Battle of Burnt Corn

Map of events in Alabama during the War of 1812

Date	July 27, 1813
Location	On Burnt Corn Creek in Escambia County, Alabama, near the border with Conecuh County.
Result	Red Stick victory

Belligerents

Red Stick Creek

United States

Commanders and leaders

Peter McQueen

Colonel James Caller
Captain Dixon Bailey

Strength

~80

~180

Casualties and losses

~10 or 12 killed
eight or nine wounded

2 killed
15 wounded

The Battle of Burnt Corn, also known as the Battle of Burnt Corn Creek, was an encounter between United States armed forces and Creek Indians that took place July 27, 1813 in present-day southern Alabama. The battle was part of the Creek War.

In July 1813, Peter McQueen and a large party of "Red Sticks" warriors proceeded to Pensacola, Florida to buy munitions, with £400 and a letter from a British officer at Fort Malden. In McQueen's words, the Spanish governor gave them "a small bag of powder for each ten towns, and five bullets to each man." The governor represented this as a "friendly present, for hunting purposes".

But Samuel Moniac, a Creek warrior, testified August 2, 1813 after the events, “High Head told me that, when they went back with their supply, another body of men would go down for another supply of ammunition; and that ten men were to go out of town, and they calculated on 'five horse-loads for every town'.”

United States soldiers at Fort Mims, having heard of McQueen's mission, sent a quickly organized force, led by Colonel James Caller and Captain Dixon Bailey, to intercept McQueen's party. The Americans ambushed the Red Sticks as they bedded down on the evening of July 27, 1813, on the banks of Burnt Corn Creek, in present-day southern Alabama (in what is now northern Escambia County, Alabama). It would become known as "The Battle of Burnt Corn" or the "Battle of Burnt Corn Creek," and would be seen as a part of the broader Creek War.

The Americans scattered the Red Sticks, who fled to the nearby swamps. Flush with victory, the Americans began looting the Red Sticks' pack-horses. From the swamp, the Creeks noticed that the Americans had dropped their guard. The Creek re-grouped and launched a surprise attack of their own, which scattered the Americans.

Coordinates: 31°11′22″N 87°07′33″W / 31.18957°N 87.12587°W / 31.18957; -87.12587

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