Left Hampton Roads

Source

Officers At The Battle Of Autosee Creek

Major Freeman, at the head of Irwin's troop of cavalry, and part of Steele's, made a furious and successful charge upon a body of Indians, sabred several and completely defeated them: captain Thomas and his company, captain Adams and lieutenant Hendon's rifle companies killed a great many Indians, and deserve particular praise. Captain Barton's company was in the hottest of the battle, and fought like soldiers. Captain Myrick, captain Little, captain King, captain Broadnax, captain Cleveland, captain Joseph T. Cunningham, and captain Lee, with their companies, distinguished themselves. [Source]

Adjutant general Newman rendered important services during the action, by his cool and deliberate courage. My aid, major Crawford, discharged with promptitude the duties of a brave and meritorious officer. Major Pace, who acted as field aid, also distinguished himself; both these gentlemen had their horses shot under them, and the latter lost his. Doctor Williamson, hospital surgeon, and doctor Clopton, were prompt and attentive in the discharge of their duty towards the wounded during the action. [Ibid]

Brigadier general Shackleford was of great service in bringing the troops into action; and adjutant Broadnax, and major Montgomery, who acted as assistant adjutant, showed great activity and courage. Major Booth used his best endeavors in bringing his battalion to action, and major Watson's battalion acted with considerable spirit. Irwin's, Patterson's, and Steele's troops of cavalry, whenever an opportunity presented, charged with success. 'Lieutenant Strong had his" horse shot and narrowly escaped, and quarter master Fennell displayed the greatest heroism, and miraculously escaped, though badly wounded, after having his horse shot from under him. The topographical engineer was vigilant in his endeavours to render service. [Ibid]

Report Of The Battle Of Autosee Creek

Source (Official Letters...)

Fourth Victory Over The Creeks.

Camp, West Chatahouchie, December 4th, 1813.

Sir,

I have the honour to communicate to your excellency an account of an action fought on the 29th ultimo on the Talapoosie river, between part of the force under my command, and a large body of the Creek Indians.

It was my intention to have completely surrounded the enemy by appaying the right wing of my force on Canleebee creek, at the mouth of which I was informed the town stood, and resting the left on the river bank below the town, but to our surprise, as the day dawned, we perceived a second town about 500 yards below that which we had first viewed and were preparing to attack. The plan was immediately changed: three companies of infantry on the left were wheeled into echellon, and advanced to the lower town accompanied by Meriwether's rifle company and two troops of light dragoons under the command of captains Irwin and Steele.

At 9 o'clock the enemy was completely driven from the plain, and the houses of both towns wrapped in flames.

The troops deserve the highest praise for their fortitude in enduring hunger, cold, and fatigue, without a murmur, having marched 120 miles in 7 days.

The friendly Indians lost several killed and wounded, the number not exactly known. Captain Barton, an active and intelligent officer, (the bearer of these despatches) can more particularly explain to your excellency the conduct, movements, and operations of the army.

I have the honour to be...

JOHN FLOYD, B. CI.

Major general Pinckney.

Killed and wounded in the action on the 29th of November, 1815.  Total killed, 11; wounded, 54.

Additional information about the Battle Of Autosee Creek can be found at the Flintlock and Tomahawk blog here.

Battle Of Autosee Creek

Source

"...the restless Seminoles and bitter Creeks were on the war path in both Southern Georgia and Alabama."

"A body of Georgia troops under the command of General John Floyd...marched into the Indian Nation beyond the Ocmulgee near Columbus. Here he built Fort Mitchell and marching westward fought the battle of Autosee, in which he was wounded. The general was the first man to march through the great Okefinokee swamp where he cut a road known as Floyd's trail. The war ended with the battle of New Orleans early in 1815. During this period the war with England and the war of the Creeks came to an end." [Source]

Campaigns Of The War Of 1812 (Southwest)

Source

Aquilla Greer(s)

Mentioned were Aquilla Greer Sr., Aquilla Greer, Jr. and a cousin, also named Aquilla Greer, in the military pension documents.

From Fold3:

Served in Georgia with Captain John Browning, 2nd Regiment, Georgia militia, commanded by Colonel Jenkins until his death and after that Colonel Daniel Newnan, in the was with the Creek Indians.

Both Aquilla Greer, Jr., and Aquilla Greer, Sr., entered the service with Captain John Browning

Volunteered in Green County, Georgia at Jonathan Harrelson's house
Discharged at Fort Hawkins (another document said Milledgeville, Georgia on 10 March 1814)

Also lived in Pike County, Georgia.

Aquilla Greer was a resident of Spaulding County, Illinois.


Referred to as Aquilla Greer, Jr.

Robert Allen, witness, further testified that he knew Aquilla Greer, Sr., and knew of his discharge on account of his disability.  A cousin, also named Aquilla Greer, was mentioned..it was noted that his cousin was rejected because he was small and sickly.  Last time he knew the whereabouts of his cousin, the cousin was in Illinois.

"..being one of the same name who was rejected? and not mustered into service at all."
"And that the aforesaid Aquilla Greer was son of Eliza Greer fifer for the company in said war" Robert Allen, subscribing witness, Spaulding County, Georgia [Source  Fold3]

The Descendants of Aquilla Greer, Sr (our Johnson connection here).  Aquilla, who married Elizabeth Welch, was found here.  Not all information seems to coordinate with War of 1812 pension/bounty land file.

Tybee

Lighthouse At Tybee Island

Source (Tybee Lighthouse East Of Fort Pulaski)

Per the NPS:

 During the War of 1812, the Tybee Island Lighthouse was used as a signal tower to warn Savannah of possible attack by the British (though no such attack took place...).

Florida And The Other War Of 1812

Florida

The Other War of 1812: The Patriot War and the American Invasion of Spanish East Florida, by James G. Cusick, University of Georgia Press, Apr 15, 2007 - 392 pages (also here):

"...a party of Georgians invaded East Florida, confident that partisans there would help them swiftly wrest the colony away from Spain. The raid was a strategic and political disaster."

Source: Congressional Edition

Plot To Annex Florida

John Houston McIntosh and the sugar mill ruins marker in St Marys, Georgia.

McIntosh...settled in East Florida as a young man and became a leader of a group of American citizens who, during the War of 1812, plotted the annexation of East Florida to the United States. This plot crushed by the Spanish government... .

A letter to Thomas Flournoy (housed in Flournoy's papers at the University of Michigan) from the War of 1812 era:

A letter from John Houstoun McIntosh, director of the Territory of East Florida, concerning the settlers of Talbot Island and Nassau River, East Florida (December 26, 1812).

Fort Mims

The removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia, Volume 1  by Wilson Lumpkin:

Indeed, while I was yet in the wilderness I heard of the death of Arthur Lot(t) and his son murdered by the Creek Indians in the path which I had but recently traveled.  And before or just after my return home I heard of the massacre of the inmates of Fort Mims near the junction of Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, a place where I had spent several days to recruit my stock of provisions.

Seat Of War Among The Creeks

Source

The Creek War...

General Flournoy And His Papers

Papers in the Clements Library include those of Thomas Flournoy:

Title: Thomas Flournoy papers

Inclusive dates: 1799-1827

Extent: 0.25 linear feet (105 items)

Abstract: The Thomas Flournoy papers consist of letters and documents of Flournoy, who was a lawyer, a general during the War of 1812, and a United States commissioner to the Creek Indians.

Map Of Creeks Nation

From The Pictorial Field-book of the War of 1812: Or, Illustrations:

"...General Flournoy, who succeeded General Wilkinson in command of the Seventh Military District, persuaded by Colonel Hawkins, Indian agent, of the civilization and friendly disposition of the Creeks, would not their prayer."

This source reflected on the efficiency (or lack thereof) of General Flournoy:

"Georgia and Tennessee very actively seconded the efforts of Mississippi and had General Flournoy been a more efficient commander, much effusion of blood and waste of property would have been spared." 

The General's Wife:

Fort Morris Became Fort Defiance

Fort Morris,  in Midway, Georgia, was used by Americans during the War of 1812 under the name Fort Defiance.

During the Revolutionary War, when the British demanded the fort's surrender, a defiant Col. John McIntosh (also a War of 1812 officer) replied "Come and Get It!"

Resolved To Aid The British

Jim's Photo Of The Creek, Menawa, From Horseshoe Bend NP

From The removal of the Cherokee Indians from Georgia, Volume 1  by Wilson Lumpkin:

We spent one day at the great Indian Council held at Tuckabatchee in the Creek Nation, when not only all the tribes of the different nations of the Indians of the Southern States were represented, but a delegation of the Northern tribes headed by the distinguished Chief Tecumseh were in attendance. We now know that at that very council it was resolved by the Creek Indians to unite with Tecumseh and his Northern hordes in aiding the British in their anticipated war with the United States.

Landing On Cumberland Island

As seen at the Cumberland NPS Museum exhibit:

A battery on Point Peter was established in 1796 to protect the mouth of the St. Mary's River and the adjacent islands from unwelcome ships.  Cumberland Island was an attractive landing spot, offering easy access from the ocean, and the nearby town of St. Mary's had amenities such as fresh food and supplies.  After a period of vacancy, a blockhouse was built and the battery was garrisoned for protection during the War of 1812.

It was not until [January 10] 1815 that Point Peter was tested.  Official military correspondence tells the story of Rear Admiral George Cockburn and the British fleet landing on Cumberland Island soon after their attacks on Washington and Baltimore.

Letters From Fielder Ridgeway

On Fold3 in the Letters Received From The Office Of The Adjutant General file:

From Fielder Ridgeway, Lieutenant, Rifle Regiment, written in January, 1811, from Nashville, Tennessee.

Source

Lt. Ridgeway mentioned that he asked for leave from his commanding officer, Col. Alec Smythe, at Fort Hampton, and that he (Lt. Ridgeway) was to present himself to the Secretary of War, and that he was on his way to the City of Washington.  Also mentioned was Capt. Ragan's company, which I [Ridgeway] commanded to be transferred to Capt. Sevier's.

A second letter from Lieutenant Ridgeway dated April 18th, 1811, from Lower Marlbro, stated that he was ordered to Norfolk.  He indicated that he brought a soldier, Thomas Morgan, with him as a waiter.  Lt. Ridgeway stated that he couldn't take Morgan back with him, and since he has his own waiter, he sent Morgan to Annapolis to Lieut. Clark and recommended Morgan as one of the best soldiers he had ever commanded.

This book, the Florida Fiasco: Rampant Rebels on the Georgia-Florida Border, 1810-1815, by Rembert W. Patrick, characterized Fielder Ridgeway as a good recruiter, but not a good commanding officer.  It further stated that Lt. Ridgeway was freed at a court martial at Point Petre due to a technicality.  He ran into further trouble and was cashiered from the Army in 1814.

A powder horn purportedly belonging to Fielder Ridgeway was sold at auction (see picture).

Chatham Artillery

A bit of War of 1812 in the Confederate Veteran, Volume 30:

The outbreak of the war of 1812 found the battery under the command of its seventh captain, Robert McKay.Volunteering for the war, the Chatham Artillery was mustered into the service of the United States.

Jim's Photo Of Fort Jackson, Savannah, Georgia

A detachment garrisoned Fort Jackson on the Savannah River and the remainder of the command assisted in the construction of earthworks for the protection of the city. The battery was mustered out of the Government service in January 1815.

Overview Of The Pre-War Years

From an exhibit at the Cumberland Island National Park Service Museum:

See an online War of 1812 Timeline.

Forays Into Florida

Source

Skirmish At Point Peter, Georgia

Picture From Exhibit At Cumberland Island NP

Wikipedia's description of the Battle of Fort Peter.  See related posts here, here, and here.