The Battle of Talladega was fought between the

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 ...

Militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

and the

Red Stick 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 ...

Creek Indians 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 WoodlandsCreek 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 the vicinity of the present-day county and city of Talladega,

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Background

When General

John Coffee John R. Coffee (June 2, 1772 – July 7, 1833) was an American planter of Irish descent, and state militia brigadier general in Tennessee. He commanded troops under General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars (1813–14) and during the Battle ...

returned to

Fort Strother Fort Strother was a stockade fort at Ten Islands in the Mississippi Territory, in what is today St. Clair County, Alabama. It was located on a bluff of the Coosa River, near the modern Neely Henry Dam in Ragland, Alabama. The fort was built by G ...

after defeating the Red Sticks at the

Battle of Tallushatchee The Battle of Tallushatchee was a battle fought during the War of 1812 and Creek War on November 3, 1813, in Alabama between Native American Red Stick Creeks and United States dragoons. A cavalry force commanded by Brigadier General John Coffee ...

, General

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 ...

received a call for help from friendly Creeks who were being besieged by Red Sticks at Talladega. Jackson and his force of about 2,000 men (about 1,200 infantry and 800 cavalry) were camped at Ten Islands on the

Coosa River The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 27, 2011 ...

, near the present day Henry Neely Dam. The Creeks under command of Weatherford numbered about 700 warriors. A few white men and about 150 friendly Indians known as White Sticks, were inside a small defensive area known as

Fort Leslie Fort Leslie (also known as Fort Lashley or Fort Talladega) was a stockade fort built in present-day Talladega County, Alabama in 1813 during the Creek War. After the Creek War began, protective stockades were built by settlers and Creeks who were ...

(it is often called Fort Lashley mistakenly). Fort Lashley was a palisade constructed around the trading post of a Mr. Leslie. One of the White Sticks in the stockade was Chief Chinnabee. His son Selocta, according to legend, put a pigskin with its head still attached over his body and grunted and routed through the surrounding Red Sticks after dark. When he got to the edge of the encampment he shed the skin and ran through the wilderness until he reached Jackson's camp.

Battle

On November 9, 1813, Jackson's army arrived outside the village. The Red Sticks inflicted 17 casualties on Jackson's forces. Jackson inflicted 299 casualties on the Red Sticks and drove them from the field.Click here
to see a hand-drawn map of the battlefield from 1813.

Aftermath

Casualties for the Creeks numbered about 300 killed and about 110 wounded. Jackson's casualties numbered 15 killed and around 85 wounded. After the battle, there was a significant lull in the fighting between the Red Sticks and Jackson's army. By December, the U.S. force was down to almost 500 because of desertion and enlistments running out. In January, in order to support the

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 ...

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

, Jackson marched toward the village of Emuckfaw with an inexperienced force. This move resulted in 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 wa ...

. After these battles Jackson retired to Fort Strother. When Jackson received additional reinforcements (some of the regular U.S. troops), he once again went on the offensive and met the Red Sticks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

Notes

Sources

External links

A map of Creek War Battle Sites
from the PCL Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
Holy Ground & William Weatherford
{{Battles of the War of 1812 Talladega Talladega Native American history of Alabama Andrew Jackson Pre-statehood history of Alabama November 1813 events Talladega