William Weatherford

Red Eagle redirects here, for the Red Eagle Division, see 4th Infantry Division (India)

Chief Red Eagle grave site, Baldwin County marker.

William Weatherford, also known as Lamochattee (Red Eagle) by the Creek (c. 1765 – March 24, 1824), was a Creek (Muscogee) chief of the Upper Towns who led the Red Sticks' offensive in the Creek War (1813–1814) against the United States.

Representative of several Indian tribes who were less hostile to European colonial settlers and subsequently intermarried with them, William Weatherford was of mixed Creek, French and Scots ancestry. He was raised in the matrilineal Creek nation and achieved his power there, through his mother's family of the prominent Wind Clan which were nobles of the nation. After the war, he rebuilt his wealth as a slaveholding planter in lower Monroe County, Alabama.

Early life and education

William Weatherford was born in the Upper Towns to Sehoy III, a high-status woman of the Wind Clan, and Charles Weatherford, a Scots trader. His mother was of Creek, French and possibly Scottish descent. As the Creek were a matrilineal culture, Sehoy III's children were absorbed into the tribe despite their European ancestry. Her clan status, the same as her male clan relatives, secured the status of her children. Property and inheritance were passed through the maternal line. Because he belonged to the same clan, a boy's maternal uncle was more important to his upbringing than his biological father. As generations of Creek women had married European traders for strategic alliances, historians believe her children were one-eighth Creek by ancestry.

As a boy Weatherford was called Lamochattee, or "Red Eagle," by other Creek. His "war name" was Hopnicafutsahia, or "Truth Teller." He was the great-grandson of Jean Baptiste Louis DeCourtel Marchand, the French commanding officer of Fort Toulouse and his wife Sehoy, a Creek of mixed race. He was also a nephew of the Creek chief, Alexander McGillivray, who was prominent in the Upper Towns. He was a cousin of William McIntosh, a chief of the Lower Towns, through his mother's family. The Lower Creek, both as a result of enslaving Americans during generations of warfare, and peaceful intermarriage, had become heavily Americanized and were generally opposed the Red Sticks during the war. By marriage, Weatherford was the nephew of Le Clerc Milfort, a French adventurer who led warriors for the chief Alexander McIntosh.

Career

Lamochattee, or "Red Eagle," learned traditional Creek ways and language, as well as English from his father. As a young man, he acquired a plantation in the Upper Creek territory, where he owned slaves, planted commercial crops, and bred and raced horses. He generally had good relations with both the Creek nationals Americans for years, but worried about the increasing number of the latter.

Although heavily Americanized, the Creek retained a distinct more Indian nobility who in turn retained a general opposition to continuing American settlement. Consequently, William Weatherfood and other Upper Creek leaders resented the encroachment of settlers into their previously Creek dominated territory, principally in what the United States of America called the Mississippi Territory, which included their territory in present-day Alabama. Nonetheless, because of various treaties, as well as the customs which existed between the Creek and the American frontiersmen, Weatherfood and most of the other Creek leaders held back from hostile actions.

In these treaties, actual Creek national territory were much smaller compared to the territory claimed by the Creek's themselves. Much of this disputed territory was considered hunting grounds, and in accordance with accepted custom between American frontier clans and Indian nations such as the Creek, these hunting grounds were open to limited American hunting as well. With advancement of American government authority, new treaties recognized Upper Creek territory but specifically denied Creek sovereignty over the much more vast hunting areas. Instead, these areas were considered open to settlement, by either Creek or American. Although some Creek, especially those of mostly American and European ancestry took advantage of this opportunity to lay claim to land, the majority of Creek remained committed to their customs of considering the territory hunting grounds, which ironically only guaranteed the eventual total take over of the lands by American settlers. While American frontier clans remained in predominance among the settlers, the pre-existing customs governing relations between the two communities, kept an uneasy balance of power in the region.

However, after the Americans improved the Trading Path as the National Road in 1811, more Americans settlers came into the hunting territory and lay claim to their own homesteads. Consequently, armed conflict began erupting first as Creek families and then their extended clans and finally bands of the nation itself took up arms in defiance of the Treaties. Although various bands of Creeks, especially in the Upper Creek, resisted in a number of armed conflicts, most of the more heavily American Lower Creek towns made peaceful agreements recognizing land concessions in 1790, 1802, and 1805. In sum, combined with subsequent treaties and agreements signed with defeated hostile Creek bands, most of the land claimed as hunting ground in defiance of the Treaties, was quickly recognized as lost to new settler homesteads.

Although these settlements made reality the loss of an already vanished life-style, unlike most other Indian nations, the majority of the Creek once faced with the transformation of life quickly began to make a transition to more settled farming practices. As a result, most of the Creek managed to continue as independent communities while slowly becoming almost indistinguishable from other frontier families. Nonetheless, other Creek, especially in the Upper Creek towns, continued to advance more belligerent responses to the changing face of the territory. In these debates, Lamochattee counseled neutrality in the rise of hostilities. However, he was soon ignored as Spanish espionage agents succeeded in turning most of the Creek against further neutrality.

Eager to stop American advancement, remaining European colonial powers were keen on exploiting this opportunity by helping in arming, training, supplying and in general inciting more Indian resistance. For centuries, Spanish Florida had been notoriously successful in using Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee and Seminole Indian nations as proxies against the Americans. From their fortresses in Pensecola and St. Augustine, Spanish officered and equipped bands of hostile Indians and escaped black slaves had made the frontier along Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee and later into Mississippi and Alabama a frequently war ravaged region. During these periods, Indian and Black Americans night raids slaughtered unprepared or isolated American homesteads and communities, freeing any slaves which wished to join and could be considered worthy warriors, and enslaving surviving women and children before returning to Spanish protected territory. During the French and Indian Wars and American Revolution, Spanish neutrality and eventual temporary alliance with America had ended most of these raids. However, with Independence and American expansion came another program of inciting the Indians against Americans. Thus, supporting Indian hostilities once again became Spanish policy and they were soon joined by the British.

Consequently, many leaders of the Upper Creek began engaging in secret diplomacy with Spanish and British colonial officials and in turn establishing secret treaties with a host of other similar minded Indian nations all along the American frontier. In the debates in Creek councils, those advocating war became known as Red Sticks, who soon became the dominant faction in Creek national politics. Red Stick bands were soon seen moving down to Florida and collecting arms, gaining additional training, and infiltrating Spanish officers and spies back into the United States.

Frontier Americans, always on the look out for changing Indian political outlooks soon became aware of these movements. American frontier scouts soon identified the new leadership in the Indian nations and began spying on and reconnoiting the growing Creek war bands. Eventually they identified the Red Sticks and their alliance with the Spanish and finally the British who were now at war with America. As various bands of Red Sticks began making raids both on Americans and Creek who remained neutral, frontier families began separating from nearby Indian communities, retreating back toward their old defenses of stockade forts, and blockhouses. Because of the fluid situation and the pressing matters of British invasion in the north, American response to the growing Red Stick menace was confused and constantly disrupted.

Organizing a Ranger party to discover the full extent of the Red Stick menace and identify its main bases, the Americans infiltrated into Florida and saw that large amounts of arms along with Spanish spies were being infiltrated back into the United States. Hastily organizing a militia, the American frontiersmen finally managed to discover and attack a Red Stick party at Burnt Corn Creek as the later were returning to the Upper Towns with arms purchased from the Spanish in Pensacola in present-day Florida. However, while the Alabama militia were attempting to secure the arms, ammunition and other intelligence in the Indian baggage train, the Red Sticks regrouped and fought off the Americans who soon returned with evidence conclusively proving Creek belligerence. At this juncture, the whole Creek nation and its allies formally declared war on the United States, and armed and equipped by the Spanish and now further supported by the British managed to gather a substantial force.

William Weatherfood remaining a loyal Creek, took on his warrior name Lamochatee and joined the Red Stick Army as the whole of Indian nations along the frontier erupted into full scale attacks on the Americans. However, the subsequent attack of the Red Stick Army would merely unite the Americans with terrible vengeance. In late August, 1813 with Peter McQueen and other Red Sticks, Lamochattee participated in a retaliatory attack on Fort Mims in late August 1813. It was a hastily built stockade on the lower Alabama River, about 35 miles north of present-day Mobile, Alabama into which the American frontier families had retreated. The Red Sticks made their way into the fort and mercilessly massacred the refugees, who included women and children, as well as mixed-race Creek of the Lower Towns who remained loyal to America. Estimates are that up to 500 families were massacred and some 35 individuals survived.

America's outrage against the Creek erupted across the nation and none so more than along the valuable constituency of American frontiersmen. Soon their calls for state or federal action were being heard. As a prominent leader of the Creek, who had been noted for his debates in restraining war, Lamochattee's betrayal was bitter and he became a most wanted man. Historians have attempted to cite evidence that he tried to prevent the killing of women and children but was unsuccessful. Additionally, although the Americans made distinction between the Lower Creek, who were heavily Americanized and the Upper Creek, the involvement of some of the Lower Creeks in the Red Sticks caused Americans to make no such further distinctions.

Sehoy III and Red Eagle graves in the distance with an information sign in foreground.

Later that year, Alabama Militia successfully found and fought a Red Stick band. Led by Sam Dale the Alabama militia defeated the Red Sticks in a running battle on foot, horse, and canoe in the Canoe Fight. Subsequently, the same militia followed up with another Ranger unit and maneuvered the Red Sticks into battle at the Battle of Holy Ground. Red Eagle who was a leader in the battle and barely escaped capture, by jumping from a bluff into the Alabama River while on horseback. Having repelled and the Red Stick invasion in a number of skirmishes and battles and forced them on the defensive, the Americans regrouped for their own final offensive.

In the northern campaign of the War of 1812, American victories against the British and Indians allowed for additional reinforcements, especially of the crack frontier units. Soon a combined army of militia from Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama, including the valuable frontier Ranger units, were grouped together under Colonel Andrew Jackson. Utilizing a combination of scouts, Rangers, and the able frontier militia, Jackson's army finally isolated the main Red Stick Army along with hundreds of American hostages. Hoping to save the hostages, elite frontier units infiltrated the camp and at a predetermined moment attempted to free the hostages as the larger force simultaneously launched its attack. Red Eagle played a decisive role in rallying his forces and also simultaneously attempting to save the hostages from savage murder at the hand of Red Sticks. In the finale of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Red Eagle’s rapid responses allowed various small bands of Red Sticks to regroup and fight a rear guard action, but the remainder of the subsequent the Red Stick Army was utterly destroyed. Although the majority of the hostages were saved, dozens of hostages were murdered by the retreating Red Sticks, and in particular, a retreating band escaped into a fortified blockhouse with dozens more. Surrounded, the Red Sticks were enjoined to surrender and give up the hostages. Instead, they murdered and mutilated the hostage women and children in front of the Americans, causing the enraged Americans to charge the stockade en mass before lighting the whole structure on fire. Meanwhile, Red Eagle and some other 200 Red Sticks managed to escape. Most of the Red Sticks retreated to Florida but Red Eagle did not. but turned himself in at Fort Jackson (formerly Fort Toulouse). Colonel Jackson spared Weatherford's life and used his influence to bring the other Upper Creek chiefs to a peace conference.

Instead, Red Eagle gathered what Creek leaders he could trust and convinced them to end hostilities. In turn, Red Eagle, entered the American army camp and surrendered in person to Colonel Andrew Jackson. Surprised at this gallant action, and aware of Red Eagle's pre-war performance and character, Andrew Jackson spared Red Eagle's life despite the Creek's involvement in Genocide and War crimes, in exchange for Red Eagle using his influence to bring the other Upper Creek chiefs to the peace conference. Now once again William Weatherfood, the mixed Creek-American successfully engineered a new peace, negotiated a new treaty, which although permanently reducing Creek territory, was lenient in allowing them to retain much of it including most of their homes. William Weatherfood, subsequently, returned to the lower part of Monroe County, Alabama, where he regained his status as a wealthy planter. He died there in 1824.

Marriage and family

He married Mary Moniac (c. 1783-1804), who was also of mixed race. They had children: Charles and Mary (Polly) Weatherford.

After her death, he married Sopathe Thlanie (c. 1783-1813); she died after the birth of their child, William Weatherford, Jr., born 25 December 1813.

About 1817, Weatherford married Mary Stiggins (c. 1783-1832), who was of English and Natchez heritage. Their children were: Alexander McGillivray Weatherford; Mary Levitia Weatherford; Major Weatherford, who was killed as a child; and John Weatherford.

External links

• The Romance of Red Eagle, US GenNet
• "Greatest Native American #205", Native Village
• Pam Jones, "William Weatherford and the Road to the Holy Ground", Alabama Heritage, Fall 2004
• Explore Southern History site
• Weatherford not at Horseshoe Bend, Page 182 @ Google books.com
• Herber J. Lewis, "Canoe Fight", Encyclopedia of Alabama
• "Descendants of Thomas Weatherford", Family Treemaker hosted site
• Find a Grave.com

References

• Benjamin W. Griffith, McIntosh and Weatherford, Creek Indian Leaders, (University of Alabama Press, 1998) ISBN 0-8173-0340-5 (Page 252, 253)
• Floripedia