The Creek War and the War of 1812 in the Gulf South
Many conflicts in this nation’s history compete for the title of most unknown war, but the Creek War of 1813-
1814 and the related southern campaigns of the War of 1812 have perhaps the best claim on that notoriety.
Little understood because of their brevity, relatively small military forces engaged and complexity, these
conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. The Creek War and the War of 1812
brought about several far-reaching changes in the Old Southwest, the frontier region of west Georgia, and
future states Mississippi and Alabama. They gave rise to the development of slave-based cotton agriculture in
the region, led to the forced removal of native tribes, secured large portions of the Gulf South against
European powers and launched the career of one of America’s most influential military and political leaders.
The Creek War and the War of 1812 was actually a war within a war, fought in two phases. The first phase,
the Creek War, occurred in what became the state of Alabama, then part of the Mississippi Territory. It
included three distinct campaigns:
1. The Campaigns of the Mississippi Territorial Militia
These campaigns, which include the war's first battle and the attack on
Fort Mims, were conducted primarily in what is today southwest Alabama.
2. The Campaigns of the Georgia Militia
These campaigns, which include the battles of Autossee and Calabee Creek,
were conducted in portions of western Georgia and present-day east-central
3. The Campaigns of the Tennessee Militia
These campaigns, which include the battles of Talladega and Horseshoe Bend,
were conducted primarily in what is today northeast and east-central Alabama.
The second phase of overall conflict, a campaign of the larger War of 1812 which resulted in the capture of
Pensacola by U.S. forces and the defeat of the British at the Battle of New Orleans, took place along the Gulf
Coast in the present-day states of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.