THE AFTERMATH
In the months after the massacre, a Fort Mims survivor named Zachariah McGirth, was overjoyed to see is wife and 7 daughters,
whom he believed at been killed, arrive at the Mobile wharf. McGirth and two of his slaves had left the fort about two hours before the
attack to go to his nearby farm to gather provisions. As they paddled their boat down the Alabama River, they heard gunfire and saw
flames and smoke from the fort rising above the trees. Knowing that he could do nothing to help his family McGirth and his men hid in a
bayou near the blazing outpost through the night.
McGirth entered the ruins early on the morning of 31 Aug. to search for his family but did not find them or their bodies.
Unknown to him, a Red Stick named Sanota, whom they had adopted, as a hungry, orphaned boy had taken his family, except for his only
son who was killed at the fort, captive. Sanota kept his adopted mother and the girls in a Creek village, providing for them and
protecting them from the other warriors.
When Sanota was killed in battle a few months after the battle at Fort Mims, the McGirths set out on foot for the nearest
pioneer outpost. After days of struggling through the wilds, a militia major found the family who took them to Mobile where they
were reunited with McGirth.
News of the Fort Mims massacre spread quickly, shocking and outraging the American nation. General Claiborne was widely
criticized for his handling of the frontier defenses, but Major Beasley's carelessness appears to the more to blame for the Fort
Mims massacre. The Creek victory raised the confidence of the Red Stick warriors as much as it panicked settlers along the entire
western frontier.
The Americans soon stuck back, defeating the Creek nation even though the Americans fought a bungling, uncoordinated campaign.
By October 4, 1813, about 1,300 mounted Tennessee volunteer troops under the command of Major General Andrew Jackson had moved into
northern Alabama. After a series of battles, General Jackson's army annihilated the main Creek force on March 27, 1814 at Horseshoe
Bend on the Tallapoosa River in eastern Alabama.
Weatherford eventually surrendered to General Jackson, who was impressed by Red Eagle's bearing and bravery. With the Red
sticks essentially destroyed, Weatherford helped persuade remaining groups of warriors to surrender. Red Eagle also convinced
Jackson of his futile attempt to stop the Fort Mims slaughter. "I exerted myself in vain to prevent the massacre of the women and
children at Fort Mims", Red Eagle reportedly told General Jackson. "I am now done with fighting."
On August 9, 1814, several Creek leaders signed the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which ceded some 20 million acres of Creek land
to the United States. For his actions in the war and in forcing the treaty on the Creeks, General Jackson earned the first measure of
fame that would lead him to the presidency.
After the war, Jackson released Weatherford, who was allowed to settle in Monroe County, Alabama, to lead a peaceful existence
until his death in March 1824. A cairn marks Red Eagle's grave located about a mile from the site of Fort Mims.
