Creek War Colonel Homer Milton, the commanding officer of the
3rd Regiment, ordered the construction of Fort Decatur and Fort Burrows after leaving
Fort Hull in March 1814. Fort Burrows was located across the Tallapoosa River from Fort Decatur.
Benjamin Hawkins assisted Milton in surveying the site of Fort Decatur. The fort was built under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Atkinson. After pursuing Red Sticks in southeast Alabama,
Davy Crockett (a member of Major William Russell's Tennessee Mounted Volunteers) was stationed at Fort Decatur. Fort Decatur was planned to supply General
Andrew Jackson in his march from
Fort Williams to
Hickory Ground, but flooding prevented the supplies from arriving. After the
Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Georgia and South Carolina troops under the command of
Major General Thomas Pinckney marched from Fort Decatur to
Fort Jackson. Brigadier General
Joseph Graham commanded troops at Fort Decatur who repaired roads and assisted in supplying Jackson's army after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. After regular troops terms of service were up, the Tennessee militia was garrisoned at Fort Decatur. The militia was then replaced by troops from Georgia who were requested by General Pinckney to oppose any potential British or Creek offensive.
William McIntosh and
Thomas Simpson Woodward were both temporarily stationed at Fort Decatur.
Present Today, the fort site is marked by a historical marker that was placed by the Alabama Anthropological Society in 1931. The remains of the fort are located on the grounds of
Auburn University's E.V. Smith Research Center. ==Units==