Join us for a powerful and immersive commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Island Flats, the opening major engagement of the Cherokee War of 1776. Fought near the Holston River in present-day Kingsport, this pivotal conflict marked the beginning of a brutal frontier war that reshaped the future of the American south and west.

In July 1776, Cherokee warriors under the leadership of Dragging Canoe launched coordinated attacks against frontier settlements including the Watauga communities. At Island Flats, Virginia militia from Fincastle County met that attack in a desperate and defining struggle—one that would set in motion a wider campaign culminating in the invasion of Cherokee towns and the eventual Treaty of Long Island (Treaty of Avery) in what is now Kingsport in 1777.

This two-day commemoration will bring that moment and its consequences to life through historically grounded, place-based interpretation at and near the original battlefield, located near present-day Fort Henry Mall and Ross N. Robinson Middle School.

Featured Experiences Include:

• Living History Encampments & Material Culture Engage directly with Cherokee interpreters from the Appalachian region and Virginia militia living historians as they present the lifeways, clothing, and technologies of the 18th-century frontier. This is not a staged performance, but an opportunity to explore how people on both sides lived, prepared, and understood the conflict.
• Historic Weapons Demonstrations Scheduled firing demonstrations of reproduction 18th-century firearms will interpret the realities of frontier warfare, including the capabilities and limitations of the weapons used during the battle.
• Historic Foodways Experience the tastes and techniques of the 18th century through demonstrations of period food preparation, offering insight into the daily realities of survival in a contested landscape.
• Descendants’ Panel Discussion: A moderated conversation featuring descendants of participants on both sides of the Cherokee War, exploring memory, legacy, and the long human shadow of the conflict.
• War Walk: Battlefield Interpretation Guided interpretive walks across the landscape of the battle itself will connect participants directly to the terrain, decisions, and movements that shaped the engagement. This is an opportunity to understand the battle as it unfolded on the ground—not as abstraction, but as lived experience.
• Primary Sources & Historical Documents Examine Revolutionary-era pension applications and other firsthand accounts from veterans of the conflict. These documents offer rare and compelling insight into how participants remembered—and justified—the war decades later.
• Treaty of Long Island (Avery) Interpretation Learn about the 1777 treaty negotiated on the Long Island of the Holston, which brought the war to a close and opened vast areas of present-day Southwest Virginia, East Tennessee, Western North Carolina, and Kentucky to American settlement—lands that remain central to ongoing historical and cultural conversations today, including the treaty site now occupied by Eastman Chemical Company.

This commemoration does not present a simplified or celebratory narrative. Instead, it invites participants to confront the complexity of the Cherokee War—its causes, its violence, and its consequences—through direct engagement with place, people, and primary evidence.