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Battle of Horseshoe Bend
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BackgroundAlthough having nothing to do with the British or Canadians, the battle is considered part of the War of 1812. More specifically, it was the major battle of the Creek War, in which Andrew Jackson sought to "clear" Alabama for American settlement. General Jackson was in command of an army of West Tennessee militia, which he had turned into a well-trained fighting force. To add to these militia units was the 39th United States Infantry and about 600 Cherokee, Choctaw and Lower Creek Indians fighting against the Red Stick Creek Indians. After leaving Fort Williams in the spring of 1814, Jackson's army cut its way through the forest to within 6 miles (10 km) of Chief Menawa's Red Stick camp near a bend in the Tallapoosa River, called "Horseshoe Bend," in central Alabama, 12 miles east of what is now Alexander City.
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BackgroundAlthough having nothing to do with the British or Canadians, the battle is considered part of the War of 1812. More specifically, it was the major battle of the Creek War, in which Andrew Jackson sought to "clear" Alabama for American settlement. General Jackson was in command of an army of West Tennessee militia, which he had turned into a well-trained fighting force. To add to these militia units was the 39th United States Infantry and about 600 Cherokee, Choctaw and Lower Creek Indians fighting against the Red Stick Creek Indians. After leaving Fort Williams in the spring of 1814, Jackson's army cut its way through the forest to within 6 miles (10 km) of Chief Menawa's Red Stick camp near a bend in the Tallapoosa River, called "Horseshoe Bend," in central Alabama, 12 miles east of what is now Alexander City. Jackson sent General John Coffee with the mounted infantry and the Indian allies south across the river to surround the Red Sticks camp, while Jackson stayed with the rest of the 2,000 infantry north of the camp.
BattleOn March 27 at 10:30 a.m., Jackson began an artillery barrage which consisted of two cannons firing for about two hours. Little damage was caused to the Red Sticks or their fortifications. Coffee's Cherokees and cavalry began crossing the river and fought the Red Sticks on their rear.
Jackson then ordered a bayonet charge. The infantry charged the breastworks surrounding the camp and caught the Red Sticks in a cross fire. Sam Houston (the future governor of Tennessee and Texas) served as a third lieutenant in Jackson's army. Houston was one of the first to make it over the log barricade alive and received a wound from a Creek arrow that troubled him the rest of his life.
The battle raged for about five hours. Roughly 550 Red Sticks were killed on the field, while many of the rest were killed trying to cross the river. Future United States Senator John Eaton wrote "This battle gave a death blow to [the enemy's] hopes, nor did they venture, afterwards, to make a stand... In this action, the best and bravest of their warriors were destroyed".
Chief Menawa was severely wounded but survived and led only about 200 of the original 1,000 warriors across the river and into safety among the Seminole tribe in Spanish Florida.
ResultsOn August 9, 1814, Andrew Jackson forced the Creeks to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Despite protest of the Creek chiefs who had fought alongside Jackson, the Creek Nation ceded 23 million acres (93,000 km˛)—half of Alabama and part of southern Georgia—to the United States government. Even though the Creek War was largely a civil war between the Creeks, Andrew Jackson saw no difference between the Creeks that had fought with him and the Red Sticks that fought against him. 1.9 million acres (7,700 km˛) of the 23 million acres (93,000 km˛) Jackson forced the Creeks to cede was claimed by the Cherokee Nation who had allied with the United States.
This victory, along with the Battle of New Orleans, gave Andrew Jackson the popularity to win election as President of the United States in 1828.
The battlefield is preserved in the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park.
In FictionThe Battle of Horseshoe Bend is the initial point of divergence in the series of alternate history novels by author Eric Flint. In Flint's altered timeline, Houston is only lightly wounded in the battle. He is then breveted to captain by Jackson and sent to Washington to help negotiate a peaceful settlement between the United States and the Cherokees, Creeks and other southern tribes. He arrives in Washington shortly after the Battle of Bladensburg and rallies defeated US troops and organizes black teamsters into an ad-hoc artillery force to successfully defend the Capitol building, preventing the burning of Washington.
Further reading- Steve Rajtar, "Indian War Sites" (McFarland and Company, Inc., 1999)
- John Ehle, Trail of Tears The Rise and Fall of the Cherokee Nation (Anchor Books Editions 1989), pg 117-121 ISBN 0-385-23954-8
- Andrew Burstein The Passions of Andrew Jackson (Alfred A. Knopf 2003), p. 105-106 ISBN 0-375-71404-9
External links- See for a lesson about the Battle of Horseshoe Bend from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.
- from the PCL Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
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