Creek Indian War
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Creek Indian War (1813-1815) Also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War. The conflict began as a civil war between rival factions in the Creek Indian nation. The United States became involved when U.S. troops attacked a Creek war party at the Battle of Burnt Corn (27 Jul 1813). The Red Stick faction escalated the conflict by attacking Fort Mims on 30 Aug 1813. They massacred some 500 people including all the whites they could find, including women and children. Chief William Weatherford was blamed for the killings, although there was some evidence that he tried, but was unable to control his warriors. After the Fort Mims Massacre the remaining settlers fled to the relative safety of the numerous forts that had been constructed in Alabama and Georgia. General Andrew Jackson assembled a force of state militias, Creek and Cherokee allies and defeated William Weatherford and the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (27 Mar 1814).
The etching above depicts General Jackson interviewing William Weatherford after he turned himself in at Fort Jackson. General Jackson spared Weatherford's life and used him to bring other Creek chiefs to a peace conference. The conflict formally ended with the Treaty of Fort Jackson on 9 Aug 1814. The Creeks were forced to cede to the U.S. Government some 21 million acres in Georgia and Alabama. The 21 Million acres included the lands of Jackson's Indian allies and his foes alike and precipitated the removal of the Creeks to the west and the First Seminole War in Florida. Jackson went on to capture Pensacola from the British and to defeat them at the Battle of New Orleans.
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