Battle of Holy Ground | |||||||
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Part of the Creek War | |||||||
The Alabama River at Holy Ground Battlefield Park | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Red Stick Creek | United States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Weatherford | Ferdinand Claiborne Pushmataha | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~320 | ~1,000 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
~20–30 killed | 1 killed |
Holy Ground Battlefield Park | |
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Location | Lowndes County, Alabama |
Official name | Holy Ground Battle Site |
Designated | May 26, 1976 [1] |
The Battle of Holy Ground, or Battle of Econochaca (Meaning holy ground in Creek), was fought on December 23, 1813, between the United States militia and the Red Stick Creek Indians during the Creek War. The battle took place at Econochaca, the site of a fortified encampment established in the summer of 1813 by Josiah Francis on a bluff above the Alabama River, in what is now Lowndes County, Alabama. It was one of three encampments erected by Red Stick Creeks that summer. In addition to the physical defenses, Creek prophets performed ceremonies at the site to create a spiritual barrier of protection. Hence the Creek name "Econochaca," loosely translated as holy ground, but properly translated as sacred or beloved ground. [2] [3]
Following the Battle of Burnt Corn and the subsequent Fort Mims massacre, General Ferdinand Claiborne, under the orders of General Thomas Flournoy, began attempting to round-up troops to attack the Red Stick Creeks. By early December he had amassed a force of roughly 1,000 men, including 150 Choctaw warriors under their leader, Pushmataha. Weatherford's Creeks numbered around 320 men. On December 13, Claiborne's force set out from Fort Claiborne to Holy Ground. [4] On December 22, 1813, Claiborne's force set up camp about 10 miles (16 km) south of Econochaca. Upon learning of this, the Creeks, under William Weatherford, evacuated women and children from settlement. On December 23 Claiborne attacked the defenses, killing between 20 and 30 Red Stick warriors and losing one man himself. Most of the Creeks escaped, with Weatherford riding his horse, Arrow over the bluff and into the river while under fire. The U.S. forces then destroyed the encampment and the Creek supplies. [2] [3] [5]
The site is now home to Holy Ground Battlefield Park, maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. [6] It was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage on May 26, 1976. [1]
Two active battalions of the Regular Army (1-1 Inf and 2-1 Inf) perpetuate the lineage of the old 3rd Infantry Regiment, elements of which were at the Battle of Econochaca.
The Creek War was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within the tribes of the Muscogee, but the United States quickly became involved. British traders and Spanish colonial officials in Florida supplied the Red Sticks with weapons and equipment due to their shared interest in preventing the expansion of the United States into regions under their control.
Red Sticks —the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creek—refers to an early 19th century traditionalist faction of Muscogee Creek people in the Southeastern United States. Made up mostly of Creek of the Upper Towns that supported traditional leadership and culture, as well as the preservation of communal land for cultivation and hunting, the Red Sticks arose at a time of increasing pressure on Creek territory by European American settlers. Creek of the Lower Towns were closer to the settlers, had more mixed-race families, and had already been forced to make land cessions to the Americans. In this context, the Red Sticks led a resistance movement against European American encroachment and assimilation, tensions that culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813. Initially a civil war among the Creek, the conflict drew in United States state forces while the nation was already engaged in the War of 1812 against the British.
The Battle of Talladega was fought between the Tennessee Militia and the Red Stick Creek Indians during the Creek War, in the vicinity of the present-day county and city of Talladega, Alabama, in the United States.
William Weatherford, also known after his death as Red Eagle, 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 allied forces of the United States.
The Battle of Burnt Corn, also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, was an encounter between United States armed forces and Red Stick Creeks that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day southern Alabama. This battle was the first engagement between the U.S. and Red Sticks in the Creek War.
The Fort Mims massacre took place on August 30, 1813, at a fortified homestead site 35-40 miles north of Mobile, Alabama, during the Creek War. A large force of Creek Indians belonging to the Red Sticks faction, under the command of Peter McQueen and William Weatherford, stormed the fort and defeated the militia garrison.
The Battle of Calebee Creek took place on January 27, 1814, during the Creek War, in Macon County, Alabama, 50 miles (80 km) west of Fort Mitchell. General Floyd, with 1,200 Georgia volunteers, a company of cavalry and 400 friendly Yuchi, repulsed a night attack of the Red Sticks on his camp. Floyd lost so many in this hostile country that he immediately withdrew to the Chattahoochee River. Also referred to as the Battle for Camp Defiance.
Fort Williams was a supply depot built in early 1814 in preparation for the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. It was located in Alabama on the southeast shore where Cedar Creek meets the Coosa River, near Talladega Springs.
Gilbert Christian Russell was an American military officer who served during the Creek War. Born in Virginia, Russell moved to Alabama as a young man. In 1809, Russell was serving as commandant of Fort Pickering when Meriwether Lewis spent two weeks there on his trip to Washington, D.C. Russell and Lewis became friends, and Russell attempted to accompany Lewis on the remainder of his journey but Russell's superiors denied his request. During the Creek War, he was the commander of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment of the United States Army. His soldiers reinforced General Ferdinand Claiborne at Fort Claiborne and on December 13, 1813, the combined forces launched an invasion at the core of the Creek Nation which culminated in a victory over the Creek at the Battle of Holy Ground. After the Battle of Holy Ground, Russell planned an unsuccessful attack on Red Stick villages located on the Cahaba River. After the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Russell and the 3rd Infantry were transferred from Fort Claiborne to Fort Jackson. Russell County, Alabama was named in his honor.
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 General Andrew Jackson and several thousand militiamen in November 1813, during the Creek War and was named for Captain John Strother, Jackson's chief cartographer.
Fort Claiborne was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Monroe County, Alabama during the Creek War.
Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne was an American military officer most notable for his command of the militia of the Mississippi Territory during the Creek War and the War of 1812.
The Tallapoosas were a division of the Upper Creeks in the Muscogee Confederacy. Prior to Removal to Indian Territory, Tallapoosa lived along the Tallapoosa River in Alabama.
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 burned down both villages, killing 200 Red Sticks in the process.
Neamathla (1750s–1841) was a leader of the Red Stick Creek. His name, in the Hitchiti language, means "fat next to warrior", "fat" being a reference to great courage. The Hitchiti language had no written form, but modern scholars agree that Eneah Emathla is the "proper" spelling of his name in English; however, there were two other men also named Eneah Emathla, so the modern convention is to use the spelling Neamathla for the leader.
Fort Easley was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War.
Sehoy, or Sehoy I, was an 18th-century matriarch of the Muscogee Confederacy and a member of the Wind clan.
Fort Madison was a stockade fort built in August 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama, during the Creek War, which was part of the larger War of 1812. The fort was built by the United States military in response to attacks by Creek warriors on encroaching American settlers. The fort shared many similarities to surrounding stockade forts in its construction but possessed a number of differences in its defenses. The fort housed members of the United States Army and settlers from the surrounding area, and it was used as a staging area for raids on Creek forces and supply point on further military expeditions. Fort Madison was subsequently abandoned at the conclusion of the Creek War and only a historical marker exists at the site today.
Fort Montgomery was a stockade fort built in August 1814 in present-day Baldwin County, Alabama, during the Creek War, which was part of the larger War of 1812. The fort was built by the United States military in response to attacks by Creek warriors on encroaching American settlers and in preparation for further military action in the War of 1812. Fort Montgomery continued to be used for military purposes but in less than a decade was abandoned. Nothing exists at the site today.
Fort Pierce, was two separate stockade forts built in 1813 in present-day Baldwin County, Alabama, during the Creek War, which was part of the larger War of 1812. The fort was originally built by settlers in the Mississippi Territory to protect themselves from attacks by Creek warriors. A new fort of the same name was then built by the United States military in preparation for further action in the War of 1812, but the fort was essentially abandoned within a few years. Nothing exists at the site today.