Battle of Autossee

On November 29, 1813, forces clashed near the Creek settlements of Autossee and Tallassee, not far from what is now Shorter, Alabama, in an episode of the Creek War. General John Floyd led a force numbering between 900 and 950 militiamen, bolstered by 450 allied Creek warriors, in an assault that left both towns in ashes. The engagement claimed the lives of 200 Red Sticks.

Background

The massacre at Fort Mims only strengthened Floyd's resolve to organize a broader campaign against the Creek. He had assembled a sizable militia force in Georgia and pushed into the Mississippi Territory, in the area now known as central Alabama, prompted by mounting friction between white settlers and various Creek factions.

Meanwhile, Andrew Jackson, John Coffee, and John Cocke were marching south out of Tennessee at the head of 3,500 men. Floyd, for his part, advanced along the Federal Road toward Autossee, home to roughly 1,500 Creek, among them High Head Jim and others implicated in the Fort Mims killings. Accompanying Floyd were 900 militiamen alongside 450 allied Creek warriors, many hailing from Tukabatchee, led by William McIntosh.

The battle

Under cover of darkness, Georgia's militia divided itself into two wings, hoping to close a ring around the settlement before dawn broke. Yet the plan unraveled in three separate ways even before fighting began. Floyd first came upon an additional Red Stick settlement, the smaller town of Tallassee, and this discovery meant he had to stretch his forces across a wider area than he had intended. At the same time, McIntosh found himself unable to seal off the western approach as Floyd had instructed, since the Tallapoosa River ran too deep and too cold for his men to ford. Instead, McIntosh's force crossed at Calebee Creek and took up positions blocking the northern paths out of the area. Most damaging of all, though, was the discovery of the approaching militia by a Red Stick hunter, who raised the alarm in time for the town's women and children to be moved to safety and for messengers to race off seeking aid from surrounding communities.

Once the assault began, Floyd's troops relied on cannon fire and musket volleys far superior to anything the defenders could muster, letting them overrun the village in short order and put it to the torch. While the bulk of the Creek fighters managed to escape, Floyd would later note that a portion of them refused to retreat, choosing instead to fight until the flames consumed them.

Aftermath

Within a span of three hours, somewhere between 200 and 250 Red Sticks lost their lives. Many residents of the towns nonetheless managed to flee, a result of the militia's overly stretched lines and the poorly positioned Creek allies fighting alongside them. Floyd's losses stood at just 11 men, along with a handful of allied Creek casualties, and five more wounded, Floyd himself among them. Across both settlements, fire consumed 400 houses entirely.

With provisions running short, the militia set out on the return march to Fort Mitchell. Paddy Walsh, a Creek warrior who had arrived too late to join the fighting at Autossee, dogged their retreat and cut down five more of their number. Once back at the fort, the men spent two months regrouping and readying themselves for a fresh campaign, which culminated in the Battle of Calebee Creek during late January of 1814.