Canoe Fight

Map of Alabama during the War of 1812. The site of the Canoe Fight is located in the center.[1]

After the Fort Mims massacre militias were formed in present-day southern Alabama to protect settlers while they were gathering the fall harvest. Red Stick warriors continued to attack settlers in the area.[2]

Captain Samuel Dale, who was recovering from wounds received at the Battle of Burnt Corn, volunteered to lead a group of 30 Mississippi Territory volunteers and 40 volunteers from the surrounding area to drive away the Red Stick warriors.[3] On November 11, the party left Fort Madison headed southeast towards the Alabama River. They crossed the river at French's Landing (near modern Gainestown) in two canoes and continued northward along the river.[4] Six to eight men remained in the canoes under the command of Jeremiah Austill, while the remainder of the force marched up the southern bank of the river. Austill spotted a canoe with Red Sticks coming down the river, who soon reversed direction. Firing was then heard near the mouth of Randon's Creek as Dale and his volunteers ambushed a band of warriors who were preparing food, killing one.[5] The volunteers began gathering the food and supplies the warriors left behind. Due to difficulty marching up the east bank, Dale ordered the men to cross the river to the west bank. All but twelve men, including Dale, Austill, and James Smith crossed the river. These twelve were preparing some of the captured food when they heard the men from the west bank warn they were surrounded by warriors.[3]

The volunteers rushed to the river bank but neither canoe had returned from ferrying the other soldiers. They also spotted a canoe with eleven Red Stick warriors descending the river. When the warriors noticed the volunteers, they immediately reversed direction.[6] For an unknown reason, the warriors who had surrounded the soldiers from the east never attacked.[5] Two warriors in the canoe jumped into the river and swam towards the bank. Smith shot and killed one of the warriors.[3]

Captain Dale called for eight of the soldiers on the opposite bank to paddle over in the larger of the two canoes. When these soldiers saw the number of warriors in the canoe, they retreated.[7] The smaller canoe, paddled by a free black named Caesar, had arrived on the eastern shore. Dale decided to take the smaller canoe into the river to meet the warriors and asked Austill and Smith to accompany him.[8] With Caesar paddling, all three soldiers attempted to fire at the warriors. Austill and Dale's guns failed to fire due to the primer being wet and Smith's shot missed.[6][7] Caesar continued to paddle towards the warriors' canoe. Before the canoes rammed into each other, the warrior chief reportedly exclaimed "Now for it, Big Sam!",[3][6][8] ("Big Sam" being Dale's nickname among the Creeks[5]).

Accounts of the ensuing struggle differ: most accounts report that Austill was struck in the head by the chief with his gun stock.[3][5][6][7][8] After recovering, Austill was then struck with a war club.[9] Caesar held the boats together while both sides exchanged blows using their rifles as clubs. Austill used the war club that he was attacked with to kill one of the warriors. At one point during the struggle, Dale jumped into the warriors canoe.[7] In addition to bludgeoning the warriors, Dale also used a bayonet during the fight.[8]

All nine warriors who remained in the boat were killed. The four volunteers all survived, with only Austill receiving significant wounds.[5] After bodies were thrown overboard into the river, the remaining warriors on the east bank began shooting at the small canoe's occupants. Dale, Austill, Smith and Caesar reached the nine other soldiers on the east bank and were able to return to the west bank unharmed.[7] The company marched two more miles up the west bank, then returned to Fort Madison.[5]

The victory was not of strategic importance in the overall Creek War.[10] Dale became a hero and was afterwards known as "The Daniel Boone of Alabama."[11] He went on the serve in the Alabama General Assembly and as a brigadier general of the Alabama militia. He later moved to Lauderdale County, Mississippi and died in Daleville, Mississippi. Jeremiah Austill served as a clerk for the Mobile County Court then moved to a plantation in Clarke County where he died in 1879. James Smith continued to fight in skirmishes during the Creek War then moved to Mississippi prior to his death. No additional historical information is recorded about Caesar.[6]

The exact site of the skirmish is unknown. The canoe fight occurred near where Randon's Creek joins the Alabama River. The site where the warriors surrounded the twelve militiamen on the east bank has been confirmed and is located on private property.[12] A historical marker that describes the Canoe Fight is located near Barlow Bend.[13]