Lieutenant Spruce McKay Osborne was born in Rowan County, North Carolina in 1784. Upon his graduation from college there, he moved to the Mississippi Territory to practice medicine. When the Creek War broke out in 1813, he joined the Mississippi Volunteers as its surgeon and served at Fort Mims.

He didn’t think he’d see any action there, so he wrote General Claiborne, commander of the territorial militia, a request for a transfer to a more active region. Six days later, Redstick Creeks attacked the fort and massacred its inhabitants. Lieutenant Osborne was killed near the end of the battle. His portrait is the only picture we have of any of the fort’s inhabitants. Hundreds were slaughtered. Although we know the names of some who perished, we do not know the names of everyone.

The lieutenant is buried in a mass grave with others who perished.

Sources

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9508351/spruce_mckay-osborne

Waselkov, Gregory A. A Conquering SpiritL Fort Mims and the Redstick War of 1813-1814. Tuscaloosa, AL.: The University of Alabama Press, 2006.