Fort Bibb was a stockade fort built in present-day

Butler County, Alabama Butler County is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 19,051. Its county seat is Greenville. Its name is in honor of Captain William Butler, who was born in Vi ...

during the

First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

History

After the Ogly Massacre, many of the settlers in the surrounding area began to build protective stockades around their homes. Fort Bibb was first constructed in early 1818 and was built around the home of Captain James Saffold. The fort was named for

William Wyatt Bibb William Wyatt Bibb (October 2, 1781 – July 10, 1820) was a United States Senator from Georgia, the first governor of the Alabama Territory, and the first Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama. Bibb was a member of the Democratic-Republic ...

, who was the acting governor of the

Alabama Territory The Territory of Alabama (sometimes Alabama Territory) was an organized incorporated territory of the United States. The Alabama Territory was carved from the Mississippi Territory on August 15, 1817 and lasted until December 14, 1819, when i ...

. Captain Saffold participated in the

Battle of Calebee Creek The Battle of Calebee Creek (also spelled ''Calabee'', ''Callabee'', or in the official report at the time, "Chalibee") took place on January 27, 1814, during the Creek War, in Macon County, Alabama, west of Fort Mitchell, Alabama, Fort Mitche ...

, and afterwards settled in the area of Pine Flat. Warren A. Thompson and William Butler also settled in Pine Flat. Colonel

Samuel Dale Samuel Dale (1772 – ), known as the "Daniel Boone of Alabama", was an American frontiersman, soldier, and politician, who fought under General Andrew Jackson, in the Creek War, later, becoming a brigadier general in the U.S. Army, and an a ...

helped to fortify Fort Bibb while he and his militia constructed Fort Dale on the Federal Road in the spring of 1818. Fort Dale was built in response to the murders of Butler, William Gardender and Daniel Shaw. These men, along with Saffold and John Hinson had left Fort Bibb on March 20, 1818 to rendezvous with Colonel Dale. They were attacked by

Red Sticks Red Sticks (also Redsticks, Batons Rouges, or Red Clubs)—the name deriving from the red-painted war clubs of some Native American Creek—refers to an early 19th century traditionalist faction of Muscogee Creek people in the Southeastern Uni ...

under the command of Savannah Jack. This incident became known as the Butler Massacre. Captain Saffold and three other local men were also killed in the area prior to the construction of Fort Dale. After these killings, soldiers and allied

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

warriors were sent from

Fort Crawford Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century. The army's occupation of Prairie du Chien spanned the existence of two fortifications, both of them named Fort Crawford. The ...

to assist in the pursuit of the Red Sticks. Fort Bibb served as one of the first election sites in Butler County.

References

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External links

Fort Bibb Historical Marker
Pre-statehood history of Alabama Buildings and structures in Butler County, Alabama Bibb Bibb