with Europeans, primarily British colonists from the Southern Colonies. The Eastern Band and Cherokees from the Indian Territory fought in the American Civil War, with bands allying with the Union or the Confederacy. Because many Cherokees allied with the Confederacy, the United States government required a new treaty with the nation after the war. Cherokees have also served in the United States military during the 20th and 21st centuries.
Tahlonteeskee (or "'Talotisky' '", Tale'danigi'ski was a Cherokee headman of Cayuga town, eventually rising to Principal Chief of the first Cherokee Nation. He was one of the "Old Settlers" of the Cherokee Nation—West, and the namesake of the first capital city of the Cherokee in Indian Territory.
Major John Buchanan was an American frontiersman and one of the founders of present-day Nashville, Tennessee. He is best known for defending his fort, Buchanan's Station, from an attack by a combined force of roughly 300 Chickamauga Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, and Shawnee warriors on September 30, 1792. The defenders of the stockade included fifteen gunmen and his wife, Sally Buchanan, who was heavily pregnant with their first child.
Buchanan's Station was a fortified stockade established around 1784 in Tennessee. Founded by Major John Buchanan, the settlement was located in what is today the Donelson neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee. On September 30, 1792, it was the site of the critical Battle of Buchanan's Station during the Cherokee–American wars of the late eighteenth century. The assault by a combined force of around 300 Chickamauga Cherokee, Muscogee Creek, and Shawnee, nominally led by Chief John Watts, was repelled by 15 gunmen under Major Buchanan defending the station. Although smaller raids continued in the region, it was the last major Native American attack on the American settlements in the Cumberland.
Sarah "Sally" Ridley Buchanan was an American settler in Tennessee. Credited with helping to defend Buchanan's Station during an attempted raid by Native Americans in 1792, Buchanan was called "the greatest heroine of the West" by writer Elizabeth F. Ellet. As stories about Buchanan's bravery spread, accounts of her life were sometimes embellished with fictional elements.