Fort Gaines was a U.S. military post on the Georgia frontier in 1816-1821. Built as a result of Native American resistance to the terms of the Treaty of Fort Jackson, the fort played an important role in both the Prospect Bluff or Negro Fort Campaign of 1816 and the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. It was on the front lines of the internal conflict between between the traditional leaders of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the Red Stick warriors who fled to the borderlands of Spanish Florida following the Creek War of 1813-1814.

A look at military fortifications over the centuries, with photos included. The state of Georgia has a long tradition of building stalwart military fortifications—going all the way back to the early sixteenth century, when it was part of a much larger region of the Southeast claimed by Spain and known as La Florida. After the failure of Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon’s settlement in 1526 on the coast of Georgia, French Huguenots established a small fort at Port Royal Sound and another along the St. Johns River. This book explores the centuries that followed, revealing the history behind Georgia’s many forts. Discover who emerged victorious after Savannah’s Fort Pulaski was bombarded for over thirty hours by Federal troops during the Civil War, and why Fort Oglethorpe was constructed in 1902 within the confines of Chickamauga Park, as military historian and archivist Alejandro de Quesada explores the breadth of Georgia’s forts from the colonial and antebellum eras to the Civil War and modern times.

This handsome, illustrated book chronicles the history of the Lower Chattahoochee River and the people who lived along its banks from prehistoric Indian settlement to the present day. In highly accessible, energetic prose, Lynn Willoughby takes readers down the Lower Chattahoochee River and through the centuries. On this journey, the author begins by examining the first encounters between Native Americans and European explorers and the international contest for control of the region in the 17th and 19th centuries.Throughout the book pays particular attention to the Chattahoochee's crucial role in the economic development of the area. In the early to mid-nineteenth century--the beginning of the age of the steamboat and a period of rapid growth for towns along the river--the river was a major waterway for the cotton trade. The centrality of the river to commerce is exemplified by the Confederacy's efforts to protect it from Federal forces during the Civil War. Once railroads and highways took the place of river travel, the economic importance of the river shifted to the building of dams and power plants. This subsequently led to the expansion of the textile industry. In the last three decades, the river has been the focus of environmental concerns and the subject of "water wars" because of the rapid growth of Atlanta. Written for the armchair historian and the scholar, the book provides the first comprehensive social, economic, and environmental history of this important Alabama-Georgia-Florida river. Historic photographs and maps help bring the river's fascinating story to life.

The year is 1817, and Florida is on the brink of war. A young woman stands on the deck of a flatboat, anxiously watching the banks of the Apalachicola River. Not far away stands a Seminole warrior, eyeing the vessel from behind his concealment, choosing his targets carefully. Neither the woman nor the warrior can imagine how much their worlds are about to change. Inspired by the true story of Elizabeth Stuart, a young army wife taken captive by the Seminole during the Scott Massacre of 1817, Elizabeth s War takes the reader through the clash of empires that became known as the First Seminole War. The war is seen not only through Elizabeth s eyes, but those of her Indian captors, and of her husband and father, who are part of an avenging army bent on destroying the Seminole people. To stay alive among the Indians, Elizabeth will have to fight for her life, hoping she can survive long enough for Andrew Jackson s army to rescue her. Written by Seminole War historians, Elizabeth's War is a prequel to Hollow Victory, winner of the 2012 Patrick D. Smith Award for Fiction from the Florida Historical Society. Based on years of research into the Scott Massacre, Elizabeth's War concludes with a detailed history of the event and an overview of the First Seminole War.