Sold – Andrew Jackson’s Official Report of the Signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson, Ending the Creek War
"The whole of Alabama and the valuable parts of Coosa and Kahawha [Georgia] in all containing about twenty two millions of acres are contained in this cession.”.
In 1812, a faction of Creeks known as Red Sticks sought aggressively to return their society to a traditional way of life. Their leaders allied themselves with the British when the War of 1812 broke out soon after. This faction violently clashed with other chiefs within the Creek Nation that were inclined...
In 1812, a faction of Creeks known as Red Sticks sought aggressively to return their society to a traditional way of life. Their leaders allied themselves with the British when the War of 1812 broke out soon after. This faction violently clashed with other chiefs within the Creek Nation that were inclined to work with the Americans settling in or near what was then Creek territory in the South. The Red Sticks sought a military solution and attacked Fort Mims, north of Mobile, Alabama, on August 30, 1813. Their goal was to strike at opponents and mixed blood Creeks that had taken refuge at the fort. The assault was a success and left over 400 dead. Other forts in the area were subsequently attacked by the Red Sticks, including Fort Sinquefield. Panic spread throughout the American southeastern frontier, whose residents demanded government intervention.
I detained the Express to give you the result of the pending negotiation with the Creeks. They have this moment consummated the Convention by their signatures.
Secretary of War John Armstrong notified General Thomas Pinckney, Commander of the Military District involved, that the United States was prepared to take action against the Creek Nation. The Tennessee legislature authorized Governor Willie Blount to raise militia to respond to the crisis, and he called out a force of West Tennessee men under Militia General Andrew Jackson to “repel an approaching invasion…and to afford aid and relief…” They went down into Alabama. The arrival of the 39th U.S. Infantry on February 6, 1814, provided Jackson a disciplined core for his force, which ultimately grew to about 5,000 men when more Tennessee militia came. In addition, Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins organized the friendly Creeks to aid the American effort against the Red Sticks (though most Americans made no distinction between friendly and unfriendly Creeks).
Jackson spent the next month building roads and training his force. In mid March, he moved against the Red Sticks who were concentrated on the Tallapoosa River. He went first to the Coosa River, about half the distance to the Creek position, and established a new outpost at Fort Williams. Leaving a garrison there, he then moved on Tohopeka with a force of about 3,000 effectives augmented by 600 Cherokee and Creek allies. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend, which occurred on March 27, was a decisive victory for Jackson, effectively ending the Red Stick resistance. Jackson wrote, “The carnage was dreadful.” Interestingly, at the time of this, his first major victory as an Indian fighter, Jackson was not a commissioned officer in the United States Army, but acted as a Tennessee militia general.
In April, Secretary of War Armstrong chose Pinckney and Hawkins to negotiate a treaty to end the fighting. This move was very unpopular with the Tennesseans, who were involved because they wanted Creek land, and were sure Pinckney and Hawkins would not insist on taking enough. They proved right, as the negotiators offered friendly tribal leaders conciliatory terms, with only a general provision for taking land to indemnify losses. Jackson and his supporters were outraged at this leniency and lobbied successfully to have Armstrong replace Pinckney and Hawkins. He did, with Jackson, who in May 1814 was commissioned Major General of the U.S. Army to have sufficiently high standing as negotiator. Jackson’s goal was rather more ambitious; he wanted to break the Creek Nation altogether. Acting on his own initiative and without instructions from the War Department, he demanded tens of millions of acres of land, some of which belonged not to the defeated Red Sticks, but to his own Native American allies. The tribesmen were shocked, but they were also fearful of Jackson. He was a man who got what he wanted, and the resulting treaty was his conception all the way.
The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks) ended the Creek War. It was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama, and opened by stating:?“Articles of agreement and capitulation, made and concluded this ninth day of August, 1814, between Major General Andrew Jackson, on behalf of the President of the United States of America, and the chiefs, deputies, and warriors of the Creek Nation.” The terms of the treaty ceded 23 million acres of Creek land now in Alabama and Georgia to the United States government. Jackson lost not a minute before sending his superior, Tennessee Governor Blount, his official report on the treaty signing and terms.
Letter Signed, Head Quarters 7th Military District, Fort Jackson, Augt. 9, 1814, to Governor Blount, announcing the acquisition of the Creek land that encompasses much of Alabama and southern Georgia, and criticizing Pinckney and Hawkins for making his efforts more difficult. “Sir, I detained the Express to give you the result of the pending negotiation with the Creeks. They have this moment consummated the Convention by their signatures. The enclosed is a true copy [not present]. I found considerable difficulty in making the arrangements with them in consequence of a letter written by Genl. Pinckney to Colonel Hawkins, which he requested to be made known to the Chiefs as the terms of peace, and which contained several promises of indemnity for losses sustained by them in the present war unauthorized by any power as instructions possessed by me, and consequently I could not, nor have not, embraced in any member of the Treaty. However at their particular solicitation I have forwarded to the President of the United States Genl. Pinckney’s letters and Colonel Hawkins reply, for his consideration and that of the Congress. The whole of Alabama and the valuable parts of Coosa and Kahawha in all containing about twenty two millions of acres are contained in this cession.”
This definitive victory freed Jackson to continue south to Louisiana to engage the British forces at the Battle of New Orleans. After the war, pursuant to the peace terms of the Treaty of Ghent, the lands taken from Britain’s allies were to be returned to them. The Creeks and British argued that the Treaty of Fort Jackson was therefore null and void, and they demanded back the ceded land. Jackson came up with a technicality to counter this, and the Treaty, with its 23 million acre land cession, stood as signed.
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