SUPPLYING WAR ON THE FRONTIER: RARE 1836 CREEK WAR FORAGE DOCUMENTS FROM GEORGIA VOLUNTEERS

A group of three documents relating to the Creek War of 1836, comprising:

Partly printed document completed in manuscript, to Samuel Jones. Georgia, [September] 1836. 2 pages, 8 x 6 in.

This document records that Samuel Jones received fourteen dozen oats on September 20, along with “articles of subsistence and forage” on the 26th. The verso bears a partly printed affidavit, signed by Jones, stating that “the several items therein charged for were furnished for the use of the company therein named of the T.G.M. during the late Creek Campaign in the Cherokee County, and that no part thereof, other than what is credited for, has been paid by the United States or the Government of Georgia.”

Partly printed document completed in manuscript, to Samuel Jones. Georgia, [September] 1836. 2 pages, 8 x 8½ in.

From the same period, this document, marked “duplicate,” records the receipt of additional supplies, including oats, coffee, corn, pickled beef, dried beef, and other provisions. The verso likewise bears a certification attesting to the accuracy of the foraging account.

Autograph document signed by Absalom Bishop, Captain, Murray County Guards. Gilmer County, Georgia, 20 September 1836. 1 page, 7⅝ x 3 in., with verso affidavit signed 1 March 1836 by Jones and Richard Bearden.

In full: “Received of Samuel Jones for the use of my company, attached to Major C.H. Nelson’s Highland Battalion (Georgia Volunteers) in the service of the U.S.”

The Creek War of 1836 was a series of violent clashes in Alabama between Anglo-American settlers and the Muscogee (Creek), who had already endured forced removal from Georgia along the Trail of Tears. The Treaty of Cusseta, signed March 24, 1832, divided Creek lands into individual allotments, while Alabama sought to dissolve tribal governance and impose state authority. Creeks were given the choice to remain under state jurisdiction or sell their allotments and relocate westward. In practice, widespread fraud by white speculators and squatters dispossessed many Creek families, fueling unrest and ultimately armed conflict.

Documents directly connected to this campaign, particularly those recording the logistics of supply and subsistence, are exceedingly scarce.

 [Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera, Signatures, Autographs] [Native Americans, Native American History, American Indian, Indian History]