Archaeological Survey of the Old Federal Road in Alabama

Figure 4-16. View of the old Mims’s ferry landing (near center of photo) from the Alabama River, atmodern Holley Creek Landing; the mouth of Holley Creek is visible at the left, June 21, 2011.Fort Peirce. A stockade was erected in late July or early August 1813 by two wealthy brothers,William and John Peirce, to protect their gristmill and sawmill from destruction in the event a war brokeout with Redstick Creek Indians. 8 William and John Peirce had come to the Tensaw region from NewEngland sometime between 1802 and 1805. William established the first cotton gin in the region, as wellas a mill and store. John organized and taught at a school in the Tensaw, one of the first American schoolsin what is now Alabama. He was also named postmaster of the Tensaw in 1805. Their home, cotton gin,and most other facilities were located on the west side of Boathouse Lake, near its confluence with theAlabama River, southwest of Fort Mims (see Figure 4-8). But their stockaded gristmill and sawmillcomplex lay less than two miles to the south, astride Pine Log Creek. 9In early August 1813, the Peirces’s fortified mill received reinforcements, a small contingent ofMississippi Territorial Volunteers from the Natchez area commanded by Lieutenant AndrewMontgomery, to assist the local Tensaw militia manning the fort. Fort Peirce eventually sheltered about200 people – Volunteers, as well as the families of settlers and slaves, and the Creek Indians of theTensaw who were particular targets of the Redstick Creeks. When the Redstick force attacked Fort Mimsaround noon on August 30, the few armed occupants of Fort Peirce could only shut their gate and hopefor the best, since the attacking force was clearly very large. Once the firing had subsided, that eveningfour men ventured out and found Fort Mims destroyed and the rivers and swamps “full of Indians.” Afterdark, Lt. Montgomery organized a retreat. His party of 40 men (including the prominent Creeks John85