A Conquering Spirit: Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813–1814

Nationwide repercussions to a bloody battle on the southern frontier. The Fort Mims massacre changed the course of American history in many ways not the least of which was the ensuing rise of one Andrew Jackson to the national stage. The unprecedented Indian victory over the encroaching Americans who were bent on taking their lands and destroying their culture horrified many and injured the young nations pride. Tragedies such as this one have always rallied Americans to a common cause: a single-minded determination to destroy the enemy and avenge the fallen. The August 30 1813 massacre at Fort Mims involving hundreds of dead men women and children was just such a spark. Gregory Waselkov tells compellingly the story of this fierce battle at the fortified plantation home of Samuel Mims in the Tensaw District of the Mississippi Territory. With valuable maps tables and artifact illustrations Waselkov looks closely at the battle to cut through the legends and misinformation that have grown around the event almost from the moment the last flames died at the smoldering ruins. At least as important as the details of the battle though is his elucidation of how social forces remarkably converged to spark the conflict and how reverberations of the battle echo still today nearly two hundred years later. A Dan Josselyn Memorial publication