Battle of Burnt Corn
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The Battle of Burnt Corn, also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, was an encounter between United States armed forces and Creek Indians that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day southern Alabama.[1] The battle was part of the Creek War.
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[edit] Background
In July 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of "Red Sticks" warriors proceeded to Pensacola, Florida to buy munitions, with £400 and a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden. In McQueen's words, the Spanish governor gave them "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man."[2] The governor represented this as a "friendly present, for hunting purposes".[2]
But Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 after the events, “High Head told me that, when they went back with their supply, another body of men would go down for another supply of ammunition; and that ten men were to go out of town, and they calculated on 'five horse-loads for every town'.”[3]
[edit] Battle
United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, sent a quickly organized force, led by Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party.[citation needed] The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks as they bedded down for the evening on the banks of Burnt Corn Creek, in what is now northern Escambia County, Alabama.[1]
The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. Flush with victory, the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' pack-horses. From the swamp, the Creeks noticed that the Americans had dropped their guard. The Creek re-grouped and launched a surprise attack of their own, which scattered the Americans.
[edit] Aftermath
In retaliation for the US forces attack at Burnt Corn Creek, the Red Sticks attacked Fort Mims. Both European-American settlers and families from the Lower Creek towns had fled to the fort at the outbreak of the Creek War. Historians believe the Lower Creek were also targets of the Red Stick aggression.[1] They massacred most of the people at the fort, a total of 300-400. This provoked fear among settlers across the Southeast and demands for state and federal governmental action.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Braund, Kathryn E. Holland (2008-10-28). "Creek War of 1813-14". The Encyclopedia of Alabama. http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1820. Retrieved 2009-05-06.
- ^ a b Adams, Henry (1891). History of the United States of America: The second administration of James Madison, 1813-1817. C. Scribner's. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-940450-35-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=6uV2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA228&dq=History+of+the+United+States+of+America+henry+adams+burnt+corn&hl=en&ei=-rwLTtj6GYmltwegvPiIAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- ^ Modette. "History of the Mississippi Valley, Volume II". http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cmamcrk4/crkdox1.html. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
[edit] External links
- A map of Creek War Battle Sites from the PCL Map Collection at the Universtity of Texas at Austin.
- Account of the Battle of Burnt Corn
- The Deposition of Samuel Moniac taken in 1813.
Coordinates: 31°11′22″N 87°07′33″W / 31.18957°N 87.12587°W
