The Battle of the Black Hole, also known as the Battle of Coweecho River, lasted about two hours and had surprisingly few casualties, considering its location and just how fierce the fighting was.

Colonel Andrew Williamson essentially marched into an ambush in a deep gorge, and had to fight their way out. They began by using a circular formation because they found themselves surrounded. But because they were in such a tight spot geographically, they realized that the only way out is through, as the expression goes. Williamson led a bayonet charge, which drove out the Cherokees, who were low on ammunition anyway.

Four Cherokees were killed altogether, and eleven militiamen were killed, plus twenty-four men were wounded.

Interestingly, the exact location of the battle is not known, but based on contemporary accounts, historians have placed it at or near Wayah Gap in Macon County, NC. For some time there was an argument that it took place further north, in Swain County, a place called “Indian Grave Gap.” But given the militia groups’ respective destinations as they moved, this location doesn’t make sense.

The fact is, much of the correct information for this battle had to be painstakingly teased from contemporary reports. At one point it was thought that it was General Rutherford’s men who had fought the battle, but that was based on a single article written nearly a hundred years later. Furthermore, that article was based on sketchy research.

So the Battle of the Black Hole was brief, it was relatively bloodless, and it was the last battle in the Cherokee-American War that would take place in North Carolina, though many more were to come in other states.

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