The Battle of Fowltown, fought a few miles south of this spot, marked the beginning of the First Seminole War. Fowltown was a Seminole village led by Chief Neamathla that had been allied with the British during the War of 1812. It stood on land ceded to the United States by the defeated Creeks in the Treaty of Fort Jackson ending the Creek War. American officials demanded that Fowltown's residents leave the area, but Neamathla refused, arguing that his people had not participated in the Creek War and were not bound by the treaty. On November 21, 1817, General Edmund P. Gaines ordered Major David E. Twiggs, commander at nearby Fort Scott, to march on Fowltown with 250 men and capture Neamathla. A brief skirmish followed, causing perhaps five Seminole casualties, but Twiggs failed to seize him. Gaines then sent another, larger force under Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Arbuckle. The town was abandoned when Arbuckle's men arrived, but as they entered the village Neamathla and a few dozen warriors suddenly emerged from hiding in the nearby woods. A pitched fight lasted about twenty minutes before the outnumbered warriors retreated. Seminole losses were believed to be about ten killed, while American forces suffered one killed and perhaps three wounded. A week later, on November 30, 1817, several hundred Creek and Seminole warriors attacked a U.S. supply boat headed by Lieutenant Richard W. Scott in reprisal. In what became known as the Scott Massacre, nearly forty men and women were killed. Federal officials then ordered General Andrew Jackson to the area.