The Battle of Ackia (uh-KEE-uh) took place on May 26, 1736 near present-day Tupelo, Mississippi, part of a struggle for control of the Mississippi River. The French sought to use the river to link their colony of Louisiana with the northern part of New France, but Native American tribes such as the Chickasaws and the Natchez contested French control of the river valley.

Ackia, a Chickasaw village, was attacked by a force of Frenchmen and Choctaws under the command of the governor of Louisiana, Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville. The Chickasaws, who were allies of the English, successfully repulsed the attack.

The Ackia battleground was made a U.S. National Monument in 1938; it was absorbed into the Natchez Trace Parkway in 1961 and is now called "Chickasaw Village."

References

• "The French-Chickasaw War of 1736" by Richard Green (http://www.chickasaw.net/heritage_1008.htm)

External links

• "Ackia Battleground National Monument" -- 1938 article from the National Park Service (http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/regional_review/vol1-5h.htm)