Fort Gaines, Georgia: A Military History

Fort Gaines was a U.S. military post on the Georgia frontier in 1816-1821. Built in response to Native American resistance to the Treaty of Fort Jackson, the fort played an important role in both the Prospect Bluff or Negro Fort Campaign of 1816 and the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. It was on the front lines of the internal conflict between the traditional leaders of the Muscogee or Creek Nation and the Red Stick warriors who fled to the borderlands of Spanish Florida following the Creek War of 1813-1814.The fort was rebuilt during the Creek War of 1836 and again by Confederate troops during the Civil War. The site is a small but historic town in Southwest Georgia today. Dale Cox and Rachael Conrad explore the history of the three forts and how the first one especially played a critical role in the beginning of the Trail of Tears for the Creek Nation and the destruction of North America's largest free Black community.Read more