Creek War (1787 - )

[TLS]

Spring, 1787


With negotiations between the Spanish Crown and Georgian government successfully resolved, the Georgian government believes it is in a position to finally force the Creek to bend to the forces of civilization. The Creek have been abandoned by any potential Spanish support, as they have been explicitly excluded from Spain's protective embrace, while the Georgians seek to doubly-civilize this supposedly "civilized tribe."

The Shoulderbone Treaty

In late 1786, the Georgia Assembly authorizes General John Twiggs and Colonel Elijah Clarke to mobilize the Georgia Army and frontier militia in preparation for major action. For too long the Creek have flaunted previous treaties that ceded Oconee Lands to the Georgian settlers (To be fair, said treaties were signed by some of more minor chieftains after some well-liquored seclusion). Tension on the frontier has seen increased incidents between settlers and the natives and the security of future land grants is at risk.

At the face of this, Georgia enacts a plan: through its Indian commissioner, Daniel Murphy, a friendly invitation is sent to a peace conference at Shoulderbone Creek. At Shoulderbone, the State's military will be put at full display. Despite the friendly preface, when the Creek delegations arrive, state military officers escort them through a psychological gauntlet of two armed companies lining the road to the post and then confine them to a stockade. With an effective military occupation of the area combined with the confinement of Creek leaders, the state is not inclined to compromise.

Georgia dictates treaty terms which now require the following:
- For land, the Shoulderbone Treaty will confirm the "Clarke treaties.": the cession of the Oconee land as well as another one south of the Altamaha River.
- The Shoulderbone Treaty also declares the Creek people now members of the state of Georgia, with territory in reserve under the authority and at the pleasure of the same.
- The execution of Creek aggressors and the expulsion of their suppliers.
- Creek towns must provide safe passage for Georgians settlements west and north of the nation.

Worried over the conference's aftermath and unwilling to yield a current advantage, the Georgia commissioners also place a final and nefarious requirement for the treaty's consummation: the chiefs must leave five of their own countrymen with the state — hostages against future Creek aggression — prisoners until the treaty provisions are met.

The Creek who do arrive are cowed into submission, signing the treaty at gunpoint, but once word spreads of the Georgian terms the tribes go into revolt. The Creek were willing to reneogitate the terms of the Clarke treaties, but everything subsequent is inimical to the Creek way of life. As such, over the winter of 1786-1787 the Creek flags begin to assemble for war. In early Spring 1787, the Creek send a firm message to the Georgians: a compatriot of the hostage Creeks manages to smuggle a few small blades to the hostages, who attempt to stage a breakout though with the full knowledge that they will likely not succeed. Though they manage to kill one of their guards, the hostages are quickly subdued and killed. Freed from the bondage of their servitude, the Creek mobilize for war.

Forces in theater, end of Spring

Georgia

Augusta
-1 Fort
-1 Infantry Company
-2 Cavalry Companies
-3 Militia Infantry Companies

Savannah
-1 Fort
-1 Infantry Company
-1 Cavalry Company
-3 Militia Infantry Companies

Alabama
-5 Militia Infantry Companies

Mississippi
-5 Militia Infantry Companies

Creek

Georgia
-10 Militia Infantry Companies

Alabama
-20 Militia Infantry Companies

[Hussam B.]

As details of Shoulderbone reach Savannah, the initial news of a treaty was welcomed by the Georgians. Though some would raise eyebrows at the supposed diplomatic conduct of the American delegation when it emerged that the treaty would be kept in force through the use of hostages. The full debacle would only come to view when the failed escape and tragedy dashed all hopes of a secure and safe frontier.

In Savannah, Lyman Hall emerges as a leading voice admonishing Twiggs and Clarke for trampling over years of diplomacy in their greed for settlement lands. However, this was quickly drowned out by louder demands for the safety and security of Georgian settlers from the savages and the immediate response to the prevalent emergency along the frontier.

Subsequently, Governor Telfair reiterates his full support to Twiggs and Clarke and orders all available Georgian forces to the frontier to counter Creek raids. Similarly, 1787 would see the election of George Mathews to the Governorship proved a strong supporter of the two adventuring officers and hoped for their success in the Oconee War.

[Lefty]

Responding to a call for assistance in the Continental Congress, the Virginia Legislature authorizes a company of militia to travel to Georgia and assist in the defense of Georgia settlers against marauding Indian tribals. The 1st Company of the Culpeper Minutemen will be led by a hero of the Revolution (OOC: and an ancestor of mine) Major Gabriel Long of Culpeper. The unit will be made up of younger men and men without ties or obligations as they will be away for at least a year.

[TLS]

Creek War, Summer 1787 through Winter, 1788

The Creek War rapidly escalates through the summer of 1787, to the detriment of the Georgian forces. Though the colonial government believed that a war with the Creek would be an easy affair, considering the loss of Spanish supplies to the Creek nation, the sheer force of numbers allowed for the Creek to begin the conflict on the front foot. The approximately 5,000 Georgians in the land to the east of the Alabama river are heavily exposed to Creek raids and assaults. The scattered farms and small villages are isolated and overwhelmed, and panic ensues in the territory between the Alabama and the Chattahoochee. By the beginning of autumn this frontier area has been essentially depopulated of white settlers who have amassed in makeshift camps and fortifications on the east bank of the Chattahoochee. (Summer Turn Results in Alabama and Mississippi: Georgia loses 6 militia infantry companies, Creek lose 7 militia infantry companies)

Back towards the core of Georgian territory, however, the Georgians have the upper hand. After amassing at Greensboro, the Georgian regulars begin a campaign to drive the Creek out of the Oconee and Ocmulgee basins. The Creek are fewer in number this close to settled territory, and their raids and counter-raids are less numerous and well-armed than those further west. Under general John Twiggs, the Georgian army is able to eject Creek war bands from the eastern bank of the Ocmulgee by the end of the Summer, suffering light casualties in the process (Summer Turn Results in Georgia: Georgia loses 2 militia infantry companies, Creek lose 6 militia infantry companies).

By the fall the main theater of combat are the woodlands between the Chattahoochee and Ocmulgee rivers. The Creek warbands recognize that the isolated Georgian settlers along the Chattahoochee are the most isolated, with around a thousand white women, children, and men exposed to Creek raids. Twiggs recognizes likewise and decides to gamble on a deep expedition to rescue the surrounded civilians and militiamen near the confluence of Rood Creek and the Chattahoochee. Twiggs' army is unable to make it to Rood Creek in time, however, and the Creek descend on the Georgians with 2000 men. The Georgians fight tooth and nail, but are ultimately overcome. Twiggs learns of this by the time he and his men are on the west bank of the Flint River, and he thus decides to camp for the winter rather than over-extend his lines. (Fall Results in Georgia: Georgia loses 4 militia infantry companies, Creek lose 6 militia infantry companies).

The "Massacre at Rood Creek" (clearly a misnomer, because not only did the Georgians inflict more casualties but the captured unarmed civilians were sent back to Georgia, though men under arms were executed) sends the Georgians into an uproar, and Twiggs is ordered to spend the winter months clearing everything east of the Flint River of Creek settlements. Massacres more worthy of the name then ensue, resulting in the death of hundreds of Creek civilians and the near total expulsion of Creek on the east side of the river despite the near-total absence of Creek armed forces. The Creek, in turn, use the winter to amass an army of their own for a push back into Georgian territory. (Winter Results in Georgia: No units destroyed).

Forces in theater, end of Winter, 1788

Georgia

Augusta
-1 Fort

Savannah
-1 Fort

Army of Georgia (near RL Montezuma, Gen. John Twiggs)
-2 Infantry Company
-3 Cavalry Company
-4 Militia Infantry Companies (Elijah Clarke)

Creek

Georgia (Near RL Columbus)
-9 Militia Infantry Companies

Alabama
-2 Militia Infantry Companies

[TLS]

Spring, 1788

Raids and counter-raids dominate much of the Spring, as the Georgian and Creek militia are divided in their attentions between the armed campaign and the planting season. The two sides lose slight casualties over the course of the season (each side loses a militia company) but these loses are replaced by an influx of volunteers on both sides; for the Creek, a band of Choctaw volunteers arrive to help push back the Georgian expansion, while for the Georgians the Culpeper Minutemen arrive to bring their frontier-war ways to another front.

Forces in theater, end of Winter, 1788

Georgia

Augusta
-1 Fort

Savannah
-1 Fort

Army of Georgia (near RL Montezuma, Gen. John Twiggs)
-2 Infantry Company
-3 Cavalry Company
-3 Militia Infantry Companies (Elijah Clarke)
-1 Virginian Militia Infantry Company (Gabriel Long)

Creek

Georgia (Near RL Columbus)
-8 Militia Infantry Companies
-1 Choctaw Militia Infantry Company

Alabama
-2 Militia Infantry Companies

[TLS]

Summer, 1788

After months of low-level skirmishing, the Creek elect to move deeper into Georgian territory and strike at the heart of the settlers. A young leader of the Red Stick upland Creek, Menawa, successfully convinces the leadership that only by hitting the Georgians in their own heartland can they force them to sue for peace. Twiggs, meanwhile, is under considerable pressure from the Georgian government to bring an end to the war as quickly as possible. Hundreds of Georgian militiamen have died, and scores of homesteads been destroyed, and the government is eager to avenge their loss.The two armies are not too far from one another, and Gabriel Long’s Culpeper Minutemen volunteer to serve as the government’s trackers. By chance they stumble upon a Creek forward party and can discern the Creek’s push towards the fall line of the Ocmulgee. Twiggs wheels his army around to engage the Creek near the headwaters of Upatoi Creek (near RL Box Springs, GA)

Battle of Upatoi Creek, July 20

Creek(Menawa)
-8 Militia Infantry Companies
-1 Choctaw Militia Infantry Company

Georgia (John Twiggs)
-2 Infantry Company
-3 Cavalry Company
-3 Militia Infantry Companies (Elijah Clarke)
-1 Virginian Militia Infantry Company (Gabriel Long)

The armies fall on each other in open combat, meaning neither has been able to build defensive positions (no FF turns; Georgians would have gotten an FF turn if they were under attack due to TL difference). The heavily wooded area constrains the ability of the Georgian cavalry to pursue Creek forces (they won’t be able to mop-up and destroy Creek units in the event of a victory), but the Georgians do bring considerable modern weaponry to the fight.

Menawa and his Creek warriors remain considerably better positioned for the fighting, however, as they are fighting on home turf and in an environment that they understand. Twiggs attempts to maintain a traditional battle line as best he can, considering the terrain, and unleashes volley after volley into the attacking Creek lines. However, they fall on his line piecemeal, striking at moments of exhaustion and confusion, and the Georgian line begins to waver in the face of these repeated sallies and retreats. Menawa’s coup de grace is when he is able to isolate the Georgian regular infantry and fall on them mercilessly, requiring a costly cavalry charge to save them from annihilation. (Turn 1: Creek roll 5 hits, shattering 2 Georgian Infantry, 1 Georgian Cavalry, and 2 Militia. Georgia rolls 3 hits, shattering 3 Creek militia).

Having clearly gotten the better of the engagement, Menawa believes he has an opportunity to strike a more glorious blow than he could have predicted an elects to press the attack. Twiggs, who by this point is looking for a way to extricate himself from the battle, is unable to use his cavalry to provide the screen he needs and attempts to stage a fighting retreat. By this point Clarke and Long, better suited to the terrain and nature of the combat, begin directing the beleaguered Georgian forces to better counter the Creek attacks. The fighting continues to take a heavy toll on the Georgians as they withdraw, particularly the thoroughly out of their element cavalry, but the Creek are also unable to thoroughly annihilate the Georgians as they hoped (Turn 2: Creek rolls 2 hits, shattering both cavalry companies remaining, while the Georgians roll 2 hits, shattering 2 Creek militia infantry companies). Because the Georgians are unable to leave the field in good order, however, they are forced to leave behind all but their walking wounded—and this is not the sort of war where prisoners are taken.

Casualties of the Battle of Upatoi Creek

Creek (50 killed, 250 wounded, 200 desert)
-5 Militia Infantry Companies Shattered, reformed into 2 (50 killed, 250 wounded, 200 desert)

Georgia (140 killed, 280 wounded, 280 desert)
-2 Infantry Companies Shattered, reformed into 1 (40 killed, 80 wounded, 80 desert)
-3 Cavalry Companies Shattered, reformed into 1 (60 killed, 120 wounded, 120 desert)
-2 Militia Infantry Companies Shattered, reformed into 1 (40 killed, 80 wounded, 80 desert)

News reaches Augusta by early August of “Twiggs’ Folly,” sending the capital into an uproar and panic. The Georgians have, in fact, retreated in otherwise good order to the fall line of the Ocmulgee River (near RL Macon) and are well-positioned to intercept any potential Creek advance into the Georgian heartlands, but the political panic quickly results in Twiggs losing his command. Elijah Clarke steps into the leadership vacuum in the interim. Meanwhile, Menawa’s victory catapults him into the leading role of the war and ensures Red Creek dominance of the combined war effort. The Creek coalition, however, is beginning to show its own cracks. The more hostile Red Sticks continue to press for the war to be pushed deep into Georgia proper, to strike a fatal blow, while the Lowland Creek believe that now is the ideal time to call for terms and bring the war to an end. The Lowland Creek are far more populous, but, for now, Menawa’s prestige allows the Red Sticks to carry the day. The war continues. 

Forces in theater, end of Summer, 1788

Georgia

Augusta
-1 Fort

Savannah
-1 Fort

Army of Georgia (near RL Macon, Gen. Elijah Clarke)
-1 Infantry Company
-1 Cavalry Company
-2 Militia Infantry Companies
-1 Virginian Militia Infantry Company (Gabriel Long)

Creek

Georgia (Near RL Box Springs, Menawa)
-4 Militia Infantry Companies
-1 Choctaw Militia Infantry Company

Alabama
-2 Militia Infantry Companies

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