Horseshoe Bend

https://www.nps.gov/hobe/index.htm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horseshoe_Bend_National_Military_Park Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is the site of the last battle of the Creek War on March 27, 1814. General Andrew Jackson's Tennessee militia, aided by the 39th U.S. Infantry Regiment and Cherokee and Lower Creek allies, finally crushed Upper Creek Red Stick resistance during the Battle of Horseshoe Bend at this site on the Tallapoosa River. Jackson's decisive victory at Horseshoe Bend broke the power of the Creek Nation. Over 800 Upper Creeks died defending their homeland. This was the largest loss of life for Native Americans in a single battle in the history of United States. On August 9, 1814, the Creeks signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which ceded 23 million acres (93,000 km2) of land in Alabama and Georgia to the United States government. On 27 March 1814, Major General Andrew Jackson ‘s army of 3,300 men attacked Chief Menawa’s 1,000 Red Stick Creek warriors fortified in a horseshoe shaped bend of the Tallapoosa River. Over 800 Red Sticks died that day. The battle ended the Creek War, resulted in a land cession of 23,000,000 acres to the United States and created a national hero of Andrew Jackson. Located in northeastern Tallapoosa County, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is accessible from US Highway 280, as well as AL Highways 22 and 49. The Park is located 5 miles south of the town of Newsite, AL and 12 miles north of the city of Dadeville, AL. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park Visitor Center Visit our newly renovated museum to learn more about the Muscogee (Creek) people who made Alabama their home for thousands of years. See the 23-minute park film to learn about events leading to the Creek War and the consequences still reverberating today. Discover young Andrew Jackson as he builds his reputation as a tough-as-nails fighter. Participate in Junior Ranger activities, get your Passport stamp, or shop in our bookstore for educational items for all ages. Rangers are available to assist you. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park is located along Highway 49 in northeastern Tallapoosa County. From US-280 in Dadeville, travel 12 miles north along US-49. From US-280 in Alexander City, follow US-22 east for 19 miles. Turn right onto Horseshoe Bend Road/Highway 49, and travel 5 miles south to the park entrance. From Newnan, GA, follow GA-34 W and AL-22 W for about 60 miles, then make a left on County Road 79 in Daviston. Follow CR 79 for 8 miles, then left on US-49. Park entrance is 0.2 miles. Camping Horseshoe Bend NMP does not have camping. The closest RV and tent camping is Wind Creek State Park near Dadeville, AL. https://www.alapark.com/parks/wind-creek-state-park Visitor Center blue cannon sits in front of park's visitor center The Horseshoe Bend NMP's Mission 66 Visitor Center with 1812 era 3-pounder cannon. Cannon on Gun Hill A blue painted 6-pounder cannon sits on hill facing the battlefield On Gun Hill, the historic cannon sits approximately where Gen. Andrew Jackson's artillery pieces fired upon the stout log barricade erected by Red Stick Creeks during the Battle of the Horseshoe. Nature Trail Sunlight shining through the tree canopy along the nature trail Visitors can find solitude, seasonal beauty, and abundant wildlife along the 2.8 mile trail through the park. Horseshoe Bend Aerial view of the horseshoe-shaped bend of the Tallapoosa River Aerial view of what Creek Indians called the "horses flat foot" shows the bend in the river that is the park's namesake. Tallapoosa River and Miller Bridge Piers flat river, green trees lining banks, old bridge pier made of stones in river on left side of photo Tallapoosa River and remnants of the Miller Bridge piers Ranger Programs Two rangers dressed in 1812 clothing face a line of children with wooden muskets Visitors have enjoyed Ranger-led programs at Horseshoe Bend for generations Picnic Area picnic tables, pavilion, and wayside exhibit in main picnic area Picnic tables and pavilions are available free on a first come-first served basis, or may be reserved for a fee. Losing ground: The wages of war in Indian Country Although the conclusion of the War of 1812 brought little change in the life of most American citizens, for American Indians it was disastrous. The loss of influential tribal chiefs and millions of acres of territory left tribal communities weakened and at the mercy of American expansionism. Portrait of Creek leader Menawa, with painted face and feathered hat Creek War in the Southeast: A civil war and an enemy occupation Following the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 and the destruction of Prophet's Town by the Americans, Shawnee chief Tecumseh intensified his cry for a united Indian confederacy. This influence and the divisive line it drew over assimilationism began echoing throughout tribal lands, even as far away as Alabama. This split populations along ideological lines, forcing them to choose allegiances. Painting of the Battle of Tippecanoe Wildland Fire: Horseshoe Bend Conducts Prescribed Burns In March 2013, Horseshoe Bend National Military Park conducted multiple prescribed burns totaling more than 400 acres. The fires helped restore fire-dependent remnant mountain longleaf pine and its accompanying ecosystem. All ecological and fuels objectives were achieved for these prescribed fires. Series: American Indians and the War of 1812 Kathryn Braund of Auburn University examines the American Indian experience in the War of 1812. The Indian war which broke out in the Ohio country in 1811 and the Red Stick or Creek War of 1813 are commonly viewed as part of the War of 1812, but in reality, the Indian wars were concurrent conflicts that had their origins in long-standing grievances over land and the right of Indian peoples to self-determination. American Indians and the War of 1812 NPS Geodiversity Atlas—Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, Alabama Each park-specific page in the NPS Geodiversity Atlas provides basic information on the significant geologic features and processes occurring in the park. park trail Women in Fire Science: Alicia Schlarb Alicia Schlarb is the lead fire effects monitor for a portion of the National Park Service's Southeast Region. She and her crew provide prescribed burning, monitoring, and wildland fire responses to national parks located within Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and portions of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida. She loves fire and that she can change perceptions about wildland fire through science. Alicia Schlarb. Judy Forte As a child growing up in the South during the 1950s and 1960s, Judy Forte’s life was heavily influenced by the US civil rights movement. She was only 11 years old when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Four decades later she became the first African American woman superintendent at Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park—and she's not done yet. Close up of Judy Forte wearing her NPS ranger flat hat. Updated Species Database Will Help Boost Amphibian Conservation Across the National Park System To steward amphibians effectively, managers need basic information about which species live in parks. But species lists need constant maintenance to remain accurate. Due to recent efforts, the National Park Service now has an up-to-date amphibian species checklist for almost 300 parks. This information can serve as the basis for innumerable conservation efforts across the nation. A toad sits on red sand, looking into the camera. Guide to the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southeast Region Collection This finding aid describes the National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) Southest Region Collection, part of the NPS History Collection. Project Profile: A Strategic Approach to Building Forest Resiliency in Southeast Parks The National Park Service is addressing the climate change vulnerability of southeast park ecosystems. Fall-colored trees on a mountain slope. A tree is in the right-side foreground. “Cracking the code” on mercury bioaccumulation Read the abstract and get the link to a published paper on a model to predict mercury risk park waterbodies: Kotalik, C.J. et al. 2025. Ecosystem drivers of freshwater mercury bioaccumulation are context-dependent: insights from continental-scale modeling. Environmental Science & Technology. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.4c07280 A person stands in a field looking at a bug through a magnifying lens.

Horseshoe Bend National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior National Military Park Alabama Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa ©EASTERN NATIONAL “This bend which resembles in its curvature that of a horse-shoe, includes, I conjecture, eighty or a hundred acres. The River immediately around it, is deep, & somewhat upwards of a hundred yards wide. As a situation for defense it was selected with judgment, & improved with great industry and art.” Menawa, Red Stick war leader at Horseshoe Bend (right), after a painting by Charles Bird King. Gen. Andrew Jackson, from a portrait attributed to Samuel Waldo, 1815. JACKSON: PHILIPSE MANOR HALL STATE HISTORIC SITE, NY; MENAWA: LIBRARY OF CONGRESS With those words, Andrew Jackson described the place where, on March 27, 1814, 3,300 Tennes­see militia, U.S. Regulars, and allied warriors under his command defeated 1,000 Red Sticks led by Chief Menawa. The Battle of Horseshoe Bend ended the Creek Indian War, and the peace treaty added 23 million acres of Creek land to the southeastern United States—three-fifths of Alabama and onefifth of Georgia. For Andrew Jackson, victory at Horseshoe Bend was the first step on the road to national fame and the White House. Nine months later, on January 8, 1815, he defeated the British in the Battle of New Orleans, the last major battle of the War of 1812. The Creek Nation By displacing or incorporating other tribes, they built a loose but broad confederacy divided geographically by the Chat­ta­­hoochee River into Upper Towns and Lower Towns. Upper Creeks, like those who lived in the villages of New­ yaucau and Tohope­ ka, grew their own corn but de­pended For over 100 years Spain, France, and Britain vied for Creek favor, chiefly using trade for negotiation. As Creek dependence on European luxuries grew, the impact on their way of life was tremendous. After the American Revolution, the tribe opened relations with the United States and in 1790 signed the Treaty of New York, which defined Creek land boundaries and guaranteed American friendship. For nearly 20 years, many Creeks followed U.S. Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins’s program HAWKINS: NORTH CAROLINA STATE ARCHIVES; TECUMSEH: SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Tribal beliefs place the Creeks’ origin in the American South­ west. They migrated eastward, eventually occupying much of today’s Alabama and Georgia. Their name derives from “Ochese Creek In­dians,” after the branch of the Ocmul­gee River the Creeks lived along when the Brit­ish first encountered them. Benjamin Hawkins, U.S. agent to southeastern Indians, 1796–1816. Right: Tecumseh, Shawnee chief and prominent Indian Nationalist. for improving their agriculture and living standards, a program that was designed to foster peaceful relations between the Creeks and the United States. Because they lived closer to settlers in Georgia, the Lower Creeks fell under the influence of Hawkins more than Alabama’s Upper Creeks did. The growing division between the Lower and Upper Creeks over Hawkins’s “civilization” program intensified as the Lower Creeks were drawn into closer contact with their Georgia neighbors. Fueling the situation were squatters on Creek lands, tribal punishments for Creek attacks on settlers, and Indian nationalism, as set forth by Shawnee Chief Tecumseh. Most Lower Creeks ignored Tecumseh’s eloquent pleas to rise up and to drive the “white man” from Indian lands, but many Upper Creeks, eventually called Red Sticks because they painted their war clubs red—listened attentively and agreed. on the richness of the area for fish, game, and other foods. The Creek War, 1813–14 The split between the Creeks widened in February 1813 when an Upper Creek war party murdered seven frontier families after being misinformed that war had broken out between the Creeks and the United States. Pressed by the federal government, a Creek tribal council tried and executed those responsible for the killings. In retaliation, Red Sticks leaders tried to eliminate everyone connected with the executions and all evidence of Hawkins’s hated civilization program. Sticks country between the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. Early victories in November at the Upper Creek towns of Tallushatchee and Talladega raised hopes for the war’s speedy end, but supply delays, enlistment expirations, threat of starvation, and mutiny slowed Jackson’s advance from Fort Strother on the upper Coosa. He began his second campaign in January 1814. After two bloody encounters—at Emuckfau and Enitachopco creeks—he withdrew to Fort Strother. In July 1813 conflict worsened when Mississippi Territory militia ambushed Red Sticks, who were returning from Pensacola with ammunition, at Burnt Corn Creek in Alabama. Retaliating in August the Red Sticks attacked and killed 250 settlers at Fort Mims, 40 miles north of Mobile. U.S. response was immediate. The governors of Mississippi Territory, Georgia, and Tennessee mobilized militias and launched a full-scale campaign to c