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| In the summer of 1813, upon hearing that the Red Sticks, a renegade faction of the Creek Nation and led by Peter McQueen, had acquired substantial quantities of arms and ammunition in Pensacola (in Spanish held territory), settlers began to seek shelter wherever available. The Red Sticks vehemently opposed the Civilization Act, which required that the Creek men give up hunting and their hunting land. They were to be taught planting, ranching and manufacture of clothing and other merchandise. The Creeks had been doing those things for decades, possibly centuries already! The Creek nation had been a friend of the Anglo settlers for many years in the south Alabama Territory. In fact, there had been many marriages between Anglos and Creeks, resulting in racially mixed children, who were not discriminated against for their heritage. Many of these “half breeds” were quite successful people and socially accepted in both cultures. That summer, many of the wealthier half breeds around the Little River area teamed up with Anglo settlers to build a fort on the property of Samuel Mims, a wealthy Creek landowner, in present-day Baldwin County, Alabama. At that time, Alabama was part of the Mississippi Territory. Within the walls of the fort were 17 buildings. In July, 1813, as the Red Sticks were returning from Pensacola, they were overcome by American militia from Fort Mims at Burnt Corn Creek, located in present-day Escambia County, Alabama. The attack came late in the evening as the Red Sticks were getting ready for rest. The attack scattered the Red Sticks into the surrounding woods and swamps, where they re-organized. The Red Sticks then counter-attacked, sending the Americans into the woods! The Red Sticks considered this attack to be a declaration of war and upon learning that the force that had opposed them had come from Fort Mims, the Red Sticks decided to attack and destroy Fort Mims. By
August, 1813 about 550 settlers of all racial mixes, occupied Fort Mims,
though construction of it was not yet complete. On August 29, 1813, two slaves attending cattle outside Fort Mims spotted a large number of natives in warpaint, hidden in the wooded area surrounding the fort. The slaves immediately ran to the fort to warn the occupants. Major Daniel Beasley, commander of the fort, sent out Captain Middleton and a mounted patrol to investigate. The natives were not spotted by the patrol. Major Beasley ordered that one of the slaves, belonging to John Randon, be flogged for issuing a false alarm. A man named Fletcher, who owned the second slave, believed the report of his slave and refused to allow him to be beaten. This decision so angered Major Beasley that he ordered the Fletcher family to leave the fort by 10 a.m. the next day! On this day, Reese H. Smith and his family arrived from the upper Tensaw Country. Mr. Smith could not sleep that night for worrying about the security of the fort. On the morning of August 30, 1813, Mr. Smith and his family left Fort Mims to seek shelter at Fort Stoddard. George Weekly left the fort to check on his plantation. Zachariah McGirth also left the fort to check on his plantation. Both men left their families at the fort. John the Hostler was sleeping off a hangover in a barn. Randon’s slave was sent back outside the fort to attend cattle while Fletcher’s slave was tied up to await a beating. Mr. Fletcher loudly objected to this treatment of his slave, but his only other option was to take his family out of the fort, into a forest that, according to his slave, hid a large number of natives! His slave had not lied and he knew it! For the second day in a row, the Randon slave spotted natives in warpaint hiding in the woods! He ran, making his way to Fort Stoddard, several miles away. He feared returning to Fort Mims and facing another beating. | |||||||||||||||||||
