"6-Pounder Cannon Firing" by U.S. National Park Service , public domain
Horseshoe BendNational Military Park - Alabama |
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.
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maps
Official Visitor Map of Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (NMP) in Alabama. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Park System with DOI's Unified Regions. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
Map of the U.S. National Heritage Areas. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
brochures
Official Brochure of Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (NMP) in Alabama. Published by the National Park Service (NPS).
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