Fort Decatur (Milstead, Alabama)
Milstead · Alabama · Creek War / War of 1812
History & Significance
Colonel Homer Milton ordered the construction of Fort Decatur after leaving Fort Hull in March 1814, with Benjamin Hawkins assisting in surveying the site and Lieutenant Colonel Richard Atkinson overseeing construction. The 4th Regiment of East Tennessee Militia and a battalion of West Tennessee Militia were stationed at Fort Decatur, while the 7th North Carolina Militia garrisoned both Fort Burrows and Fort Decatur.
The fort was planned to supply General Andrew Jackson in his march from Fort Williams to Hickory Ground, but flooding prevented the supplies from arriving. After the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Georgia and South Carolina troops under Major General Thomas Pinckney marched from Fort Decatur to Fort Jackson, with Brigadier General Joseph Graham commanding troops who repaired roads and assisted in supplying Jackson's army.
In 1815, President James Madison appointed Colonel John Sevier to the United States Boundary Commission to survey the boundary between the United States and the Creek Nation. Sevier died at the fort on September 24, 1815, was buried there, and reburied at Knoxville in 1888.
A post office operated under the name Fort Decatur from 1839 to 1859. The fort site is marked by a historical marker placed by the Alabama Anthropological Society in 1931, with the remains located on Auburn University's E.V. Smith Research Center.
Key Facts
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Decatur_(Alabama)
- https://digitalalabama.com/forts-of-alabama/fort-decatur/47391/
- https://digitalalabama.com/fort-decatur/
- https://www.northamericanforts.com/East/al.html
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milstead,_Alabama