The WIlliam Anderson who was in the Powell valley was there before the revolution [Source: The Gulf States Historical Magazine, Vol I, Sept 1902, page 141.] He was living in the valley in a cabin when Joseph Martin and his associate John Redd from Henry County VIrginia arrived in the valley to survey some land for themselves. They all came under indian attack and had to hole up in the cabin for the winter. Joseph Martin traveled back east and was instrumental in getting the Virginia House of Burgesse to vote to send and expedition under General William Christian. This campaign was officially directed from the Virginia Congress and is therefore accepted as military service in the American Revolution. The call had been directed in response to reports of British attempts to stir the Indians into active warfare against the western settlements of the Colonies. This campaign against the overhill Cherokees lasted a year and involved an extended overland trek by the army as far west as what is now Knoxville, Tennessee. After the burning of the Indian Villages, the elderly chiefs of the Cherokee sued for peace and the Treaty of 1777 was signed at Long Island, Tennessee. This ceded all the northeastern lands of the Cherokee Indians to the United States. Joseph Martin was established as Indian commissioner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and moved to Long Island, TN. Patrick J. Anderson http://members.aol.com/patander73/home.html 9654 Baltimore Avenue, Laurel, Maryland 20723