The Surrender of William Weatherford to Andrew Jackson

Alone sentinel watched as a mounted Creek Indian Chief approached the gate of Fort Jackson. The sight was not unusual for a number of reasons. The Creek War of 1813-1814 was all but over, and many of the tribal chiefs had continually arrived at the fort to surrender on behalf of themselves and their people. The war began with the massacre at Fort Mims in Baldwin County where 250 American settlers were brutally killed, including women and children. At least 30 battles followed, fought between Andrew Jackson’s American forces and the Creek Warriors, known as the Red Sticks. Those battles had cost the Creeks at least 4,000 warriors, or three-fourths of their able-bodied men. After being defeated at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, the Creek Nation, once thought to be the wealthiest of the indigenous people, was nearly devastated. Leading chiefs had been killed, and most of the remaining Red Stick warriors had fled to West Florida, seeking asylum from the Spaniards. American troops had destroyed their villages and corn fields, and groups of refugees composed of old men, women and children were left starving and wandering in the woods.

As the rider drew closer, the sentinel, still unaware of his identity, sensed something different about the man, something almost regal. He sat God-like and stately upon his big grey steed as a king would upon his throne. Tall, thin and handsome, his skin was lighter than the typical Indian. He was stark naked down to the waist, revealing a muscular chest and powerful arms. His buckskin leggings and tattered moccasins were worn thin from many days of fighting. He wore no war-paint, and a pair of eagle feathers dangled from a head band surrounding his long hair.

Passing the sentinel and into the fort, the chief was met by a group of soldiers, along with a number of Creeks, Choctaws and Cherokees, Indians who had allied themselves with the Americans during the war. He asked directions to Jackson’s quarters, but the group only gave him a rude reply. Perhaps they recognized him. It was certain one of the Indians, a Creek chief called Big Warrior, identified him and called him by name: It was William Weatherford, or Red Eagle, as he later came to be called. The two chiefs were vowed enemies and hated one another. Touching the rifle at his side, Weatherford said, “You damned traitor, if you give me any insolence, I will blow a ball through your cowardly heart.” The confrontation and ensuing commotion brought General Jackson and his aide-de-camp, John Reid, hurrying from Jackson’s tent. After Weatherford identified himself to the general, Jackson shouted “How dare you sir, to ride up to my tent, after having murdered the women and children at Fort Mims.” “General Jackson,” Weatherford replied in a steady voice, “I am not afraid of you. I fear no man, for I am a Creek warrior.”

Indeed Weatherford feared no man. Like other Creek chiefs, his lineage was hybrid. Son of a Scottish trader named Charles Weatherford and a Creek woman, Sehoy III, a mixed-blood daughter of Tabacha, chief of the powerful Creek tribe called Wind Clan. By Weatherford’s choice, he was raised in his mother’s tribe as a Creek warrior. He was bilingual, learning English from his uncle, Alexander McGillivray, and Creek from his mother. Although otherwise uneducated, Weatherford was highly intelligent and respected as a leader in the Creek Nation, earning him the title of “tustnugge,” or war chief, during the Creek War. As such, he had the awesome responsibility of stopping the advance of the American frontier into Creek territory and pushing it back.

Although Jackson knew that most of the Creek warriors had already surrendered or fled to Pensacola and Spanish sanctuary, the general was far from being satisfied. He continued to want Weatherford, the man who had led the massacre at Fort Mims.  Jackson’s troops had swept the countryside in search of him. Now, standing before him, was the magnificent chief, having ridden in on his own accord. Jackson’s aide, John Reid, began taking copious notes of the conversation as the two men moved inside the general’s tent. “I am in your power,” said Weatherford, “do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely: if I had an army I would yet fight, and contend to the last: but I have none . . . I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation.” 

Jackson was a hard man, so hard his soldiers had given him the sobriquet Old Hickory. Yet, he could not help being moved by Weatherford’s brave sentiment and his intellect. “The terms on which your nation can be saved, and peace restored,” Jackson told him, “has already been disclosed: in this way, and none other, can you obtain safety.” Old Hickory made it clear that if Weatherford chose to continue fighting, he would allow him to leave Fort Jackson and join the remnants of the Red Stick warriors, but if he were captured, it would cost him his life. However, if he chose peace over war, “he might remain where he was and should be protected.” Weatherford chose peace. “I come to beg you,” spoke the chief, “to send for the women and children of the war party, who are now starving in the woods.” Then Weatherford regretfully added: “I exerted myself in vain to prevent the massacre of the women and children at Fort Mims. I am now done fighting.” As word spread throughout the fort that Weatherford had surrendered, there was an outcry within the fort, “Kill him! Kill him!” Weatherford’s Indian enemy, Big Warrior, rushed forward, attempting to take the chief’s life, but was stopped by Jackson’s soldiers. This brought Old Hickory from his tent, commanding them to be silent, and declaring: “Any man who would kill as brave a man as this would rob the dead!”

Jackson was raised in hardscrabble times during the American Revolution. When the British killed his mother and father, he was left as a boy without a family. Seeing his family, friends and neighbors killed, he grew belligerent and developed a penchant for violence. He hated, especially the British, but was not an Indian hater, as he was so often accused. He correctly believed Weatherford was no savage and keeping him alive would persuade other Red Stick warriors to lay down their arms and surrender peacefully. The stern Jackson also understood that no other warrior had as much control over the Red Sticks as the fearless chieftain standing in his presence.

Weatherford assured Jackson he would do all he could to convince the remaining Creeks to surrender on Jackson’s terms. A few days after the surrender, the chief kept his word and set out from Fort Jackson in search of his people hidden in the woods. He had promised Jackson, the Creeks would listen to his words. As a result of his efforts, most of the remaining chiefs and their tribes came in to surrender, and some 5,000 women and children were fed at Fort Jackson and surrounding outposts throughout the territory. 

For the great chief, Weatherford, the war was over, and he never took up arms against the American settlers again. He was fortunate in not being required to relocate to other lands as other hostile Creeks had been. Yet, he was homeless, his plantations had all been burned. However, he had relatives near Little River in south Monroe County, near the site of Fort Mims. There, he hoped to resume his life as a planter, and try to put the painful memories of the war behind him. For the remainder of his life, he lived and worked as a citizen among the American settlers and was respected for his brave and honorable character. Although he and Jackson had been enemies during the war, they shared and admired many of the same qualities in each other. It was well-known that both men were lovers of horses, and it’s believed that before Weatherford’s death in 1826 he made several visits to Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage in Tennessee, and there joined Old Hickory in training horses. mb

Russell W. Blount Jr. is the author of five books on the American Civil War as well as a number of articles on 19th-century America in historical journals and publications.