The 39th United States Infantry was a regiment of the

regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregulars, irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenary, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the ...

. It was authorized on January 29, 1813, and recruited in the East by Col. Williams of

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 ...

. It was commanded by Colonel

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

, who had previously led the Mounted Volunteers of East Tennessee.Regimental Histories of Tennessee Units During the War of 1812
/ref> On December 31, 1813 Major General

Thomas Pinckney Thomas Pinckney (October 23, 1750November 2, 1828) was an early American statesman, diplomat, and soldier in both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, achieving the rank of major general. He served as Governor of South Carolina an ...

ordered the regiment to join

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 ...

's force, countermanding orders that had been sent from General Flournoy at New Orleans who wanted them there, thus providing a disciplined core and strategic resupply for his command, which was down to about 75 men eating roots and acorns.Memoirs of Hugh Lawson White The historian

Henry Adams Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian and a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. Presidents. As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Fra ...

speculated that, without this regiment, Jackson would have fared no better in 1814 than he had the previous year. Jackson welcomed the 39th. Since the beginning of his campaign in 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 ...

, Jackson was troubled by serious discipline problems with his militia and volunteers, particularly the militia from East Tennessee. So he prosecuted a Private John Woods, only 18 under false charges. Woods had spent his last month in the camp of the 39th. The night before his execution the officers of the 39th signed and sent Jackson a petition asking for mercy. He not only failed to grant it, he made the 39th shoot him. He told his quartermaster that "I am truly happy in having the Colonel with me. His regiment will give strength to my arm and quell mutiny". The 39th was never happy with Jackson after that and Col. Williams never returned to lead the unit. Williams said in a campaign pamphlet in 1828 that Woods cried "bitterly and loudly"; the Jackson camp claimed he was belligerent and deserved to die. At the

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 ...

, Jackson placed the regiment, (because they were the best-trained soldiers he had) in the center of his assault force. Consequently, the 39th suffered significant casualties — 20 killed and 52 wounded, and those figures are disputed. Col. Williams reported to Sec. of War Armstrong that "one half of the officers and one sixth of the troops of the 39th engaged in the battle of Tohopeka are among the killed and wounded. The officers remaining with the regiment fit for duty are insufficient for ordinary camp duty." It is said that the Creek nation lost more casualties that day than any other one day in the history of the entire Indian Wars. They gave up over a million acres of what was described as the "best land for settlement" that was left east of the Mississippi River.

Postwar consolidation of regiment

In 1815, after that war ended, the 39th was consolidated with the 8th and 24th Regiments to form the 7th Infantry Regiment. The Flag of the 39th was returned to Col. Williams and is now on display at the East Tennessee History Center in Knoxville. It was embroidered by the handiwork of Col. Williams' sister-in-law, Mary (Polly) Lawson McClung Williams.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:039 Creek War Military units and formations established in 1813 American military units and formations of the War of 1812 0039 Military units and formations of the United States in the Indian Wars 1813 establishments in the United States