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 central Alabama . On March 27 , 1814 , United States forces and Indian allies under Major General Andrew Jackson defeated the Red Sticks , a part of the Creek Indian tribe who opposed American expansion , effectively ending the Creek War . Background . The battle is considered part of the War of 1812 . The Creek Indians of Georgia and Alabama had become divided into two factions : the Upper Creeks ( or Red Sticks ) , a majority who opposed the American expansion and sided with the British and Spanish during the War of 1812 , and the Lower Creek , who were more assimilated , had a stronger relationship with the US Indian Agent Benjamin Hawkins , and sought to remain on good terms with the Americans . The Shawnee leader Tecumseh went to Creek and other Southeast Indian towns in 1811 – 12 to recruit warriors to join his war against American encroachment . The Red Sticks , young men who wanted to revive traditional religious and cultural practices , were already forming , resisting assimilation . They began to raid American frontier settlements . When the Lower Creek helped United States forces capture and punish leading raiders , they were punished by the Red Sticks . In 1813 , militia troops intercepted a Red Stick party returning from obtaining arms in Pensacola . While they were looting the material , the Red Sticks returned and defeated them , at what became known as the Battle of Burnt Corn . Red Sticks raiding of enemy settlements continued , and in August 1813 they attacked Fort Mims in retaliation for the Burnt Corn attack . After that massacre , frontier settlers appealed to the government for help . As Federal forces were devoted to the War of 1812 , Tennessee , Georgia and Alabama organized militias that were commanded by Colonel Andrew Jackson , together with Lower Creek and Cherokee allies , to go against the Red Sticks . Jackson and his forces won the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814 . Horseshoe Bend was the major battle of the Creek War , in which Andrew Jackson sought to " clear " Alabama for American settlement . Colonel Jackson commanded an army of West Tennessee militia , which he had turned into a well - trained fighting force . Added to the militia units was the 39th United States Infantry and about 600 Cherokee , Choctaw and Lower Creek fighting against the Red Stick Creek . After leaving Fort Williams in the spring of 1814 , Jackson ' s army cut its way through the forest to within 6 miles ( 10 km ) of Chief Menawa ' s Red Stick camp of " Tohopeka " , near a bend in the Tallapoosa River , called " Horseshoe Bend , " in central Alabama , east of what is now Alexander City . Jackson sent General John Coffee with the mounted infantry and the Indian allies south across the river to surround the Red Sticks ' camp , while Jackson stayed with the rest of the 2 , 000 infantry north of the camp . Battle . On March 27 , 1814 , General Andrew Jackson led troops consisting of 2 , 600 American soldiers , 500 Cherokee , and 100 Lower Creek allies up a steep hill near Tohopeka , Alabama . From this vantage point , Jackson would begin his attack on a Red Stick Creek fortification . At 6 : 30am , he split his troops and sent roughly 1300 men to cross the Tallapoosa River and surround the Creek village . Then , at 10 : 30 a . m . , Jackson ' s remaining troops began an artillery barrage which consisted of two cannons firing for about two hours . Little damage was caused to the Red Sticks or their 400 yard long log - and - dirt fortifications . In fact , Jackson was quite impressed with the measures the Red Sticks took to protect their position . As he later wrote : Soon , Jackson ordered a bayonet charge . The 39th U . S . Infantry , led by Colonel John Williams , charged the breastworks defending the camp and caught the Red Sticks in hand - to - hand combat . Sam Houston ( the future statesman and politician ) served as a third lieutenant in Jackson ' s army . Houston was one of the first to make it over the log barricade alive and received a wound from a Creek arrow that troubled him the rest of his life . Meanwhile , the rest of Jackson ' s troops , under the command of General John Coffee , had successfully crossed the river and surrounded the encampment . They joined the fight and gave Jackson a great advantage . The Creek warriors refused to surrender , though , and the battle lasted for more than five hours . At the end , roughly 800 of the 1000 Red Stick warriors present at the battle were killed . In contrast , Jackson lost fewer than 50 men during the fight and reported 154 wounded . Chief Menawa was severely wounded but survived ; he led about 200 of the original 1 , 000 warriors across the river and into safety among the Seminole tribe in Spanish Florida . Results . On August 9 , 1814 , Andrew Jackson forced the Creek to sign the Treaty of Fort Jackson . The Creek Nation was forced to cede — half of central Alabama and part of southern Georgia — to the United States government ; this included territory of the Lower Creek , who had been allies of the United States . Jackson had determined the areas from his sense of security needs . Of the Jackson forced the Creek to cede , which was claimed by the Cherokee Nation , which had also allied with the United States . Jackson was promoted to Major General after getting agreement to the treaty . This victory , along with that at the Battle of New Orleans , greatly contributed to Jackson ' s national reputation and his popularity . He was well known when he ran successfully for president in 1828 . The battlefield is preserved in the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park . Two currently active battalions of the Regular Army ( 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 7th Infantry Regiment ) perpetuate the lineage of the old 39th Infantry Regiment , which fought at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend . In fiction . Eric Flint has written a series of alternative history novels , " , " that begin with the Battle of Horseshoe Bend . In Flint ' s version , Houston is only lightly wounded in the battle . He is breveted to captain by Jackson and sent to Washington to help negotiate a peaceful settlement between the United States and the Cherokee , Creek and other Southeastern tribes . He arrives in Washington shortly after the Battle of Bladensburg , where he rallies defeated US troops and organizes black teamsters into an ad - hoc artillery force to successfully defend the Capitol building and prevent the British from burning Washington .