In the second date of the 18th century, the two Carolina colonies were in a state of flux. Carolina had originally be granted as one colony by Charles I, after whom it was named. The land involved, not only the two future states of the Carolinas, but parts of Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennesee. In 1712, Carolina was split into North and South, with control of Colonial Affairs in South Carolina given to a group of royal friends and adherents known as the Lords Proprietors. These men were based in London, but formed the government and legislature of the colony, in charge of both defense and diplomacy with the Natives. For much of the Tuscarora War, the colony appeared to be on an efficient footing. South Carolina twice sent militia levies to fight the Tuscarora. These levies were augmented by Native auxiliaries, the majority of which were Yamasee, traditional enemies of the Tuscarora.
But the Yamasee were upset about many of the same things that had angered the Tuscarora. White settlers were encroaching on their land and depleting game populations. Slavers were capturing Natives to work the plantations alongside Blacks. Traders were dishonest in their dealings with Natives, charging steep prices for shoddy goods. The Yamasee did not have far to look for allies. The Creek, Cherokee, Catawba, Waxhaw, Santee, Cheraw, Cape Fear and other Natives were experiencing the same thing. The tribes quickly formed an alliance.
Native settlers knew of the unrest among the Native tribes, but suspected that if any one of them was disaffected and plotting war, it was the Creeks. To counteract any moves the Creek tried to make, the Colonists sent an embassy to the main Yamasee town of Pocotaligo, near where present-day Yamasee, South Carolina is now. On April 14, 1715, the Colonists met with the Yamasee and requested aid against the Creeks. Later that evening, the Yamasee convened their own meeting and decided that they needed to attack now. Only a few settlers made it back to Port Royal to alert the others.
The Yamasee quickly formed two war parties and began to attack settlements, plantations and farms. One party marched on Port Royal, where citizens fled to the harbor. They took refuge on a captured smuggler's ship and some canoes. Another group of Yamasee invaded St. Bartholomew's Parish (as counties were known back then), raiding farms and settlements. The Yamasee met a force of South Carolina militia on the Salkehatchie River. Despite the fact that the Colonists were outnumbered, they managed to kill a number of Yamasee warriors and drive the Natives back. The Yamasee abandoned the battle and fled. During the Summer of 1715, South Carolina forces met up with Yamassee war parties and were successful in these small skirmishes, but an end to the war itself was nowhere in sight.
Meanwhile, several White traders were killed in the field by members of other Native tribes, including Creek, Cherokee, Apalachee, Chickasaw, Cherokee, and others. The Catawba now entered the war, sending a war party against South Carolina Settlers in 1715. They managed to kill a party of militia sent against them in June, 1715. On June 13, 1715, in what became known as the Battle of the Ponds, the Settlers routed the Catawba. The Catawba decided it was wise to re-entered the War on the side of the Settlers against the Yamasee. Meanwhile, the Creeks stepped up their raids on settlements, assisted by smaller tribes of Natives such as the Yuchi, Savannah River Shawnee, Apalachee, and Apalachicoa. Faced with the British threat of more troops in the field, the Creek and Yamasee looked to French and Spanish Agents to support their war effort. The response of France and Spain was lukewarm, at best, but these two tribes did form closer ties with France and Spain following the War.
The Chickasaw also deserted the Yamasee-Creek alliance, while the Cherokee remained divided over what to do. Those Cherokee in favor of an alliance with South Carolina coalesced around Ceasar, the Chief of a Middle Town of Cherokee. Although Caesar and some Cherokee attended a delegation at Charles Town (Charleston), they failed to rendezvous with South Carolina troops. It was obvious to the Settlers that the Cherokee were dangerously divided in their loyalty. Despite Caesar's efforts to rally support among his people for the Colonists, the response remained mixed. The Cherokee took matters into their own hands, offering to mediate a peace between the Settlers and the Creeks.
On January 27, 1716, as both South Carolina and Creek delegations were meeting with the Cherokee at one of the Cherokee towns at Tugaloo, a Cherokee war party ambushed and killed several Creeks. They claimed to the Settlers that the ambush was part of a larger Creek-Yamasee force on its way to attack the Settlers. Seeing how much the Cherokee were still divided in their opinions, the Settlers weren't so sure. After the incident, the only solution open to the Cherokee was war against the Creek and a reluctant alliance with the Settlers. At this point, the Whites were willing to once again step back and let the Natives, Cherokee versus Creek, fight it out. The Creek returned to settlements along the Chattahoochee River, placing them further away from the angry South Carolinians.
As 1716-1717 wore on, the Creeks began to see the advantages of peaceful trade with Great Britain in the form of guns, lead and other supplies. Emissaries from the Creek towns headed for Charles Town, while the Colonists sent emissaries to try and pacify the Creek. Meanwhile, the Creeks also sent to the Iroquois in New York, trying to enlist their aid in the War. The Iroquois were willing to help mediate, but not get involved in the fighting. Meanwhile South Carolina's Governor, seeing how fickle and inconsistent the militia were, began trying to raise and equip a paid professional army. Conditions were so desperate that he paid masters for the use of their slaves so that both Whites and Blacks could join up to deal with the Native threat. Unable to bring the Natives to a pitched battle, the Governor disbanded the army after the Cherokee agreed to an alliance in 1716. It was better, from the White point of view, to let Natives fight each other.
The War wound down after the Cherokee switched allegiance to South Carolina in 1716. Although some skirmishing remained and some settlements and Native villages were raided, there were no pitched battles. The Yamasee, Apalachicola did not sign any formal peace agreements, but moved further south into what is now Georgia and Florida, from where they continued to raid South Carolina settlements. Meanwhile, citizens in both Carolina colonies were dissatisfied with the proprietary system of government. They transitioned to direct control from London as Crown colonies, which meant that British regular army could be dispatched to deal with any further Native threat. The British also realized they needed a buffer zone to protect South Carolina and were open to proposals by James Oglethorpe to settle debtors and petty criminals in what is now Georgia. Oglethorpe was able to deal peacefully with the Creek, Yamasee and other tribes to establish the settlement of Savannah in 1733.
The Yamasee eventually broke up as a tribal unit. Some merged with the Creeks. Others drifted to the St. Augustine area and became part of the emerging Seminole Nation. The Creeks began building a stronger alliance amongst their various groups, leading to the Creek or Muscogee Confederacy that would be a force to be reckoned with in the coming decades. The Catawba also absorbed elements of smaller tribes. The power of the Cherokee as the preeminent tribe in the region was on the rise.
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