War in the Tensaw, 1813

War in the Tensaw, 1813. . , In 1813 the region known as the Tensaw was part of Mississippi Territory. Until April, the town of Mobile and adjacent lands south of 31° latitude belonged to Spain's colony, West Florida. On April 8, American military units crossed the Alabama River at a ferry operated by Samuel Mims on their way south to take Fort Charlotte and Mobile for the United States., That summer the Creek Indian Nation (comprising most of the land that became Alabama and much of Georgia) dissolved into civil war. Anti-American Redstick Creeks routed the American-backed Creek National Council faction from most native towns on the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa rivers. Caught in the middle of this bloody conflict were métis people of mixed descent, children of Creek mothers and white or black fathers, who were forced to take sides in the war. Some, like William Weatherford, chose to fight as Redstick Creeks against American influence and control over their people. Many other métis Creeks fled into Mississippi Territory, seeking a safe refuge for their families. Among these refugee métis were prominent leaders of the anti-Redstick faction. , Samuel Mims, a wealthy plantation owner who settled in the Tensaw after the American Revolution, built a stockade enclosing about an acre of land around his home to protect his friends and neighbors threatened by the Creek civil war. Throughout late July and August 1813, the number of people taking shelter in Fort Mims - American settlers, enslaved Africans, métis Creeks, men and women and children - grew to between 400 and 500. When a Redstick Creek force arrived on August 30, intent on wiping out their enemies among the métis Creeks, Fort Mims was poorly prepared to withstand an attack. , The resulting battle, and massacre of civilians that followed, shocked and infuriated the American public. Seven months of U.S. military campaigning crushed the Redstick forces. With the Treaty of Fort Jackson, in August 1814, General Andrew Jackson ended the Creek War and seized 21,086,793 acres of land for the United States. In succeeding years the story of the Fort Mims massacre contributed to anti-Indian sentiment and agitation for Indian removal, culminating with the Trails of Tears in the 1830s. A long-ago war in the Tensaw changed the social landscape of the American South forever., Captions: , Middle top: , "Massacre at Fort Mimms" by Alonzo Chappel, steel engraving, from Henry B. Dawson, Battles of the United States by Sea and Land, vol. 2: opp. p. 271 (Johnson, Fry and Co.: New York, 1858). , Right top: , Invoice to pay Samuel Mims for ferry service by Mississippi Territorial Volunteers and U.S. Artillery across the Alabama River, April 8, 1813 (courtesy of the U.S. National Archives). , Right bottom: , "Interview between Gen. Jackson and Weatherford" by John R. Chapin, steel engraving by W. Ridgway, from Robert Tomes, Battles of America by Sea and Land, vol. 2: between pp. 206-207 (Virtue, Emmins and Co.: New York, 1878).