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Indian Fighter: Creek Indian War, 1813-14
| 1813 | Crockett volunteers to serve a 90-day enlistment in the Creek Indian War. He participates in the Battle of Tallusahatchee before returning home in December. |
| 1814 | Crockett reenlists and joins in expeditions against the Indians in Spanish Florida. The Treaty of Ghent formally ends the War of 1812 on December 24. |
| 1815 | Sergeant David Crockett returns home at the end of his reenlistment. Polly dies at age 27. |
Student Reading
One of the issues that drove the United States into conflict with Great Britain in the War of 1812 was Britain's alliances with Native Americans on the frontier. During the second year of the war, a bloody massacre at Fort Mims in what is now Alabama shocked the nation. Over five hundred settlers were killed at the outpost by Creek Indians. A civil war erupted among the Creeks between those who fought for the British, called Redsticks, and those who sought coexistence with the Americans.
In an effort to stop further attacks on the frontier, Crockett volunteered as a private in a company of Tennessee Volunteer Mounted Riflemen. Crockett served as a scout and a hunter. "As the army marched, I hunted every day, and would kill every hawk, bird, and squirrel that I could find," said Crockett. The frontier volunteers and the regular soldiers were all under the command of General Andrew Jackson. They were soon joined by Cherokees, Chocktaws and other bands of Creeks who were not allied with the British.
On November 3, 1813, Jackson divided his force into two divisions and began a brutal attack against the Creeks at Tallusahatchee in the Alabama Territory. The fighting was horrific. Hand-to-hand combat and volley firings in the open were made worse by ferocious fighting in some of the houses built by the Native American warriors.
Following another battle against the Creeks at Talladega, Crockett's enlistment expired. While he remained home with Polly and his children, the brutal frontier struggle continued. However, on March 27, 1814, Jackson defeated the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend and the tribe gave up nearly two thirds of its lands to the United States according to the Treaty of Fort Jackson on Aug. 9, 1814. Crockett reenlisted a month later, but the war with the British soon ended.
The Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814 officially ended the fighting and the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815 ended it once and for all. In the treaty, Jackson forced the Creeks, both those who had fought with him and those who fought against him, to give up twenty three million acres of prime land.
Watch this video clip from The History Channel's Boone and Crockett: The Hunter Heroes. Write down at least one fact you learn that is not included in the Student Reading. According to the documentary, how did Crockett feel about the Battle at Tallusahatchee once it was over?
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