Neamathla facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Neamathla
Eneah Emathla
Copy of burned original by Charles Bird King (Smithsonian Institution)
Mikasuki (Muscogee/Creek) leader
Incumbent
Assumed office 1813
Leader of Red Stick Creeks
Personal details
Born	1750s
Died	1841 (about 90) Indian Territory (modern Oklahoma)
Mother tongue	Hitchiti
Military service
Battles/wars	Battle of Uchee Creek

Neamathla (born in the 1750s, died 1841) was an important leader of the Red Stick Creek people. His name, in the Hitchiti language, means "fat next to warrior." The word "fat" here refers to having great courage. Even though the Hitchiti language had no written form, scholars today agree that "Eneah Emathla" is the correct way to spell his name in English. However, to avoid confusion with two other men named Eneah Emathla, this leader is usually called Neamathla.

Neamathla likely grew up near a place called Fowltown (Tutalosi Talofa). This town was on the east side of the lower Flint River (Georgia). The Hitchiti people lived mostly in this area. During the American Revolution, his people supported the British. Later, when the British returned for the War of 1812, Neamathla was one of the first chiefs to join them.

Who Were the Red Stick Creeks?

At the start of the 1800s, the Creek (Muscogee) Native Americans were splitting into two main groups. This happened because European-Americans were moving west into their lands. These groups were often called "upper" and "lower" Creeks. The "upper" Creeks were also known as Red Sticks. They got this name from a special red wooden club, which meant they were ready for war.

The Red Sticks wanted to fight against the white settlers. They wanted to stop losing their land and get back the huge areas they had already given up in treaties. The "lower" Creeks, on the other hand, were more open to working with the white settlers. They started to adopt a farming lifestyle, as suggested by Indian agent Benjamin Hawkins. However, even the "lower" Creeks were later forced to leave their farms and move to new territory in Oklahoma.

Neamathla Joins the Resistance

A Red Stick leader named Francis the Prophet visited Neamathla's people. He wanted to find allies for his plan. His goal was to resist white civilization and prevent more land from being taken. He also hoped to reclaim the vast lands lost in past agreements.

Neamathla and the Hitchiti people were very excited about this plan. It was started by Tecumseh, another famous Native American leader. Their idea was to create a large group of different Native American nations. This group would work together to stop white settlers from moving west of the Appalachian Mountains.

Battles and Defeats

Neamathla and his Fowltown warriors were Red Sticks. They fought in the Battle of Uchee Creek in 1813 but were defeated. They might have won if they hadn't run out of ammunition. Later, a group carrying ammunition was attacked by U.S. forces. The Red Sticks fought back and won at the Battle of Burnt Corn.

This led to more fighting. In 1813, the Red Sticks attacked Fort Mims. Two days later, they attacked again at the Kimbell-James Massacre. These events turned the fight between the two Creek groups into a war with the U.S. government. The Red Stick Creeks faced a major defeat at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (1814).

Even though the Battle of Horseshoe Bend was far from Fowltown, Neamathla led many Red Stick Creeks away from the Flint River. They gathered again near where the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers meet. Fowltown was briefly rebuilt on the west side of the Chattahoochee River in what is now Jackson County, Florida.

The Red Stick Creeks then sought safety in Spanish Florida. They were very poor and hungry, having lost everything. There were about 1,500 to 3,000 of them. The Spanish in Florida did not have enough food to feed so many people. Across the U.S. border, white settlers thought the Red Sticks would have to give up.

British Help Arrives

The situation changed in May 1814. Two British warships arrived near modern Apalachicola, Florida. They brought muskets and other supplies. A British officer invited Native Americans to join their fight. Neamathla was one of the first chiefs to respond.

The British chose Prospect Bluff as a good spot for their supplies. This location was important for a planned invasion of the United States. The British also started building a camp called Nicolls' Outpost where the rivers met. They trained the Native American warriors.

Neamathla and the Fowltown warriors soon began to bother white settlers. These settlers lived near Milledgeville, Georgia and Fort Hawkins. The British never reached this far into U.S. territory during this part of the War of 1812.

Raids on settlements in southern Georgia continued. The Georgia militia blamed these attacks on the Red Stick Creeks from Fowltown. The Red Sticks also helped enslaved people escape. In December, the British printed a message asking "the Indian nation" to join their war against the United States. They promised that Native Americans would get back "the lands of your forefathers." Meanwhile, the Americans were preparing to destroy the British forts and Red Stick villages.

Facing Colonel Clinch at Fort Scott

The Red Sticks received new weapons and ammunition from the abandoned Negro Fort. They felt that a big fight was coming. When Neamathla left to get more supplies from Negro Fort, Colonel Clinch began building Camp Crawford, later called Fort Scott. Clinch then forced Neamathla to appear before him in a way that was very embarrassing.

Other Native American chiefs were there. They said they had "never saw him so completely cut down before." Neamathla agreed to all of Clinch's demands. After this, the Negro Fort exploded. Since their location was between two U.S. forts (Scott and Jackson), Neamathla led his people to a third Fowltown. This new town was on Four Mile Creek, closer to Miccosukee and Tallahassee.

Fort Scott had replaced Camp Crawford. But Clinch was ordered to leave it to save money. The Red Sticks soon took over the fort. They took everything inside, made the caretaker leave, and burned the fort down. Neamathla warned Gaines that he would use violence if Gaines and his men crossed to the east bank of the Flint River. Neamathla believed this was the border of Spanish Florida.

The Spark of War

Fort Scott was later restaffed. In November 1817, U.S. troops under Gaines invaded Fowltown (the third Fowltown). They crossed the Flint River. The Creeks were surprised and ran into the swamp. In Neamathla's home, the troops found a British uniform coat, gold epaulettes, and a certificate signed by a British Captain.

Another group of U.S. troops attacked Fowltown from the south. The Native Americans were pushed into the swamp. The U.S. forces then began building a new fort, Fort Hughes. This event is seen as the spark that started the First Seminole War.

After these U.S. Army raids, Black Seminoles came from far away to help the Red Sticks. An attack happened on a U.S. supply boat traveling upriver. The Red Sticks also attacked Fort Hughes but were not successful. The Army decided to abandon Fort Hughes because it was too hard to supply.

Another expedition from Fort Scott burned Fowltown. Neamathla then led his people to a new location for Fowltown. This was on the east side of Lake Miccosukee in modern Jefferson County, Florida. This fourth Fowltown was burned in 1818 by General Gaines during Andrew Jackson's invasion of Spanish Florida. This was the end of Fowltown.

Neamathla later appeared in a new town called Cohowofooche. This town was on the site of modern Tallahassee, Florida. He reluctantly allowed a new capital city to be built there. In 1823, officials met with Neamathla to tell him about the plan for Tallahassee. Neamathla did not like the idea but gave his approval. A year later, Neamathla threatened violence if white settlers did not leave. Governor DuVal, with U.S. Army soldiers, met with Neamathla and his 600 warriors. DuVal removed Neamathla as head of the Seminoles and ordered the Native Americans to a reservation near Tampa.

Neamathla's Final Years

Even Andrew Jackson suggested that Neamathla should be left alone. Neamathla was offered a small reservation in Gadsden County, Florida. However, he refused to live there. Instead, he moved back to what was left of the Creek nation. He returned to Hitchiti, the town of his ancestors. By 1833, he was an important chief there.

After an unsuccessful revolt in 1836, Neamathla was forced to walk the Trail of Tears to Oklahoma, along with other Creeks.

Florida Territorial Governor William Pope Duval described Neamathla to writer Washington Irving:

He was a remarkable man. He was over sixty years old and about six feet tall. He had a strong face and could control his expressions very well. He seemed to hate white men, but also looked down on common people with great scorn. He did not want to admit that Governor Duval had a higher rank than him. He wanted to be seen as an equal, like two great chiefs. Even though he had signed the treaty, he did not agree with it in his heart. In one honest talk with Governor Duval, he said: "This country belongs to the red man. If I had as many warriors as this nation once had, I would not leave a single white man on my lands. I would get rid of all of them. I can say this to you, because you can understand me: you are a man. But I would not say it to your people. They would call me a savage and try to kill me. They cannot understand how a man who loves his country feels."

Legacy

• A street in northeast Leon County, Florida, Neamathla Trail, is named after him.