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The Battle of Holy Ground
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Holy Ground Battlefield Park
Following their assault on Fort Mims, the warriors of the Red
Stick movement withdrew to their headquarters at Holy Ground,
a village on the Alabama River near the modern community of
White Hall.
Established by the Creek Prophet Josiah Francis prior to the
beginning of the war, Holy Ground stood atop a commanding
bluff. It was here that the Francis and other religious leaders
instructed their followers in the teachings of the Shawnee
Prophet, Tenskwatawa.
From a small beginning in 1811, the Prophet's town at Holy
Ground had grown into an impressive settlement by the time of
the attack on Fort Mims. Hundreds of cabins and other
structures filled the open ground atop the bluff and nearby
fields of corn supplied the Red Stick army. After Fort Mims,
William Weatherford and other Red Stick leaders brought their
followers here believing the isolation of the site from American
settlements would keep them safe from attack. Francis and his
converts also performed religious ceremonies at Holy Ground,
appealing to the Master of Life to protect the site through
supernatural powers.
In December of 1813, an army of U.S. soldiers, Mississippi
militiamen and Choctaw warriors marched north from Fort
Claiborne (today's Claiborne, Alabama). Headed by Gen.
Ferdinand L. Claiborne, the troops emerged from the forests
and swamps outside Holy Ground on December 23, 1813.
The resulting engagement, remembered today as the Battle of
Holy Ground, was one of the key events of the Creek War of
1813-1814. It was during this encounter that William
Weatherford made his celebrated leap into the Alabama River
and it was here that the warriors of Josiah Francis were dealt
their first significant defeat.
The site of much of the battle is preserved today at Holy
Ground Battlefield Park, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility
on the Alabama River just north of the town of White Hall. To
learn more about the Battle of Holy Ground and to visit our
online tour of the battlefield, please follow the links below:
Stick movement withdrew to their headquarters at Holy Ground,
a village on the Alabama River near the modern community of
White Hall.
Established by the Creek Prophet Josiah Francis prior to the
beginning of the war, Holy Ground stood atop a commanding
bluff. It was here that the Francis and other religious leaders
instructed their followers in the teachings of the Shawnee
Prophet, Tenskwatawa.
From a small beginning in 1811, the Prophet's town at Holy
Ground had grown into an impressive settlement by the time of
the attack on Fort Mims. Hundreds of cabins and other
structures filled the open ground atop the bluff and nearby
fields of corn supplied the Red Stick army. After Fort Mims,
William Weatherford and other Red Stick leaders brought their
followers here believing the isolation of the site from American
settlements would keep them safe from attack. Francis and his
converts also performed religious ceremonies at Holy Ground,
appealing to the Master of Life to protect the site through
supernatural powers.
In December of 1813, an army of U.S. soldiers, Mississippi
militiamen and Choctaw warriors marched north from Fort
Claiborne (today's Claiborne, Alabama). Headed by Gen.
Ferdinand L. Claiborne, the troops emerged from the forests
and swamps outside Holy Ground on December 23, 1813.
The resulting engagement, remembered today as the Battle of
Holy Ground, was one of the key events of the Creek War of
1813-1814. It was during this encounter that William
Weatherford made his celebrated leap into the Alabama River
and it was here that the warriors of Josiah Francis were dealt
their first significant defeat.
The site of much of the battle is preserved today at Holy
Ground Battlefield Park, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility
on the Alabama River just north of the town of White Hall. To
learn more about the Battle of Holy Ground and to visit our
online tour of the battlefield, please follow the links below:
| Interpretive Signs and Walkway Holy Ground Battlefield Park White Hall, Alabama |
| View from the Bluff Holy Ground Battlefield Park White Hall, Alabama |