On this day in Alabama history: Battle of Holy Ground was fought

Published On: 12.23.17 |

By: 9316

On this day in Alabama history: Battle of Holy Ground was fought

Dec 23 hero

Print showing Andrew Jackson sitting in a chair on the left, in a tent, speaking with William Weatherford who is standing on the right near the opening of the tent, c. 1859. (Artwork by John Reuben Chapin, Engraving by J.W. Ridgway, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)

December 23, 1813

U.S. troops led by Brig. Gen. Ferdinand Claiborne and Red Stick forces under William Weatherford met at the Battle of Holy Ground, one of the major battles of the Creek War of 1813-14. Located in present-day Lowndes County, Holy Ground, or Econochaca, was one of three defensive settlements constructed by the Red Sticks during the war. Claiborne attacked the town with an army of 1,000 federal troops, militiamen and Choctaw allies against about 120 Creek warriors and a sizeable force of African-Americans. After an hour of battle, most of the Red Sticks managed to flee, including Weatherford, who escaped on his horse by leaping from a 15-foot bluff into the Alabama River amid a barrage of gunfire.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

This interpretation of the famous escape by William Weatherford (also known as Red Eagle) from the Holy Ground appeared in George G. Eggleston’s Red Eagle and the Wars with the Creek Indians, published in 1878. As the legend of the leap into the river spread, the height of his daring feat increased from its true distance of about 15 feet to more than 50 feet. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama)