The Battle of Ocheesee took place on the Apalachicola River, in northwest Spanish Florida, beginning in December of 1817. The shooting part of the battle lasted almost a week, but the engagement lasted "weeks" and was "the longest sustained engagement of the

Seminole Wars The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

". The name comes from the

bluff Bluff or The Bluff may refer to: Places Australia * Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town * The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich * The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality * Bluff River (New ...

s that overlook the river, from which one party of marksmen waged their attack. Today the land is in

Torreya State Park Torreya State Park is a 13,735 acre (56 km²) Florida State Park, United States National Natural Landmark and historic site thirteen miles (19 km) north of Bristol. It is located north of S.R 12 on the Apalachicola River, in northwes ...

. On December 15, 1817,

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 fired from both sides of the river simultaneously on ships carrying supplies upriver to Fort Gaines, Fort Scott, and

Fort Hughes Fort Hughes was built by the Philippine Department of the U.S. Army on Caballo Island in the Philippines in the early 1900s. The fort, which part of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays, was named for Major General Robert Patterson Hu ...

, the latter of which was simultaneously attacked. The convoy was halted because the sailors could not show themselves to continue navigation. With the convoy halted, the troops at Fort Scott were at risk of starvation, on half-rations for "a long time". Fort Hughes was abandoned. In effect, Fort Scott and Fort Gaines were under

siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict characteriz ...

. The underlying issue was ownership of land south of the Flint River, which the other faction of the Creeks (who had just had a

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

) had ceded to the United States in the

Treaty of Fort Jackson The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks, 1814) was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by United States allied forces at ...

. The Red Sticks were not a party to the treaty (they were not even notified), and claimed that those Creeks had no right to give away their land. Behind it was the

Treaty of Ghent The Treaty of Ghent () was the peace treaty that ended the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. It took effect in February 1815. Both sides signed it on December 24, 1814, in the city of Ghent, United Netherlands (now in ...

ending the War of 1812, which guaranteed return to the Creeks of the lands taken from them by the United States. The treaty was, in this regard, unenforceable, since the British were scarcely going to send out troops to guarantee Indian rights. There is not a definite day for the conclusion of the battle. The vessels were still pinned down in the same place when 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 ...

took additional troops from Fort Scott into Spanish Florida on March 11, 1818, reaching Prospect Bluff on March 16, 1818. During this time, the Indians having withdrawn, the supply convoy was set free. To prevent future such problems, Jackson had Fort Gadsden built within the walls of the former British, then Negro Fort. This was a U.S. fort built in Spanish Florida.

References

{{reflist Ocheesee Apalachicola River Franklin County, Florida Calhoun County, Florida Muscogee 1817 in the United States Spanish Florida Pre-statehood history of Florida 1818 in the United States Native American history of Florida Native American history of Georgia (U.S. state) Ocheesee Ocheesee Ocheesee