Timberlake Expedition
1761 peace mission into the Overhill Cherokee lands
The Timberlake Expedition was an excursion into the Overhill Cherokee lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, which took place in 1761 following the Anglo-Cherokee War. Its purpose was to renew and solidify friendship between colonial Americans and the Cherokee following the three-year war. The endeavor is named after the commander of the expedition, Henry Timberlake.
Organization
The Timberlake Expedition was organized in 1761 by Colonel Adam Stephen. The expressed purpose of the expedition was to visit the Overhill Cherokee (in present-day Tennessee) to verify that an end of hostilities of the Anglo-Cherokee War had taken place in the Virginia back-country. Stephen gave command of the expedition to Henry Timberlake, who had volunteered for the assignment. Timberlake was accompanied by Sergeant Thomas Sumter (who funded the expedition), John McCormack (an interpreter), and a servant. The small group purchased a canoe and ten days' worth of provisions with money Sumter had borrowed. The planned route was to follow the Holston River to its confluence with the French Broad River, and proceed to the Little Tennessee River, where the five main Overhill towns were situated.
Expedition
Timberlake's party left Long Island-on-the-Holston on November 28, 1761.
“Timberlake Expedition” enters the record as 1761 peace mission into the Overhill Cherokee lands. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Timberlake, Expedition and peace can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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