Burnt Corn Alabama

The Battle of Burnt Corn was an encounter between United States armed forces and Creek Indians that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day Southern Alabama. The battle was part of the Creek War

Background

In July, 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of "Red Sticks" warriors proceeded to Pensacola, with a letter from a British Officer at Fort Malden and four hundred dollars, to buy munitions. The Spanish Governor gave them, in McQueen's words, "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man". The Governor represented this as a "friendly present, for hunting purposes".

But conversely Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 that "High Head told me that, when they went back with their supply, another body of men would go down for another supply of ammunition; and that ten men were to go out of town, and they calculated on five horse-loads for every town. Creek War 2. ” (See external link for full transcript)

The battle

United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, responded by sending a disorganized force, led by Colonel Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party. The Americans surprised the Red Sticks as they bedded down for the evening at the village of Burnt Corn, which is about eighty miles north of Pensacola.

The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. Flush with victory, the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' pack-horses.