Fort Mims massacre The Fort Mims massacre was a battle that occurred on 30 August 1813 during the Creek War , when a force of Creek people , belonging to the " Red Sticks " faction under the command of head warriors Peter McQueen and William Weatherford , or Lamochattee ( Red Eagle ) , stormed the fort and defeated the militia garrison . After the defeat of the garrison there ensued a massacre and almost all of the remaining Lower Creek , white settlers , and militia at Fort Mims were killed . The fort was a stockade with a blockhouse surrounding the house and outbuildings of the settler Samuel Mims , located about 35 miles north of present - day Mobile , Alabama . Background . The Creek Nation was splitting into factions during the War of 1812 . One group of Creek nativists , the Red Sticks , argued against any more accommodation of the white settlers while the other Creeks favored adopting the white lifestyle . The Red Stick faction of the Creek Indians from the Upper Towns opposed both land cessions to settlers and the Lower Towns ' assimilation into European - American culture . The nativists were soon called " Red Sticks " because they had raised the " red stick of war , " a favored weapon and symbolic Creek war declaration . Civil war among the Creeks erupted in the summer of 1813 and the Red Sticks attacked accommodationist headmen and , in the Upper Towns , began a systematic slaughter of domestic animals , most of which belonged to men who had gained power by adopting aspects of European culture . Not understanding internal issues among the Creek , frontier whites were alarmed about rising tensions and began ' forting up ' and moving into the various posts and blockhouses such as Fort Mims while reinforcements were sent to the frontier . American spies learned that Peter McQueen ' s party of Red Sticks were in Pensacola , Florida to acquire food assistance , supplies and arms from the Spanish . The Creek received from the newly arrived Spanish governor , González Manrique , 45 barrels of corn and flour , blankets , ribbons , scissors , razors , a few steers and 1000 pounds of gunpowder and an equivalent supply of lead musket balls and bird shot , but took and drank no alcohol . When reports of the Creek pack train reached Colonel Caller , he and Major Daniel Beasley of the Mississippi Volunteers led a mounted force of 6 companies 150 white militia riflemen , 30 Tensaw métis under Captain Dixon Bailey to intercept those warriors . They ambushed the Red Sticks in the Battle of Burnt Corn in July 1813 as the Creek were having their mid - day meal . While the United States forces were looting the Red Sticks ' pack trains , the warriors returned and successfully drove off the Americans . The United States were now at war with the Creek Nation . In August 1813 , Peter McQueen and Red Eagle ( Weatherford ) were the Red Stick chiefs who would lead the attack on Fort Mims . Creek warriors of the Red Stick faction arranged to concentrate nearly 1 , 000 men from thirteen Creek towns of the Alabamas , the Tallapoosas , and lower Abekas at the mouth of Flat Creek on the lower Alabama River . The mixed - blood Creek , also known as " métis " , of Tensaw , one of the Lower Towns , joined European - American settlers for refuge at the stockade of Fort Mims . Both these groups also brought slaves . There were about 517 people , including some 265 armed militia in the fort . Fort Mims was located about 35 to 45 miles ( 50 – 70 km ) north of Mobile on the eastern side of the Alabama River . Attack . On August 29 , 1813 , two black slaves tending cattle outside the stockade reported that " painted warriors " were in the vicinity . But , mounted scouts from the fort found no signs of the war party . To the detriment of Fort Mims , Beasley had the second slave flogged for " raising a false alarm " . Beasley received a second warning the morning of the assault by a mounted scout but dismissed it and took no precautions as Beasley was reportedly drunk . Major Beasley , the commander , had claimed that he could " maintain the post against any number of Indians " , but historians believe the stockade was poorly defended . At the time of the attack , the East gate was partially blocked open by drifting sand . The Red Sticks attacked during the mid - day meal and Beasley had put no pickets or sentries out , dismissing the reports the Creeks were near . The Creek warriors attempted to take the fort in a " coup de main " , charging the open gate " en masse " . At the same time , the Red Sticks took control of the gun loopholes and the outer enclosure . Under Captain Bailey , the militia and settlers held the inner enclosure fighting on for a time and after about two hours there was a pause of about an hour . The Indians , their initial impetus blunted inside the fort and casualties rising , held an impromptu council debating whether to continue the fight or withdraw . By 3 o ' clock , it was decided that the Tensaw métis led by Dixon Bailey would have to be destroyed to avenge their treachery at Burnt Corn and then the Creeks launched a second attack at 3 pm . The remaining defenders fell back into a building called the ' bastion ' . The Red Sticks set fire to the ' bastion ' in the center , which then spread to the rest of the stockade . The warriors forced their way into the inner enclosure and , despite attempts of Weatherford , killed most of the militia defenders , the mixed - blood Creek , and white settlers . After a struggle of hours , the defense collapsed entirely and perhaps 500 militia , settlers , slaves and Creeks loyal to the Americans died or were captured , with the Red Sticks taking some 250 scalps . By five o ' clock , the battle was over and the stockade and buildings sacked and in flames . While they spared the lives of almost all of the slaves , they nonetheless then took over 100 slaves captive . At least 3 women and 10 children are known to have been made captive . Some 36 people , nearly all men , escaped , including Bailey who was mortally wounded , and 2 women and one girl . When a relief column arrived a few weeks later , it found 247 corpses of the defenders and 100 of the Creek attackers . Aftermath and recent history . The Red Sticks ' victory at Fort Mims spread panic throughout the Southeastern United States frontier , and settlers demanded governmental action and fled . In the weeks following the battle several thousand persons , about half the population of the Tensaw and Tombigbee districts , would flee their settlements for Mobile and Mobile ' s population of 500 struggled to accommodate them . The Red Stick victory , one of the greatest achieved by native Americans , and massacre marked the transition from a civil war within the Creek tribe ( Muskogee ) to a war between the United States and the Red Stick warriors of the Upper Creek . Since Federal troops were occupied with the northern front of the War of 1812 , Tennessee , Georgia , and the Mississippi Territory mobilized their militias to move against the Upper Creek towns that had supported the Red Sticks ' cause . After several battles , Colonel Andrew Jackson commanded these state militias and together with Cherokee allies at the subsequent Battle of Horseshoe Bend defeated the Red Sticks Creek faction , ending the Creek War . Today the Fort Mims site is maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission . It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 14 , 1972 . The Fort Mims massacre is cited in Margaret Mitchell ' s epic novel " Gone with the Wind " . In the book , a minor character , Grandma Fontaine , shares her memories of seeing her entire family murdered in the uprising as a lesson to the protagonist , Scarlett . She explains that a woman should never experience the worst that can happen to her , for then she can never experience fear again .