Creek War - Opposing Forces

Opposing Forces

After Burnt Corn, the U.S. Secretary of War John Armstrong notified General Thomas Pinckney, Commander of the 6th Military District, that the US was prepared to take action against the Creek Nation. Further, if Spain were found to be supporting the Creeks, a strike against Pensacola would occur. Georgia began its preparations by establishing a line of forts along the Chattahoochee River—the modern border between Alabama and Georgia. These could protect the frontier while their forces prepared an offensive.

Brigadier General Ferdinand Claiborne, a militia commander in the Mississippi Territory, was concerned about the weakness of his sector on the western border of the Creek territory, and advocated preemptive strikes. But, Major General Thomas Flournoy, Commander of 7th Military District, refused his requests. He intended to carry out a defensive American strategy. Meanwhile, settlers in that region sought refuge in blockhouses.

The Tennessee legislature authorized Governor Willie Blount to raise 5,000 militia for a three-month tour of duty. Blount called out a force of 2,500 West Tennessee men under Colonel Andrew Jackson to "repel an approaching invasion ... and to afford aid and relief to ... Mississippi Territory". He also summoned a force of 2,500 from East Tennessee under Major General William Cocke. Jackson and Cocke were not ready to move until early October.

In addition to the state actions, the US Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins organized the friendly (Lower Town) Creek under Major William McIntosh, an Indian chief, to aid the Georgia and Tennessee militias in actions against the Red Sticks. At the request of Chief Federal Agent Return J. Meigs (called White Eagle by the Indians for the color of his hair), the Cherokee Nation voted to join the Americans in their fight against the Red Sticks. Under the command of the chief Major Ridge, 200 Cherokee fought with the Tennessee Militia under Colonel Andrew Jackson.

By count of towns, the Upper Creek constituted about two thirds of the Creek Nation. Their towns were along the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa rivers in the heart of Alabama. The Lower Creek were settled along the Chattahoochee River. Many Creek tried to remain friendly to the United States; but, after Fort Mims, few European Americans in the southeast distinguished between friendly and unfriendly Creeks.

At most, the Red Stick force consisted of 4,000 warriors, possessing perhaps 1,000 guns. They had never been involved in a large-scale war, even against neighboring American Indians. Early in the war, General Cocke observed that arrows "form a very principal part of the enemy's arms for warfare, every man having a bow with a bundle of arrows, which is used after the first fire with the gun until a leisure time for loading offers".

The Holy Ground (Econochaca), located near the junction of the Alabama and Coosa Rivers, was the heart of the Red Stick Confederation. It was about 150 miles (240 km) from the nearest supply point available to any of the three American armies. The easiest attack route was from Georgia through the line of forts on the frontier and then along a good road that led to the Upper Creek towns near the Holy Ground, including nearby Hickory Ground. Another route was north from Mobile along the Alabama River. The most difficult, Jackson's route of advance, was south from Tennessee through a mountainous and pathless terrain.