- Collection:
- Southeastern Native American Documents, 1730-1842
- Title:
- Account of a battle axe taken from an Indian at the Battle of Long Island Flats in 1776, 1860 Jan. 6 / Alfred H. White of an image
- Creator:
- White, Alfred H., fl. 1860
- Publisher:
- Manuscript held by the Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN, Governor McMinn Letters , box 16, folder n/a, document tl019.
- Date of Original:
- 1860-01-06
- Subject:
- Cherokee Indians--Warfare
Tomahawks
Tennessee Historical Society
Tennessee--History--Revolution, 1775-1783 - Location:
- United States, Tennessee, 35.75035, -86.25027
- Medium:
- writings
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- text/html
image/jpeg - Description:
- This document, entitled "Account of a Battle Axe Taken from an Indian at the Battle of Long Island Flats in 1776," describes the circumstances surrounding the discovery of a tomahawk thought to belong to a Cherokee warrior. The written account was furnished by Alfred H. White along with his donation of the tomahawk to the Historical Society of Tennessee on January 6, 1860. According to White, who received the story secondhand from a Mr. George W. Netherland, the tomahawk is believed to have belonged to a Cherokee man known as "Big Indian". White claims that during the Battle of Long Island Flats (present-day Tennessee), an American soldier by the name of Moore fought with Big Indian and killed him. The tomahawk was found in the vicinity of Moore's combat with Big Indian and believed to have belonged to the warrior because of its large size.
Digital image and encoded transcription of an original manuscript, scanned, transcribed and encoded by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Libraries in 2001, as part of GALILEO, funded in part by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. - Local Identifier:
- gml019
- External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_gml019
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_gml019#item
- IIIF manifest:
- https://dlg.usg.edu/record/dlg_zlna_gml019/presentation/manifest.json
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [title of item], Governor McMinn Letters , Tennessee State Library and Archives, Nashville, TN, presented in the Digital Library of Georgia
- Extent:
- 3 pages/leaves
- Holding Institution:
- Tennessee State Library and Archives
- Rights:
-
Page: [1]
The supposed tradition of this Tomahawk is that at the battle of Long Island Flats in E Tenn [East Tennessee] , When ordered to charge a man by the name of Moore came in contact with one of the chiefs of the Cherokee nation known from his immense statue & well developed form as the "Big Indian," Moore was the stoutest man belonging to the American party, their rifles being uncharged they clinched immediately, the Indian being the most active threw Moore near a sinkhole and both rooled [rolled] into to it Moore having turned the Indian in the scuffle, The Indian drew his knife when Moore grasped his wrist outminded & killed him, This Tomahawk was found near where the action took place.
Mr Moore died some fifteen years since, he resided near Kingsport in Sullivan Co [County] E Tenn. [East Tennessee] the circumstances as related are from Geo [George] W Netherland who resides on Long Island in the Holston river, The place where the
Page: [2]
Indians retreated after their defeat, another reason for supposing that this Tomahawk belonged to the "Big Indian" is on account of its being larger than any implement of the kind yet seen.
It is respectfully tendered to the Historical Sty [Society] of Tennessee by
[Signed] Alfred H. White corresponding member of THS [Tennessee Historical Society] of Giles Co [County] Tenn [Tennessee]
Page: [3]
Account of a Battle Axe Taken from an Indian at the battle of Long Island Flats in
1776. presented -- Recd [Received]
Jany [January] 6. 1860.