Fort Crawford was a fort that once provided defense for settlers in what is today East Brewton, Alabama.

History

After the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

, General

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

ordered Major General

Edmund P. Gaines Edmund Pendleton Gaines (March 20, 1777 – June 6, 1849) was an American Army officer who served for nearly fifty years, and attained the rank of major general by brevet. He was one of the Army's senior commanders during its formative years ...

and the 7th Infantry Regiment to construct a fort to protect settlers in the area from hostile

Red Stick 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 ...

s. General Gaines instructed Major David E. Twiggs to set out from Fort Montgomery and establish a new post. The fort was placed at the border of the newly-formed

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 ...

and

Spanish West Florida Spanish West Florida ( Spanish: ''Florida Occidental'') was a province of the Spanish Empire from 1783 until 1821, when both it and East Florida were ceded to the United States. The region of West Florida initially had the same borders as the e ...

on the bank of Murder Creek. Fort Crawford was named for either 2nd Lieutenant Joel Crawford or for former

US Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the President of the United States, U.S. president's United States Cabinet, Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's Presidency of George Washington, administration. A similar position, called either "Sec ...

and

US Secretary of the Treasury The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

William H. Crawford William Harris Crawford (February 24, 1772 – September 15, 1834) was an American politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War and U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. He later ran for U.S. president in the 1824 United States presidential electi ...

. Major John M. Davis described the fort as having two

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s located diagonally from each other, with the walls of the fort being made from multiple buildings. The fort also contained a medical building, artificer shop, and guard house. 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 ...

, Fort Crawford served as a base of operations for raids against Red Sticks in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida panhandle (also known as West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida. It is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long, bordered by Alabama on the west and north, Georgia (U.S. state ...

. After the Butler Massacre, soldiers and

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 ...

under the command of Major White Youngs were sent from Fort Crawford to Fort Dale to assist in the pursuit of the Red Sticks. Supplies were sent to Fort Crawford from Fort Montgomery but delays were common. General Gaines wrote to Jose Masot, the governor of

West Florida West Florida () was a region on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico that underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. Great Britain established West and East Florida in 1763 out of land acquired from France and S ...

, to ask permission for supplies to be sent up the

Conecuh River The Conecuh River (upper portion) and Escambia River (lower portion) are a single river in the southern United States, which flows from Alabama through Florida into the Gulf of Mexico. The Conecuh River rises near Union Springs, Alabama and flow ...

from

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

. Masot allowed three different ships to supply Fort Crawford via Pensacola, but never permitted regular supply lines via Pensacola. General Jackson (while headquartered at

Fort Gadsden Prospect Bluff Historic Sites (until 2016 known as Fort Gadsden Historic Site, and sometimes written as Fort Gadsden Historic Memorial) is located in Franklin County, Florida, Franklin County, Florida, on the Apalachicola River, SW of Sumatr ...

), also wrote to Governor Masot requesting permission for ships to pass through Pensacola to Fort Crawford. Masot allowed the schooners ''Mobiliana'' and ''Italiana'' to bring supplies to Fort Crawford, but did not allow the ''Italiana'' to make a second trip without paying

duties A duty (from "due" meaning "that which is owing"; , past participle of ; , whence "debt") is a commitment or expectation to perform some action in general or if certain circumstances arise. A duty may arise from a system of ethics or morality, e ...

to the Kingdom of Spain. Jackson sent a Lieutenant Cross to Pensacola to discuss the release of the supplies without paying duties, but Masot would not agree. Masot did agree to release hostile Creeks into the custody of the United States for transportation back to Fort Crawford. In a letter to George W. Campbell, Jackson listed the seizure of Fort Crawford's supplies (along with Spain's harboring of hostile Creeks) as his reason for invading Pensacola on May 23, 1818. After the

Adams–Onís Treaty The Adams–Onís Treaty () of 1819, also known as the Transcontinental Treaty, the Spanish Cession, the Florida Purchase Treaty, or the Florida Treaty,Weeks, p. 168. was a treaty between the United States and Spain in 1819 that ceded Florida to ...

took effect in 1821, Florida was ceded to the United States and Fort Crawford was no longer needed for its original use. Fort Crawford was connected to Fort Gaines via a road built in 1817. A post office operated at Fort Crawford until at least 1824.

Present site

The site is marked on maps from the 1800s, but archaeological investigations have been unable to identify the original site of the fort.

References

Sources

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External links

Fort Crawford Historical Marker

1930s photograph of the site of Fort Crawford
* {{Find a Grave cemetery, 22845, Fort Crawford Cemetery Pre-statehood history of Alabama Buildings and structures in Escambia County, Alabama Crawford Crawford Crawford Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage