Rutherford Light Horse expedition

The Rutherford Light Horse expedition was a punitive military excursion launched against the Lower, Middle, and Overhill Cherokee settlements of the Cherokee Indians in the Appalachian region of North Carolina. This was in retaliation for the Native Indian strikes made against the European American settlements of the Watauga Association in July 1776, in an early action of the American War of Independence.

Source: Wikipedia — Rutherford Light Horse expedition (CC BY-SA 4.0)