George Singleton recounts bloody massacre at Fort Mims in 1813

William Weatherford, aka 'Red Eagle'

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Tuesday was 181^st anniversary of Fort Mims Massacre” was originally published in the Sept. 1, 1994 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

All is quiet today, Tuesday, Aug. 30, 1994, around the historical site of old Fort Mims. The birds sing in the tall oaks and pines that stand as silent sentinels around this historic site. The sounds of the morning give little or no evidence to what happened here many years ago. But on this date, 181 years ago, the scene here was different.

On this very spot, the largest Indian massacre on the North American continent took place. Before this dreadful day was over, nearly 550 men, women and children would lose their lives in a battle that would cause the blood of untold hundreds to run cold when the name of Fort Mims was mentioned.

The most horrible atrocities of Indian warfare would be practiced by the fort attackers before this day of horror and death was over. Fort Mims, like several other small forts that had been hurriedly erected along the boundaries of the Creek Indian nation, had its shortcomings.

Samuel Mims, who was part Indian, hastily put together the fort wall for the protection of the white settlers who had occupied lands that were said to belong to the Wind Clan. As the conflict between the settlers and the Indians grew in magnitude, homesteads were abandoned and the settlers moved to the small fort for protection. Very soon the area within the protective walls of the stockade had become overcrowded.

The small unit of volunteers that were to protect the small fort were poorly trained. To add to the problems, their commander, a Major Beasley, did nothing to prepare the fort for defense against the Indian attack that was sure to come.

Slaves belonging to some of the settlers, while working outside the fort walls, reported seeing Indians massing in the deep woods nearby. Believing that the attackers, fearing his military knowledge and experience, would not attack the fort, he had the slaves severely beaten. Small children playing outside the fort walls also reported seeing many Indians in the woods nearby. Major Beasley threatened to have the children punished if “the lying brats didn’t quit spreading false rumors around the fort.”

That day of dreadful horrors would begin about as well as any when one considered the weather, the crowded conditions within the fort, and the tense feeling among those there.

A Capt. Daniel Bailey was doing everything in his power to convince Major Beasley to take some action in getting the fort in some state of readiness. Bailey was convinced that an attack from the Indians gathered in the deep woods near the river was just a matter of time. To further add to his fears, Bailey was deeply concerned about the quietness of the animals in the deep woods as the dawn broke across the bottoms around the small and crowded fort.

Bailey, who was a half-breed Creek, knew his kindred well enough to know that the attack would come at a time when they thought success would be certain. Again, he reported to Major Beasley the seriousness of the situation.

He offered to organize a mounted patrol and scout the outer areas around the fort for the attackers he knew were there, waiting for the right moment. Bailey also informed the now drunken Major Beasley that the main gates to the fort would not close due to large amounts of sand that had washed against them during the recent heavy rains. Bailey was informed by the drunken major that if he did not wish to be court-martialed, he had better let the command decisions be left to him.

Another half-breed, by the name of Cornells, rode through the gates of the fort and reported to the drunken Beasley, who was now involved in a game of cards near the east gate, that he had seen numbers of Indians massing nearby for what he thought to be an attack on the fort. He informed the drunken commander that he thought that the settlers in the fort could handle the situation easily if he would order the gates of the stockade closed and battle positions taken by the defenders of the fort.

The drunken major ordered Cornells arrested. Seeing that his suggestions had fallen on deaf ears, Cornells jumped on his horse and dashed through the gate. Major Beasley, now in a drunken stupor, ordered him shot. But no shots were fired by the nearby guards. They knew Cornells. He was their friend.

Cornells stopped at the gate of the fort for one brief second before racing out into the woods. He took one last look at the small children there playing tag around the wall of the fort. As he rode off, his eyes met those of Daniel Bailey, his dearest friend. He knew that he would never see this good man again in this life. The hour was at hand. Before long, the screams of death would ride the winds of the afternoon.

Those inside the fort had begun their midday meal when the attack began. The attack was savage beyond all imagination as more than 1,000 braves entered the fort through the gate that was stuck open with sand. Major Beasley was one of those closest to the open gate. Pushing a dying guard aside, he tried to block the entrance with his only weapon, his sword. After taking several arrows in the chest, any of which should have killed him, he ran his sword through the first seven attackers and decapitated the eighth before he himself fell. Taking the lives of the eight braves may have set the pace for the terrible blood bath that was to follow.

Killing alone was not enough. Slashing, stabbing, shooting, cutting and bludgeoning – any method would do. Women and children became part of the fighting and dying. The heads of the dead Indians were crushed with axes, hatchets and poles. Even their own tomahawks were used in the terrible slaughter.

The bodies of several pregnant women were split open by the attackers and the heads of the unborn babies were crushed against the nearest posts and corners of buildings. The blood of the unborn was used by the savage attackers to paint their bodies that further added to the horrors and killings. As the number of the white settlers became fewer and fewer in number, rape and vicious bites to the throat became the fate of the last of the women.

The attackers practiced the art of amputation on many of their victims. Many were still alive when the cutting began. Many would be left to bleed to death after perhaps both arms and legs had been separated from their bodies. The prophet Francis continued to urge the Indian attackers on until not a white man was standing outside except perhaps himself, High Head Jim and William Weatherford (Red Eagle). The prophet Francis was more white than Indian. Weatherford and High Head Jim both had more white blood in their veins than that of the Red Man.

The horrors of the massacre would continue until nothing remained of the small fort and the settlers but the smoldering ruins of the burned wall and buildings and the mutilated corpses of those who died there. Strangely enough, the few who survived the horrors of the Fort Mims massacre were led to safety by some of the very warriors that attacked the small fort.

But that’s another story.

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)