Today in Labor History August 30, 1813: The Fort Mims massacre took place during the Creek War. The Red Sticks faction of the Creek Nation, under the command of head warriors Peter McQueen and William Weatherford, stormed Fort Mims and defeated the militia garrison. Afterward, they massacred nearly all the remaining Creek métis, white settlers, and militia at the fort. Their victory spread panic throughout the Southeast. Settlers fled. Thousands of whites fled their settlements for Mobile, which struggled to accommodate them. The Red Stick victory was one of the greatest Native American victories. They were facilitated by the fact that Federal troops were bogged down at the northern front of the War of 1812. However, local state militias, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson and allied with Cherokees, ultimately defeated the Red Sticks Creek faction at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, ending the Creek War.
The Fort Mims massacre is cited in Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. Grandma Fontaine shares her memories of seeing her entire family murdered in the Creek uprising following the massacre as a lesson to Scarlett.