Why The Battle Of Fowltown Was The First Seminole War

The Battle of Fowltown was the first major conflict of the First Seminole War. Chief Eneah Emathla (Neamathla), a Miccosukee Indian, settled down in Fowltown after General McIntosh defeated his war party at Uchee Creek, Alabama, driving the Indian Chief and the remaining followers south from Georgia. Neamathla occupied what was now a vacant village, Fowltown, and began ranching and farming along with the new settlers. Chief Neamathla had aligned with the British and shared their same stance regarding relations with the United States. Another issue arose with the runaway slaves partnered with the Seminoles, they were of major concern to both sides. The British wanted them to remain free men, but the U.S. wanted them returned to their
The British realized that the runaway slaves stood a better chance fighting against the United States and before long Neamathla and his followers of Fowltown had been given enough weapons and supplies to carry out military operations against the United States, if the need arose. Neamathla became angered when, in 1817, U.S. troops built Fort Scott on the Flint River just 12 miles north of Fowltown. (Mahon, J. K., 1998). Neamathla had claimed that the land east of the Flint River was Miccosukee land and warned Major Twiggs not to travel east of the Flint River or chop down any trees on the East side of the river or he would defend it at all cost. With the signing of the Treaty of Fort Jackson, southwest Georgia had now become U.S. territory, however Neamathla had protested as he did not sign the treaty and felt his tribe did not have to adhere to it. (Ellisor, J.T.,2017). On November 20, 1817, Major General Gaines had given the order to Major Twiggs, along with upwards of 250 soldiers, to proceed to Fowltown and arrest chief Neamathla and his warriors and bring them to Fort Scott, if they resisted they were to be treated as “enemies”. (Remini, R. V., 2008) The following day the soldiers arrived at Neamathla’s village and were spotted by Indian warriors as the soldiers tried to surround the
Warriors began firing on the soldiers, to start the battle, which led to the killing of four warriors and one Indian woman, with no U.S. casualties. Twiggs had fled back to Fort Scott without Neamathla which led Major General Gaines to send Lieutenant Colonel Arbuckle, along with 300 troops to once again try and capture the elusive chief. On November 23, unbeknownst to the U.S. troops Neamathla and the rest of the Creek settlers had retreated into the swamp baiting a trap for U.S. troops. When Lt. Col. arrived, he found Fowltown had been abandoned and began foraging the village for supplies when Neamathla’s warriors emerged from the swamp and started attacking the U.S. troops. When they ran low on ammunition and feared being overcome they retreated into the swamp. The bloody battle lasted only a very short time and when it was over 8 Indians were killed and many wounded, however the U.S. sustained only one casualty and two wounded troops. The surprise attack on Arbuckle’s troops lead them to return to Fort Scott, empty-handed. One week later, November 30, 1817, the most barbarous battle of the First Seminole War occurred along the Apalachicola