In many respects, the Creek War of 1813-1814 is considered part of the Southern Theater of the War of 1812. The Creek War grew out of a civil war that pitted Creek Indians striving to maintain their traditional culture, called Red Sticks, against those Creeks who sought to assimilate with United States society. Spurred by religious prophets and promises of British assistance, the Red Sticks grew increasingly aggressive and were eventually attacked by Mississippi Territory militia, which sparked the Creek War. With an almost complete dearth of Regular U.S. Army units, the militias from the Mississippi Territory, Tennessee, and Georgia, as well as Choctaw and Cherokee allies, all invaded the Creek Nation to attack the Red Stick Creeks. Initially the attacks were uncoordinated, but, despite abysmal supply systems, the U.S. forces eventually overwhelmed the Red Sticks. Their defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend forced them into the treaty of Fort Jackson in August 1814, at which they ceded some 23 million acres in what are now the states of Alabama and Georgia. The release of this title is to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812.

Beginning with conquistador Ferdinand DeSoto's fateful encounter with Indians of the southeast in the 1500s, A Paradise of Blood: The Creek War of 1813-14 by Howard T. Weir, III, narrates the complete story of the cultural clash and centuries-long struggle for this landscape of stunning beauty. Using contemporary letters, military reports, and other primary sources, the author places the Creek War in the context of Tecumseh's fight for Native American independence and the ongoing war between the United States and European powers for control of North America.

Historians have traditionally viewed the Creek War of 1836 as a minor police action centered on rounding up the Creek Indians for removal to Indian Territory. Using extensive archival research, John T. Ellisor demonstrates that in fact the Second Creek War was neither brief nor small. Indeed, armed conflict continued long after peace was declared and the majority of Creeks had been sent west. Ellisor’s study also broadly illuminates southern society just before the Indian removals, a time when many blacks, whites, and Natives lived in close proximity in the Old Southwest. In the Creek country, also called New Alabama, these ethnic groups began to develop a pluralistic society. When the 1830s cotton boom placed a premium on Creek land, however, dispossession of the Natives became an economic priority. Dispossessed and impoverished, some Creeks rose in armed revolt both to resist removal west and to drive the oppressors from their ancient homeland. Yet the resulting Second Creek War that raged over three states was fueled both by Native determination and by economic competition and was intensified not least by the massive government-sponsored land grab that constituted Indian removal. Because these circumstances also created fissures throughout southern society, both whites and blacks found it in their best interests to help the Creek insurgents. This first book-length examination of the Second Creek War shows how interethnic collusion and conflict characterized southern society during the 1830s.

The August 30, 1813, massacre at Fort Mims left hundreds dead and ultimately changed the course of American history. The Indian victory shocked and horrified a young America, ushering in a period of violence surrounded by racial and social confusion. Fort Mims became a rallying cry, calling Americans to fight their assailants and avenge the dead. In A Conquering Spirit, Waselkov thoroughly explicates the social climes surrounding this tumultuous moment in early American history with a comprehensive collection of illustrations, artifact photographs, and detailed accounts of every known participant in the attack on Fort Mims. These rich and extensive resources make A Conquering Spirit an invaluable collection for any reader interested in America's frontier era. * Winner of the Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award by the Alabama Library Association* Winner of the Clinton Jackson Coley award from the Alabama Historical Association

Tohopeka contains a variety of perspectives and uses a wide array of evidence and approaches, from scrutiny of cultural and religious practices to literary and linguistic analysis, to illuminate this troubled period. Almost two hundred years ago, the territory that would become Alabama was both ancient homeland and new frontier where a complex network of allegiances and agendas was playing out. The fabric of that network stretched and frayed as the Creek Civil War of 1813-14 pitted a faction of the Creek nation known as Red Sticks against those Creeks who supported the Creek National Council. The war began in July 1813, when Red Stick rebels were attacked near Burnt Corn Creek by Mississippi militia and settlers from the Tensaw area in a vain attempt to keep the Red Sticks’ ammunition from reaching the main body of disaffected warriors. A retaliatory strike against a fortified settlement owned by Samuel Mims, now called Fort Mims, was a Red Stick victory. The brutality of the assault, in which 250 people were killed, outraged the American public and “Remember Fort Mims” became a national rallying cry. During the American-British War of 1812, Americans quickly joined the war against the Red Sticks, turning the civil war into a military campaign designed to destroy Creek power. The battles of the Red Sticks have become part of Alabama and American legend and include the famous Canoe Fight, the Battle of Holy Ground, and most significantly, the Battle of Tohopeka (also known as Horseshoe Bend)—the final great battle of the war. There, an American army crushed Creek resistance and made a national hero of Andrew Jackson. New attention to material culture and documentary and archaeological records fills in details, adds new information, and helps disabuse the reader of outdated interpretations. Contributors Susan M. Abram / Kathryn E. Holland Braund/Robert P. Collins / Gregory Evans Dowd / John E. Grenier / David S. Heidler / Jeanne T. Heidler / Ted Isham / Ove Jensen / Jay Lamar / Tom Kanon / Marianne Mills / James W. Parker / Craig T. Sheldon Jr. / Robert G. Thrower / Gregory A. Waselkov

In many respects, the Creek War of 1813-1814 is considered part of the Southern Theater of the War of 1812. The Creek War grew out of a civil war that pitted Creek Indians striving to maintain their traditional culture, called Red Sticks, against those Creeks who sought to assimilate with United States society. Spurred by religious prophets and promises of British assistance, the Red Sticks grew increasingly aggressive and were eventually attacked by Mississippi Territory militia, which sparked the Creek War. With an almost complete dearth of Regular U.S. Army units, the militias from the Mississippi Territory, Tennessee, and Georgia, as well as Choctaw and Cherokee allies, all invaded the Creek Nation to attack the Red Stick Creeks. Initially the strikes were uncoordinated, but, despite abysmal supply systems, the U.S. forces eventually overwhelmed the Red Sticks. Their defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend forced them into the treaty of Fort Jackson in August 1814, at which they ceded some 23 million acres in what are now the states of Alabama and Georgia.

William "Red Eagle" Weatherford was a Creek (Muscogee) Native American who led the Creek War offensive against the United States. Like many of the high-ranking members of the Creek nation, he was a mixture of Scottish and Creek Indian. His "war name" was Hopnicafutsahia, or "Truth Teller," and was commonly referred to as Lamochattee, or "Red Eagle," by other Creeks. During the Creek Civil War, in February 1813, Weatherford reportedly made a strange prophecy that called for the extermination of English settlers on lands formerly held by Native Americans. He used his "vision" to gather support from various Native American tribes.