Led by Peter McQueen, a faction of Creek Indians known as the Upper Creek or Red Sticks travel to Pensacola to meet with Spanish officials and try to convince them to give the Indians weapons and ammunition to battle American settlers and their opponents among the Creek (also known as the White Sticks). On their way back to Creek territory, the Red Sticks are attacked by militia troops at Burnt Corn Creek, a tributary of the Alabama River. Though surprised by the assault, the Creek are soon able to drive off the Americans, with few casualties on both sides. The Battle of Burnt Corn Creek signals that the civil conflicts among the Creek have escalated into a war between the Red Stick Creek and the United States. (See also entries for AUGUST 30, 1813, and for MARCH 27, 1814.)
Fort Mims is attacked by Creek rebels.
Fearing a retaliatory attack by the Red Stick Creek (see entry for JULY 27, 1813), hundreds of White Stick Creek, American settlers, and their African-American slaves take refuge at Fort Mims on the Alabama River. On August 29, several slaves warn
A melodramatic depiction of the 1813 attack on Fort Mims, which left more than 500 non-Indians dead at the hands of the Red Stick Creek (Library of Congress, Neg. no. USZ62-36279)
The fort commander, Major Daniel Beasley, that they have seen Indians hiding in the tall grass outside the post, but Beasley ignores their warnings and orders them flogged.
At noon the next day, 700 Red Sticks led by Red Eagle (also known as William Weatherford) enter the fort, whose gates have been left open. The warriors kill more than 500 whites and White Stick Creek, but they spare the lives of most of the slaves, taking them as war prisoners. The Red Sticks suffer about one hundred casualties.
The Fort Mims attack creates a panic among settlers on the southern frontier. Militia forces from Georgia and Tennessee, augmented by federal troops, are immediately sent out to subdue the Creek rebels. (See also entry for MARCH 27, 1814.)
Tecumseh is killed at the Battle of the Thames.
Shawnee war leader Tecumseh, fighting alongside British troops led by Colonel Henry Procter (see entry for JUNE 19, 1812), is angered by British plans to retreat before American forces invading Canada. Accused of cowardice, Procter acquiesces to Tecum-seh’s demand that their British-Indian force turn back and fight. They encounter the American army on the Thames River near what is now Moraviantown, Ontario. The British troops soon flee the battlefield, while Tecumseh’s warriors continue to fight. During the battle, Tecumseh is killed, and his corpse is mutilated and skinned. Later, Colonel Richard M. Johnson will claim that he shot the great Shawnee leader. In 1836 Johnson will lead a successful vice-presidential campaign with the slogan “Rumsey Dumsey/Rumsey Dumsey/Colonel Johnson killed Tecumsey.”
After Tecumseh’s death, the confederacy he built will quickly crumble. With it will end all hope for any continued large-scale Indian resistance to white settlement east of the Mississippi River.
World History
