Turner's Fort, also known as Fort Turner, was a stockade fort built in 1813 in present-day Clarke County, Alabama during the Creek War (part of the larger War of 1812).[1] Turner's Fort, like many other forts built around the same time, was built in response to Red Stick attacks on settlers in the surrounding area.[2]
Turner's Fort was built in the spring of 1813 around the home of Abner Turner. The fort was located in the West Bend community near the eastern bank of the Alabama River in Clarke County and was eight miles south and five miles west of Fort Easley. The Choctaw village of Turkey Town was located three miles south of the fort.[3] The stockade fort had palisades constructed of doubled-walls of split pine logs and contained two or three blockhouses.[4] Thirteen men and boys offered protection for the fort's occupants.[4]
In August 1813, the occupants of Turner's Fort attended a camp meeting at Fort Easley.[5]
In September 1813, the occupants of Turner's Fort and Fort Easley abandoned their positions and fled to St. Stephens for greater protection.[2]
The Turner Corn Crib at the Clarke County Historical Museum is thought to be constructed from timbers taken from Turner's Fort.[6]
Tandy Walker, who served as an interpreter for the Choctaws and rescued a Mrs. Crawley from Red Stick captivity, spent time at Turner's Fort.[7][8]
References
- ^ Owen, Thomas McAdory (1921). History of Alabama and Dictionary of Alabama Biography. Vol. 1. Chicago, Illinois: S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. p. 616.
- ^ a b Harris, W. Stuart (1977). Dead Towns of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-8173-1125-4.
- ^ Rowland, Eron (1926). Andrew Jackson's Campaign Against the British or The Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812. New York, New York: The MacMillan Company. p. 89.
- ^ a b Roberts, Robert B. (1988). Encyclopedia of Historic Forts. New York, New York: Macmillan. p. 17. ISBN 0-02-926880-X.
- ^ Halbert, Henry; Ball, Timothy (1895). The Creek War of 1813 and 1814. Chicago, Illinois: Donohue & Henneberry. p. 113. ISBN 9781375702775.
- ^ "Turner Corn Crib at the Clarke County Historical Museum at Grove Hill, AL". ruralswalabama.org. Retrieved 16 September 2023.
- ^ Rowland, Eron (1926). Andrew Jackson's Campaign Against the British or The Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812. New York, New York: The MacMillan Company. p. 89.
- ^ Maxwell, Thomas (1876). Tuskaloosa, the origin of its name, its history, etc. A paper read before the Alabama Historical Society. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: Tuskaloosa Gazette. p. 47.