Battle of Burnt Corn

The Battle of Burnt Corn, also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, was an encounter between United States armed forces and Creek Indians that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day southern Alabama. The battle was part of the Creek War.

Background
In July 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of "Red Sticks" warriors proceeded to Pensacola, Florida to buy munitions, with £400 and a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden. In McQueen's words, the Spanish governor gave them "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man." The governor represented this as a "friendly present, for hunting purposes".

But Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 after the events, “High Head told me that, when they went back with their supply, another body of men would go down for another supply of ammunition; and that ten men were to go out of town, and they calculated on 'five horse-loads for every town'.”

Battle
United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, sent a quickly organized force, led by Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party. The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks as they bedded down for the evening on the banks of Burnt Corn Creek, in what is now northern Escambia County, Alabama.

The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. Flush with victory, the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' pack-horses. From the swamp, the Creeks noticed that the Americans had dropped their guard. The Creek re-grouped and launched a surprise attack of their own, which scattered the Americans.