The following article is Part Two of a two part series on the causes of the War of 1812 and the effects it had on our local community.

As the Americans and the British inched their way toward war in 1812 the tension between the two over impressments of American sailors into the British navy and the British support of Indians in the interior of North America heightened. Indians that lived in what is today modern Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin elected to oppose American settlement by any means necessary. This Northwest Territory had become part of the region ceded to the United States at the end of the American Revolution, however, Indians throughout the territory disputed the claim and vowed to hold on to their land. Despite the change of ownership outlined in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British continued to supply the Native Americans with the hope of creating a strong Indian presence that could block further expansion westward of the encroaching Americans.

The Shawnee took the lead in presenting a unified Indian front in the face of American expansion as the nineteenth century began. As early as 1805, Tenskwatawa, the Prophet, along with his brother Tecumseh spoke out against the “invading” whites and sought to remove them through and Indian alliance system. The brothers initiated their effort in 1805, and escalated their attempt in 1811, when Tecumseh visited the Creek Nation in an effort to bring them into the fold. The visit south by Tecumseh helped to elevate the ill will that was already present among many Creeks due to their perception that their nation was under attack culturally if not physically by whites bent on settlement along the American frontier.

After 1811, the relations between the Creek Nation and that of the white settlers in the Old Southwest deteriorated. Indeed, the Creek Nation itself split between those who hoped to cleanse their land and their culture of the settlers and white influence and those that had begun to adopt a more European lifestyle. With an attack on a white farm along the trail to Pensacola and the subsequent skirmish at Burnt Corn, the Creek War began in 1813. And, as a subplot to the actions against the British, the events of the Old Southwest in general, and of Baldwin County specifically, epitomized the complexity of the war that may have caused it to diminish in importance, at least through the eyes of today’s Americans. What’s more, while violence was certainly aimed at white settlers, the Creek War was also a civil affair among Creek factions; one supporting the change from traditional ways to those of European design and the traditionalists that hoped to return the Creek Nation to their time-honored lifestyle free of white incursion.

The battle that took place in August 1813 at Fort Mims serves as a microcosm of the Creek War. The massacre, as it is referred, took the lives of over 250 settlers who had sought refuge from the growing hostilities in a small stockade that surrounded the Samuel Mims home on the east bank of Tensaw Lake. The fighting that ensued pitted whites and Indians and those of mixed blood, many of whom were related to one another. The fighting in north Baldwin County prompted immediate action from the U.S. government. Tennessean Andrew Jackson and a contingent of Tennessee Militia were sent to the region to defeat the militaristic Red Stick Creeks and to restore order to the interior of the Old Southwest. Fighting between American militia and the Red Sticks took place throughout much of Alabama ending at Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Jackson then went on to victory against the British in New Orleans which, along with his exploits against the Creeks, propelled him into a political career which culminated with the presidency of the United States.

The battle that took place at Fort Mims became one of the foundational moments in U.S. history and in the history of Baldwin County. Today, the site, owned by the Alabama Historical Commission and operated by the Fort Mims Restoration Association, hosts an annual event each August to commemorate the event that changed history, lead to the legend and lore of Andrew Jackson and provided a cultural and historical institution for Baldwin County. The yearly event draws large crowds to view re-enactments of the Mims fight as well as the battle that took place at Burnt Corn.

This year, an additional event has been added to the schedule at Mims to commemorate the anniversary of the War of 1812 and the lasting memory that has become part of our county’s heritage. The Fort Mims Restoration Association has planned a two-day affair for March 17 and 18 that will focus on speakers that will relate the causes and outcomes of the conflict and how that time period affected the Tensaw region and Baldwin County. The Creek War and the War of 1812; forgotten to many Americans, lives each day in north Baldwin County and for one weekend this spring it will be brought back to life again so that others will come to understand the significance of the events that molded our heritage.