The barricade site is the emotional center of the park, marked by interpretive panels and a cleared field where the Red Sticks built their defensive wall. Standing here, you can trace the line of the fortification across the neck of the peninsula -- roughly 400 yards of packed earth and timber that the Creek warriors believed would hold against any assault. Jackson positioned two cannon on a hill about 80 yards away and fired for two hours before concluding that artillery alone would not breach the wall.
What turned the battle was an attack from behind. While Jackson's forces pinned the defenders at the barricade, Cherokee and Lower Creek warriors swam across the Tallapoosa and set fire to the Red Stick village inside the bend. Caught between two forces, the Red Sticks fought to the last. A young Sam Houston was among the attackers who stormed the barricade -- he took an arrow to the thigh and carried the wound for the rest of his life. The site is quiet now, almost peaceful, but the ground underfoot witnessed one of the most consequential and devastating engagements in the American South's history.