The Cherokee finally declare open war against the British in 1759 (but are fighting independently and not as allies of France).

A number of Muscogee under Big Mortar move up to Coosawatie.

These people have long been French allies in support of the Cherokee pro-French faction centered in Great Tellico.

The governor of South Carolina, William Henry Lyttelton, embargoes all gunpowder shipments to the Cherokee and raises an army of eleven hundred men, which marches to confront the Lower Towns of the Cherokee.

Desperate for ammunition for their fall and winter hunts, the nation sends a delegation of moderate chiefs to negotiate.

The twenty-nine chiefs are taken prisoner as hostages and sent to Fort Prince George, escorted by the provincial army.

Lyttleton thinks this will ensure peace.