Fort Loudoun

In the mid 1700s, the British and the French were at war. The colonists built Fort Loudoun in Cherokee territory in an attempt to gain support from the Cherokee indians by trading with them. Relations were fantastic until the British colonists were ordered to stop trading with the Cherokee.

The British were at war with the French, a struggle that the colonies were a part of. The British, in an attempt to make good relations with the Cherokee indians in Tennessee, built Fort Loudoun and began trading powder, ammunition, gun, iron cookware, and clothing with the Native Americans. The British hoped that the Cherokee indians would fight for them against the French if need were to arise. The Cherokee indians created a couple war parties and attacked the French just as the British hoped they would.
  
Between 1758 and 59 however, relations began to deteriorate when the General in charge of British forces in America ordered his troops to stop trading with the indians. The Cherokee became angry with this sudden turn of events, and became aggressive towards the fort - which housed not only troops, but their wives and families as well. Without a source of food and the Cherokee indians surrounding them, the troops and their families were starved for almost a year. Captain Paul Demere, under pressure from his troops, surrendered the fort to the Cherokee who promised safe travels to the inhabitants if they gave up the fort and the 12 cannons. The 230 men, women, and children left to go east across the Appalachians and made camp about 15 miles away from the fort. Cherokee indians attacked them, killing about 30 including Captain Demere, and capturing many of the colonists. Some of the colonists died from disease, some were traded back to the colonists for indian prisoners, and many spent the remainder of their lives living with the Cherokee.

"Fort Loudoun State Historic Area," http://www.discovering-east-tennessee.com/fort-loudoun.html