War of 1812 Battles |
Colonial Wars |
American Wars |
Battle of Tallushatchee
November 3, 1813, Tallushatchee, Alabama (Mississippi territory)
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
The Battle of Tallushatchee was a battle fought during the Creek War on November 3, in Alabama.
After the Fort Mims massacre, Brig. Gen. Andrew Jackson assembled an army of 2,500 Tennessee militia. He began marching into the Mississippi Territory to attack the Red Stick Creeks. His troops began to construct Fort Strother along the Coosa River. Fifteen miles away from the fort lay the Creek village of Tallushatchee, where a sizeable force of Red Stick warriors were. He ordered his friend and most trusted subordinate, Gen. John Coffee to attack the village.
Coffee took about 1,000 dragoons and arrived at the village on November 3. He divided his brigade into 2 columns which encircled the town. Two companies ventured into the center of the circle to draw out the warriors.
The trap worked and the warriors attacked and were forced to retreat back into the buildings of the village. Coffee closed the circle in on the trapped warriors. The legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett, serving in the Tennessee militia, commented "we shot them like dogs".
The Battle of Tallushatchee was the first real battle between U.S. forces and Red Sticks during the Creek War. A week later, Jackson inflicted another serious defeat on the Red Sticks at the Battle of Talladega.
