Charge!

After a two-hour cannon bombardment of the Red Sticks' barricade, Major General Andrew Jackson discovered that some of General Coffee's Creek and Cherokee warriors had crossed the Tallapoosa and attacked the Red Sticks from the rear. Realizing his enemy was surrounded, Jackson ordered his men to charge the barricade at 12:30 p.m. For a few brief but bloody minutes, warriors and soldiers struggled to control the barricade, shooting, hacking, and stabbing with muskets, tomahawks, and bayonets. After maintaining a very obstinate contest, muzzle to muzzle, through the port-holes, Jackson's troops gained possession of the opposite side of the works, and the Red Sticks, overwhelmed by numbers and firepower, fell back to the river's banks. Many attempted to escape by crossing the Tallapoosa only to be shot by Coffee's men stationed on the opposite side.

Alabama · United States