1813 — Nov 3, Tallushatchee Battle/Massacre, USA destroys Creek Vil., Calhoun Co., AL–191
Compiled by Wayne Blanchard; last edit 3-8-2024 for upload to: http://www.usdeadlyevents.com/
–250-300 Heritage Auctions, Inc. (Andrew Jackson) John Coffee’s Creek War Order Book.
— 260 U. S. Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century: 1776-1876. p. 57.
— 191 Wikipedia. “Battle of Tallushatchee.” 2-24-2024 edit. Accessed 3-8-2024.
–186 Red Stick Creek men, women, children
— 5 U.S. General John Coffee’s troops
— 186 Lewis, Herbert J. “Battle of Tallushatchee,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, July 22, 2009.
— ~180 Wikipedia. “Battle of Tallushatchee.” 4-3-2010.
Narrative Information
Heritage Auctions, Inc.: From auction item (Andrew Jackson) John Coffee’s Creek War Order Book – described as “Near forty-vice pages containing general orders, court-martial notes, and battle reports of the Creek War campaign, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson. Most of the general orders found in this 7.5×12’ “Order Book” are directed to Brigadier General John Coffee… Part One begins at Fort Gibson (Alabama) on October 20th, 1813, and ends at Fort Deposit (Alabama) on May 5, 1814, with specific orders for John Coffee concerning the Battle of Tallushatchee. On November 2, 1813, the day before that bloody battle, the order book reads from
“Headquarters”: Genl. Coffee with one thousand of his Brigade will with all practicable dispatch cross the Coosa River at the fish dam ford & forthwith with one half of his force proceed to Tallushatchee & destroy it….
“The battle, fought on November 3, was a huge success for Coffee. In a later entry (dated April 1814), Coffee gives a full three page report of the conflict, which begins with the first steps of the march at 6:00 a.m. on the 3rd. According to the report, he had with him
‘about six hundred Indians, five hundred of which were Cherokees, and the balance friendly Creeks….When within half a mile of the village the savage yell was raised by the enemy. [Coffee’s Indians attacked] After seeing about one hundred of the warriors, and all the squaws and children of the enemy running about among the huts of the village which was open to our view.’
“According to Coffee’s report, many enemy Creek warriors were killed trying to escape in the Coosa River:
‘I feel warranted in saying that from two hundred and fifty to three hundred of the enemy were buryed [sic] under water, and was not numbered with the dead that was found.’[1]
“The report ends with Coffee joining ‘the main army’ that evening at 7:00 p.m. Under Coffee’s command that day was Davy Crockett who wrote of the battle in his autobiography. “We…shot them like dogs’.” (Heritage Auctions, Inc. (Andrew Jackson) John Coffee’s Creek War Order Book.)
Lewis: “The Battle of Tallushatchee, which took place on November 3, 1813, in present-day Calhoun County, was America’s first military victory in the Creek War of 1813-14. The battle was initiated when an overwhelming American force attacked the Creek town of Tallushatchee, resulting in its complete destruction and the death of 186 Creeks, including women and children….
“The lopsided American victory was the result of an overwhelming disparity in the size of the opposing forces, as well as a shortage of gunpowder among the Red Sticks, many of whom were forced to defend themselves with only bows and arrows. Legendary frontiersman Davy Crockett, among the attacking Tennessee volunteers, reported that 46 warriors were shot and the house in which they had sought refuge was set ablaze by Coffee’s troops. Coffee later defended the loss of life among Creek women and children by blaming the warriors for seeking refuge in houses with their families and claimed that the killing of noncombatants was unintentional.” (Lewis, H. J. “Battle of Tallushatchee,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, July 22, 2009.)
US Central Publishing Co.: “Nov 3. — Gen. Coffee, with 900 men, surrounds an Indian camp near where the village of Jacksonville, Benton county, Ala., now stands, and killed 260 of them. Not a warrior escaped.” (United States Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century: 1776-1876.)
Wikipedia. “Battle of Tallushatchee.” 2-24-2024 edit: “The Battle of Tallushatchee was fought during the War of 1812 and Creek War on November 3, 1813, in Alabama between Native American Red Stick Creeks and United States dragoons. A cavalry force commanded by Brigadier General John Coffee was able to defeat the Creek warriors.
“After the massacre at Fort Mims [Aug 30 – see document in Spreadsheet], General Andrew Jackson assembled an army of 2,500 Tennessee militia. Jackson began marching into Mississippi Territory to combat the Red Stick Creeks. Jackson’s troops began to construct Fort Strother along the Coosa River. 15 miles (24 km) away from the fort lay the Creek village of Tallasseehatchee, where a sizeable force of Red Stick warrior were. Jackson ordered his friend and most trusted subordinate, General John Coffee, to attack the village.
“Coffee took about 900 dragoons and arrived November 3 at the village, where he divided his brigade into two columns that encircled the town. Two companies ventured into the center of the circle to draw out the warriors. The trap worked: The warriors attacked and were forced to retreat back into the buildings of the village. Coffee closed the circle in on the trapped warriors. Davy Crockett, serving in the Tennessee Militia, commented, “We shot ’em down like dogs.” In his memoirs he also described participating in burning down a house where 46 Creek warriors and their families had taken refuge.
“Coffee’s forces killed 186 warriors, as well as many women and children, while suffering only 5 dead and 41 wounded.
“Writing about the event years later, Richard K. Call recalled:
“The next morning after our march we entered the Indian village, and here I first saw the carnage of the battle field. I saw it in its worst aspect – when the hour of danger had passed, when I could excite no feeling or passion in my breast, to control my sympathy and sorrow for human suffering. It was to me a horrible and revolting scene – the battle had ended in the village, the warriors fighting in their board houses, which gave little protection against the rifle bullets or musket ball. They fought in the midst of their wives and children, who frequently shared their bloody fate. They fought bravely to the last, none asking or receiving quarter, nor did resistance cease until the last warrior had fallen. Humanity might well have wept over the gory scene before us. We found as many as eight or ten dead bodies in a single cabin, sometimes the dead mother clasped the dead child to her breast, and to add another appalling horror to the bloody catalogue – some of the cabins had taken fire, and half consumed human bodies were seen amidst the smoking ruins. In other instances dogs had torn and feasted on the mangled bodies of their masters. Heartsick I turned from the revolting scene. Very different seems the picture in the cool moment of inaction than in the excitement of battle – in the one – passion, the desire to triumph, and vengeance make demons, in the other as the brain becomes more composed, the pulse to beat less quickly, the heart resumes its sway – and it would be a relief to shed tears over the carnage around us – I remember an instant of a brave young soldier, who after fighting like a tiger until the engagement was over, fainted at the sight of the blood he had helped to spill.’[2] ”
Sources
Heritage Auctions, Inc. (Andrew Jackson) John Coffee’s Creek War Order Book.) Accessed 4-30-2010 at: http://books.google.com/books?id=3wYbdxIID-0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=&f=false
Lewis, Herbert J. “Battle of Tallushatchee,” Encyclopedia of Alabama, July 22, 2009. Accessed at: http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-2350
United States Central Publishing Co. Important Events of the Century:1776-1876. Accessed 3-8-2024:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Important_Events_of_the_Century/39RGKlYqHaMC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=U.+S.+Central+Publishing+Co.+Important+Events+of+the+Century:+1776-1876&printsec=frontcover
Wikipedia. “Battle of Tallushatchee.” 4-3-2010 at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tallushatchee
Wikipedia. “Battle of Tallushatchee.” 2-24-2024 edit. Accessed 3-8-2024 at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Tallushatchee
[1] The Orders Book Manuscript excerpts by Heritage Auctions does not note the number of Natives killed by Coffee’s force – just his estimate of men, women and children drowned in the river.
[2] Cites: Richard Keith Call Journal, pp. 19-20 at: https://www.floridamemory.com/fpc/memory/collections/rkcall/rkcall_journal_transcript.pdf