Wednesday, July 20, 2022

The Creek civil war became a war within the larger war against Great Britain


The only really encouraging military news for Americans during these dark days of humiliating invasion came from the southwest. The Creek Indians had been engaged in a deadly civil war going back several years. There were numerous causes for this conflict: factional enmities within the Creek Nation, the building of a federal road from the Georgia frontier to new settlements along the Alabama River, the encroachment of whites on Creek land, and violent differences of opinion over the intrusion of white culture on Creek life and society. One group, known as Red Sticks because of their custom of painting their war clubs a bright red color, and led by such prophets as Peter McQueen, Josiah Francis (Hilis Hadjo), Paddy Walsh, and others, attracted a large following, mostly through magic, prophecy, and spell-binding oratory. These men preached the necessity of maintaining Indian cultural purity.3

The Creeks friendly to the whites understood the likely consequences if they waged war against the United States, so they refused the appeals and demands of the prophets. The Red Sticks subsequently threatened a massive bloodletting, and as their numbers swelled, especially among young warriors, they began a systemic assault against their own people, attacking and burning several villages allied with white traders, killing livestock, and burning homes and fields. Big Warrior, a Creek chieftain who was pro-white, appealed to Benjamin Hawkins, the U.S. Indian agent, for help, and the agent responded with military assistance. Thus, when the United States intruded in the summer of 1813, the Creek civil war became a war within the larger war against Great Britain.

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