Battle of Horseshoe Bend
The
Battle of Horseshoe Bend was fought during the
War of 1812 in central
Alabama. On
March 27,
1814 United States forces and Indian allies under General
Andrew Jackson defeated the
Red Sticks, part of the
Creek Indian tribe, effectively ending the
Creek War.
Although having nothing to do with the British or Canadians, the battle is still 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
Andrew 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 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 of Chief
Menawa's Red Stick camp near a bend in the
Tallapoosa River, called "Horseshoe Bend" in central
Alabama. 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.
On
March 27, at 10:30 in the morning 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
breastworks. Coffee's Cherokees and cavalry began crossing the river, and fought the Red Sticks on their rear.
Jackson then ordered an all-out
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; and 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, to lead only about 200 of the original 1,000 warriors across the river, and into "safety" among the Seminole tribe in Spanish Florida. To obtain an accurate body count, Tennesseans cut the tip of dead Creeks' noses off. A few soldiers cut long strips of skin from the Indians' bodies to make
bridle reins for their horses.
On
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 km²)—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 km²) of the 23 million acres (93,000 km²) 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, where the only known interpretive video on the subject can be seen, narrated by Wes Studi and Directed by Bill Greene.
*
Creek (people)* See
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collision of Cultures for a lesson about the Battle of Horseshoe Bend from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.
*
A map of Creek War Battle Sites from the PCL Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
*Steve Rajtar's book, "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 0385239548
*
Andrew Burstein The Passions of Andrew Jackson (Alfred A. Kopf 2003), p. 105-106 ISBN 03754142828
