Red Sticks
historyRed Sticks is the English term for a traditionalist faction of Creek Indians who led a resistance movement which culminated in the outbreak of the Creek War in 1813.
The term "red sticks" is derived from the red-colored war clubs and the alleged magical red sticks used by Creek shamans. This faction of Creeks aggressively supported traditional views of Creek society such as hunting and communal land. Inspired by the Shawnee leader Tecumseh and angered by the unrestrained encroachment of white culture, Red Sticks went to war against their own people.
The Red Sticks came primarily from the Upper Towns of Creek Territory and opposed white acculturation. The Red Stick War, more commonly called the Creek War, raged from 1813–1814. During the war, Redsticks would lash out at symbols of white influence. They would kill domesticated animals, break farming equipment, and burn crops. Metal pots and pans as well as spun cloth would be routinely gathered and destroyed. Robert J. Conley, The Cherokee Nation: A History (2007) p. 89
Fort Mims Massacre
Following a successful attack on a white expedition at the Battle of Burnt Corn in 1813, the Red Sticks determined to attack and destroy Fort Mims in the Mississippi Territory. Poor scouting, an attack at noon when most of the garrison was eating, seizure of the port holes by the Indians, and inability to close the main gates were all elements in the defeat on 30 August 1813. Of the 275 to 300 whites and half-breeds in Fort Mims at the time of the attack, between 20 and 40 escaped; therefore, around 247-260 whites, half-breeds and friendly Indians were killed in the battle. Creek losses were at least 100 killed. The massacre had significant short- and long-range implications. Immediately, the fall of the fort started a major Indian war in the South that resulted in a substantial build-up of American forces in the area - which probably prevented the British from occupying an undefended Gulf Coast in 1814.Frank L. Owsley, Jr., "The Fort Mims Massacre," Alabama Review 1971 24(3): 192-204
Aftermath
At the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814) on March 27, 1814, United States forces and Indian allies under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks, killing most of the warriors and sending the rest fleeing to Florida where they joined the Seminole tribe.
The relationships between Americans and the Southern Indians drastically changed. The Creeks, who had been living peacefully and in close contact with the settlers of the Mississippi Territory, lost more than half their land, and within 20 years had to move west of the Mississippi. The United States entered the war after the Fort Mims Massacre. Led by William Weatherford, Menawa, and Peter McQueen, the war resulted in the loss of half of the traditional Creek territory and another migration of Creeks into the Florida Seminole territory.
- Griffith Jr., Benjamin W. McIntosh and Weatherford, Creek Indian Leaders, (1998) [http://www.questia.com/read/54417042?title=McIntosh%20and%20Weatherford%2c%20Creek%20Indian%20Leaders online edition]
- Karl Davis, "'Remember Fort Mims': Reinterpreting the Origins of the Creek War," Journal of the Early Republic 2002 22(4): 611-636
- Owsley, Frank L., Jr. "The Fort Mims Massacre," Alabama Review 1971 24(3): 192-204
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