200th anniversary of Battle Horseshoe Bend is tomorrow

Horseshoe Bend National Military Park

Tomorrow (March 27, 2014) will mark the 200th anniversary of the cataclysmic Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama.

Fought on March 27, 1814, between the U.S. Army of Major General Andrew Jackson and the Red Stick Creek army of Menawa, the battle broke the power of the Creek Nation and started the Creeks on their journey to the Trail of Tears.

The Red Sticks were followers of a religious movement started in the Creek nation by the Prophet Josiah Francis. They believed in a return to traditional ways and a disassociation with the so-called "Plan of Civilization" introduced into the nation by United States through its agent for Indian affairs, Benjamin Hawkins.

Fort Mims State Historic Site

The Red Sticks had gone to war against the traditional leaders of the nation in 1813 after several of their party had been assassinated for involvement in an attack against white settlers on the Duck River in Tennessee. The Creek War of 1813-1814 began as a civil war among the Creeks themselves, but spilled over after Mississippi Territorial Militia attacked a Red Stick supply party at Burnt Corn Creek in Escambia County, Alabama.

The Red Sticks won the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek then retaliated against the United States by attacking Fort Mims and killing more than 250 men, women and children. The destruction of Fort Mims stunned the American frontier and led to the invasion of the Creek nation by three U.S. armies.

Holy Ground Battlefield Park

An army under Gen. F.L. Claiborne pushed up the Alabama River and destroyed the primary town of the Prophet Francis at the Battle of Holy Ground. A second army under Gen. John Floyd built Fort Mitchell on the Chattahoochee River and then fought the Creeks at Autossee (Atosi) and Calabee Creek in eastern Alabama. The third army, under Andrew Jackson, pushed south from Tennessee and fought the Red Sticks at Tallushatchee, Talladega, Emuckfau and Enitichopco before closing in on the Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River 200 years ago today.

Site of Tohopeka at Horseshoe Bend

One of the two main forces of Red Stick warriors had fortified themselves at Horseshoe Bend, building a village there they called Tohopeka ("Horse's Flat Foot") after a unique looping bend of the Tallapoosa River that looks like a  horse's hoof from the air. Led by the war chief Menawa and the prophet Monahoe, the Creek army numbered perhaps 1,000 men.

Jackson's army, which included both Cherokee and U.S. allied Creeks, outnumbered the Red Sticks by more than 3 to 1 but the fortifications erected by the defenders were extremely well constructed. The outcome of the fight was in no way clear on the evening before the battle as the U.S. troops approached Tohopeka.

I will post more on the Battle of Horseshoe Bend tomorrow. If you would like to read more now, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/AlabamaHSB.

The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama

Fought on March 27, 1814, in the rolling hills of Central Alabama, the Battle of Horseshoe Bend was one of the most important battles in American history and one of the most dramatic U.S. victories of the War of 1812.

For six months, the United States had been engaged in brutal combat with the "Red Stick" faction of the Creek Nation. The Red Sticks, so named because they displayed red warclubs or "sticks" in their towns, were a nativist group of Creeks who followed a religious movement developed by the Shawnee prophet, Tenskwatawa. The waged a civil war for control of the Creek Nation beginning in 1812, but began fighting the United States in 1813 after a party of Mississippi Territorial Militia attacked one of their supply trains at Burnt Corn Creek, Alabama.

The resulting conflict, remembered today as the Creek War of 1813-1814, was a part of the War of 1812. After two previous United States invasions of the Creek Nation turned back due to supply shortages and heavy fighting, Major General Andrew Jackson fought his way south into the heart of the nation with an army from Tennessee. On March 27, 1814, he attacked the Red Stick fortifications at Tohopeka ("Horse's Flat Foot" or "Horseshoe Bend") on the Tallapoosa River.

The resulting Battle of Horseshoe Bend forever broke the power of the Creek Nation. To learn more about the battle and see modern photographs of the battlefield, please visit our Horseshoe Bend Battlefield pages at: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/AlabamaHSB.

The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama

The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama was one of the most significant military encounters in American history. Fought on March 27, 1814, the battle was the final major engagement of the Creek War of 1813-1814 and one of the most convincing American victories of the War of 1812.

The Creek War was an outgrowth of a civil war that had erupted among the Creek Nation in Alabama and Georgia. A branch of the nation, called the "Red Sticks" or "Red Clubs," became devoted followers of a religious movement headed by the Shawnee Prophet, Tenskwatawa. Led by the Alabama Prophet, Josiah Francis or Hillis Hadjo, the Red Sticks opened a war against the so-called "White Party" of the Creeks, led by the traditional leader of the nation, Big Warrior.

The war spilled over after a party of white militia attacked a Red Stick party carrying ammunition back to the nation from Pensacola at Burnt Corn Creek, Alabama, during the summer of 1813. The Red Sticks responded by attacking and capturing Fort Mims, a frontier stockade north of Mobile and killing hundreds of the men, women and children in the fort.

The Fort Mims attack outraged the frontier and U.S. armies advanced on the Red Sticks from three directions. The principal of these, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee, pushed south into the Creek heartland fighting four major battles during the winter of 1813-1814. Jackson finally attacked the primary Red Stick stronghold at Tohopeka or "Horseshoe Bend" on March 27, 1814.

The Creeks had fortified the bend by erecting a strong wall across the narrow neck of land created by the looping course of the Tallapoosa River. The wall proved impervious to artillery fire from Jackson's army. The stalemate was broken when a party of Cherokee and "White Party" Creek warriors swam the river behind the Red Stick battlelines and brought back canoes to allow a force to attack the barricade from the rear.

When Jackson heard the sounds of this attack, he ordered his main army to charge and storm the barricade. Led by the 39th U.S. Infantry, the troops stormed forward in a bloody attack that forever broke the power of the Creek Nation in Alabama.

To learn more about the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and to experience an online tour of Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, please visit our Horseshoe Bend pages at: http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/AlabamaHSB.html.