Chickamauga Indians (Tsǐkăma’gi, a word apparently of foreign origin and probably Shawnee, Creek, or Chickasaw). The name given to a band of Cherokee who espoused the English cause in the war of the Revolution and moved far down on Tennessee River, establishing new settlements on Chickamauga Creek, in the neighborhood of the present Chattanooga.
Under this name they soon became noted for their uncompromising and never ceasing hostility. In 1782 their towns were destroyed by Sevier and Campbell, and they moved farther down the river, establishing what were afterward known as the “five lower towns,” Running Water, Nickajack, Long Island, Crow Town, and Lookout Mountain Town. Here they were continually recruited by Creeks, Shawnee, and white Tories, until they were estimated to number a thousand warriors. They continued hostilities against the Tennessee settlements until 1794, when their towns were destroyed.
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