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 (now Oklahoma) 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.

Traditional military leadership Before the 18th century, Cherokee political leadership (much like that of the neighboring Muscogee and Natchez tribes) was dual or shared by two chiefs: "white" (peace) and "red" (war) leaders. During a conflict, the red chief would organize young men into war parties. He was assisted by a deputy chief, a speaker and messengers. Decisions were made by a war council composed of delegates from the seven Cherokee clans. War women, including the "beloved woman" (Ghigau), could participate in the council or accompany war parties. Scouts and medicine men would round out the war party.Sturtevant, 346

War of the Cherokee and Chickasaw with the Shawnee (1710) Around 1710 the Cherokee and the Chickasaw forced their enemy, the Shawnee, north of the Ohio River.Vicki Rozema, Footsteps of the Cherokees, pp. 10–11. During the 1660s, the Cherokee had allowed a refugee group of Shawnee to settle in the Cumberland Basin when they fled the Iroquois during the Beaver Wars. The Shawnee were also a buffer against the Cherokee, traditional Chickasaw enemies.

The Cherokee allowed another group of Shawnee to pass through their territory to settle on the Savannah River, where they would be a buffer against the Catawba. More Shawnee (allied with the French) entered the region, attracting the attention of the Iroquois, and the British-allied Cherokee and Chickasaw decided to act in concert to expel the Shawnee from their territory. The conflict lasted from 1710 to 1715, and sporadic warfare continued for more than 50 years. In 1768, the Shawnee and Cherokee forged a peace treaty.

Tuscarora War

Except for limited trading contact, the Cherokee were relatively unaffected by the presence of European colonists in North America until the Tuscarora War. In 1711, the Tuscarora began attacking colonists in North Carolina after diplomatic attempts to resolve grievances failed. The governor of North Carolina asked South Carolina for military aid. Before the war ended several years later, South Carolina sent two armies against the Tuscarora. Both were composed primarily of Indians, especially Yamasee troops.

The first army, commanded by John Barnwell, campaigned in North Carolina in 1712. By the end of the year a fragile peace existed, and the army dispersed; no Cherokee were involved in the first army. Hostilities between the Tuscarora and North Carolina broke out soon afterwards.

In late 1712 to early 1713, a second army from South Carolina fought the Tuscarora. At the start, this army commanded by Colonel James Moore consisted of 33 Carolina militiamen and over 900 native warriors of various tribes. As the campaign progressed through North Carolina, Moore's army was reinforced to over 100 militiamen and native troops dwindled to over 700 warriors. Like the first army, the second depended heavily on the Yamasee and Catawba; this time, however, hundreds of Cherokee also joined the army. The campaign ended after a Tuscarora defeat at Hancock's Fort, and over 1,000 Tuscarora and allied Indians were killed or captured. The prisoners were primarily sold into the Indian slave trade. Although the second army from South Carolina disbanded soon after the battle, the Tuscarora War continued for several years. Some previously-neutral Tuscarora became hostile, and the Iroquois entered the dispute. Many Tuscarora ultimately moved north to live among the Iroquois. The Tuscarora War altered the geopolitical context of colonial America in several ways, increasing Iroquois interest in the south. For the many southeastern natives involved, it was the first time so many had collaborated on a military campaign and their first glimpse of how the English colonies differed. As a result, the war helped bind the region's Indians and enhanced their communication and trade networks. The Cherokee became more closely integrated with the region's Indians and Europeans. The Tuscarora War began an English-Cherokee relationship which, despite occasional breakdowns, remained strong for much of the 18th century.

Destruction of Chestowee

The Tuscarora War also marked the rise of Cherokee military power, demonstrated in the 1714 attack and destruction of the Yuchi town of Chestowee (in today's Bradley County, Tennessee). English traders Alexander Long and Eleazer Wiggan instigated the attack with deceptions and promises, although there was a preexisting conflict between the Cherokee and the Yuchi. The traders' plot was based in the Cherokee town of Euphase (Great Hiwassee), and primarily involved local Cherokees.

In May 1714, the Cherokee destroyed Chestowee. Surviving inhabitants who were not captured fled to the Creek or the Savannah River Yuchi. Long and Wiggan told the Cherokee, falsely, that the South Carolina government supported the attack. When he heard about the deception the South Carolina governor sent a messenger to tell the Cherokee not to continue the attack on the Yuchi, but the messenger arrived too late to save Chestowee. The Cherokee attack on the Yuchi ended with Chestowee, but it caught the attention of every tribe and European colony in the region. Around 1715, the Cherokee emerged as a major regional power.

Yamasee War

In 1715, as the Tuscarora War was winding down, the Yamasee War broke out and a number of tribes launched attacks in South Carolina. The Cherokee participated in some attacks, but were divided over which course to take. After South Carolina's militia drove off the Yamasee and the Catawba, the Cherokee became pivotal; South Carolina and the Lower Creek tried to enlist Cherokee support. Some Cherokee favored an alliance with South Carolina and war on the Creek, and others favored the opposite.

The impasse was broken in January 1716, when a delegation of Creek leaders was murdered at the Cherokee town of Tugaloo, and the Cherokee launched attacks against the Creek. Peace treaties between South Carolina and the Creek were forged in 1717, undermining Cherokee commitment to war. Hostility and sporadic raids between the Cherokee and Creek continued for decades,Oatis, pp. 187–8 culminating with the Battle of Taliwa in 1755 at present-day Ball Ground, Georgia with the defeat of the Muscogee Creek. The Creek had already withdrawn most of their settlements from what is now North Georgia to create a buffer zone between themselves and the Cherokee.

In 1721 the Cherokee made their first cession of land to the British, selling the South Carolina colony a small strip of land between the Saluda, Santee and Edisto rivers. Moytoy of Tellico was chosen as "Emperor" by the elders of the principal Cherokee towns in 1730 at Nikwasi. Alexander Cumming had requested this to gain control of the Cherokee. Moytoy agreed to recognize King George II of Great Britain as protector of the Cherokee. Seven prominent Cherokee (including Attakullakulla) traveled with Cumming to England, and the Cherokee delegation spent four months in London. Their visit resulted in the 1730 Treaty of Whitehall, an alliance between the British and the Cherokee. The journey to London and the treaty were important to future British-Cherokee relations, but the title of Cherokee Emperor had little influence with the tribe. Although Moytoy's son Amouskosette tried to succeed him as "Emperor" in 1741, the power in the Overhill country had shifted to Tanasi and then to Chota.

The Cherokee "empire" was essentially ceremonial, with political authority remaining town-based for decades afterward, and Cumming's aspirations to play an important role in Cherokee affairs failed. In 1735, the Cherokee were estimated to have 64 towns and villages and 6,000 fighting men. In 1738-39, smallpox was introduced to the country by sailors and slaves. An epidemic broke out among the Cherokee (who had no natural immunity), and nearly half their population died within a year; hundreds of others, disfigured by the disease, committed suicide.

War with the Muskogee-Creeks The conflict between the Cherokee and the Muscogee was over disputed hunting grounds in what is now North Georgia, lasting from 1753 to 1755. It culminated in victory for the Cherokee after the Battle of Taliwa.

Anglo-Cherokee War (1759–61)

After hearing reports of French fort-building plans in Cherokee territory (as they had Fort Charleville at the Great Salt Lick, now Nashville, Tennessee), the British built forts of their own: Fort Prince George near Keowee (in South Carolina), and Fort Loudoun, near Chota, in 1756. That year the Cherokee aided the British in the French and Indian War, but serious misunderstandings between the allies quickly arose. In 1760 the Cherokee besieged both British forts, forcing a relief army to retire at the Battle of Echoee and eventually capturing Fort Loudoun. The British retaliated by launching expeditions which destroyed 15 Cherokee settlers in 1761, though a peace treaty was signed by the end of the year. King George III's Royal Proclamation of 1763 forbade British settlement west of the Appalachian crest, attempting to temporarily protect the Cherokee from encroachment, but enforcement was difficult.Rozema, pp. 17–23. The Cherokee and Chickasaw continued to war intermittently with the Shawnee along the Cumberland River for many years; the Shawnee allied with the Lenape, who remained at war with the Cherokee until 1768.

War with the Chickasaw and major land cessions in 1763 After their success against the Muscogee, the Cherokee turned their attention west, to the hunting grounds of the Chickasaw in what is now northeast Alabama from 1758 to 1769. After eleven years of intermittent warfare, they were defeated at the Battle of Chickasaw Old Fields.

Watauga Association

Following the 1771 Battle of Alamance which ended the Regulator movement, many North Carolinians refused to take the new oath of allegiance to the British Crown and left the colony. One, James Robertson, led a group of 12 or 13 Regulator families westward from the area of present-day Raleigh. Believing that they were in the colony of Virginia, they settled on the banks of the Watauga River in present-day northeastern Tennessee. After a survey indicated their error, they were ordered to leave. Cherokee leaders in the region interceded on their behalf, and they were allowed to remain if there was no further encroachment. In 1772, Robertson and the pioneers (who had settled along the Watauga, Doe, Holston and Nolichucky Rivers) met at Sycamore Shoals to establish a regional government known as the Watauga Association.Watauga Petition ; Ensor Family Pages.

Transylvania Purchase

In response to the first attempt by Daniel Boone and his party to establish a settlement inside their Kentucky hunting grounds, the Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware), Mingo and some Cherokees attacked a scouting and forage party which included Boone's son. This sparked Dunmore's War (1773–1774), named after the governor of Virginia.