The Chowanoc War from 1675 to 1677 was between the

Albemarle County Albemarle County is a United States county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Ch ...

colony army (a part of English America's

Province of Carolina The Province of Carolina was a colony of the Kingdom of England (1663–1707) and later the Kingdom of Great Britain (1707–1712) that existed in North America and the Caribbean from 1663 until the Carolinas were partitioned into North and Sou ...

), and the Chowanoc Native American tribe. For two years, the Chowanoc fought with the forces of Peter Jenkins, commander of the colony's army. In the summer of 1677, the colony won, and the Chowanoc were forcibly moved to modern-day

Gates County Gates County is a county located in the northeastern portion of the U.S. state of North Carolina, on the border with Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,478, making it the fifth-least populous county in North Carolina. Its ...

Background

{{See also, Chowanoc, Albemarle Settlements In 1662, the first permanent English settlers occupied the area north of

, which became a part of the

. The Chowanoc Native Americans were living in northern Ablemarle County, on their ancestral home on the

Meherrin River The Meherrin River is a long 6th order tributary to the Chowan River that joins in Hertford County, North Carolina. A twenty-foot-high dam on the river creates a reservoir in Emporia. For most of its length, the Meherrin is not large enough ...

; in the county, the Chowanoc, Pasquotank, Poteskeet, and Yeopim had a combined population of 200. The population was strong enough to have turned the English settlers away, but the two groups made a peace treaty in 1663.Lee 1963, pp. 4, 14, 16. In 1670, Peter Jenkins was promoted lieutenant colonel of the Albemarle colony's army.Powell 1988, p. 278. Around 1675, the other Native Americans living in the region convinced the Chowanoc to attack the English, as the English were attacking the Natives in the area. The English in Ablemarle County hadn't experienced violence since possibly 1666.

Course of the war

In 1675, the Chowanoc attacked the English, disregarding the 1663 treaty.Johnson 1972, p. 214. The English forces were commanded by Peter Jenkins. Both sides suffered heavy losses. The settlers lived in their "isolated homesteads" in constant fear of attack, which made settler travel in the area difficult. However, they had the strength of guns. The war dragged on for two years, when in 1677, a ship arrived carrying arms and ammunition for the English. In the summer of 1677, the colony won, which was a "crushing defeat" for the Chowanoc. The tribe was moved from the Meherrin River to a reservation on Bennett's Creek, in modern-day

.Ward, Davis 2018, p. 273

References

Sources

*Powell, William S. (1988). ''Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: H-K Volume 3'', University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807818060 * Johnson, Frank Roy (1972). ''The Algonquians: Indians of that Part of the New World First Visited by the English'', University of Wisconsin-Madison. ISBN 9780930230012 * Lee, E. Lawrence (1963). Indian Wars in North Carolina, 1663–1763, North Carolina Office of Archives and History. ISBN 9780865260849 * H. Trawick Ward, R. P. Stephen Davis Jr. (2018). ''Time Before History: The Archaeology of North Carolina'', University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469647777 Civil wars involving the states and peoples of North America 1670s conflicts 1675 in the Thirteen Colonies 1676 in the Thirteen Colonies 1677 in the Thirteen Colonies 1670s in the Thirteen Colonies Pre-statehood history of North Carolina Province of Carolina Chowanoc