Henry A Burchstead, Class of 1811, Killed in Creek Campaign

From "For What They Gave On Saturday Afternoon."

HENRY A. BURCHSTEAD

Born New York.  Appointed USMA from New York.

Cadet of Military Academy, Feb. 16, 1809, to Mar. 1, 1811, when he graduated and was promoted to the Army as Ensign, 2nd Infantry, Mar. 1, 1811.

Served:  on the Northwestern Frontier, 1811; in General Harrison's (2nd Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry, March 13, 1811) Campaign of 1811 in Indiana Territory, being engaged in the Battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811, where he was wounded; on frontier duty in the Gulf States, 1811-1812;  and in the War of 1812-1815 with Great Britain, (First Lieutenant, 2nd Infantry, May 5, 1813) being engaged in the Campaign of 1813 against the Creek Indians, in which he was killed, November 30, 1813, on the Alabama River.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mitchell, Alabama-- Part 1: First Creek Indian War

From North American Forts--  Alabama.

Georgia's Gen. John Floyd built this fort along the present day Georgia-Alabama state line.

FORT MITCHELL

1813, 1837 or 1840, 1865

The Georgia state militia, under gen. John Floyd, built the original fort during the First Creek War.  The Creek Indian Agency located here in 1817.  Federal troops rebuilt the fort in 1825 as a stockade with two blockhouses.

The Creek Nation was gathered here in 1836 for their forced removal to Indian Territory in Oklahoma.

--Brock-Perry

Tennessee in the War of 1812-- Part 4: Jackson's Victory and Treaty Were Very Rewarding to Him

Throughout the Creek War, the Indians were outmanned, inadequately armed, and lacking in military discipline.  In fact, Jackson's greatest threat came not from the Creeks, but from supply shortages and desertions by his troops dissatisfied with their enlistment terms.  I have been writing about the 2nd Regiment East Tennessee Volunteer Militia who were called into service to replace troops lost in Jackson's 1813 mutiny.

Nevertheless, the victories won during the Creek War were acclaimed enthusiastically by a nation experiencing military setbacks elsewhere.  As a reward for his efforts, Andrew Jackson was commissioned a major general in the United States Regular Army.

His treaty with the Creeks at Fort Jackson in August 1814 forced the tribe to forfeit nearly two-thirds of their land (about 23 million acres), which soon filled with white settlers.

--Brock-Perry

Tennessee in the War of 1812-- Part 2: The Creek Indians and "Red Sticks"

For decades, the Creek Indians had become increasingly intermingled with the white culture through marriage and the adoption of commercial agriculture.

Just prior to the War of 1812, however, a more traditional faction of creeks, known as the "Red Sticks" began promoting an anti-white campaign inspired by a visit from the great Shawnee chief Tecumseh.  Indian aggression along the frontier, encouraged by Britain and Spain, alarmed American settlers; then an attack on whites and friendly Indians at Fort Mims near Mobile, Alabama) on August 30, 1813, stirred outraged whites into action.

The Creek War  therefore became intertwined with the War of 1812.

--Brock-Perry

West Point Graduates Killed in Action in the War of 1812: Class of 1812

JOSEPH M. WILCOX--  1st Lt. 3rd U.S. Infantry in the Creek Campaign on the Alabama River.  Tomahawked and scalped January 15, 1814.

WILLIAM WALLACE SMITH--  1st Lt Light Artillery.  Wounded in the Battle of Crysler's Field "while serving a cannon."  Died of his wounds December 3, 1813, at Fort Prescott, Upper Canada.

--Brock-Perry

West Point Graduates Killed in Action War of 1812-- Part 3: Class of 1811

ALEXANDER J. WILLIAMS--  Captain, 2nd Artillery.  Killed in the defense of Fort Erie, Upper Canada.  In fierce hand-to-hand fighting, he repulsed four enemy assaults.

HENRY A. HOBART--  1st Lt., Light Artillery.  Killed in the capture of Fort George, Upper Canada, on May 27, 1813, while gallantly leading his company in an attack.

HENRY A. BURCHSTEAD--  1st Lt., 2nd U.S. Infantry.  Killed in Creek Campaign on November 30, 1813, on the Alabama River.

GEORGE RONAN--  Ensign, 1st U.S. Infantry.  First West Point graduate to be killed in action in the War of 1812  He was killed at the Fort Dearborn Massacre on August 15, 1812.  By earlier entries, we know that an ensign would be the person who graduated last in his class.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Georgia

The Creek War 1813-1814.

The British armed and encouraged the local Indians to do battle with the United States.  The Indians were only too happy to do that as it had become evident that the Americans wanted their land and planned to take it from them.  The Creek War took place primarily in Alabama-Georgia area.

On August 30, 1813, the Creeks attacked and destroyed Fort Mims in Alabama which touched off a major U.S.-Creek confrontation.

U.S. General John Floyd was ordered to build a string  of forts in Georgia from whence to protect the state and attack the Creeks.  He did so starting in September 1813 when he attacked into Alabama from Fort Mitchell on the Chattahoochee River.

Fighting continued into 1814 when the Creeks were finally and decisively defeated  by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812 in Georgia

From New Georgia Encyclopedia.

For the most part, Georgia's role in the War of 1812 has been overshadowed.  But, its coastline and extensive frontier area did become aspects of the war.

There were three main theaters of action:

1.  The Creek War (1813-1814

2.  The British Blockade

3.  The British occupation of St. Marys and Cumberland Island 1814-1815.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Mims in Alabama-- Part 2: Creek-U.S. Tensions and Massacre

Continued from Nov. 30th.

The conditions leading to the Creek Indian War which led to the Fort Mims massacre started even before the War of 1812. In the early 1800s, the Creek Nation numbered between 18,000 and 14,000 primarily inhabiting present-day Alabama and western Georgia. In the years following the American Revolution, Spain, France, Britain and the United States all attempted to gain influence in the region.

By 1805, the Creeks had signed four treaties with the U.S., but animosity between Britain and the U.S. would cause the Creek War which became an extension of the War of 1812. And, of course, another major factor was the continued white pressure to move onto Indian lands.

By early 1813, about 550 settlers and slaves had crowded into the tiny stockade in Tensaw along the Alabama River. On August 30, about 700 warriors from the pro-British Red Stick faction of the Creek Nation attacked the fort, killing hundreds and capturing around 100 slaves, women and children. Only about 36 settlers survived.

--Brock-Perry