Weatherford, William, c.1780–1824, Native American chief, b. present-day Alabama, also called Red Eagle. In the War of 1812 he led the Creek war party, stirred by Tecumseh, against the Americans. On Aug. 30, 1813, he attacked Fort Mims, a temporary stockade near the confluence of the Tombigbee and Alabama rivers. There his warriors, refusing to heed his plea for restraint, massacred some 500 whites. In the battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River (Mar. 27, 1814), Gen. Andrew Jackson completely broke the power of Weatherford and his nation. Weatherford was pardoned by Jackson, who admired his courage, and he lived peaceably in Alabama until his death.
See G. C. Eggleston, Red Eagle & the Wars with the Creek Indians of Alabama (1878).
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