TheBattle of Island Flats^[a] (alsoBattle at Long Island of the Holston,Battle of Eaton's Station) was the opening battle of theAmerican War of Independence in the west. The battle was fought in July 1776, and pitted the Americanregional Patriot militia against the British alliedCherokee forces in theOvermountain region of the American frontier.

In mid-July,Dragging Canoe,Oconostota, andThe Raven led a surprise attack on theOvermountain settlements of Eaton's station,Fort Watauga, and Carter's Valley, respectively.^[1] The purpose of the coordinated, three-pronged attacks were to drive the settlers of theWashington District back over theAppalachian Mountains. The attacks were made with the knowledge that the British allies of the Cherokee would be escalating their war against the American rebels following their recentDeclaration of Independence. The Cherokee were going to war.^[2][3]

Warned ahead of time of the coming assault by messengers sent from Cherokee diplomatNancy Ward, the areas' militia members, most of whom were battle hardened and experienced from the recentDunmore's War, were mustered to Eaton's station,^[3][4][b] situated on the ridge just east of Long Island.^[5] Under Majors James Thompson^[c] andWilliam Cocke, they readied Eaton's station for battle. Along with a small garrison of soldiers that had been stationed in the area, they rapidly fortified the simpleway-station and constructed a stockade fence of logs and rails around it.^[5][6][7] Then the frontiersmen waited for the arrival of the war party.^[6]

Both of the opposing forces comprised less than 200 men each: about 170 for the frontiersmen, and approximately 190 for the Indians.^[5] The Native American raiders were following Cherokeewar chiefs,Oconostota,Dragging Canoe (Tsiyu Gansini) andThe Raven (Savanukah), all of whom were skilled and experienced warriors. They started their campaign against the settlers on July 20, 1776. Because of the lack of surprise that they counted on, the Cherokees were quickly routed, and they withdrew after suffering at least 14 fatalities (nearly one-twelfth of their entire force). The Indians also suffered several lesser casualties—including a badly wounded Dragging Canoe.^[5][7] The station defenders suffered four casualties.^[3]

After being beaten back by the frontiersmen, Cherokee raiding parties continued attacks against the isolated settlements in the region. State militias retaliated, destroying Native villages and crops.^[2]

• Alderman, Pat;Dragging Canoe: Cherokee-Chickamauga War Chief; Overmountain Press; Johnson City, Tennessee; (1978)
• Brown, John P;Old Frontiers; Kingsport: Southern Publishers; (1938)
• Haywood, W.H.;The Civil and Political History of the State of Tennessee from its Earliest Settlement up to the Year 1796; Methodist Episcopal Publishing House; Nashville; (1891)
• Moore, John Trotwood; Foster, Austin P.;Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 1; S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.; Chicago; (1923)

• Battle of Long Island Flats; Waymarking.com; Roadside Historical Marker; Text & Picture

• 18th-century Cherokee history
• 1776 in the United States
• Tennessee in the American Revolution
• Conflicts in 1776
• Native American history of Tennessee
• 18th century in the United States

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