The British empire learned this lesson during the American War of Independence. By early 1776, British officials had devised a different strategy. Unfortunately for the British, Dragging Canoe didn’t confine his attacks to the enemies they wanted him to attack: Patriot settlements on the eastern side of the mountains, in the Carolina backcountry. Instead, Dragging Canoe and his raiders focused on the nearby white settlements on the Holston, Nolichucky, and Watauga rivers. After this July 20, 1776, battle of Island Flats, many previously neutral Americans joined the Patriot cause.