I have spent a large part of my career researching and writing about the pivotal era in which these conflicts occurred, and continue to be intrigued by these cataclysmic events and their repercussions. 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. Yet these conflicts nonetheless dramatically altered the United States’ history. They led to the forced removal of native tribes, ushered in the era of slave-based cotton agriculture in the Old Southwest, 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.
I wrote...
Battle for the Southern Frontier: The Creek War and the War of 1812
By
Mike Bunn,
Clay Williams
What is my book about?
This comprehensive book is the first to chronicle both wars and document the sites on which they were fought. It sheds light on the progress of the wars and how they led to the forced removal of Native Americans from the region, secured the Gulf South against European powers, facilitated increased migration into the area, furthered the development of slave-based agriculture, and launched the career of Andrew Jackson.
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The Books I Picked & Why
A Paradise of Blood: The Creek War of 1813-14
By
Howard T. Weir III
Why this book?
Weighing in at 466 pages, Weir’s account of this transformative conflict is the most detailed yet published. He describes in-depth both the iconic events which led to the war and the course of its fighting, including the famed Creek conference at Tuckaubatchee at which Tecumseh spoke, the ensuing Creek Civil War, and the vicious fighting between Red Sticks and American forces at places like the Holy Ground, Autossee, Talladega, and finally at Horseshoe Bend—where more Native Americans died than at any other battle in American history.
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Struggle for the Gulf Borderlands: The Creek War and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812-1815
By
Frank Lawrence Owsley Jr.
Why this book?
Drawn exclusively from primary sources by one of the preeminent historians of his era, this inclusive book was one of the first studies to comprehensively integrate the stories of the Creek War and the War of 1812 in the Gulf South. It was originally published in the 1980s, but it has stood the test of time extraordinarily well and still ranks as among the most authoritative studies on the subject to be printed. The book is a model of clarity and conciseness, and a great starting point for understanding what the historical records tells us about these interrelated conflicts.
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A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814
By
Gregory A. Waselkov
Why this book?
In this book, talented archaeologist and historian Gregory Waselkov finally gives the Battle of Fort Mims the thorough analysis it so long deserved. The book features the most detailed and informed account of the tragic attack which brought the brewing conflict on America’s southwestern frontier to the nation’s conscious. While its scope extends to the treatment of the larger region in which the fight occurred and the battle in historical memory, the richly informed account of the fight here is unparalleled and definitive.
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Tennesseans at War, 1812-1815: Andrew Jackson, the Creek War, and the Battle of New Orleans
By
Tom Kanon
Why this book?
In this book longtime Tennessee archivist Tom Kanon presents the most detailed analysis of the Volunteer State’s role in the Creek War and the War of 1812. That role is disproportionately large, considering that it raised the majority of the troops involved in the former and supplied the pivotal American leadership which played significant roles in winning both in the form of Andrew Jackson. The book is not exclusively focused on Tennesseans despite the title, and does a commendable job of telling the story of the war and the Battle at New Orleans in their entirety.
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The Creek War of 1813 and 1814 (Library Alabama Classics)
By
H. S. Halbert,
T. H. Ball
Why this book?
This book was originally published in 1895 and was a model of scholarship for its period, featuring a significant amount of research, familiarity with the locations where the war raged, and informed by interviews with actual participants. Certainly, contemporary treatments are more informed on many details. But because this book reigned for decades as the essential and virtually the only book-length treatment of the subject and influenced generations of historians of the war, it is an invaluable reference source for anyone interested in the history of the Creek War.
