Fort Dobbs, built to defend against attacks by French-allied Native people, was attacked only once in its history, during the Anglo-Cherokee War. On the night of February 27, 1760, after several days of seeing Cherokee nearby and being alerted by barking dogs, a small party from the garrison advanced under cover of darkness toward the place where they believed the Cherokee were gathered. Several hundred yards from the fort, near a spring, the soldiers met a Cherokee party and a brief firefight followed. The Cherokee then pursued the soldiers back to the fort while another Cherokee party attacked the fort at the same time. The skirmish did not end the local fighting between former allies, and two weeks later militia and soldiers were attacked at Moses Pott's house a mile northwest of the fort. Colonel Hugh Waddell wrote that he and Captain Baillie, with a party of ten, had gone out after observing small parties of Indians around the fort for several days, and that after marching 300 yards they were attacked by at least 60 or 70 Indians. He said his men held their fire until the attackers had nearly all fired, then answered from within 12 steps with loads of one bullet and 7 buckshot, which confused the attackers. He ordered a retreat when he realized another party had attacked the fort, and after reinforcing the garrison, the attackers were repulsed with what he believed was considerable loss. He believed they suffered no fewer than 10 or 12 killed and wounded, and that 6 of his horses were taken to carry away their wounded; the next morning, his men found much blood and one dead person. On his side, 2 men were wounded, one of whom he feared would die because he had been scalped, while the other was recovering.