Fort Dale 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 ...

, United States, by

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 ...

settlers. The fort was constructed in response to

Creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: * Creek people, a former name of Muscogee, Native Americans * C ...

Indian attacks on settlers in the surrounding area.

Background

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 ...

, a number of hostile Creeks (known as

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 ...

) remained in the area surrounding present-day Butler County. The Red Sticks were indignant over the large number of settlers who began traveling down the Federal Road and soon began attacking them. Settlers in the area began building protective stockades such as the one built by Thomas Gary near present-day Greenville. Gary had built a

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 ...

and charged residents a fee to stay in it. On March 13, 1818, members of the Ogly and Stroud families were killed by Red Stick warriors under the command of Uchee Tom in what became known as the Ogly-Stroud Massacre. After the massacre, settlers petitioned territorial governor

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 ...

over the fees Gary was charging. In response, Bibb dispatched Captain

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 ...

and a number of troops from Fort Claiborne to strengthen Fort Bibb and construct a new fort on the Federal Road.

History

Fort

While under construction, the builders decided to name the fort in honor of Dale. The fort was built on the Federal Road and encompassed a settler's cabin. The fort's defenses consisted of a wooden stockade and two blockhouses. Lieutenant Colonel Gilbert C. Russell described the blockhouses as being built at diagonal angles. Seven days after the Ogly-Stroud Massacre, Captain William Butler, William Gardender, James Saffold, Daniel Shaw, and John Hinson left Fort Bibb towards Fort Dale with a message for Dale. En route, the party was attacked and killed by Reds Sticks under the command of Savannah Jack. This incident became known as the Butler Massacre and added to the settlers' fear. In response, additional troops were sent from Fort Claiborne to reinforce Fort Dale. 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 also 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 Dale was garrisoned from April to June 1818, but some sources indicate it was garrisoned until the end of 1818. Members of the

tribe served with the 8th U.S. Infantry at Fort Dale during the summer of 1818. Captain W. F. Ware commanded a detachment of cavalry and a Captain Motley commanded infantry at Fort Dale in September 1818. Lieutenant Samuel Riddle of the U.S. Army was also stationed at Fort Dale in the fall of 1818. An inn and

stagecoach A stagecoach (also: stage coach, stage, road coach, ) is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by ...

stop was built near the site of Fort Dale and was known as "The Palings" (so named due to the

palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

of Fort Dale). English merchant

Adam Hodgson Adam Hodgson (1788–1862) was an English merchant in Liverpool, known also as a writer and abolitionist. Life He was the son of Thomas Hodgson, a Liverpool merchant, and his wife Elizabeth Lightbody (1758–1795). His father Thomas (1737–181 ...

stayed at "The Palings" on his North American tour, describing it as a "flourishing plantation". Fort Dale map

Community

Once the fort was no longer needed for protection, a community grew up around the fort site. The community was originally known as Poplar Spring but later known as Fort Dale. Fort Dale served as the county seat for Butler County from 1819 to 1822. A post office first began operating at Fort Dale in October 1818, with John Herbert serving as the first postmaster. Fort Dale was also a stop on a postal road from Greenville to Hayneville. Fort Dale also had the first school and church in Butler County and served as one of the first voting sites. Naturalist

William Bartram William Bartram (April 20, 1739 – July 22, 1823) was an American naturalist, writer and explorer. Bartram was the author of an acclaimed book, now known by the shortened title Bartram's ''Travels'', which chronicled his explorations of the S ...

passed by the site of Fort Dale on his four-year journey through the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

Present site

Nothing remains of Fort Dale today. The Fort Dale Cemetery lies along Alabama State Route 185 and is near the site of Fort Dale. The cemetery was documented in the 1935

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and the earliest marked burial in Butler County is located in the cemetery. The cemetery and former fort site are listed on the

Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage The Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage (ARLH), commonly referred to as the Alabama Register, is an official listing of buildings, sites, structures, objects, and districts deemed worthy of preservation in the U.S. state of Alabama. These pr ...

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{cite tech report , last1=Waselkov , first1=Gregory , last2=Christopher , first2=Raven , title=Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama , number= , institution=Alabama Department of Transportation , date=April 2012 , location=Montgomery, Alabama , url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259398790_Archaeological_Survey_of_the_Old_Federal_Road_in_Alabama_Public_Version_-_Site_Locations_Redacted , quote=Submitted by the Center for Archaeological Studies University of South Alabama. , year=

External links

Fort Dale Historical Marker
Pre-statehood history of Alabama Buildings and structures in Butler County, Alabama Dale Dale Properties on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage