Military Career of Captain James Shelby, Brother of Governor Isaac Shelby of Kentucky - Samuel C. Williams - Johnson City, Tennessee - October 1941 - Page 229 - James Shelby's next active service was in the first battle of the Revolution in the West--that of the Island Flats, near the Long Island of Holston, fought on July 20, 1776. The Overhill Cherokees, under incitement of British agents, marched in force against the white settlers in Upper East Tennessee and the lower part of Southwest Virginia. These settlers had received warning through a white trader in the Indian towns and prepared for the shock. The Indians, about 700 strong, divided the warriors into three divisions, each of which was to strike Separated settlements. The division designed to destroy the settlements on and near the Holston (within the present county of Sullivan) was led by Chief Dragging Canoe. Warned of the imminent approach of the red foe[ the militia of the region gathered at Eaton's Station, about six miles from the Long Island, to oppose the enemy. There was no officer higher in rank than captain, so the senior captain, James Thompson, a son-in-law of Evan Shelby, Sr., was in command, the other captains being William Buchanan, John Campbell, William Cocke, Thomas Madison and James Shelby.
