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A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813–1814
Nationwide repercussions to a bloody battle on the southern frontier.
The Fort Mims massacre changed the course of American history in many ways, not the least of which was the ensuing rise of one Andrew Jackson to the national stage. The unprecedented Indian victory over the encroaching Americans who were bent on taking their lands and destroying their culture horrified many and injured the young nation’s pride. Tragedies such as this one have always rallied Americans to a common a single-minded determination to destroy the enemy and avenge the fallen. The August 30, 1813, massacre at Fort Mims, involving hundreds of dead men, women, and children, was just such a spark.
Gregory Waselkov tells compellingly the story of this fierce battle at the fortified plantation home of Samuel Mims in the Tensaw District of the Mississippi Territory. With valuable maps, tables, and artifact illustrations, Waselkov looks closely at the battle to cut through the legends and misinformation that have grown around the event almost from the moment the last flames died at the smoldering ruins. At least as important as the details of the battle, though, is his elucidation of how social forces remarkably converged to spark the conflict and how reverberations of the battle echo still today, nearly two hundred years later.
A Dan Josselyn Memorial publication
The Fort Mims massacre changed the course of American history in many ways, not the least of which was the ensuing rise of one Andrew Jackson to the national stage. The unprecedented Indian victory over the encroaching Americans who were bent on taking their lands and destroying their culture horrified many and injured the young nation’s pride. Tragedies such as this one have always rallied Americans to a common a single-minded determination to destroy the enemy and avenge the fallen. The August 30, 1813, massacre at Fort Mims, involving hundreds of dead men, women, and children, was just such a spark.
Gregory Waselkov tells compellingly the story of this fierce battle at the fortified plantation home of Samuel Mims in the Tensaw District of the Mississippi Territory. With valuable maps, tables, and artifact illustrations, Waselkov looks closely at the battle to cut through the legends and misinformation that have grown around the event almost from the moment the last flames died at the smoldering ruins. At least as important as the details of the battle, though, is his elucidation of how social forces remarkably converged to spark the conflict and how reverberations of the battle echo still today, nearly two hundred years later.
A Dan Josselyn Memorial publication
414 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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September 29, 2023
"Child, it's a very bad thing for a woman to face the worst that can happen to her, because after she's faced the worst she can't ever really fear anything again. And it's a very bad thing for a woman not to be afraid of something. You think I don't understand what you've told me - what you've been through? Well, I understand very well. When I was about your age I was in the Creek uprising, right after the Fort Mims massacre..."
- Grandma Fontaine, in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind
“Halfway across an open field 150 yards wide, [the Creek Indian attackers] passed the Mims stable where Nehemiah Page slept. Awakened by the rhythmic tramping, he peered through a gap between the hewn logs and glimpsed a sobering sight – hundreds of men, each stripped to a loincloth, some painted red, some black, ‘rushing past him towards the fort.’ Moments passed as the Redsticks closed the distance, still unseen by the fort garrison. The gate sentry, who had been ‘looking over the shoulders of a couple playing cards,’ at last noticed the lead runners a mere ‘thirty steps of the gate,’ gave a shout, ‘Indians,’ fired his musket, and ran inside the fort. His cry was echoed throughout the compound, ‘the Indians, the Indians,’ amid great confusion…”
- Gregory Waselkov, A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814
If I had to make a list of unforgettable moments in American history that have nevertheless been forgotten, Fort Mims would rank near the top. It was a moment of convulsive violence during the early years of the Republic that ended the lives of hundreds, changed the lives of thousands, and aided the rise of Andrew Jackson to full-on war hero, a status that eventually took him to the White House.
On August 30, 1813, with America embroiled in a war with Great Britain, a faction of Creek Indians going by the name of Redsticks (after their colored war clubs) advanced on Fort Mims. Once a plantation owned by Samuel Mims, a hastily erected stockade, including a blockhouse, turned it into a garrison manned by volunteer militia. Within its walls was a diverse collection of humanity, including whites, black slaves, and métis (the term métis being used to describe persons of mixed heritage, in this case, Creek and white). Many of the hundreds of people crammed into Fort Mims were noncombatant women and children.
The troops at Fort Mims were well aware of the advance of the Redsticks. At least, they should have been. Slaves had brought word to the post’s commander, Daniel Beasley, warning him of the approaching war party. Indeed, shortly before the Redstick’s launched their assault, Beasley had a slave flogged for raising a false alarm.
Fort Mims had several structural failings. For one, its walls were thin – thin enough that survivors broke through the palisade to escape. For another, the loopholes bored into the stockade were too low, so that the attackers were able to use them to fire into the fort. Most importantly, though – and folks, this is a big one – Dan Beasley and his men left the gate open. You don’t need a West Point education to see the flaws in this defense.
Despite the militia’s lack of preparation, they fought well enough to stem the initial tide. The Redsticks pulled back for a time. When they returned, they brought fire, using flaming arrows to set the fort ablaze. The battle degenerated into a slaughter. Of the roughly 400 people in the fort, some 250 to 300 were killed.
At the time, this was a shocking event. It was viewed both as a tragedy and embarrassment. It became a rallying cry. Over the years, however, it has tended to fade from view. I like to flatter myself that I have a decent grasp of American history, but other than knowing that a place called Fort Mims existed, I was pretty ignorant of the subject.
Thankfully, Gregory Waselkov understands that. His book on Fort Mims, A Conquering Spirit, is designed for the reader who knows little to nothing at all about the Creek War. His beginning chapters carefully lay out the context, explaining the complex intersection of cultures that, for a time at least, seemed to provide a model for how westward expansion might unfold.
Something disrupted that balance, but as Waselkov demonstrates, it isn’t easy to say exactly what. The question is made harder to answer because the Creek War began as a Creek Civil War, with various groups within the Nation pushing for different outcomes. As Waselkov explains:
What can be said is that the Creeks who decided to go to war against the Americans were influenced by the Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa, and his brother, Tecumseh. Tenskwatawa’s preaching demanded a return to the old ways, and a rejection of white goods, especially alcohol. His theology (strains of which can be seen in the later Ghost Dances of the Lakota) promoted pan-Indian unity and resistance to the white invasion coming from the east. To that end, Tecumseh traveled among the Creeks, inciting them to join the battle.
Even though I wasn’t overly familiar with this little corner of the past, I never felt lost or overwhelmed. That’s because Waselkov, an acknowledged expert on Fort Mims, seems very interested in teaching. Portions of the early chapters felt a bit slow, and a bit too detailed (especially when he gets into genealogies, which makes for Bible-like reading), but overall, he is really good at making sense of a multifaceted disaster.
Waselkov’s presentation of the battle itself is excellent. His narrative combines storytelling with a judicious weighing of all the evidence, not only documentary but forensic as well. (It helps that Waselkov has been allowed to conduct archaeological surveys of Fort Mims, meaning he has solved certain mysteries, such as the makeup of the fort’s walls).
One of the things that struck me about A Conquering Spirit is how generous it is. Today, it is not unusual to be asked to pay $40 for a history volume that has no maps or pictures, but does include a typo or three. Frankly, I didn't have high expectations for this, a university press publication on a niche topic. I am gladly willing to admit the wrongness of my assumptions. A Conquering Spirit is stuffed with maps, photos, contemporary illustrations, family trees, and charts. There is an inset of color plates. There is a picture of the author as a young boy, wearing a coonskin cap. There is even a Far Side cartoon! For those who want more info, after finishing 224 pages of text, there is nearly one hundred pages of annotated notes. We’re not done yet, though! There are also two appendices, one of which details the exhaustive efforts by Waselkov and his researchers to document as many Fort Mims participants as possible.
A Conquering Spirit is an example of history done right. It tells a powerful story that evolves in two parts. First, the high drama of men and women in battle, struggling for their very lives. And second, the tragedy of a lost opportunity for two vastly different cultures to form a stable and lasting community. In a real sense, the sack of Fort Mims and the resulting Creek War was the definitive closing of a path that might have led to a very different future.
- Grandma Fontaine, in Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind
“Halfway across an open field 150 yards wide, [the Creek Indian attackers] passed the Mims stable where Nehemiah Page slept. Awakened by the rhythmic tramping, he peered through a gap between the hewn logs and glimpsed a sobering sight – hundreds of men, each stripped to a loincloth, some painted red, some black, ‘rushing past him towards the fort.’ Moments passed as the Redsticks closed the distance, still unseen by the fort garrison. The gate sentry, who had been ‘looking over the shoulders of a couple playing cards,’ at last noticed the lead runners a mere ‘thirty steps of the gate,’ gave a shout, ‘Indians,’ fired his musket, and ran inside the fort. His cry was echoed throughout the compound, ‘the Indians, the Indians,’ amid great confusion…”
- Gregory Waselkov, A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814
If I had to make a list of unforgettable moments in American history that have nevertheless been forgotten, Fort Mims would rank near the top. It was a moment of convulsive violence during the early years of the Republic that ended the lives of hundreds, changed the lives of thousands, and aided the rise of Andrew Jackson to full-on war hero, a status that eventually took him to the White House.
On August 30, 1813, with America embroiled in a war with Great Britain, a faction of Creek Indians going by the name of Redsticks (after their colored war clubs) advanced on Fort Mims. Once a plantation owned by Samuel Mims, a hastily erected stockade, including a blockhouse, turned it into a garrison manned by volunteer militia. Within its walls was a diverse collection of humanity, including whites, black slaves, and métis (the term métis being used to describe persons of mixed heritage, in this case, Creek and white). Many of the hundreds of people crammed into Fort Mims were noncombatant women and children.
The troops at Fort Mims were well aware of the advance of the Redsticks. At least, they should have been. Slaves had brought word to the post’s commander, Daniel Beasley, warning him of the approaching war party. Indeed, shortly before the Redstick’s launched their assault, Beasley had a slave flogged for raising a false alarm.
Fort Mims had several structural failings. For one, its walls were thin – thin enough that survivors broke through the palisade to escape. For another, the loopholes bored into the stockade were too low, so that the attackers were able to use them to fire into the fort. Most importantly, though – and folks, this is a big one – Dan Beasley and his men left the gate open. You don’t need a West Point education to see the flaws in this defense.
Despite the militia’s lack of preparation, they fought well enough to stem the initial tide. The Redsticks pulled back for a time. When they returned, they brought fire, using flaming arrows to set the fort ablaze. The battle degenerated into a slaughter. Of the roughly 400 people in the fort, some 250 to 300 were killed.
At the time, this was a shocking event. It was viewed both as a tragedy and embarrassment. It became a rallying cry. Over the years, however, it has tended to fade from view. I like to flatter myself that I have a decent grasp of American history, but other than knowing that a place called Fort Mims existed, I was pretty ignorant of the subject.
Thankfully, Gregory Waselkov understands that. His book on Fort Mims, A Conquering Spirit, is designed for the reader who knows little to nothing at all about the Creek War. His beginning chapters carefully lay out the context, explaining the complex intersection of cultures that, for a time at least, seemed to provide a model for how westward expansion might unfold.
An unusual social experiment played out in the Tensaw district of Mississippi Territory between 1799 and 1813. For more than a decade several hundred white Americans and Creek Indians lived side by side, engaged in similar economic activities while linked to a common capitalist trading system, socialized and in some instances intermarried, and in general got along together quite well. True, most Americans lived on one side of a boundary line and most Creeks on the other. And each side resorted to its own legal system…But the experiment had worked reasonably well. To proponents of the “plan of civilization,” pre-1813 Tensaw proved that frontier whites and Indians could coexist in peace.
Something disrupted that balance, but as Waselkov demonstrates, it isn’t easy to say exactly what. The question is made harder to answer because the Creek War began as a Creek Civil War, with various groups within the Nation pushing for different outcomes. As Waselkov explains:
The seams along which the fabric of Creek society parted have proven difficult to identify. Geography played a role but not in the way one might expect. Direct pressure from white neighbors poaching on Creek hunting grounds or grazing livestock across the boundary line apparently influenced the outcome little, if at all. The Alabamas agitated most strenuously for war, yet were barely impacted by white encroachment…On the other hand, the Lower Creeks (on the front line of American expansion)…sided overwhelmingly with the Americans.
What can be said is that the Creeks who decided to go to war against the Americans were influenced by the Shawnee Prophet Tenskwatawa, and his brother, Tecumseh. Tenskwatawa’s preaching demanded a return to the old ways, and a rejection of white goods, especially alcohol. His theology (strains of which can be seen in the later Ghost Dances of the Lakota) promoted pan-Indian unity and resistance to the white invasion coming from the east. To that end, Tecumseh traveled among the Creeks, inciting them to join the battle.
Even though I wasn’t overly familiar with this little corner of the past, I never felt lost or overwhelmed. That’s because Waselkov, an acknowledged expert on Fort Mims, seems very interested in teaching. Portions of the early chapters felt a bit slow, and a bit too detailed (especially when he gets into genealogies, which makes for Bible-like reading), but overall, he is really good at making sense of a multifaceted disaster.
Waselkov’s presentation of the battle itself is excellent. His narrative combines storytelling with a judicious weighing of all the evidence, not only documentary but forensic as well. (It helps that Waselkov has been allowed to conduct archaeological surveys of Fort Mims, meaning he has solved certain mysteries, such as the makeup of the fort’s walls).
One of the things that struck me about A Conquering Spirit is how generous it is. Today, it is not unusual to be asked to pay $40 for a history volume that has no maps or pictures, but does include a typo or three. Frankly, I didn't have high expectations for this, a university press publication on a niche topic. I am gladly willing to admit the wrongness of my assumptions. A Conquering Spirit is stuffed with maps, photos, contemporary illustrations, family trees, and charts. There is an inset of color plates. There is a picture of the author as a young boy, wearing a coonskin cap. There is even a Far Side cartoon! For those who want more info, after finishing 224 pages of text, there is nearly one hundred pages of annotated notes. We’re not done yet, though! There are also two appendices, one of which details the exhaustive efforts by Waselkov and his researchers to document as many Fort Mims participants as possible.
A Conquering Spirit is an example of history done right. It tells a powerful story that evolves in two parts. First, the high drama of men and women in battle, struggling for their very lives. And second, the tragedy of a lost opportunity for two vastly different cultures to form a stable and lasting community. In a real sense, the sack of Fort Mims and the resulting Creek War was the definitive closing of a path that might have led to a very different future.
July 9, 2011
My first memory of Fort Mims came from Walt Disney's "Davy Crockett, Indian Fighter." The episode aired in the 1950's. It began with a flaming arrow descending on a stockade fort that burst into flames. The fort and the buildings inside quickly turned to ashes. The arrow remained intact. The arrow's target was Fort Mims, destroyed by Creek Indians in August, 1813.
Through the years, I continued to learn more about Fort Mims. Mrs. Welch, my fourth grade teacher, relished in telling the story. However, what she taught was more legend than history. In my history book, the occupants of Fort Mims were white settlers, massacred by howling savages.
The truth is a different story. Gregory Waselkov tells it well. In 1813, Alabama was a portion of the Mississippi Territory. White settlers, many who had been Tories during the Revolutionary war had fled the Carolinas and settled in what is now southwest Alabama. They lived peacefully with the Indians there. Intermarriage between the white men and Indian women was common and accepted. The Tensaw Indians were a part of the lower Creek Indian Nation. They became skillful farmers, traders and merchants.
The offspring of the Tensaw dwellers were known as Metis, or to the less tolerant coming into the territory down the Federal Road, half breeds. The upper Creeks, above the forks of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, extending northeast to the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, grew wary of their southern tribesmen and their easy relationship with American settlers.
Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader fomented rebellion among the upper Creeks. What was originally considered an Indian "civil war" quickly turned to a war against Indians and settlers. Fort Mims was an undeniable Indian victory. By 1814, the war was over. Approximately one half of the Creek Nation was dead.
The battle at Fort Mims would become the justification for removal of all Indians in the southeastern United States. Andrew Jackson who crushed the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend would force the removal measure through Congress by a surprisingly narrow margin. The opposition to unfair treatment of Native Americans would evaporate as land hungry settlers steadily moved west.
Waselkov captures the unique personalities of the people on both sides of the Creek Indian War. A historian, anthropologist and archaeologist, he adds a welcome volume to the story of Fort Mims and its significance throughout America's westward expansion. Highly recommended.
Through the years, I continued to learn more about Fort Mims. Mrs. Welch, my fourth grade teacher, relished in telling the story. However, what she taught was more legend than history. In my history book, the occupants of Fort Mims were white settlers, massacred by howling savages.
The truth is a different story. Gregory Waselkov tells it well. In 1813, Alabama was a portion of the Mississippi Territory. White settlers, many who had been Tories during the Revolutionary war had fled the Carolinas and settled in what is now southwest Alabama. They lived peacefully with the Indians there. Intermarriage between the white men and Indian women was common and accepted. The Tensaw Indians were a part of the lower Creek Indian Nation. They became skillful farmers, traders and merchants.
The offspring of the Tensaw dwellers were known as Metis, or to the less tolerant coming into the territory down the Federal Road, half breeds. The upper Creeks, above the forks of the Alabama and Tombigbee Rivers, extending northeast to the Coosa and Tallapoosa Rivers, grew wary of their southern tribesmen and their easy relationship with American settlers.
Tecumseh, a Shawnee leader fomented rebellion among the upper Creeks. What was originally considered an Indian "civil war" quickly turned to a war against Indians and settlers. Fort Mims was an undeniable Indian victory. By 1814, the war was over. Approximately one half of the Creek Nation was dead.
The battle at Fort Mims would become the justification for removal of all Indians in the southeastern United States. Andrew Jackson who crushed the Creeks at Horseshoe Bend would force the removal measure through Congress by a surprisingly narrow margin. The opposition to unfair treatment of Native Americans would evaporate as land hungry settlers steadily moved west.
Waselkov captures the unique personalities of the people on both sides of the Creek Indian War. A historian, anthropologist and archaeologist, he adds a welcome volume to the story of Fort Mims and its significance throughout America's westward expansion. Highly recommended.
December 18, 2017
3.5 stars
A good overview of the Red Stick rebellion. Waselkov succeeds in unpacking the complexity of the Red Stick civil conflict, but when it comes to critiquing American imperialism he falls short.
His viewpoint decidedly favors the colonizer's perspective in the way he conceptualizes enslaved people as objects, Muskogee society as either monolith or a binary of those who accept/reject colonization, and cites sources written about Muskogee, not BY them.
There are other contradictions that arise, such as his non-answer as to whether Redsticks were "traditionalists" who rejected new technology like guns. He says the first officer who fell at Fort Mims was killed either by club spike or bullet - leaving both options open. Ultimately, though, he focuses on the apparent inability, greed, or static nature of Redsticks to adapt because they were stuck in the past. This is wrong. But such generalizations situate manifest destiny and white supremacy as "inevitable" blameless processes, rather than outright genocide and land theft.
Classic white history [if you're wondering what I really think].
Waselkov is certainly a leading scholar of the field, this book will bear that out. He makes a good attempt at uncovering the entire messy story. In a region and time of ethnic mixing and competing notions of race, power, and land - "A Conquering Spirit" delivers a pretty honest reading of the scholarly terrain. But it stops there. Critical race theory, Marxian critiques of under-development, and feminist theory (each of which are fundamental to the Red Stick rebellion) are left out.
A good overview of the Red Stick rebellion. Waselkov succeeds in unpacking the complexity of the Red Stick civil conflict, but when it comes to critiquing American imperialism he falls short.
His viewpoint decidedly favors the colonizer's perspective in the way he conceptualizes enslaved people as objects, Muskogee society as either monolith or a binary of those who accept/reject colonization, and cites sources written about Muskogee, not BY them.
There are other contradictions that arise, such as his non-answer as to whether Redsticks were "traditionalists" who rejected new technology like guns. He says the first officer who fell at Fort Mims was killed either by club spike or bullet - leaving both options open. Ultimately, though, he focuses on the apparent inability, greed, or static nature of Redsticks to adapt because they were stuck in the past. This is wrong. But such generalizations situate manifest destiny and white supremacy as "inevitable" blameless processes, rather than outright genocide and land theft.
Classic white history [if you're wondering what I really think].
Waselkov is certainly a leading scholar of the field, this book will bear that out. He makes a good attempt at uncovering the entire messy story. In a region and time of ethnic mixing and competing notions of race, power, and land - "A Conquering Spirit" delivers a pretty honest reading of the scholarly terrain. But it stops there. Critical race theory, Marxian critiques of under-development, and feminist theory (each of which are fundamental to the Red Stick rebellion) are left out.
May 22, 2022
A thorough and fair analysis of the origins of the Creek War and the opening major battle, the capture of Fort Mims and the massacre that ensued. This is history at its best considering the complexity of the topic. More impressive is that Waselkov maneuvers through a fraught topic, since it deals with horrible actions carried out by the Red Sticks faction of the Creek, which in turn led to a near genocidal war (today the definition of genocide has been expanded to oblivion but you can make a case this one fits the bill). Race is also central, as the metis Creek had to make tough decisions and it appears many were mutilated at Fort Mims. Also, the complicated role of slaves is important to the narrative. Some joined the Red Sticks, others were made captive, and others were murdered. The Red Sticks included slave owners, so they were not a force for abolition.
It is also a solid read overall and the best all around on the Creek War and its repercussions, even if it only really covers the opening phase.
It is also a solid read overall and the best all around on the Creek War and its repercussions, even if it only really covers the opening phase.
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