Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek

The engagements at Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek (also spelled Enotachopco Creek) unfolded as episodes within Andrew Jackson's larger effort during the Creek War. Both clashes occurred in January 1814, in an area lying roughly 20 to 50 miles, or 32 to 80 kilometers, to the northeast of Horseshoe Bend.

Background

Following the fighting at Talladega, Jackson found himself hampered by dwindling supplies and unruly troops whose brief terms of service kept expiring. General John Coffee, back in Tennessee securing fresh mounts, informed Jackson in writing that his cavalrymen had simply walked away from their posts. As 1813 drew to a close, Jackson's force had shrunk to just one regiment, and even those men's enlistments would run out by mid-January. Governor Willie Blount had authorized raising 2,500 fresh troops, yet Jackson could not count on being fully manned until February's end. Then, on January 14, an unlooked-for contingent of 900 green recruits showed up, at a point when Jackson had only 103 men left as a core force, and Coffee found himself, in his own words, left behind by his troops. Heading into the engagement, Jackson commanded 175 militiamen and 30 artillerymen, bolstered by Lower Creek and Cherokee fighters numbering roughly 200. Arrayed against them were Creek warriors totaling somewhere between 400 and 500.

Battles

Given that his fresh recruits had signed on for only sixty days, Jackson felt pressure to make full use of them while he could. On the seventeenth he set out from Fort Strother, heading for the village of Emuckfaw in hopes of joining forces with the Georgia Militia. The gamble carried real hazards: the route ran long and rough, the enemy outnumbered his column, and his own troops lacked both experience and discipline. Should Jackson suffer defeat here, the conflict itself might drag on much longer.

By January 22, 1814, his camp sat roughly twelve miles from Emuckfaw. Just before daybreak, a sizable body of Red Sticks, positioned only three miles off, struck his lines but were repelled within about half an hour. Jackson then dispatched Coffee with four hundred men to put the enemy camp to the torch. Once Coffee saw how well defended the position actually was, he chose not to press an assault and pulled back to rejoin Jackson. The Red Sticks renewed their assault soon after. During this fighting, Coffee took a serious wound while personally leading a small detachment against the enemy's flank. Eventually the Creek broke off, having lost 54 men killed, and Jackson found himself with little option but to withdraw toward Fort Strother.

Recalling how troublesome the initial crossing of Emuckfaw Creek had been, Jackson chose a longer road home, though the crossing still proved far from easy. On the morning of January 24, 1814, as his men worked their way back over the creek, his artillery was nearing the ford when sudden gunfire rang out from the surrounding woods. Jackson, who had expected such an ambush, had already instructed his advance guard to turn and strike back in an effort to surround the attackers. Meanwhile his rear guard broke into panic and fell back in disorder. Oddly enough, the Red Sticks failed to press their advantage, allowing a small band of defenders to push them back. Across both engagements, Jackson's forces suffered 24 dead and 71 wounded, while the Creek lost 54 killed along with an unrecorded number of wounded.

Aftermath

Jackson's withdrawal marked a setback, yet the moment for the Red Sticks to inflict a truly crushing blow on American troops had slipped away. Retreating to Fort Strother, Jackson would wait until mid-March before launching another push forward.