Existing comment:
Designed for Defense
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park
"...[The Creek] had erected a breast-work, of greatest compactness and strength-from five to eight feet high, and prepared with double rows of port-holes very artfully arranged...an army could not approach it without being exposed to a double and cross fire from the enemy who lay in perfect security behind it."
-- Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, Tennessee Militia
The Red Sticks-a militant branch of Creek society-built the 400-yard-long barricade (breast-work) of dirt and pine logs. Stretching from bank to bank across the horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa River, the barricade protected Tohopeka, their temporary village.
On a dreadful March afternoon in 1814, the barricade exploded with action. Nearly 1,000 Red Stick warriors bravely fought General Jackson's army here. About a third of the warriors carried muskets. The others used bows and arrows, knives, tomahawks, and war clubs.
The Red Sticks shaped the barricade into a shallow "U' to trap attackers in a deadly crossfire. Sharpened stakes protruded from the front to keep attackers from scaling the wall.
Creek warriors fighting against the United States were called Red Sticks because they painted their war clubs red, a color symbolizing war. Traditionally, Creek men painted their faces, arms, and chests black or red before going into battle. |