Neamathla (1750s–1841) was a leader of the
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 ...
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 ...
. His name, in the
Hitchiti
Hitchiti ( ) was a tribal town in what is now the Southeast United States. It was one of several towns whose people spoke the Hitchiti language. It was first known as part of the Apalachicola Province, an association of tribal towns along the ...
(or
Mikasuki
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ( /ˌmɪkəˈsuki/, MIH-kə-SOO-kee) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, it is one of ...
) language, means "fat next to warrior", "fat" being a reference to great courage.
The Hitchiti language had no written form, but modern scholars agree that Eneah Emathla is the "proper" spelling of his name in English; however, there were two other men also named Eneah Emathla, so the modern convention is to use the spelling Neamathla for the leader.
He probably spent his childhood in or near
Fowltown (Tutalosi Talofa), on the east bank of the lower
Flint River (Georgia)
The Flint River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 15, 2011 river in the U.S. state of Georgia. The river drains of western Georgia, flowing south from t ...
, where the
Hitchiti
Hitchiti ( ) was a tribal town in what is now the Southeast United States. It was one of several towns whose people spoke the Hitchiti language. It was first known as part of the Apalachicola Province, an association of tribal towns along the ...
were concentrated.
They had supported the British during the
American Revolution
The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
, although participation by Neamathla is not documented. When the British returned in the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
, he was "among the first chiefs to answer their call".
Leadership of the Red Stick Creeks
The Creek (
Muscogee
The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...
) Indians were dividing into two factions at the beginning of the 19th century, a result of contact with westward-expanding European-Americans. They are commonly referred to as the "upper" and "lower" Creeks, names whose geographical meaning was soon lost as the Creeks were of necessity mobile. The larger group were the "upper" Creeks, also called Red Sticks, from the color of a symbolic wooden club that indicated readiness for war. "Lower" Creeks were relatively accommodating of the whites, especially
Indian agent
In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government.
Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793
The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...
Benjamin Hawkins
Benjamin Hawkins (August 15, 1754June 6, 1816) was an American planter, statesman and a U.S. Indian agent. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senator from North Carolina, having grown up among the planter elite ...
, and began to adapt the sedentary, farming lifestyle that he recommended. (To their surprise, after passage of the
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...
of 1830, they too were required to abandon their farms and walk to their new territory in Oklahoma.)
The Red Stick leader
Francis the Prophet visited, seeking allies in his plan to resist white civilization, to avoid further land cessions to the whites, and to recover the immense tracts of land lost in the
Treaty of New York (1790)
The Treaty of New York was a treaty signed in 1790 between leaders of the Muscogee and U.S. Secretary of War Henry Knox, who served in the presidential administration of George Washington.
A failed 1789 attempt at a treaty between the United ...
, the
Forbes purchase (), and, later, the
Treaty of Fort Jackson
The Treaty of Fort Jackson (also known as the Treaty with the Creeks, 1814) was signed on August 9, 1814 at Fort Jackson near Wetumpka, Alabama following the defeat of the Red Stick (Upper Creek) resistance by United States allied forces at ...
().
The Hitchiti were enthusiastic about the plan, begun by
Tecumseh
Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
and joined by Neamathla, to create a pan-Indian confederation to prevent the whites from settling west of the
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...
.
Neamathla and the
Fowltown warriors, all Red Sticks, were defeated in the
Battle of Uchee Creek (1813) by the "southern" Creeks.
(See
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 ...
.) They might have won had they not run out of ammunition.
When a supply party with ammunition was attacked on its return from Pensacola — a
preemptive strike
A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. I ...
— by U.S. forces, the Red Sticks defeated them at the
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 Red Stick Creeks that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day southern Alabama. This battle was the first engagement ...
. In response came an attack on
Fort Mims Mims or MIMS may refer to:
Education
* Manchester Institute for Mathematical Sciences, School of Mathematics, University of Manchester, England
* Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston, Texas, United States
* Mandya Institute of Medical Scien ...
(1813), led by
William Weatherford
William Weatherford, also known after his death as Red Eagle ( – March 24, 1824), was a Creek chief of the Upper Creek towns who led many of the Red Sticks actions in the Creek War (1813–1814) against Lower Creek towns and against allied f ...
and
Peter McQueen
Peter McQueen (c. 1780 – 1820) ( Creek, Muscogee) was a chief, prophet, trader and warrior from ''Talisi'' ( Tallassee, among the Upper Towns in present-day Alabama.) He was one of the young men known as Red Sticks, who became a prophet for ...
(Neamathla was not present), in which the Red Sticks killed over 250 men, women, and children.
This was followed two days later by the smaller
Kimbell-James Massacre, led by Francis the Prophet. Now the war between the two Creek factions had turned into a war with the U.S. government. The Red Stick Creeks were decisively defeated in the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814)
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend (also known as ''Tohopeka'', ''Cholocco Litabixbee'', or ''The Horseshoe''), was fought during the War of 1812 in the Mississippi Territory, now central Alabama. On March 27, 1814, United States forces and Native A ...
.
Although the battle was more than from Fowltown, Neamathla led a mass evacuation from the Flint River of the Red Stick Creeks that had taken part. They concentrated again near the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers.
Fowltown was reestablished, briefly, on the west bank of the Chattahoochee, in modern
Jackson County, Florida
Jackson County is a County (United States), county located in the "Panhandle" of the U.S. state of Florida, on its northwestern border with Alabama. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 47,319. Its county seat i ...
(the second Fowltown).
The Red Stick Creeks took refuge in
Spanish Florida
Spanish Florida () was the first major European land-claim and attempted settlement-area in northern America during the European Age of Discovery. ''La Florida'' formed part of the Captaincy General of Cuba in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, and th ...
. They were described as "absolute skin and bone", having lost everything they ever owned.
The number is estimated at 1,500–3,000. "All were desperate for food and supplies," "starving", but the Spaniards in Florida did not have the food to feed such a large number. Across the U.S. border, white settlers believed that they would be forced to surrender, and Andrew Jackson made it known that Francis the Prophet and
Peter McQueen
Peter McQueen (c. 1780 – 1820) ( Creek, Muscogee) was a chief, prophet, trader and warrior from ''Talisi'' ( Tallassee, among the Upper Towns in present-day Alabama.) He was one of the young men known as Red Sticks, who became a prophet for ...
would be hung.
Arrival of the British
The situation changed when two British warships carrying muskets and other supplies landed near modern
Apalachicola, Florida
Apalachicola ( ) is a city and the county seat of Franklin County, Florida, United States, on the shore of Apalachicola Bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico. The population was 2,341 at the 2020 census.
History
The Apalachicola Province, a ...
in May, 1814, and sent an officer as recruiter, inviting the Native Americans to take up arms. Neamathla was among the first who responded.
The officer also identified
Prospect Bluff as a good location for the logistical base for a planned invasion of the United States via the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers. The British were at Prospect Bluff within two weeks, and also announced construction of "an encampment" (
Nicolls' Outpost
Nicolls' Outpost was the smaller and more northern of two forts built by British Lt. Col. Edward Nicolls during the War of 1812. (The Americans referred to it as Fort Apalachicola. Built at the end of 1814, together with the larger " British pos ...
) where the rivers met.
The British also found it a problem to feed the refugees, even more so because soldiers of the
3rd Battalion, Royal and Colonial Marines) were expected, along with "the Pensacola party" of British soldiers.
The British trained the Indians. Neamathla and the other Fowltown warriors soon started harassing whites living near
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville () is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County, Georgia, Baldwin County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Founded in 1803 along the Oconee River, it served as the List of current and former capital cities in the ...
and
Fort Hawkins. No British-affiliated force ever reached this far into U.S. territory during the Gulf campaign of the War of 1812.
A series of raids on southern Georgia settlements continued, which the Georgia
militia
A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...
, which had been called out, blamed on the Red Stick Creeks from Fowltown. They continued to harass "the frontier", and helped slaves escape. By December Nicolls and Woodbine were recruiting black soldiers for a new battalion of Colonial Marines.
On December 5, a printing press on the British flagship issued a call for members of "the Indian nation" to join in their war against the United States, by which the Indians would recover "the lands of your forefathers", assured that "our good Father will on no account forget the welfare of his much-lov'd Indian children".
Meanwhile, the Americans were building boats on the Chattahoochee and gathering additional troops with which to destroy the British forts on the Apalachicola as well as the Red Stick villages.
Confrontation with Col. Clinch at Fort Scott, 1816–1818
The Red Sticks, newly supplied with arms and ammunition from the abandoned
Negro Fort
Negro Fort was a short-lived fortification built by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812, in a remote part of what was at the time Spanish Florida. It was intended to support a never-realized British attack on the U.S. via its southwest b ...
, felt that "widespread combat" was about to break out. When Neamathla left to bring back more arms and ammunition from Negro Fort, Clinch started building Camp Crawford, later called
Fort Scott. He then compelled Neamathla to make a humiliating appearance before him.
Other Indian chiefs were present and said "they never saw him so completely cut down before". He consented to every demand Clinch made of him.
Then followed the explosion of
Negro Fort
Negro Fort was a short-lived fortification built by the British in 1814, during the War of 1812, in a remote part of what was at the time Spanish Florida. It was intended to support a never-realized British attack on the U.S. via its southwest b ...
. Finding their location (between two U.S. forts, Scott and Jackson) indefensible, Neamathla led his people to a third location for Fowltown, on Four Mile Creek, a tributary of the Flint about four miles south of modern
Bainbridge, Georgia
Bainbridge is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, United States. The city is the county seat of Decatur County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,468, up from 12,697 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the ...
(third Fowltown).
It was much closer to
Miccosukee
The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ( /ˌmɪkəˈsuki/, MIH-kə-SOO-kee) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, it is one of ...
and
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2024, the est ...
, where related Indians lived.
Fort Scott had by now replaced Camp Crawford, but Clinch received order to abandon it, as a cost-cutting measure, and concentrate his forces at Fort Gaines.
The Red Sticks soon occupied the Fort, took everything that caretaker Thomas Perryman had stocked, made him leave, and burned it to the ground.
Neamathla threatened Gaines with violence if he and his men crossed to the east bank of the Flint,
which he considered the border of Spanish Florida.
(A side effect was that Gaines requested the border be surveyed, for the first time.
)
Fort Scott was restaffed, and troops under Gaines invaded Fowltown (the third Fowltown), crossing the Flint, in November 1817. The Creeks were taken by surprise and fled into the surrounding swamp. In Neamathla's home the troops found "a British uniform coat (scarlett) with a pair of gold
epaulette
Epaulette (; also spelled epaulet) is a type of ornamental shoulder piece or decoration used as insignia of rank by armed forces and other organizations. Flexible metal epaulettes (usually made from brass) are referred to as ''shoulder scale ...
s, and a certificate signed by a British Captain of Marines".
A second column of troops ascended the east bank of the Flint to attack Fowltown from the south. The Indians were driven into the swamp, and the U.S. forces began building a new fort,
Fort Hughes
Fort Hughes was built by the Philippine Department of the U.S. Army on Caballo Island in the Philippines in the early 1900s. The fort, which part of the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays, was named for Major General Robert Patterson Hugh ...
, on Burges's Bluff.
"This is considered the spark that ignited 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 ...
".
(Some date the beginning at 1816, at the Negro Fort assault and destruction.)
The result of the U.S. Army raids, during which Neamathla was supposed to be captured and flogged, was that
Black Seminoles
The Black Seminoles, or Afro-Seminoles, are an ethnic group of mixed Native Americans in the United States, Native American and African American, African origin associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood de ...
came from some distance away to assist the Red Sticks.
An assault, the
Battle of Ocheesee, look place on a U.S. supply boat traveling upriver, one mile from the fork in the Apalachicola, at modern
Chattahoochee, Florida
Chattahoochee is a city in Gadsden County, Florida, United States. Its history dates to the Spanish era. It is part of the Tallahassee, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,955 as of the 2020 census, down from 3,652 at th ...
. The boat was not taken but it and other boats were pinned down. The Red Sticks assaulted Fort Hughes unsuccessfully, but the Army decided to abandon it as impossible to supply, only three weeks after its founding.
Another expedition from Fort Scott to Fowltown burned the town, and Neamathla led his people to a new site for Fowltown, on the east side of
Lake Miccosukee
Lake Miccosukee is a large swampy prairie lake in northern Jefferson County, Florida, located east of the settlement of Miccosukee. A small portion of the lake, its northwest corner, is located in Leon County. The small town of Miccosukee, F ...
in modern
Jefferson County, Florida
Jefferson County is a county located in the Big Bend region in the northern part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,510. Its county seat is Monticello. Jefferson County is part of the Tallahassee, F ...
(the fourth Fowltown). It was burned in 1818 by General Gaines during
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 ...
's invasion of Spanish Florida.
This was the end of Fowltown.
Neamathla reemerged in a new town called
Cohowofooche on the site of modern
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of and the only incorporated municipality in Leon County, Florida, Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Fl ...
. "He begrudgingly allowed a new capital to be built there."
"In October 1823, territorial commissioners John Lee Williams and William Simmons met with Neamathla to tell him of the new territory's plan
olocate its capital in Tallahassee. Neamathla objected but gave his grudging approval with the stipulation they not tell other Seminoles of his consent. A year later, Neamathla threatened to make the streets of Tallahassee “run red with blood,” unless the white settlers left. "DuVal, backed by a regiment of U.S. Army soldiers, met with Neamathla and his 600 warriors. DuVal illegally deposed Neamathla as head of the Seminoles, and ordered the Indians to a reservation near Tampa."
Final years
Neamathla, who even Andrew Jackson recommended be left alone, was offered a reservation in
Gadsden County, Florida
Gadsden County is a county located in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 43,826. Its county seat is Quincy. Gadsden County is included in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area. As pa ...
. Neamathla refused to live there, and relocated to what was left of the Creek nation. "He returned to Hitchiti, the town of his ancestors, and was an important chief there by the time of the 1833 Creek census."
After an unsuccessful revolt in 1836, he was forced to walk, along with the other Creeks, the
Trail of Tears
The Trail of Tears was the forced displacement of about 60,000 people of the " Five Civilized Tribes" between 1830 and 1850, and the additional thousands of Native Americans and their black slaves within that were ethnically cleansed by the U ...
to Oklahoma.
The following description is by Florida Territorial Governor
William Pope Duval
William Pope Duval (September 4, 1784 – March 19, 1854) was the first civilian governor of the Florida Territory, succeeding Andrew Jackson, who had been a military governor. In his twelve-year governorship, from 1822 to 1834, he divided Florid ...
, as told by him to
Washington Irving
Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He wrote the short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and "The Legend of Sleepy ...
:
Legacy
* A street in northeast
Leon County, Florida
Leon County () is a County (United States), county in the Florida Panhandle, Panhandle of the U.S. state of Florida. It was named after the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population w ...
, Neamathla Trail, is named for him.
References
{{Muscogee
Spanish Florida
Muscogee
Pre-statehood history of Alabama
Pre-statehood history of Florida
Trail of Tears survivors
Native American history of Florida
Native Americans in the War of 1812
Creek War
American Métis people
Seminole Wars
Native Americans of the Seminole Wars
1841 deaths
People of the Creek War