The Battle of Calebee Creek (also spelled ''Calabee'', ''Callabee'', or in the official report at the time, "Chalibee"
) took place on January 27, 1814, during the
Creek War
The Creek War (1813–1814), also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, was a regional war between opposing Indigenous American Creek factions, European empires and the United States, taking place largely in modern-day Alabama ...
, in
Macon County, Alabama
Macon County is a county located in the east central part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,532. Its county seat is Tuskegee. Its name is in honor of Nathaniel Macon, a member of the United States Senat ...
, west of
Fort Mitchell. General Floyd, with 1,200
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
volunteers, a company of cavalry and 400 friendly
Yuchi
The Yuchi people, also spelled Euchee and Uchee, are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma.
In the 16th century, Yuchi people lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley in Tennessee. In the late 17th century, they moved south to Alabama, G ...
, repulsed a night attack of the
Red Sticks
Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs), the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creeks—refers to an early 19th-century traditionalist faction of these people in the American Southeast. Made u ...
on his camp. Floyd lost so many in this hostile country that he immediately withdrew to the
Chattahoochee River
The Chattahoochee River forms the southern half of the Alabama and Georgia border, as well as a portion of the Florida - Georgia border. It is a tributary of the Apalachicola River, a relatively short river formed by the confluence of the Chatta ...
. Also referred to as the Battle for Camp Defiance.
Background
After the
Red Stick attack on Fort Mims (about north of
Mobile
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
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* Mobile ( ...
) in August 1813, the Georgia,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, and the
Mississippi Territory
The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the western half of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Mississippi. T ...
mobilized troops to put down the Red Stick "rebellion." The force consisted of one company of artillery, one squadron of dragoons, a battalion of riflemen and two regiments of infantry.
Newly appointed commander of the group,
John Floyd made clear his goal to push his column not rapidly, but resistlessly so as to establish a permanent wedge Creek country.
However, his inability to procure supplies to feed his troops from state bureaucrats greatly hindered his efforts toward this objective.
In the end, two offensives were launched into Creek territory in today-eastern Alabama, the first of which resulted in the
Battle of Autossee
The Battle of Autossee took place on November 29, 1813, during the Creek War, at the Creek towns of Autossee and Tallasee near present-day Shorter, Alabama. General John Floyd, with 900 to 950 militiamen and 450 allied Creek, attacked and burn ...
in November 1813, where 900 of his men killed 200 natives and burned the town to ashes. After regrouping for two months at
Fort Mitchell (Floyd himself had been seriously wounded at the knee), Floyd and a force of 1,700 militia and allied Creek warriors headed west to build two supply stations at Forts
Hull and
Bainbridge along the
Federal Road.
At about the same time,
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...
was marching a force of just over 400 men (
Lower Creek
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language), are a group of related indigenous (Native American) peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands[Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...]
included) toward the Creek village of Emuckfaw in an effort to create a diversion in favor of Floyd. However, with raw, newly recruited militia in tow at the
Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek
The battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek (or Enotachopco Creek) were part of Andrew Jackson's campaign in the Creek War. They took place in January 1814, approximately northeast of Horseshoe Bend.
Background
After Talladega, Jackson was ...
, Jackson only managed to kill 50 Creek while his troop suffered relatively heavy casualties and was forced to retreat thereafter. In spite of these events, Jackson's account claimed his operations had still tended thus to assist Floyd.
Battle
Paddy Walsh
Patrick Yost Walsh (21 August 1906 – 3 August 1988) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the VFL/AFL.
Family
The son of Michael Walsh (1867–1942), and Matilda Walsh (1864–1947), née Yost. ...
and
William Weatherford
William Weatherford, also known after his death as Red Eagle (ca. 1765 – March 24, 1824), was a Creek chief of the Upper Creek towns who led many of the Red Sticks actions in the Creek War (1813–1814) against Lower Creek towns and against ...
(Red Eagle) were aware of Floyd's approach, gathering 1,800 Creek warriors at a council in preparation to repel the invaders. However, the two couldn't agree on how to counter. Weatherford wished to wait for Floyd's men to cross the Calabee first, using the surprise attack to rush officers' tents first but his plan was ruled out as too risky.
Because of this, Walsh ultimately led the attack without Weatherford with the objectives of overcoming the sentries, killing as many as possible and retreating at daylight.
At the break of dawn on January 27, 1814, 1,300 Creek successfully snuck past surrounding campfires where they fell on Floyd and his militia from three sides
after having lain concealed in the swamps until half after five.
As the siege raged on leaving many were without weapon or ammunition, accounts tell of artilleryman Ezekiel M. Attaway (under the command of
Jett Thomas
Jett Thomas (May 13, 1776 – January 6, 1817) was an American military officer, politician, and builder who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and participated in the early construction of the University of Georgia.
Ea ...
), who grabbed the traversing handspike from the carriage of his gun and shouted, "We must not give up the gun, boys. Seize the first weapon you can lay your hands upon, and stick to your post until the last." The cannoneers, within yards of losing their key field pieces, were able to break the spirit of the encroaching Creek after firing several
grapeshot
Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat.
In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...
s.
Thanks to this quick action which salvaged the artillery and that of
Timpoochee Barnard to rescue a group led by Captain
John H. Broadnax cut off from the main force, after a week's pause, Floyd was able to defend until break of day, when he ordered a countercharge with bayonet.
Aftermath
Altogether, the carnage lasted an hour or so.
Battered, Floyd marched his forces back to Forts Hull then Mitchell and eventually Georgia.
Casualties amounted to approximately 50 Red Sticks dead, Chief
High Head Jim
High may refer to:
Science and technology
* Height
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* High (computability), a quality of a Turing degree, in computability theory
* High (tectonics), in geology an area where relative tectonic uplift ...
among them. Paddy Walsh was also seriously injured. Meanwhile, 25 militiamen and allied Indians perished, including Captain
Samuel Butts Captain Samuel Butts (November 24, 1777 – January 27, 1814) was a militia officer in the Creek War.
Butts was born at his family's farm in Southampton County, Virginia, to parents Martha and Simmons. His ancestors included many veterans of the Am ...
,
and 150 were wounded.
Accounts differ, although the general consensus is that, while the Creek may have lost more men, Floyd had the greatly worst of the affair.
Red Sticks began to concentrate their forces in a heavily fortified area on the
Tallapoosa River
The Tallapoosa River runs U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and wes ...
, north of Autossee, setting the stage for the decisive
Battle of Horseshoe Bend
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian a ...
.
Legacy
The battlefield currently lies on private land in
Macon County at the confluence of Calebee Creek and Tallapoosa River. There is currently no upkeep of the site nor marker commemorating the events.
References
*Dictionary of American History by
James Truslow Adams
James Truslow Adams (October 18, 1878 – May 18, 1949) was an American writer and historian. He was a freelance author who helped to popularize the latest scholarship about American history and his three-volume history of New England is well r ...
, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940
External links
Red Sticks Defeated by Floyd, page 62, #8Googlebooks.com
Further reading
*Brannon, Peter A., "Journal of James A. Tait for the Year 1813." Georgia Historical Quarterly, 8:3, (1924).
*Barnard, Timothy, Unpublished Letters of Timothy Barnard.-1784-1820. Compiled by Louise Frederick Hays. Atlanta: Department of Archives and History, 1939.
*Griffith, Benjamin W. McIntosh and Weatherford, Creek Indian Leaders. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1988.
*Lossing, Benson J. ''Pictorial Fieldbook of the War of 1812''. Somersworth, NH: New Hampshire Publication Co., 1976.
*Lynn, Elizabeth. Timothy Barnard, Georgia's Skilled Indian Agent. Unpublished M. A. thesis, Georgia State University, 1978.
*Owsley, Frank L. Jr. Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: the Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812–1815. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1981.
*Bunn, Mike & Clay Williams. Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812. Mount Pleasant: Arcadia Publishing, 2008.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Calebee Creek
1814 in the United States
Calebee Creek
Native American history of Alabama
Calebee Creek