Battle of Burnt Corn

Battle of the Creek War

Part of the Creek War

Sketch of the Burnt Corn battlefield

Date	July 27, 1813
Location	On Burnt Corn Creek in Escambia County, Alabama, near the border with Conecuh County.^[1]
Result	Red Stick victory

Belligerents

Red Stick Creek

United States

Commanders and leaders

Peter McQueen

Colonel James Caller
Captain Dixon Bailey

Strength

~80

~180

Casualties and losses

~10 or 12 killed
eight or nine wounded

2 killed
15 wounded

Creek War

1813

Burnt Corn
Fort Mims
Bashi Skirmish
Tallushatchee
Talladega
Canoe Fight
Autossee
Holy Ground

1814

The Battle of Burnt Corn, also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, 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, a Creek Native American chief, and a large party of Red Stick warriors proceeded to Pensacola, Florida to buy munitions, with $400 and a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden. In McQueen's words, the Spanish governor gave them "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man."^[2] The governor presented this as a "friendly present, for hunting purposes".^[2]

But Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 after the events, "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'."^[3]

Battle

United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of Peter McQueen's mission, sent a quickly organized force, led by Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party.^[4] This force was joined by volunteers from Fort Glass under the command of Samuel Dale.^[5] The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks as they bedded down on the evening of July 27, 1813, on the banks of Burnt Corn Creek, in present-day southern Alabama (in what is now northern Escambia County, Alabama).^[1] It would become known as "The Battle of Burnt Corn" or the "Battle of Burnt Corn Creek," and would be seen as a part of the broader Creek War.^[6]

The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. Flush with victory, the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' pack-horses. From the swamp, the Creeks noticed that the Americans had dropped their guard. The Creek re-grouped and launched a surprise attack of their own, which scattered the Americans.^[4]

Gallery

Map of events in Alabama during the War of 1812. Burnt Corn battle site is located in the bottom left.

References

^ ^a ^b Braund, Kathryn E. Holland (October 28, 2008). "Creek War of 1813–14". The Encyclopedia of Alabama. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
^ ^a ^b Adams, Henry (1891). History of the United States of America: The second administration of James Madison, 1813–1817. C. Scribner's. pp. 228–229. ISBN 0-940450-35-6. History of the United States of America henry adams burnt corn.
^ Modette. "History of the Mississippi Valley, Volume II". Archived from the original on July 7, 2011. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Hatch, Thom (2012). Osceola and the Great Seminole War. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 19.
^ Mississippi Historical Society (1921). Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society: Centenary series. The Society. p. 35.
^ Hatch, Thom (2012). Osceola and the Great Seminole War. New York: St. Martin's Press. pp. 19–20.

External links

A map of Creek War Battle Sites from the PCL Map Collection at the University of Texas at Austin.
Account of the Battle of Burnt Corn
The Deposition of Samuel Moniac taken in 1813.

Conflicts of the War of 1812

Battles of the War of 1812
Timeline of the War of 1812

United States

Delaware	Lewes
District of Columbia	Washington
Georgia	Peter
Louisiana	New Orleans St. Philip
Maryland	Havre de Grace St. Michaels Bladensburg Caulk's Field North Point Baltimore
Maine	Hampden
New York	Big Sandy Creek Buffalo Ogdensburg Plattsburgh Niagara Black Rock Sacket's Harbor
North Carolina	Ocracoke
Ohio	Stephenson Copus Meigs
Virginia	Rappahannock Craney Island Alexandria Farnham Church

U.S. territories

Illinois	Dearborn Rock Island Rapids Prairie du Chien
Indiana	Mississinewa Tippecanoe Wild Cat Creek Harrison Wayne
Michigan	Brownstown Frenchtown Mackinac Island Maguaga Detroit Mackinac
Mississippi	Bashi Autossee Burnt Corn Callabee Creek Canoe Fight Holy Ground Horseshoe Bend Talladega Tallushatchee Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek Fort Bowyer Mims Sinquefield
Missouri	Credit Island Sink Hole

British Empire

Lower Canada	Chateauguay 1st Lacolle Mills 2nd Lacolle Mills
Upper Canada	Beaver Dams Chippawa Cook's Mills Crysler's Farm George Frenchman's Creek Longwoods Lundy's Lane Malcolm's Mills Queenston Heights Stoney Creek Thames York 1st Erie Elizabethtown Port Dover Gananoque 2nd Erie

Spanish Empire

Florida	Pensacola

Naval battles

Atlantic Ocean	HMS Boxer HMS Cyane HMS Epervier HMS Frolic HMS Penguin HMS Dominica USS Argus USS Chesapeake USS President Chesapeake Bay Flotilla USS Constitution vs HMS Java HMS Avon Fayal HMS Peacock HMS Reindeer USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere USS United States vs HMS Macedonian
Caribbean Sea	La Guaira
Great Lakes	Lake Erie Oswego Lake Huron Lake Ontario Sacket's Harbor
Gulf Coast	Lake Borgne
Pacific Ocean	James Island Charles Island Nuku Hiva Valparaiso