Cherokee Vengeance – the Fall of Ft. Loudoun

Cherokee Vengeance: Victory at Cane Creek, The last painting in a five-part series depicting the life and times of Ft. Loudoun

The Cherokee warrior lunges confidently forward, war club poised above his head, poised to strike down the Redcoat, as he frantically draws his sword..Another surprised soldier loads his flintlock, while a laundress lifts a musket from an unconscious Redcoat,trying to protect herself from the Cherokee onslaught. Chaos. The startled members of the King’s army scramble to defend themselves against the sudden assault.

This is the latest subject in historical artist Ken Smith’s series on the history of Fort Loudoun, which is on permanent loan to the Fort Loudoun Association, and is on display in the Fort Loudoun State Historic Area’s Museum and Visitor Center. A limited edition of 250 prints are available for sale to the public. Cherokee Vengeance completes the series of five paintings based on the life of Fort Loudoun.

As a part of this historic site’s 250th anniversary celebration, the Fort Loudoun Association, the park’s friends group, commissioned Smith to depict key elements of each year of the fort’s existence. Cherokee Vengeance is the last in the series and represents the final moments of the relationship between the Cherokee and the garrison of Fort Loudoun after Captain Demere, of the Independent Company of South Carolina, surrendered the fort to the natives on August 8, 1760. The morning after leaving the fort, while preparing to depart their camp at Cane Creek (near present day Belltown, Tennessee), the people of Fort Loudoun were overwhelmed in a surprise attack by the Cherokee in retaliation for other injustices previously perpetrated by the British.

“It was interesting to try to depict the mood of the Fort each year for the five years of its life, especially knowing in advance how the story was going to turn out,” Smith says about Cherokee Vengeance.

Smith, a resident of Pulaski, Virginia is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Radford University in Radford, Virginia. He holds a BFA from the University of Tennessee, an MA from Syracuse University and a MFA from the University of Hartford. He is available for commissions and portraits. To see more of Smith’s work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.

For more information about Fort Loudoun State Park or to purchase prints, call Fort Loudoun State Historic Area (432-884-6217), or to see more of Smith’s work, visit www.kensmithhistoricalart.com.