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7. Horseshoe Bend: A Living Memorial
- The University of Alabama Press
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7 Horseshoe Bend a Living Memorial Ove Jensen horseshoe Bend National Military park is one of 392 units in the National park System and one of only two dozen battlefield or military parks. It is the only national military park in alabama. The 2,040-acre park receives some fifty to sixty thousand visitors annually. Most people come to enjoy the serene landscape, view wildlife, and have a quiet experience in a natural environment . however, many come specifically to visit the site of the battle in order to learn more about the history of the Creek Indians and the war that ended on the banks of theTallapoosa River. historic sites are essential to our understanding of history and help “fix the subject” or make the subject real in the mind of the visitor. as a former horseshoe Bend ranger observed, visiting a site “breathes life into the dry leaves of the past.” In a real sense, the place provides a tangible, living, and lingering connection to the past. In the case of horseshoe Bend, it also makes it possible for modern people to comprehend the complexities of the nineteenth-century battle and the difficulties and opportunities presented by the terrain. From a Creek perspective, aside from any spiritual reasons for selecting the location, the topography must have seemed a particularly good place to make a stand. Based on prior experience, with the opposing forces roughly equal in strength, the area seemed to offer obvious advantages and provide an easily defended piece of ground. Indeed, there seems to have been a pattern . For example, at holy Ground, the basic layout was similar, with a rudimentary barrier providing frontal protection to forces whose rear was protected by a river. prior to the battle, the Tallapoosa River provided a means of communication and travel, and if the initial barriers were breached, the river could provide a means of escape. Compared to US forces, Red Sticks moved faster and used obstacles to their advantage. Their goal was not necessarily the destruction of enemy forces, but the protection of their ground; horseshoe Bend 147 and when that proved impossible, they did not hesitate to use their surroundings to their advantage and retreat into canebreaks and swamps and over rivers, which, generally speaking, americans could not cross as fast or effectively. In earlier battles of the Creek War, US forces and Red Sticks were on relatively equal standing. When surrounded, the Red Sticks would choose a point of the line, break through, and retreat. Undoubtedly, they expected to be able to do that at horseshoe Bend; however, by March of 1814, General andrew Jackson’s numbers were vastly superior and the advantage gained by geography was lost as his total force swelled to some five thousand. even though he did not deploy his entire force at horseshoe Bend, he still had sufficient troops to effectively surround them and prevent retreat. one factor that is difficult for modern people to comprehend is the spiritual or supernatural force that the site offered in the Red Stick worldview. an early account of the battle described the bend as “a consecrated spot, where they considered themselves protected by friendly spirits.”1 But clearly, real as well as spiritual defenses were important to the Red Stick defenders of the barricade or fortification, known in the Creek language as Tohopeka. Jackson gained considerable experience from his earlier engagements at Tallushatchee,Talladega, emuckfau Creek, and enitachopco Creek. By the time he set his sights on the horseshoe, he possessed a larger and betterorganized army. prior to the battle, the bulk of Jackson’s forces were garrisoned at Fort Williams on the Coosa River, near modern Sylacauga. The army set off in late March for horseshoe Bend, which Jackson knew from prior intelligence reports was heavily fortified and manned by a massed force of okfuskee warriors. his army cut a fifty-two-mile path through the woods, and by the evening of March 26, they were camped five or six miles from Tohopeka, as the Creeks called the fortified site. Jackson’s exact route from Fort Williams to emuckfau Creek is not known, nor is the exact location of his campsite, but “best guess” reasoning places the camp near modern New Site, alabama.2 Jackson’s experience in January, when he engaged the Creeks at the Battles of emuckfau and enitachopco, seems to have guided his thinking as he planned his campaign. at emuckfau, on January 22, Red Stick forces launched a surprise attack...