Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek The battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek are part of Andrew Jackson ' s campaign in the Creek War . They took place in January 1814 approximately 20 to 50 miles ( 30 – 80 km ) northeast of Horseshoe Bend . Background . In 1812 , with the start of the US - British war , the U . S . government offered the potential 50000th Tennessee militia . Andrew Jackson was ordered to leave the territory of the Mississippi to fight Indians cry – allies of the British . After Talladega , Jackson was plagued by supply shortages and discipline problems arising from his men ' s short term enlistments . General John Coffee , who had returned to Tennessee for remounts , wrote Jackson that the cavalry had deserted . By the end of 1813 , Jackson was down to a single regiment whose enlistments were due to expire in mid January . Although Governor Willie Blount had ordered a new levee of 2 , 500 troops , Jackson would not be up to full strength until the end of February . When a draft of 900 raw recruits arrived unexpectedly on January 14 , Jackson was down to a cadre of 103 and Coffee , who had been " abandoned by his men . " Battles . Since new men had sixty day enlistment contracts , Jackson decided to get the most out of his untried force . He departed Fort Struther on the seventeenth and marched toward the village of Emuckfaw to cooperate with the Georgia Militia . However , this was a risky decision . It was a long march through difficult terrain against a numerically superior force , and the men were inexperienced and insubordinate . A defeat of Jackson would have prolonged the war . On January 22 , 1814 , Jackson was encamped about twelve miles ( 20 km ) from Emuckfaw . At dawn , a strong force of Red Sticks , camped three miles ( 5 km ) away , attacked Jackson ' s position but were driven off after about thirty minutes . Jackson sent Coffee with a force of 400 to burn the Indian camp . Upon seeing the strength of their position , Coffee did not attack and returned to Jackson ' s position . The Red Sticks attacked again . Coffee was seriously wounded when he led a small party to turn their flank . The Creek were driven off with a loss of 54 killed . At this point , Jackson had no choice but to retreat to Fort Strother . Because of the difficulty of the earlier crossing of the Emuckfaw , Jackson took a longer route back to Fort Strother . Even so , the crossing was difficult . On the morning of January 24 , 1814 , he began to recross the creek . When Jackson ' s artillery was about to enter the ford , alarm shots sounded in the woods . Having anticipated an attack , Jackson had ordered his advance guard to counterattack and attempt an envelopment . The rear guard panicked and retreated . For reasons unknown , the Red Sticks were unable to take advantage of the situation , and a handful of defenders drove them off . Jackson ' s losses for the two engagements were 24 killed and 71 wounded . Aftermath . Although Jackson had been forced to withdraw , the Red Sticks had lost their best opportunity for a decisive victory against the American forces . Jackson returned to Fort Strother and did not resume the offensive until mid - March .