The Creek War began as an internal conflict among the Creek Indians and metastasized like a cancer. It shattered Native American control of the Deep South and led to the infamous Trail of Tears. The war also gave Andrew Jackson his first combat leadership role. In A Brutal Reckoning, Peter Cozzens tells the story of the struggle between the Creek Indians and a young United States for control over the Deep South.
Cozzens’ dramatic, often gory descriptions of armed conflicts among the Creeks and white settlers put flesh to myth-encased events. Battle maps are helpful, and an appendix guides readers through the names of Creeks in both their native and Anglicized versions. A valuable addition to the history of Native Americans and the early years of the American republic.
Peter Cozzens’ storytelling works well. The author reclaims a lost but important chapter in American history with an engaging, highly readable narrative that doesn’t make the details overbearing.
Cozzens gives detailed, diligently researched descriptions of the subsequent battles ... A seasoned historical storyteller, Cozzens portrays both Jackson and his Creek adversaries without minimizing their flaws, though he is clearly appalled by Jackson’s later treatment of the Indians during the Trail of Tears ... An authoritative account of a disturbing chapter in the relations between the U.S. military and Indigenous peoples.
