During his second and third terms, Blount was occupied with the War of 1812. During the first few months of the war, he struggled with a lack of communication with the War Department as he awaited permission to order the militia (led by an increasingly impatient Andrew Jackson) south to New Orleans. Following the Fort Mims massacre in 1813, a call to arms issued by Blount was met by 3,500 volunteers. These were divided into two divisions led by Jackson and John Cocke, and ordered south to suppress the hostile Creek tribes. Blount managed to raise over $300,000 for the expedition, an astonishing sum of money for the time. The surprising number of volunteers earned Tennessee the nickname, "Volunteer State."