At dawn on September 22, 1711, more than 500 Tuscarora, Core, Neuse, Pamlico, Weetock, Machapunga, and Bear River Indian warriors swept down on the unsuspecting European settlers living along the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers of North Carolina. Over the following days, they destroyed hundreds of farms, killed at least 140 men, women, and children, and took about 40 captives. So began the Tuscarora War, North Carolina's bloodiest colonial war and surely one of its most brutal. In his gripping account, David La Vere examines the war through the lens of key players in the conflict, reveals the events that led to it, and traces its far-reaching consequences.
La Vere details the innovative fortifications produced by the Tuscaroras, chronicles the colony's new practice of enslaving all captives and selling them out of country, and shows how both sides drew support from forces far outside the colony's borders. In these ways and others, La Vere concludes, this merciless war pointed a new direction in the development of the future state of North Carolina.
ISBN-13: 9781469629902
Media Type: Paperback
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication Date: 08-01-2016
Pages: 272
Product Dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.80(d)
David La Vere is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and author of Looting Spiro Mounds: An American King Tut's Tomb, among other books.
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From the Publisher
This masterfully told story breaks new ground in our understanding of European-Indigenous conflict in the British North American colonies. La Vere brings the major participants to life as he explores why the war happened, how it unfolded, and its many consequences.—Paul Kelton, University of Kansas
David LaVere has given us a long-needed history of the Tuscarora War, one grounded in documentary evidence, constructed around the lives of major characters, and written in a style so engaging that it will appeal not just to scholars but to anyone interested in early American history.—Theda Perdue,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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Table of Contents
Prologue 1
Introduction-The Makings of a War 3
1 Christopher de Graffenried-The Dreamer 18
2 King Hancock and Gore Tom-The Defenders 39
3 William Brice-The Fighter 69
4 Col. John Barnwell-The Opportunist 96
5 Thomas Pollock-The Destroyer 113
6 King Tom Blount-The Negotiator 135
7 Col. James Moore-The Soldier 153
8 Aftermath 178
A Note from the Author 211
Notes 215
Bibliography 243
Acknowledgments 251
Index 253
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