JULY 27, 1813

BATTLE OF BURNT CORN

Also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, it was the first engagement in what would be the Creek War. In July 1813, Creek chief Peter McQueen and a party of Red Stick warriors with $400 and a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden went to Pensacola, Florida, to buy munitions. Hearing of this, U.S. soldiers at Fort Mims, led by Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, organized a force to intercept McQueen’s party. They were joined by volunteers from Fort Glass under the command of Samuel Dale. The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks on the evening of July 27, 1813, on the banks of Burnt Corn Creek, in present-day northern Escambia County, Alabama. The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. However, when the Americans began looting the Red Sticks’ packhorses, the Creek re-grouped, launched a surprise attack and scattered the Americans.

Sources:
“The Battle of Burnt Corn,” Rootsweb.  Retrieved 5/25/2023, Creek War 2 (rootsweb.com)
Wikipedia
Map:  Henry S. Halbert, 1895.  Sketch of the Burnt Corn Creek battlefield as included in Halbert and Ball's "Creek War of 1813 and 1814". Public Domain.  Source:  gb0105.pdf (usg.edu)