Baldwin County
Fort Mims is one of the most significant historic sites in Alabama and marks a turning point in the history of the Southeast. Located near Tensaw in Baldwin County, the fort was built around the plantation home of Samuel Mims during the Creek War of 1813–1814. Following rising tensions between American settlers and the Red Stick faction of the Creek Nation, settlers sought protection behind the fort’s stockade walls. The attack on Fort Mims on August 30, 1813, shocked the nation, helped spark a larger military campaign against the Red Sticks, and ultimately led to major changes in the history and settlement of Alabama.
Front Side Marker
Marker Text
FORT MIMS AND THE CREEK INDIAN WAR, 1813-14
In 1813, people on the United States southwestern frontier were fearful. The Redstick faction of the Creek Indian Nation opposed growing American influence in the area and had voted for war. However, Creeks living in the Tensaw area had intermarried with the European and American settlers and were close allies.
Early in the summer, local American militia and allied Creeks attacked a group of Redsticks at Burnt Corn Creek. Tensions grew and many families along the Tensaw, Alabama, and Tombigbee rivers took refuge in quickly fortified sites.
On this site they built a stockade around Samuel Mims’ plantation. Later, volunteer troops from Mississippi helped enlarge it. But as weeks passed without an attack, the people at Fort Mims grew complacent.
(Continued on other side)
Reverse Side Marker
Marker Text
FORT MIMS AND THE CREEK INDIAN WAR, 1813-14
At midday, August 30, about 700 Redstick warriors attacked the fort. They entered through an open gate and fired into the fort through poorly designed gunports. The commander, Major Daniel Beasley, died in the first wave, but part-Creek Dixon Bailey rallied the defenders. The attack continued for five hours and ended with more than 500 attackers and defenders dead, including most of the women and children at the fort.
News spread quickly throughout the South. Troops from surrounding states and territories joined to crush the Creek War. By the following summer, on August 9, 1814, the defeated Creek leaders met at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka and ceded 23 million acres of their land to the United States.
Old Federal Road Project
This marker was photographed and documented as part of the Old Federal Road Project, an ongoing effort to visit and document historic sites, communities, and markers connected to the route of the Old Federal Road across South Alabama.
YouTube Video
Location
Fort Mims Historic Site
Baldwin County, Alabama
31.17985, -87.83787