§OME ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL JACKSON, 7 
 
 DRAWN UP FROM 
 
 THE HON. MR. EATON'S 
 
 VERT CIRCUMSTJJ^TML J^JtRRATIVE, 
 
 AND OTHER WELL-ESTABLISHED INFORMATION RES- 
 PECTING HIM, 
 
 Mn a ^tntlmxmi ot t!ie JJaltimore i3ai% 
 
 "ife has done the States some service and they know it'*^ 
 
 — -w -T^x^ 
 
 BALTIMORE : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HENRY VICARY, 
 
 Pratt St. ntar Hanover Market. 
 
 -o- 
 
 1828. 
 Matchett, print? 
 
DISTRICT OF MARytAJyrn, TO WIT — 
 
 rica, HENRY VICARY of the said DiS, k !i i " *^*^ ?*^*^* of A me- 
 
 •M'rjirfrVltiSjaSLfn.'^oTei"'*^'^ """^'^ ««"•• -«i« 
 
 Map, Charts, ,„d bS' K?a„,ho?"knd' DrL'SJl''^ ?" rr'""^ 
 ins, lir SfmrYng^ine ™pli "r M^i od^;- ""i'l? ™o-urag:,mmt of leam. 
 
 PHILIP MOORE, 
 Cleiis of the District of Marylanti. 
 
PAGE. 
 
 Preface, - - - - - - 5 
 
 Chapter I. — The General's descent. — Birth 
 and Education. — His appointment in the 
 service of his Country. - - - ^ 
 
 Chapter II. — Depredations and murders 
 committed by the Savages. — The Gen- 
 eral's conflicts with them. — A full account 
 of the battle of the Horse Shoe. - - 21 
 
 Chapter III. — The General negociates a 
 compact with the Indians. — Requires from 
 the Governor of Florida an explanation of 
 his conduct.— Col. Nicholls arrives at 
 Pensacola and puts forth an inflammatory 
 Proclamation. — The General drives the 
 
 ' British from that City. - - - 146 
 
 Chapter IV. — The British make an Assault 
 on New Orleans; and are overthrown by 
 the defensive contrivances of the General. 19*3 
 
 Chap'! er v.— The General is involved in 
 tiroubles of Law. — His masterly exculpa- 
 tion of himself. ----.- 250 
 
prolegomena; 
 
 Considering that a new book, which pro- 
 fesses to detail the eventful history of a person 
 eminently distinguished and actively employed in 
 high national atfairs, cannot decently present it- 
 self to public attention without some preliminary 
 exposition of the spirit wherein it was compiled; 
 I may be permitted to say, that I have honestly 
 endeavoured to set forth a just and fair account 
 of the transactions which I relate; and, (however 
 adventitiously extended may be its circulation 
 through the interest arising from the crisis,) the 
 work builds on its fidelity and literary merit 
 alone, whatever pretensions it may have to a 
 kind reception. 
 
 The Honourable Mr. Eaton, mentioned in the 
 Title page, has enjoyed, a familiar intercourse 
 with General Jackson for many years, and has 
 long been commissioned to exert a senatorial 
 voice m the councils of the nation. He must, 
 therefore, be deemed a voucher that scorns to de- 
 ceive, and cannot be himself misled. Mr. Eaton 
 ascribes one third of his book to the pen of 
 4e late Major Reid, formerly the general's ac 
 
Vlll 
 
 complished Aid-de-camp and most confidential 
 friend. Their joint performance, constituting 
 more than 400 octavo pages, unfolds to the his- 
 torical eye,- a great deal of interesting matter, 
 with simplicity and grace. 
 
 THE AVTHOR. 
 
 4th Feliruary, 1838. 
 
 In a first impression, it is reisonable to ex- 
 pect some few misprints: but dependence is 
 rested on the courtesy of the liberal reader. 
 
MEMOIRS, &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The GeneraVs Descent — Birth and 
 Education — his Appointment in 
 the Service of his Country. 
 
 The parents of General Jackson 
 took leave of their native land in the 
 year 1765; and repairing to America, 
 embarked for Charleston in South 
 Carolina, where they arrived in safe- 
 ty with their two children, Hugh and 
 Robert. Mr. Andrew Jackson, our 
 hero's father, was a younger son of 
 his family ; a family which, for many 
 generations, bore high respectability 
 in the North of Ireland. The mater- 
 nal grandfather of our General, sus- 
 tained the signal blockade of Car- 
 rickfergus, which took place during 
 the civil wars of Ireland ; and is said 
 to have distinguished himself upon 
 
 that occasion by his intrepidity and 
 2 
 
8 
 
 firmness, and to have been himself 
 no less distinguished by his volunta- 
 ry sufferings. In those days, Carrick- 
 fergus was the emporium of the 
 North-West trade of Ireland, but its 
 commerce has been for many years 
 on the wane, and of late all business 
 of importance in that quarter, has 
 been transacted in the flourishing 
 town of Belfast. It is still, however, 
 the place of holding assizes for the 
 county, and it returns one member 
 to Parliament. 
 
 As soon as Mr. Jackson had res- 
 pired from the fatigues of his passage, 
 (navigation being in those times, ex- 
 tremely tedious and uncomfortable,) 
 he cast his eyes around him to select 
 a suitable location for an establish- 
 ment, with the discreet solicitude of 
 a man who had before him the pros- 
 pect of a rising family. He finally 
 resolved to settle in the country, and 
 turn his attention to agricultural pur- 
 
9 
 
 suits. With this view he purchased 
 a tract of fertile soil in the Waxsaw 
 settlement, about forty-five miles from 
 Camden. Removing thither with 
 Mrs. Jackson and his two infant 
 children, he tended the cultivation of 
 his farm with assiduity and success. 
 In the endearing converse of his do- 
 mestic society, however small, he en- 
 joyed an ample relaxation from his 
 toils, being a tender and affectionate 
 husband and father. At this peace- 
 ful and pleasant retirement, on the 
 fifteenth of March, 1767, Mrs. Jack- 
 son presented to her adopted coun- 
 try its future protector, for on that 
 day our illustrious General first saw 
 the light. 
 
 Of the beginning stages of his life, 
 we have no accounts, which particu- 
 larise the character of his infancy. 
 All observation of the sort, however 
 interesting now, has perished amid 
 the gloom, which Divine Providence 
 
16 
 
 was pleased to draw around his ear- 
 ly childhood. Soon after the birth 
 of Andrew, (for his father had made 
 him his own namesake,) Mr. Jack- 
 son was visited with a sudden illness, 
 which terminated in the dissolution 
 of that worthy man. 
 
 This was a sad affliction, and it 
 tried severely, Mrs. Jackson's firm- 
 ness of mind. But Mrs. Jackson 
 was a very rational, as well as a very 
 tender woman. She was sensible 
 that pressing duties had now de- 
 volved upon her, and that a mother's 
 care had a rightful claim to intrude 
 upon the disconsolations of her me- 
 lancholy widowhood. The world she 
 had to contend with, was full of 
 selfishness, dissimulation and fraud : 
 but she hoped by industry and pru- 
 dence, to meet the difficulties of her 
 situation — confiding in the father of 
 all, who promises, that He tcill es- 
 tablish the border of the widou\ 
 
11 
 
 Hugh and Robert being intended 
 to follow the plainer avocations of 
 life, were prepared at a country 
 school for the transaction of ordinary 
 business. But Andrew, his mother 
 having designed him for the pulpit, 
 was placed under the tuition of Mr. 
 Humphries, who taught young gen- 
 tlemen at the Waxsaw Meeting House 
 the Greek and Latin tongues, and 
 whose attainments and gentlemanly 
 principles, qualified him, in a supe- 
 rior degree, for the care and in- 
 struction of boys. With him he con- 
 tinued to prosecute his studies until 
 he attained the age of fourteen. 
 About this time, the conflict between 
 exaction and resistance had confirm- 
 ed itself into actual and sanguinary 
 war, and the universal perturbation 
 confounding all things and destroy- 
 ing each milder form of human em- 
 ployment, had, of course, interrupt- 
 ed the cultivation of the muses. — 
 
 2* 
 
12 
 
 Amongst others who burned with 
 the martial ardour of the times, it is 
 not astonishing that Hugh, the eld- 
 est brother, should glow with the sa- 
 cred fire. This promising youth be- 
 ing present at the battle of Stono, 
 over-exertion on the field, combining 
 with the heat of the day, threw him 
 into a fever that brought him, pre- 
 maturely, to the grave. 
 
 Mrs. Jackson had an hereditary 
 bias towards the assertion of civil 
 rights, and the loss of her valiant boy 
 in his opening bloom, diminished but 
 little the interest she felt in the 
 cause. She had besides her two 
 surviving sons actively engaged in the 
 service of their country. No object, 
 therefore, lay nearer to her heart 
 than to alleviate the distresses of the 
 suffering patriots. Their clothing 
 and comfort employed her sedulous 
 attention. But while she adminis- 
 tered to the health of others, she un- 
 
13 
 
 happily neglected her own. The 
 labour she underwent and intensely 
 plied, was too fatiguing for her deli- 
 cate frame. So that upon the death 
 of Robert, this most excellent mo- 
 ther, was able to withstand her com- 
 plicated misery but a few weeks. 
 She expired in the vicinity of the 
 British lines within a short distance 
 of Charleston, leaving to her young- 
 est son, a collection of moral pre- 
 cepts, which are still treasured up in 
 his memory with fond remembrance, 
 for, it is said, that our General never 
 seems so cordially satisfied with an 
 opinion, as when it happens to be 
 after his mother's manner of thinking. 
 The circumstances of Robert's 
 death are thus related by Major Reid: 
 the Americans being unequal, as 
 well from the inferiority of their num- 
 bers, as their discipline, to engage 
 the British army in battle, had retir- 
 ed before it, into the interior of North 
 
14 
 
 Carolina ; but when they learned that 
 Lord Cornwallis had crossed the Yad- 
 kin, they returned in small detach- 
 ments to their native state. On their 
 arrival, they found Lord Rawdon in 
 possession of Camden, and the whole 
 country round in a state of desola- 
 tion. The British commander being 
 advised of the return of the settlers 
 of Waxsaw, Major Coffin was imme- 
 diately despatched thither, with a 
 corps of light dragoons, a company 
 of infantry, and a considerable num- 
 ber of tories, for their capture and 
 destruction. Hearing of their ap- 
 proach, the settlers, without delay, 
 appointed the Waxsaw Meeting 
 House as a place of rendezvous, that 
 they might the better collect their 
 scattered strength, and concert some 
 system of operations. About forty 
 of them had accordingly assembled 
 at this point, when the enemy ap- 
 proached, keeping the tories, who 
 
15 
 
 were dressed in the common apparel 
 of the country, in front whereby this 
 httle band of patriots was completely 
 deceived, having taken them for Cap- 
 tain Nisbet's company, in expecta- 
 tion of which they had been waiting. 
 Eleven of them were taken prison- 
 ers ; the rest with difficulty fled, 
 scattering and betaking themselves 
 to the woods for concealment. Ro- 
 bert and Andrew were amoncf the 
 number of those who eflfected their 
 escape. A creek happened to be at 
 hand, a secret bend of which they 
 entered, and there lay in safety 
 through the night. But the next 
 day having called at a house to get 
 some nourishment, they fastened 
 their horses by the side of a small 
 creek, and unluckily a party of tories 
 passing that way, seized upon their 
 horses together with their baggage, 
 and approaching the house by stealth, 
 for they suspected to find the riders 
 
16 
 
 there, Robert and Andrew were sur- 
 prised and taken. Being placed un- 
 der guard, Andrew was ordered in a 
 surly tone to clean the boots of a Bri- 
 tish officer which had become muddy 
 from crossing the creek. Andrew in 
 a spirited manner, spurning the im- 
 perious order, declared his right to 
 expect the usage that should betide 
 a prisoner of war. The officer en- 
 raged at his refusal, drew his sword 
 and aimed a blow at his head, but 
 throwing up his left hand he parried 
 off the sword, receiving, however, a 
 gash so severe in his hand, that it 
 retains the scar till this very day. 
 His brother being at the same time 
 ordered to do a like menial office, 
 and, like Andrew, scorning obedi- 
 ence, a wound was inflicted on his 
 head. They were now carried to 
 jail, where, put into separate confine- 
 ment, they were treated with the ut- 
 most rigour. After the battle before 
 
17 
 
 Camden, they were both released, 
 through the interference of their mo- 
 ther, and Captain Walker of the mi- 
 litia. In a charge upon the rear of 
 the British army, Captain Walker 
 had succeeded in making thirteen 
 prisoners, whom he exchanged for 
 seven Americans, among whom were 
 Andrew and his brother. But Ro- 
 bert's wound having remained un- 
 dressed during the whole time he 
 was kept in jail, contracted an in- 
 flammation, which baffled all subse-^ 
 quent attempts to stop the rapid pro- 
 gress of its mortality. 
 
 Apart altogether from our antici- 
 pated idea of his future eminence, 
 the friendless orphan awakens our 
 concern for his welfare, and strongly 
 engages our interest in the future 
 destinies of the lad. 
 
 Want of forethought, congenial to 
 his years, sufflered his patrimonial es- 
 tate to decay from little to less, and 
 
18 
 
 at last to dwindle into nothing. He 
 had good sense enough, however, to 
 resume his classical pursuits; and 
 under Mr. M^CuUoch, near Hill's Iron 
 Works, he read for some time with 
 diligence and success, and by his in- 
 dustrious application, so improved his 
 mind, that conceiving himself suffi- 
 ciently advanced in general know- 
 ledj>e to devote his attention to one 
 of the learned professions, he enter- 
 ed the library of Mr. Spruce M'Cay, 
 of Salisbury, in North Carolina. — 
 Here, after a preparation of two 
 years, he was admitted to practice, 
 in the winter of 1786. 
 
 The western parts of the state of 
 Tennessee being represented as 
 opening a field for the prosperous 
 exertions of the enterprising, he re- 
 paired thither; and fixed his resi- 
 dence at Nashville. In a short time 
 he acquired such a standing at the 
 bar that he was appointed Attorney 
 General for the District. 
 
19 
 
 In 1796, he was chosen a mcmbci* 
 of the convention that met to frame 
 a constitution for the state. Before 
 the expiration of the same year, he 
 was elected to the House of Repre- 
 sentatives in Congress, without so- 
 Hcitation. And to crown his prefer- 
 ment, the state was so impressed 
 with a conviction of his meat merit 
 and vahie that he was raised, the 
 year ensuing, to the Senate of the 
 United States. He did not hold his 
 seat long in the Senate, dissatisfied 
 with the aristocratical politics of the 
 day; but previous to his resignation, 
 confirmed his republican character, 
 by voting for a repeal of the alien and 
 stamp acts, — bills which excited the 
 indignation of all true republicans. 
 
 Upon the death of General Con- 
 way, the field officers of the military 
 division of the state, without any pre- 
 vious intimation to him on the subject, 
 chose our General to fill the vacancy. 
 
20 
 
 ^^e continued to hold the post until 
 May, 1814, when the administration 
 called upon his activity, and he was 
 complimented with the rank of a 
 Major General in the service of the 
 United States. 
 
 Scarcely had he resigned his seat 
 in the Senate, when he was nomi- 
 nated one of the judges of the Su- 
 preme Court of the state. But, find- 
 ing the office not only arduous but 
 ungrateful, he withdrew from the 
 bench, and retired to the sweets of 
 his rural occupations, and the enjoy- 
 ment of his beloved society. 
 
 The war, however, which the 
 United States was forced to declare 
 against Great Britain, drew him forth 
 again to public life. He was con- 
 scious of possessing great military 
 talents, and his patriotism would not 
 suffer him to sit with folded hands. 
 
£1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Depredations and Miirders commit'- 
 ted by the Savages — the GeneraVR 
 Conflicts with them — a full Ac- 
 count of the Battle of the Horse* 
 shoe. 
 
 Of all the Indian tribes, that of the 
 Creeks had attained the greatest 
 consequence hi the sight of govern- 
 ment, being the most formidable 
 body, whether considered with res- 
 pect to number, adroitness, intellect- 
 ual sagacity, or boldness of resolu- 
 tion. The restless turn of mind, 
 which is the general character of sa- 
 vage communities, gave just ground 
 for alarm, and elicited the wary vigi- 
 lance of the administration. Several 
 isolated cases of individual murder 
 had frequently occurred along the 
 confines of the white settlements ; 
 but, notwithstanding, as the spirit of 
 the Creeks appeared, on the whole. 
 
22 
 
 to be animated with a friendly dis- 
 position towards the United States, 
 no vigourous measures, on the part 
 of the nation, were deemed neeessary 
 to be adopted. In the spring of 1812, 
 Tecumseh became a leading man 
 amonofst the Shawnees. Tecumseh 
 was liberally endowed by nature. 
 He was bold, spirited, and implaca- 
 ble. No perils could daunt him, and 
 even disappointment only roused his 
 energies to fresh exertion. These 
 mental qualities inhabited a form ex- 
 act in its symmetry, constructed to 
 endure fatigue, adapted to perform 
 deeds of might, and yet pliant in 
 every motion ; and, withal, he pos- 
 sessed a commanding air and stately 
 mien. Appropriately suited to the 
 times which called him out, he trod 
 the stage of action with the easy con- 
 fidence of a performer who knows 
 his part and has no rival to rebuke 
 his genius. This extraordinary per- 
 
23 
 
 son met an end homogeneous with 
 his character. He expired on that 
 favourite couch of the warrior — the 
 field of battle ; — sunk beneath the 
 pressure of physical superiority and 
 exhausted by the weariness of his 
 own slaughter, he fell in the conflict 
 of the Thames, wherein darkness 
 overspread his eyes, after achieving 
 feats of gallantry that might well re- 
 flect lustre on a better cause. 
 
 The northern tribes had recently 
 formed a coalition to invade the New 
 England states, with the aspiring 
 view of extirpating, en masse, the in- 
 habitants, or, at least, of driving them 
 all out of the country. And as in 
 large combinations of people united 
 for the purpose of bringing round a 
 momentous change, the general sen- 
 timent that pervades the whole, not 
 unfrequently makes a peculiar im- 
 pression on a few men of parts and 
 
 boldness above the common, and 
 
 3* 
 
24 
 
 lifts their ambition higher than its 
 native pitch, so when this project en- 
 tertained by the tribes of the North 
 beffan to break the shell, there arose 
 amongst them an adventurous hier- 
 arch, who assumed to himself the 
 appellation of prophet, and affected 
 to be in the special confidence of the 
 " Great Spirit." He deUvered his 
 predictions with awful pomp and 
 gravity, according with the tremen- 
 dous attributes of his holy office, and 
 so artfully worked upon the gloomy 
 fancies of his followers, and their su- 
 perstitious hopes, that, by anticipa- 
 tion, they already saw the rivers dyed 
 with the blood of the slain, and the 
 useful labours of the oxen superceded 
 by the hunting range of the forester. 
 This wily prophet had for his bro- 
 ther the renowned Tecumseh. 
 
 The prophet enlarging his view 
 from the mere devastation of the 
 northern districts, embraced the idea 
 
25 
 
 of subjugating the regions of the 
 South, and thereby making one total 
 extermination of the white people 
 throughout the Union. In pursuance 
 of this extensive plan of operation, 
 Tecumseh was despatched to the 
 Creeks, com|nissioned by the red 
 brethren of the North to lay the pro- 
 phet's overtures before them, and to 
 enforce his apphcation with the splen- 
 did assurance of that sacred person- 
 age, the celebrity of whose name 
 could not fail to produce a most pow- 
 erful effect upon them. But, what- 
 ever might have been the success of 
 Tecumseh's embassy, upon this oc- 
 casion, certain it is, that he quitted 
 their territory after no long stay, and 
 addressed his proposals to the Indian 
 tribes that occupied the hunting 
 lands which skirted the Alabama ter- 
 ritory. The tribes, on the precincts 
 of Alabama, had perpetrated some 
 outrages, calculated to awaken the 
 
26 
 
 most serious apprehensions of the 
 settlers. But a terrible blow, which 
 they struck soon after the dissemina- 
 tion of the prophet's doctrine, ex- 
 cited consternation in every bosom, 
 and left the necessity of instantly re- 
 sorting to effective measures no long- 
 er doubtful to the state executive of 
 Tennessee. The barbarous slaugh- 
 ter of the garrison of Fort Mimms, 
 and the brutal massacre of the help- 
 less women and children who had 
 made it their asylum, and flocked to 
 it in great numbers, — penetrated by 
 the terror which the report of divers 
 atrocities had diffused through all 
 the sequestered families that were 
 settled in the proximity of the fron- 
 tiers. Fort Mimms has its location 
 in Tensaw, one of the Mississippi 
 settlements ; — the fortress was erect- 
 ed there, most likely, on account of 
 the eligibility of its position for the 
 defence of the first, and, therefore. 
 
27 
 
 distant settlers of that territory, and 
 not because the place furnished any 
 pecuHar advantages of nature to au- 
 thorize its being chosen for the scite 
 of a fortified castle. Be that as it 
 may, Fort Mimtns was carried by as- 
 sault after a fruitless resistance, — 
 The besiegers numbered in their 
 rank from six to seven hundred, suf- 
 ficiently appointed for the purpose of 
 executing their object. Their mu- 
 nitions of war they procured at Pen- 
 sacola, and from the quantity with 
 which they were furnished in that 
 city, the circumstance could not 
 have escaped the knowledge of the 
 governor of Florida, a consideration 
 that illustrates obscurely enough the 
 sincerity in which the Spanish autho- 
 rities made their professions of friend- 
 ship towards the United States. The 
 garrison mustered about one hun- 
 dred and fifty men, and the women, 
 children and invalids amounted to 
 
28 
 
 the like number. Upon the entrance 
 of the merciless victors, a scene of 
 heart-rending carnage took place. 
 Havoc was unsparingly dealt on all 
 sides. The air resounded with the 
 cries of the young, the shrieks of the 
 women, and the frightful yells of the 
 butchering savages. Out of three 
 hundred Christian souls, barely se- 
 venteen, with much ado, escaped 
 alive to report the melancholy tidings. 
 The inhabitants of Tennessee were 
 struck with amazement and dismay. 
 A convention of citizens was formal- 
 ly held in Nashville on the eighteenth 
 of September, about four weeks after 
 the perpetration of this calamitous 
 affair. Groups, with tears in their 
 eyes and horror on their counte- 
 nances, surrounded the hearthstone 
 of every house, and, whatever might 
 be spoken, they could think of nothing 
 else but Fort Mimms, and the rueful 
 massacre. They could not but de- 
 
29 
 
 plore the cruel torments and unpre- 
 pared deaths of their fellow Chris- 
 tians, nor anticipate tlieir own des- 
 tinies without forebodings the most 
 discouraging and afflictive. Mean- 
 while the members of the Legislature 
 assembled together, and with all 
 speed a bill was introduced, and as 
 cordially passed, authorizing the go- 
 vernor to call out, for active service, 
 three thousand five hundred men : 
 and,lest provision, sufficiently ample, 
 should not be made by the general 
 government for the subsistence and 
 equipment of such a force, the sum 
 of three hundred thousand dollars 
 was assigned for that object. 
 
 All eyes were now turned to Gene- 
 ral Jackson, as the most prominent 
 military man in Tennessee, and who 
 possessed, if any man did, the quali- 
 fications of an officer adequate to di- 
 rect this critical and hazardous un- 
 dertaking, and to bring it to a happy 
 
80 
 
 issue. The General, besides, had 
 ffained the ffood will and esteem of 
 the militia by his personal attention 
 to their comforts and welfare in the 
 expedition to Natchez, and the proofs 
 he had given of his devotion to their 
 interests and the vindication of their 
 rights. The deepest concern was, 
 therefore, evinced by people in every 
 stage of life, when it was understood 
 that he was seriously indisposed, and 
 even confined to his chamber. Be- 
 ing, however, determined on the good 
 of his country, and conceiving him- 
 self imperiously summoned to the 
 field by the trying emergencies of the 
 time, and so, to the great joy of his 
 fellow citizens, declaring his resolu- 
 tion to assume the character of a sol- 
 dier, and undergo the toils of war, 
 notwithstanding his indisposition; 
 he, in obedience to the governor's or- 
 ders, directed two thousand of the 
 militia, attached to his division, to 
 
31 
 
 rendezvous at Fayetteville, duly pie- 
 pared for actual service. Although 
 many difficulties obstructed the mi- 
 litia, yet by using great exertions and 
 bringing all their resources into ac- 
 tivity, they contrived, however im- 
 perfectly, to execute the GeneraFs 
 wishes, and rendezvous at Fayette- 
 ville, by the fourth of October, (the 
 time of muster prescribed.) A few 
 days elapsed before the General was 
 pliysically strong enough to repair to 
 the army ; a delay, which, were it 
 not for the painful necessity that pro- 
 duced it, there liad been no cause to 
 regret, since it afforded an opportu- 
 nity to the General, during the inter- 
 im, of laying before his troops a writ- 
 ten, and, therefore, somewhat more 
 solemn, exposition of those princi- 
 ples and sentiments which he ex- 
 pected would guide their conduct and 
 actuate their perseverance, through 
 the scenes thev were approaching, of 
 
 4 
 
32 
 
 difficulty and danger. Major Reid, 
 his Aid-de-camp, arriving amongst 
 them on the day fixed for the ren- 
 dezvous, was bearer of an address, 
 in which the General says : — 
 
 " We are about to furnish these 
 j-avaires a lesson of admonition ; we 
 are about to teach them, that our long 
 forbearance has not proceeded from 
 an insensibility to wrongs, or an ina- 
 bility to redress them. They stand 
 in need of such warning. In pro- 
 portion as we have borne with their 
 insults, and submitted to their out- 
 rages, they have multiplied in num- 
 ber and increased in atrocity. But 
 the measure of their offences is at 
 length filled. The blood of our wo- 
 men and children, recently spilled at 
 Fort Mimms, calls for our vengeance, 
 it must not call in vain. Our borders 
 must not, any longer, be disturbed 
 by the war whoops of these savages, 
 or the cries of their suffering victims. 
 
33 
 
 The torch which has been hghted up 
 must be made to blaze in the heart 
 of their own country. It is time they 
 should be made to feel the weight of 
 a power, which, because it was mer- 
 ciful, they believed to be impotent. 
 But how shall a war so long forborne, 
 and so loudly called for by retributive 
 justice, be waged ? Shall we imi- 
 tate the example of our enemies, in 
 the disorder of their movements and 
 the savageness of their dispositions. 
 Is it worthy the character of Ameri- 
 can soldiers, who take up arms to 
 redress the wrongs of an injured 
 country, to assume no better model 
 than that furnished them by barba- 
 rians ? No ! Fellow soldiers ; great 
 as are the grievances that have called 
 us from our homes, we must not per- 
 mit disorderly passions to tarnish the 
 reputation we shall carry along with 
 us ; — we must and will be victorious; 
 but we must conquer as men who 
 
34 
 
 owe nothing to chance, and who, in 
 tlie midst of victory, can still be mind-* 
 fal of what is due to humanity. 
 
 " We will commence the campaign 
 by an inviolable attention to discip- 
 line and subordination. Without a 
 strict observance of these, victory 
 must ever be uncertain and ought 
 hardly to be exulted in, even when 
 jL^ained. To what but to the entire 
 disregard of order and subordination, 
 are we to ascribe the disasters, which 
 have attended our arms in the North, 
 during the present war ? How glo- 
 rious will it be to remove the blots 
 which have tarnished the fair charac- 
 ter bequeathed us by the fathers of 
 our revolution. The bosom of your 
 (General is full of hope. lie knows 
 the ardour which animates you, and 
 already exults in the triumph which 
 your strict observance of discipline 
 and good order will render certain.'" 
 
35 
 
 After giving this tender atlnioni- 
 tion to the troops, the General pro-^ 
 ceeded to lay down what rules of con- 
 duct were to be followed ; rightly con* 
 sidering that it was an easier task to 
 hinder the introduction of irregulari- 
 ties into the camp, than to banish them 
 from it after being introduced. The 
 injunctions appeared rigid enough to 
 the soldiers, who were but httle habi- 
 tuated to military discipline, and had 
 yet to learn, that there was any wis- 
 dom in the policy which proscribed 
 the enjoyment of free conversation 
 during parade. 
 
 But the most alarming and critical 
 difficulty which fell to the General's 
 troubled lot in dealing with the 
 hearts of the men, sprung from the 
 excessive scarcity, if not total dearth, 
 of provisions, which threatened to vi- 
 sit them. To avert a calamity so 
 fearful in itself, and no less fearfully 
 portended, he exhibited spirit and tin- 
 
 4* 
 
36 
 
 remittino; industry, honourable alike 
 to liis character, both as a public ser- 
 vant and private citizen. His heart 
 was set upon the consummation of 
 the great object which lay before him 
 to accomplish, and was at the same 
 time deeply affected by the dreary 
 prospect he had of enabling the men 
 16 nndero'o the fati2;ues which were 
 about to await them. To every 
 quarter he made application. The 
 fifovernors of the states were admon- 
 ished of the dreadful consequences 
 to the inhabitants, if the army was 
 suffered to fall in pieces, by an insuf- 
 ficient supply of the first necessaries 
 of life. From all, he received as- 
 surances of relief, and, doubtless, 
 they were made with equal sincerity, 
 but still the actual assistance furnish- 
 ed by any was extremely feeble. 
 
 But, notwithstanding this defalca- 
 tion, his resolution to proceed at 
 once against the enemy no longer wa- 
 
87 
 
 vered, upon learning that tlie hostile 
 Indians of nine towns had embodied 
 in great force, and were advancing to 
 attack the friendly tribes of the 
 Creeks and those of the Cherokees ; 
 a chief of the latter having dispatch- 
 ed two runners to the General's en- 
 campment to communicate this in- 
 telligence, which admitted of no al- 
 ternative. Making, thereupon, a cur- 
 tailed distribution of the supplies on 
 hand, he instantly prepared to bear 
 upon the savages before they should, 
 by becoming the invaders^ acquire 
 that energetic ferocity with which the 
 very thought of being in those cir- 
 cumstances, was calculated to inspire 
 them. Accordingly he directed the 
 runners of the Cherokee prince to 
 acquaint their chief of his intention, 
 and desired that all vigilance should 
 be exerted to discover the projected 
 movements of the enemy, their 
 strength and positions, giving his as- 
 
38 
 
 surance that he would be himself at 
 the Coosa without delay. 
 
 Upon this interesting occasion he 
 addressed his troops in these terms : 
 " You have, fellow soldiers, at length 
 penetrated the country of your ene- 
 mies. It is not to be believed that 
 they will abandon the soil that em- 
 bosoms the bones of their forefathers, 
 without furnishing you an opportuni- 
 ty of signalizing your valour. Wise 
 men do not expect ; brave men do 
 not desire it. It was not to travel 
 unmolested, through a barren wilder^ 
 ness, that you quitted your families 
 and homes, and submitted to so many 
 privations : it was to avenge the cru- 
 elties committed upon our defence- 
 less frontiers, by the inhuman Creeks, 
 instigated by their no less inhuman al- 
 lies ; you shall not be disappointed. 
 If the enemy jflee before us, we will 
 overtake and chastise him; we will 
 teach him how dreadful, when once 
 
39 
 
 aroused is the resentment of freemen. 
 But it is not by boasting that punish- 
 ment is to be inflicted, or victory ob- 
 tained. The same resolution that 
 prompted us to take up arms, must 
 inspire us in battle. Men thus ani- 
 mated, and thus resolved, barbarians 
 can never conquer ; and it is an ene- 
 my barbarous in the extreme, that 
 we have now to face. Their reliance 
 will be on the damage they can do 
 you, whilst you are asleep and un- 
 prepared for action: their hopes shall 
 fail them in the hour of experiment. 
 Soldiers who know their duty, and 
 are ambitious to perform it, are not 
 to be taken by surprize. Our senti- 
 nels will never sleep, nor our soldiers 
 be unprepared for action: yet, whilst 
 it is enjoined upon the sentinels vigil- 
 antly to watch the approach of the foe, 
 they are at the same time commanded 
 not to fire at shadows. Imaginary dan- 
 ger must not deprive them of entire 
 
40 
 
 self-possession. Our soldiers will lie 
 with arms in their bands: and the mo- 
 ment an alarm is given, they will 
 move to their respective positions, 
 without noise and without confusion ; 
 they will be thus enabled to hear the 
 orders of their officers, and to obey 
 them with promptitude. 
 
 *' Great reliance will be placed by 
 the enemy on the consternation they 
 may be able to spread through our 
 ranks by the hideous yells with which 
 they commence their battles ; but 
 brave men will laugh at such efforts 
 to alarm them. It is not by bellow- 
 ings and screams that the wounds of 
 death are inflicted. You will teach 
 these noisy assailants how weak are 
 their weapons of warfare by oppos- 
 ing them with the bayonet ; what In- 
 dian ever withstood its charge? What 
 army, of any nation, ever withstood 
 it long? 
 
41 
 
 " Yes soldiers, the order for a 
 charge will be the signal for victory. 
 In that moment your enemy will be 
 seen fleeing in every direction before 
 you. But in the moment of action, 
 coolness and deliberation must be 
 regarded; your fires made with pre- 
 cision and aim ; and when ordered 
 to charge with the bayonet, you must 
 proceed to the assault with a i^tiick, 
 and firm step ; without trepidation or 
 alarm. Then shall you behold the 
 completion of your hopes, in the dis- 
 comfiture of your enemy. Your Ge- 
 neral, whose duty, as well as inclina- 
 tion, is to watch over your safety, will 
 not, to gratify any wishes of his own, 
 rush you unnecessarily into danger. 
 He knows, however, that it is not in 
 assailing an enemy that men are de- 
 stroyed ; it is when in retreating, and 
 in confusion. Aware of this, he will 
 be prompted as much by a regard to 
 your lives as your honour. He la- 
 
42 
 
 merits that he has been compeHed, 
 even mcidentally, to hint at a retreat 
 when speaking to freemen, and to 
 soldiers. Never, nntil you forget all 
 tliat is dne to yourselves and your 
 country, will you have any practical 
 understanding of that word. Shall 
 an enemy, wholly unacquainted with 
 mihtary evohi ion,and who rely more 
 for vi^gtory on their grim visages and 
 hideons yells than upon their bravery 
 or their weapons — shall vsuch an ene- 
 my ever drive before tljem the vvell 
 trained youths of our country, whose 
 bosoms pant for glory, and a desire to 
 avenge the wrongs thev have receiv- 
 ed ? Your General will not live to 
 behold such a spectacle; rather would 
 he rush into the thickest of the ene- 
 my, and submit himself to their scalp- 
 ing knives ; but he has no fears of 
 such a result. He knows the valour 
 of the men lie commands, and how 
 certainly that valour, reaulated as it 
 
43 
 
 will be, will lead to victory. With 
 his soldiers he will face all dangers, 
 and with them participate in the glo- 
 ry of conquest." 
 
 The General still continuing his 
 route towards the Coosa, learned, by a 
 party which had been sent out to pro- 
 cure corn and cattle, that the Indians 
 were collected together in a large 
 body in the town called Tallushat- 
 chee, which lies on the south side of 
 that river, at a distance of thirteen 
 miles. Nine hundred men were de- 
 tached under Gener jI Coffee, for the 
 purpose of dispersing them, and these 
 having, with some difficulty, crossed 
 the Coosa, brought the war party to 
 action ; in whicli engagement the 
 troops, after a most obstinate resist- 
 ance, were completely successful. 
 
 The chief strength of the Creeks 
 being understood to have its concen- 
 tration close to the entrance of the 
 5 
 
44 
 
 Tallapoosa river into the Coosa, the 
 General directed his view to this 
 quarter. Proposing to march against 
 them, he fortified a suitable spot 
 wherein to lodge the invalids and bag- 
 ffaffe. In the meantime he awaited 
 the arrival of the troops of East Ten- 
 nessee, but his stay in expectation of 
 that reinforcement was interrupted 
 by intelligence from Talladega, a fort 
 lying about thirty miles further down 
 the river, and into which a number 
 of the friendly Indians had thrown 
 themselves, in order to maintain with 
 less insecurity their separation from 
 those tribes who were hostile towards 
 the United States. To have exposed 
 these poor Indians therefore, to fall a 
 certain prey to their sanguinary bre- 
 thren, would have not only outraged 
 the sentiments of humanity, but even 
 cast a slur upon the government it- 
 self. And so the General marched 
 onwards to their protection. Lest 
 
45 
 
 the wily adversaries by taking a cir- 
 cuitous route should attempt the de- 
 pot by surprize, he deemed it in- 
 cumbent on him to commence the 
 onset with despatch; and the Ad- 
 jutant-General, in pursuance of or- 
 ders, arranged the line, moving cau- 
 tiously ; — the infantry proceeding in 
 three columns, the cavalry after the 
 same manner, so that the whole could 
 be quickly formed in battle array, on 
 whatever side the enemy might ap- 
 pear. A company of artillerists and 
 three others, two of which consisted 
 of riflemen, were led about four hun- 
 dred yards in front, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Carroll, who was 
 instructed to retire upon the main 
 centre, as soon as he had drawn the 
 Indians into action, that so they might 
 be allured to follow him. About 
 seven o'clock in the morning, the 
 whole army, to the exception of Colo- 
 nel Carroll's division, which formed 
 
46 
 
 the advance, were drawn up in order 
 of combat, at the distance of one 
 mile from the enemy. Lieutenant 
 Colonel Dyer was stationed behind 
 the centre, with two hundred and fif- 
 ty of the cavalry, as a corps de re- 
 serve. The remainder of the caval- 
 ry were disposed respectively on the 
 right and left with their rear towards 
 the foot, having directions when the 
 fit juncture arrived, to wheel in con- 
 fronting columns, a manoeuvre calcu- 
 lated to bar an escape on the part of 
 the enemy. The rest of the army 
 had orders to move up by heads of 
 companies; the right occupied by 
 General Hall's brigade, the left by the 
 brigade of General Roberts. 
 
 About eight o'clock the advance 
 having interchanged a volley with the 
 Indians, and brought them from their 
 position, fell back, as they had been 
 directed, upon the centre; while their 
 savage foes pursued them with most 
 
47 ^ 
 
 horrible cries. Their rush was first 
 made against the militia of General 
 Roberts, of which, two companies 
 retreated. To fill up the chasm, 
 Jackson was constrained on this 
 emergence to resort to the corps de 
 reserve, who unhorsing with alacrity 
 and supplying the vacuum that had 
 been occasioned, sustained the shock 
 of the Indians with such boldness and 
 resolution, that the militia feeling 
 ashamed of their late pusillanimity, 
 returned, and by their gallant efforts, 
 retrieved their character. The con- 
 flict grew extremely animated before 
 the Indians exhibited any symptoms 
 of an inclination to quit the field. At 
 last, however, when they met with a 
 severe reception on the left from the 
 mounted riflemen, they betook them- 
 selves precipitately to the right, where 
 in consequence of some indiscretion 
 shown by two of the commanding 
 
^ 
 
 48 
 
 officers, a number made their escape. 
 But so hotly was the fighting main- 
 tained even after the retreat began, 
 that the carnage extended three miles 
 from the battle ground. The force 
 of the enemy is computed at one 
 thousand and eighty, and of this 
 amount, a prodigious number were 
 slain and wounded; nor did the troops 
 of the Union gain a bloodless victory. 
 It will be read with satisfaction, that 
 the General was highly gratified with 
 the conduct of those whom he had 
 led to glory. Upon closing his re- 
 port of this affair, he took occasion to 
 say, " Too much praise cannot be be- 
 stowed on the advance, led by Colo- 
 nel Carrol, for the spirited manner in 
 which they commenced and sustained 
 the attack; nor upon the reserve, 
 commanded by Lieutenant Colonel 
 Dyer, for the gallantry with which 
 they met and repulsed the enemy. 
 In a word, the officers of every grade. 
 
^ 49 
 
 and as well the privates, realized the 
 hi^h expectations I had formed of 
 them, and merit the gratitude of their 
 countrv." 
 
 The friendly Indians who had been 
 shut up in the fort of Talladega and 
 over whom had hung the well ground- 
 ed terror of death, being by means 
 of this brilliant success, released 
 from their mortal fears, gave the 
 strongest indications of gratitude to 
 their deliverers, which their scanty 
 means enabled them to display. They 
 freely shared their small stock of 
 cattle, which the General purchasing 
 with his own funds, distributed to 
 his destitute troops. 
 
 Instead of pursuing the lead of his 
 judgment to press forward, and make 
 the most of the signal advantages 
 which were thus obtained, the Gen- 
 eral found himself compelled to 
 march back to his former depot, as 
 well on account of the scarcity of 
 
50 
 
 provisions with the troops in Talla- 
 deffa, as because he had left the de- 
 pot but poorly supplied, in the hope 
 at his departure, that immediate as- 
 sistance would be brought by the 
 speedy arrival of the East Tennes- 
 see brigade, a hope deplorably mis- 
 taken, although it was formed on 
 the firmest assurances. Here he had 
 the mortification to learn that the 
 contractors likewise had failed to 
 perform their engagements ; so that 
 the utmost want prevailed. A few 
 biscuits and some lean beeves pur- 
 chased of the Cherokees were all 
 that remained. Even his own pri- 
 vate stores had been used for the 
 nourishment of the sick — which in- 
 deed the hospital surgeon had been 
 directed so to make use of as the 
 General was departing, in case the 
 necessities of the sick required it. 
 
 In this wretched state of affairs, 
 the General, in order to set a noble 
 
51 
 
 example, refrained from any distinc- 
 tion of diet, and assarted an air of 
 cheerfulness amidst the gloom which 
 was diffused through an army, con- 
 sisting of men, accustomed to live 
 hot and full in the farmer's kitchen. 
 It is said, that one morning as he 
 was seated beneath the covering of 
 a spreading tree, a soldier perceiv- 
 ing him intently occupied in eating, 
 solicited to have a part of his relish ; 
 the General drew some acorns from 
 his pocket, and presenting them to 
 the man, told him, that he was wel- 
 come to partake of his fare, such as 
 it was. 
 
 Conduct like this in the command- 
 ing officer, tended to stifle the first 
 murmurs of complaint, but nothing 
 short of the most consummate address 
 and management,coukl allay the spirit 
 of discontent, and repress the mutin- 
 ous dispositions excited in the camp 
 by these trying privations. At one 
 
52 
 
 time the militia having moved to quit 
 the serviceand return to their homes, 
 the volunteer troops were led forth 
 to frustrate their purpose. Again, 
 the volunteers were defeated in a simi- 
 lar project by the militia, drawn out 
 to confront them, and perhaps indeed 
 the firmness of the militia, is more to 
 be attributed to the satisfaction they 
 experienced in embracing the oppor-* 
 tunity of retaliation which was now 
 afforded, than to any radical dislike 
 they harboured to the scheme of the 
 volunteers. These hours of des- 
 pondency were agreeably interrupt- 
 ed, by the arrival of stores : yet the 
 effect produced was only partial and 
 temporary, so when at times water 
 is thrown upon a blazing fire, its 
 flame for a little abates, but still the 
 igneous principles remaining undes- 
 troyed, these presently renovate their 
 force, and raise the flame higher 
 than it was before. 
 
58 
 
 It must indeed be owned, that the 
 miUtia enrolled themselves under 
 the presumption, that devoting their 
 time and labour for the benefit of 
 their country, they should be freed 
 from the cares and solicitudes of pro- 
 viding for the sustenance of life. 
 Nevertheless, they had embarked in 
 the service of their own inheritance. 
 And surely it behoved them to en- 
 dure much for the sake of the cause ; 
 to struggle with many difficulties, 
 undergo many hardships, be resign- 
 ed amidst affliction and patient in 
 distress. 
 
 The governor of Tennessee found 
 so many obstacles in the way of 
 furnishing an effective body for the 
 prosecution of the campaign, that he 
 recommended the enterprize to be 
 for the present laid aside, and that 
 no movement should be made until 
 fidvice was obtained from the gener- 
 al government. In reply to his 
 
54 
 
 views upon the subject, General 
 Jackson remarked: — '' Had your wish 
 that 1 should discharge a part of my 
 force, and retire with the residue 
 into the settlements, assumed the 
 form of a positive order, it might 
 have furnished me some apology for 
 pursuing such a course ; but by no 
 means a full justification. As you 
 would have no power to give such an 
 order, I could not be inculpable in 
 obeying with my eyes open to the 
 fatal consequences that would attend 
 it. But a bare recommendation, 
 founded, as I am satisfied it must be, 
 on the artful suggestions of those 
 fire-side patriots, who seek in a 
 failure of the expedition, an excuse 
 for their own supineness ; and upon 
 the misrepresentations of the dis- 
 contented from the army, who wish 
 it to be believed, that the difficulties 
 which overcame their patriotism, are 
 wholly insurmountable ; would afford 
 
55 
 
 me but a feeble shield against the 
 reproaches of my country or my 
 conscience. Beheve me, my respect- 
 ed friend, the remarks I make, pro- 
 ceed from the purest personal re- 
 gard. If you would preserve your 
 reputation, or that of the state over 
 which you preside, you must take a 
 straight forward determined course; 
 regardless of the applause or cen- 
 sure of tiic populace, and of the 
 forebodings of that dastardly and 
 designing crew, who at a time like 
 this, may be expected to clamour 
 continually in your ears. The very 
 wretches, who now beset you with 
 evil counsel, will be the first, should 
 the measures which they recommend 
 eventuate in disaster, to call down 
 imprecations on your head, and load 
 you with reproaches. Your country 
 is in danger: — apply its resources to 
 
 its defence! Can any course be 
 6 
 
56 
 
 more plain ? Do you, my friend, at 
 such a moment as the present, sit 
 with your arms folded, and your 
 heart at ease, waiting a solution of 
 your doubts, and a definition of your 
 powers ? Do you wait for special 
 instructions from the secretary at 
 war, which it is impossible for you 
 to receive in time for the danger that 
 threatens ? How did the venerable 
 Shelby act, under similar circumstan- 
 ces ; or rather under circumstances 
 by no means so critical ? Did he wait 
 for orders to do what every man of 
 sense knew— what every patriot felt, 
 to be right? He did not; and yet 
 how highly and justly did the govern- 
 ment extol his manly and energetic 
 conduct! And how dear has his 
 name become to every friend of his 
 coimtry ! 
 
 " You say that an order to bring 
 the necessary quota of men into the 
 field lias been given, and that of 
 
57 
 
 course your power ceases ; and al- 
 thougli you are made sensible that 
 the order has been wholly neglected, 
 you can take no measure to renie 'y 
 the omission. Widely different in- 
 deed is my opinion. I consider it 
 your imperious duty, when the men 
 called for by your authority, founded 
 upon that of the government, are 
 known not to be in the field, to see 
 that they be brought there ; and to 
 take immediate measures with the 
 officer, who, charged with the exe- 
 cution of your order, omits or ne- 
 o'lects to do it. As the executive of 
 the state, it is your duty to see that 
 the full quota of troops be constant- 
 ly kept in the field, for the time they 
 have been required. You are res- 
 ponsible to the government ; your 
 officer to you. Of what avail is it to 
 give an order, if it be never executed, 
 and may be disobeyed with impuni- 
 ty ? Is it by empty mandates that we 
 
58 
 
 €an hope to conquer our enemies, 
 and save our defenceless frontiers 
 from butchery and devastation ? Be- 
 Heve me my valued friend, there are 
 times when it is highly criminal to 
 shrink from responsibility, or scruple 
 about the exercise of our powers. 
 There are times when we must disre- 
 gard punctilious etiquette, and think 
 only of saving our country. What is 
 really our present situation ? The 
 enemy we have been sent to subdue, 
 may be said if we stop at this, to be 
 only exasperated. The commander 
 in chief, General Pinkney, who sup- 
 poses me at this time prepared for 
 renewed operations, has ordered me 
 to advance, and form a junction with 
 the Georgia army ; and upon the ex- 
 pectation that I will do so, are all his 
 arrangements formed for the prose- 
 cution of the campaign. Will it do 
 to defeat his plans, and jeopardize 
 the safety of the Georgia army ? The 
 
59 
 
 general government too, believe, and 
 have a right to believe, that we have 
 now not less than five thousand men 
 in the heart of the enemy's country, 
 and on this opinion are all their cal- 
 culations bottomed ; and must they 
 all be frustrated, and I become the 
 instrument by which it is done ? 
 God forbid ! 
 
 *'You advise me to discharge or 
 dismiss from service, until the will of* 
 the President can be known, such 
 portion of the militia as have render- 
 ed three months' service. This ad- 
 vice astonishes me, even more than 
 the former. I have no such discre- 
 tionary power ; and if I had, it would 
 be impolitic and ruinous to exercise 
 it. I believed the militia who were 
 not specially received for a shorter 
 period, were engaged for six months, 
 unless the objects of the expedition 
 should be sooner attained ; and in 
 
 6* 
 
60 
 
 this opinion I was greatly strength- 
 ened by your letter of the 15th, in 
 which you say, when answering my 
 inquiry upon this subject, ' the mili- 
 tia are detached for six months' ser- 
 vice,' — nor did I know or suppose, 
 you had a different opinion, until the 
 arrival of your last letter. This 
 opinion must I suppose agreeably to 
 your request be made known to Gen- 
 -eral Roberts's brigade, and then the 
 consequences are not difficult to be 
 foreseen. Every man belonging to 
 it will abandon me on the 4th of 
 next month ; nor shall I have the 
 means of preventing it, but by the 
 application of force, which under 
 such circumstances, I shall not be at 
 liberty to use. I have laboured hard 
 to reconcile these men to a continu- 
 ance in service until they could be hon- 
 ourably discharge^^, and had hoped 
 I had, in a great measure succeeded ; 
 but your opinion operating with their 
 
61 
 
 own prejudices, will give a sanction 
 to their conduct, and render useless 
 any farther attempts. They will 
 go ; but I can neither discharge nor 
 dismiss them. Shall I be told that 
 as they will go, it may as well be 
 peaceably permitted ; can that be 
 any good reason why I should do an 
 unauthorized act ? Is it a good rea- 
 son why I should violate the order of 
 my superior officer, and evince a wil- 
 lingness to defeat the purposes of 
 my government ? And wherein does 
 the sound policy of the measures 
 which have been recommended con- 
 sist ? Or in w hat way are they lihe* 
 ly to promote the public good ? Is it 
 sound policy to abandon a conquest 
 thus far made, and deliver up to 
 havoc, or add to the number of our 
 enemies, those friendly Creeks and 
 Cherokees, who relying on our pro- 
 tection, have espoused our cause, and 
 aided us with their arms ? Is it good 
 
62 
 
 policy to turn loose upon our de- 
 fenceless frontiers five thousand ex- 
 asperated savages, to reek their 
 hands once more in the blood of our 
 citizens ? What ! Retrograde under 
 such circumstances ? I will perish 
 first, no I will do my duty ; I will 
 hold the posts I have established un- 
 til ordered to abandon them by the 
 commanding general, or die in the 
 struggle ; long since have I deter- 
 mined not to seek the preservation 
 of life at the sacrifice of reputation. 
 
 " But our frontiers it seems are to 
 be defended, and by whom ? By the 
 very force that is now recommended 
 to be dismissed : for I am first told 
 to retire into the settlements and 
 protect the frontiers ; next to dis- 
 charge my troops ; and then that no 
 measures can be taken for raising 
 others. No my friend, if troops be 
 given me, it is not by loitering on the 
 frontiers that I will seek to give pro- 
 
68 
 
 tection ; — they are to be defended, 
 if defended at all, in a very different 
 manner ; — by carrying the war into 
 the heart of the enemy's country. 
 All other hopes of defence are more 
 visionary than dreams. What then 
 is to be done ? I'll tell you what. 
 You have only to act with the ener- 
 gy and decision the crisis demands, 
 and all will be well. Send me a 
 force engaged for six months, and I 
 will answer for the result, — but with- 
 hold it and all is lost, — the reputa- 
 tion of the State, and yours, and mine, 
 along with it." 
 
 The Governor was suitably im- 
 pressed by the contents of this letter, 
 and set about in good earnest to ad- 
 minister support to the General. He 
 instantly ordered twenty-five hun- 
 dred of the militia, for a tour of three 
 months, to rendezvous at Fayette- 
 ville. The command was assigned 
 to General Johnston^ who was direte 
 
64 
 
 ed fo repair straightway to Fort 
 Strother. General Cocke was be- 
 sides instructed to raise the quota 
 prescribed by General Jackson, aiid 
 to have them forthcoming at an ear- 
 ly day. 
 
 But all these splendid expectances 
 eventuated at last in the acquisition 
 of the volunteers raised under the 
 auspices of Colonel Carrull ; consist- 
 ing of eight hundred and fifty re- 
 cruits. And the very history of these, 
 shows the distressed posture of the 
 General's affairs. For Colonel Car- 
 roll unable to obtain compliance with 
 the conditions of enlistment which 
 had been laid down ;— that is to say, 
 unable to procure men for a service 
 of six months or during the campaign, 
 with all his endeavours only prevail- 
 ed upon them to engage for the space 
 of sixty days. What could the Gen- 
 eral do ?— Upon this levy he was to- 
 
65 
 
 tally dependent, and of course, he 
 had to accept it such as it was. 
 
 General Pinkney who held the 
 chief command, having forwarded in- 
 timation by express, that General 
 Floyd with his division, was pushing 
 forwards to unite with Jackson ; and 
 that a diversion in favour of General 
 Floyd was expected to be made in 
 the meantime ; it became necessary 
 for our General to put his men in 
 motion. Their number was small 
 indeed, and consisted mostly of raw 
 recruits. Upon reaching Talladega 
 they were joined by two hundred 
 friendly Indians, (Cherokees and 
 Creeks,! who were however indiffer- 
 ently armed, and not a little daunted 
 too, at witnessing our limited amount 
 of force. But if Talladega contri- 
 buted little to the strength of his 
 command^ it furnished Jackson with 
 stronger motives for advancing : 
 since there a letter was delivered him 
 
66 
 
 from the officer stationed at Fort 
 Armstrong, by whom he was advised 
 that the warriors of fourteen or fif- 
 teen towns on the banks of the Tal- 
 lapoosa had collected with intent to 
 demoUsh that depot, and that his im- 
 mediate succour was required to 
 save it. Jackson determined to 
 make an attack immediately on this 
 new horde of savages. There was 
 a double advantage to be gained by 
 their dispersion ; in the first place 
 Fort Armstrong would be preserved, 
 and moreover the progress of (ien- 
 eral Floyd would be thereby essenti- 
 ally favoured. 
 
 He learned that the Indians were 
 posted near the mouth of a creek 
 called Emuckfmv, and thither he 
 proceeded with the utmost expedi- 
 tion. Having gained the higher 
 grounds in the vicinity of the creek, 
 he sent out a recoimoitering party, 
 and in the meantuue took all requi- 
 
67 
 
 «ite precautions against a sudden at- 
 tack. The party returning announ- 
 ced that they had discovered a large 
 encampment of Indians about three 
 miles distant, and that they were en- 
 gaged in whooping and the exercise 
 of their martial dance. It being 
 thence inferred that they were ap- 
 prized of the arrival of the troops, 
 preparations were made for the morn- 
 ing's hostilities. By break of day the 
 alarm guns of the sentinels echoed 
 amidst the terrific shrieks and wild 
 ejaculations of the enemy, who com- 
 menced a hurried and furious assault 
 upon the left flank, but were opposed 
 with perfect firmness. General Cof- 
 fee and Colonels Carroll and Sitlei 
 hastened to the point of conflict, ani- 
 mating by their example and encour- 
 aging the inexperienced troops. The 
 left wing, which standing the brun^ 
 of action during a full half hour, was 
 
68 
 
 considerably weakened, having been 
 reinforced by the accession of a fresh 
 company, General Coffee ordered a 
 charge, and the Indians took to flight. 
 They were chased about two miles, 
 the friendly Indians uniting with the 
 rest of the pursuers. Of the troops 
 five were killed and twenty wounded. 
 As long as the light continued to be 
 insufiicient for giving distinction to 
 objects, great advantage arose from 
 the position of the camp fires, which 
 being outside the alignment, the as- 
 sailants were quite discernible, while 
 the troops were entirely concealed in 
 darkness, or seen with confusion 
 through the obscurity. 
 
 When pursuit was given over. Ge- 
 neral Coflee was dispatched with 
 four hundred men accompanied by 
 the friendly IndiaUvS, for the purpose 
 of destroying the works which the 
 enemy had thrown up; General Jack- 
 son instructing him at the same time 
 
69 
 
 to use no delay iu abortive trials, if 
 his force proved inadequate to de- 
 molish them out of liand. General 
 Coffee having examined the place, 
 and found it too strong for his means, 
 returned to the camp. The propri- 
 ety of doing so was made presently 
 manifest. Not more than half an 
 hour's time had elapsed from his re- 
 turn, when the piquets posted on the 
 right were assailed with a sharp fire 
 attended by a frightful yelling. Ge- 
 neral Coffee, having asked and ob- 
 tained permission, put himself at the 
 head of a detachment and moved 
 brisklv forward to turn the left flank 
 of the aggressors. It was very fortu- 
 nate that there was no considerable 
 force to be opposed on this occasion, 
 for the detachment happened to be 
 drawn from different companies, and 
 so, having no common ligament, they 
 had the meanness to drop off one by 
 one, unperceived through the rapid- 
 
70 
 
 ft 
 
 ity of the movement; and at last Ge- 
 neral Coffee had with him but fifty 
 left of the whole. He found the In- 
 dians posted along a piny ridge thick 
 set with underwood, from which, 
 lest they should make use of it for 
 a concealment, he thought right 
 to dislodge them, and in this attempt 
 he succeeded; but not without loss, 
 being himself wounded and his aid- 
 de-camp shot dead together with 
 three of his men. The savages ulti- 
 mately made their escape to a creek 
 covered over with reeds wherein 
 they screened themselves from the 
 view of their pursuers. 
 
 The enemy having made this at- 
 tack on the right by way of feint, ex- 
 pecting their design to have carried, 
 now rushed out from their covert, 
 and with their main body, assailed 
 the left line. General Jackson, ap- 
 prehensive of their having this aim, 
 had given order tliat the left line 
 
71 
 
 should continue firm in its position, 
 and when the first fi:un was heard in 
 that direction, he repaired to the Hne 
 in person and strengthened it with 
 additional force. The first onset 
 of the Indians, which was violent and 
 impetuous, encountered an opposi- 
 tion firm, unyielding and manly. 
 Hereupon the Indians resorted to 
 brisk and irregular firing from behind 
 logs, trees, shrubbery, and other pro- 
 tection; and after discharging their 
 pieces, they would couch dow n or lie 
 prostrate; and in such postures re- 
 loading, would rise again, and again 
 in the same manner repeat their fire. 
 After they had been for some time 
 sufl'ered thus to play upon the troops, 
 a charge was ordered to be made 
 upon them, which, formed by the 
 whole line, threw them into utter 
 confusion, and they hurried precipi- 
 tately off. Vast numbers were over-^ 
 
 7* 
 
72 
 
 taken and cut down in the pursuit; 
 but their loss has not been exactly 
 ascertained. 
 
 Although the Indians were defeat- 
 ed in the fight of Emuckfaw, their 
 plans were formed with much saga- 
 city. They contemplated a simulta- 
 neous attack on three different quar- 
 ters. But one of the tribes, the Che- 
 alegi'ans, instead of performing the 
 part assigned it, passed by stealth 
 the point proposed, rejoicing in hav- 
 ing had the good fortune to escape 
 into the villages without molestation. 
 The result might otherwise have 
 been seriously different. 
 
 The general was induced to re- 
 turn again to Fort Strother; the pro- 
 visions in the camp being very scan- 
 ty, and the region itself quite unpro- 
 ductive. Having by the success of 
 this action relieved Fort Armstrong 
 and considerably diminished the 
 force which might be brought against 
 
73 
 
 General Floyd; he ordered suitable 
 conveyances to be prepared for the 
 wounded, and had arrangements 
 made for commencing the return 
 march by 10 o'clock the next morn- 
 ing. After marching until dark, he 
 encamped the army close to Enoti- 
 chopco, a creek that lay on the route 
 to the ford over which he had previ- 
 ously crossed. There was good rea- 
 son to expect that the Indians medi- 
 tated an ambuscade at this ford. The 
 place was well fitted for such a pur- 
 pose, as it furnished them with the 
 advantage of concealment, two ad- 
 joining hills being overgrown with 
 shrubbery and brown sedge, while 
 the deep ravine which lay between, 
 rendered pursuit almost impractica- 
 ble. The general therefore sent pi- 
 oneers to explore a less inconvenient 
 passage, and one being found about 
 six hundred yards distant, he set out 
 thither, taking care to place the 
 
74 
 
 troops in a posture of defence. A 
 decJivity of open woodland led to 
 it, and there was no interruption to 
 the view, except at its margin which 
 was thinly covered with reeds. The 
 front and a portion of the columns 
 had already past, the wounded had 
 been transported in safety, and the 
 artillery were about to enter tUe 
 creek, when the report of an alarm 
 gun was heard on the rear. It ap- 
 pears that the Indians finding their 
 expectation deceived with respect to 
 the direction of march, had relin- 
 quished the ambuscade which they 
 had lately forced, and made an at- 
 tack on Captain Russell's company 
 which proceeded hindmost. The 
 company, being in number far infe- 
 rior to its assailants, gradually retir- 
 ed to the rear guard; who according 
 to the orders already ijiven them to 
 that effect, facing round, became the 
 advance, and the right and left co- 
 
75 
 
 ^timns at the same time wheeled in 
 such a manner as to enclose the 
 enemy. The general was in the act 
 of crossing the ford when the yells 
 and fire reached his ears. He forth- 
 with directed his aid-de-camp to 
 form a line for the safes^uard of the 
 wounded, and proceeded himself to 
 turn the right colunm; but here he 
 had the mortification to find both the 
 right and left columns disgracefully 
 put to flight, and choking up that 
 part of the stream by which the main 
 body of his army had to be re -cross- 
 ed. Presently the centre column 
 taking example from the other two, 
 plunged into the creek; and not 
 more than twenty of them remained 
 to sustain the charge of the enemy. 
 The company of artillery, command- 
 ed by Lieutenant Armstrong, prompt- 
 ly dragged up their piece of ordnance 
 to a summit whence they could use 
 it more effectually. Here a despe- 
 
76 
 
 rate struggle took place; the Indians 
 making a furious essay to gain pos- 
 session of the gun, whilst the compa- 
 ny forming with their muskets, made 
 a resolute stand in its defence. The 
 rammer and pricker happened to get 
 so fast to the carriage, that they 
 could not be disengaged, whereupon 
 two of the men contrived to thrust 
 home the cartridges with a musket, 
 and by a dexterous application of a 
 ramrod made them ready for the 
 match. Lieutenant Armstrong fell 
 by the side of his piece, exclaiming 
 as he lay; "Some of you must per- 
 ish ; but do not lose the gun." For 
 several minutes this gallant band 
 which consisted of youths of the 
 most respectable famihes in Tennesr 
 see, maintained with veteran steadi- 
 ness the violent assaults of a quin- 
 tuple number. Jackson having used 
 his utmost exertions to relieve them, 
 succeeded at length in sending across 
 
77 
 
 the creek small detachments to their 
 assistance. Finallj Captain Gordon 
 at the head of his company of spies 
 made a fierce attack upon the ene- 
 my's left flank; and now seeing a 
 powerful force advancing against 
 them, the Indians throwing aside 
 their blankets and whatever else 
 might retard them by incumbrance, 
 hastily betook themselves to flight; 
 and being pursued to a distance of 
 two miles were many of them cut 
 down, and the rest totally dispersed. 
 The general experienced much 
 difficulty in bringing his troops to 
 order alter the confusion into which 
 the first charge of the Indians had 
 thrown them. Besides the active 
 endeavours of his staff*, General Cof- 
 fee likewise contributed most effec- 
 tually to stop the panic. This gal- 
 lant general, owing to the wound be 
 had received in the affair near 
 Emuckfaw, had to submit to the ne- 
 
78 
 
 cessity of being carried in a litter 
 throughout the preceding day; but 
 anticipating an attack this morning, 
 he ventured to take horse, and dif- 
 fused an animated confidence by the 
 pattern he set of cooluess and intre- 
 didity. The hospital surgeon. Doc- 
 tor {Shelby, ranged himself amongst 
 the combatants, and was conspicu- ^ 
 ous for his activity and zeal. Adju- 
 tant General Sitler, upon witnessing 
 the stand made by the artillery com- 
 pany, to which he had been himself 
 formerly attached, hastened over the 
 creek, and participated with them in 
 their sanguinary conflict. Captain 
 Gordon in an especial manner by his 
 spirited sally against the left flank of 
 the enemy, proved instrumental in 
 turning the fortunes of the day. But 
 as to the general himself, all eye* 
 were bent upon him and all ears at* 
 tentive. He was the very life of the 
 fray, and by the coUectedness of hi» 
 
79 
 
 behaviour constituted the rallying 
 point for all. 
 
 Having finished this prosperous 
 expedition, and conducted the men 
 in safety back to Fort Strother, the 
 general deemed it proper to dis- 
 charge them, being aware of their 
 anxiety to revisit their homes, and 
 solicitous that discontent should not 
 sully the character they had recently 
 acquired for themselves by their 
 meritorious behaviour. Advices from 
 1 ennessee announced that new 
 levies were advancing rajiiJIy, and 
 timt the enlistment would be of suf- 
 ficient duration to bring to a close 
 the Indian warfare. In order that 
 the fresh troops might be introduced 
 speedily to active service upon their 
 arrival, he caused the volunteers to 
 construct the botits requisite for con- 
 veying the provisions and camp equip- 
 age down the Coosa, and a« soon 
 8 
 
80 
 
 as an adequate number was com- 
 pleted, he directed them to be 
 marched homewards, and there ho- 
 nourably discharged. He would fain 
 have retained the artillery company, 
 whose valour he had experienced, 
 and who had given such signal 
 proofs of their fidelity and courage, 
 but considering the great sacrifice 
 which this company had made in 
 quitting their domestic comforts for 
 the benefit of their country, the 
 many hardships they had undergone 
 with patience, the zeal for the com- 
 mon cause which they had so con- 
 spicuously manifested, he felt him- 
 self called upon to consult their pri- 
 vate inclinations, and restore them 
 to the bosom of their families. Pre- 
 vious to parting, he addressed them 
 in the most aff*ecting terms ; he re- 
 counted the instances they had given 
 of their fortitude, and spoke in the 
 handsomest manner of their steady 
 
81 
 
 adherence from the beginning of the 
 campaign, and reflected with grate- 
 ful emotions on the resignation with 
 which they had borne those sutferings 
 and privations which among others 
 had produced mutiny and open re- 
 volt. 
 
 From the unequivocal and posi- 
 tive assurances which had been 
 given, the general had reason to pre- 
 sume that no impediment would oc- 
 cur to obstruct the prosecution of 
 the war, and under this impression 
 he ordered the new raised troops to 
 advance and form a junction at Fort 
 Strother, which he made his head 
 quarters. Accordingly Brigadier Ge- 
 neral Johnston with the second di- 
 vision having united his force with 
 that under General Doherty from 
 East Tennessee, the army became 
 about five thousand strong. 
 
 Constituted of men unused to mi- 
 litary service, this body could only be 
 
82 
 
 kept in proper discipline, by the 
 strictest attention and vigilance on 
 the part of the officers who hehl au- 
 thority over it. A private, named 
 John Woods, who liad been convict- 
 ed of mutiny and sentenced to death 
 by a court-martial, was delivered to 
 the execution of the law, and atoned 
 for his rebellious conduct by under- 
 going a capital punishment. That 
 refractory disposition which had so 
 long infested the camp, and even for 
 a time interrupted the activity of the 
 service, had reached a crisis which 
 loudly called for an example of se- 
 verity to restrain it. The present 
 occasion offered an opportunity to 
 give a palpable demonstration that 
 although under their own roofs and 
 in their private dwellings, the militia 
 may scorn the dictation of any man, 
 yet when led forth to repel the ag- 
 gression of their country's enemies, 
 they must conform to established 
 
83 
 
 regulations, and deferring to autho- 
 rity, submit their conduct to the di- 
 rection of such as possess a legiti- 
 mate dominion over them ; — that 
 they must relinquish a portion of 
 their independence for a season in 
 order to enjoy it afterwards in un- 
 disturbed security. It was repug- 
 nant to the general's feelings to al- 
 low the sentence .of the court to be 
 carried into the fatal consummation, 
 but a sense of public duty admonish- 
 ed him of its necessity, and he had 
 learned by experience that an unin- 
 terrupted course of lenient measures 
 was ill adapted to ensure tranquility 
 and order. The sentence was there- 
 fore executed ; and the false opinion 
 that a member of the militia was by 
 no misconduct liable to suffer death, 
 being thereby dispelled, the soldiers 
 were taught that they acted under 
 an awful responsibility ; and a stricter 
 
 8* 
 
84 
 
 observance of good discipline and 
 order, nnknown before, succeeded to 
 capricious insubordination. 
 
 No obstacle was now presented to 
 hinder an active prosecution of the 
 campaign, and the general was pro- 
 ceeding to advance with the troops 
 immediately, when he found his ex- 
 pectation of the necessary supplies 
 once more disappointed. He had 
 already remonstrated in vain ; it was 
 to no purpose he had employed both 
 menace and solicitation. The con- 
 tractors were guided by no princi- 
 ples of honour or of justice — a nier-^ 
 cenary set of men, whose private in- 
 terest was their leading star, who 
 were utterly destitute of public spi- 
 rit, whose sordid bosoms cherished 
 no sentiments of patriotism, and who 
 solely intent on the accumulation of 
 riches, had no regard for the pros- 
 perity of the commonwealth. The 
 general foreseeing the great mischief 
 
85 
 
 which might spring from this source, 
 the discontent and defection of his 
 troops, and having no longer confi- 
 dence in characters who had ah eady 
 so frequently abused it, determined 
 now to adopt more effectual mea- 
 sures, and obtain the supplies by his 
 own exertion. In pursuance of this 
 determination, he sent into the near- 
 est settlements trusty persons with di- 
 rections to collect provisions at what- 
 ever rate they might be able to pur- 
 chase them. This was an appeal more 
 powerful than any which he had as 
 yet made to the victualling commis- 
 sioners. Finding that they would 
 thus become responsible for all the 
 purchases which would so take place, 
 they exerted themselves with unac- 
 customed energy, and their interest 
 excited a zeal to which their con- 
 sciences had been unfamiliar. All 
 methods had be^^.n tried to urge 
 them to the discharge of their duty, 
 
86 
 
 but the plan of stimulating their ac- 
 tivity which the general resorted to 
 on the present occasion, proved the 
 only one suited to the purpose. In 
 a correspondence of his at this pe- 
 riod, he observes; — "I have no doubt 
 but a conjl>inalion has been formed 
 to defeat the objects of the cam- 
 paign; but the contractor ought to 
 have recollected, that he had disap- 
 pointed and starved my army once; 
 and now in return, it shall be amply 
 provided for at his expense. At this 
 point he was to have delivered the 
 rations — and whatever they may cost, 
 at this place, he will be required to 
 pay: any price that will ensure their 
 delivery, I have directed to be given." 
 He had before offered strong objec- 
 tions to supplying the army by means 
 of contractors, as he had by experi- 
 ence tested the inefficiency of that 
 measure. The unnecessary j)rolong- 
 ation ot the campaign, and the dis- 
 
87 
 
 contents and even revolt of bis troops 
 in the midst of success liad resulted 
 from their neglect and continual 
 disappointments. If an army was 
 obliged to halt in order to await the 
 arrival of supplies, or as indeed was 
 actually the case had to surrender 
 the most momentous advantages, 
 and march back to the post from 
 which it had set out, the nation might 
 forfeit millions of dollars, and many 
 lives might be lost, whilst all the re- 
 dress that could be obtained was by 
 commencing a law-suit against the 
 contractor, and after a lapse of twelve 
 or eighteen months, a jury would 
 merely decide how far the covenant 
 had been infringed into which he 
 had entered. 
 
 These perplexities combined with 
 others of a serious character, filled 
 the general's mind with the most 
 anxious inquietude. His just^ ex- 
 
88 
 
 pectations were frustrated, anri his 
 fondest hopes were overcast. 
 
 The East Tennessee brigade, as- 
 signed to the command of General 
 Doherty, having been ordered to stay 
 behind until a suitable quantity of 
 provisions were brought to head- 
 quarters, had shown strong indica- 
 tions of an unwilling disposition to 
 go through the campaign, and were 
 with much trouble kept from return- 
 ing home. Their own aversion to 
 the service is said to have been 
 strengthened by a certain individual 
 whose duty it was to encourage them 
 to theirs— \io\dmg forth to them the 
 illegality of the process under which 
 they had been drafted, and arguing 
 consequently that they were annex- 
 ed to the service by no binding tie. 
 Such reasoning addressed to minds 
 that desired to l)e convinced could 
 not fail to produce a baneful impres- 
 sion. On the very morning in which 
 
89 
 
 General Doherty was to have march- 
 ed to head quarters, bearuig an ir- 
 regular beating of the druui, and in- 
 quiring into the cause, he was in- 
 formed that the object was to assem- 
 ble together such as were incHned 
 to return home ; and notwithstand- 
 ing he exerted his utmost endea- 
 vours to allay the ferment, one hun- 
 dred and eighty abandoned his com- 
 mand, and forsook his banner. It 
 was with astonishment he learned 
 that intimation had been conveyed 
 to the troops from General Cocke, 
 that should they return, he would 
 himself upon their reaching Knox- 
 ville, undertake to hold them harm- 
 less for their conduct. General 
 Cocke had before visited General 
 Doherty's station, and by scatter- 
 ing flagitious and vague discourses 
 through the camp, stirred up vio- 
 lent dissatisfaction. He protested 
 that he could not conscientiously 
 
lend them forward on the expedition, 
 since they were destined to be un- 
 der the command of General Jack- 
 son, who was sure to subject them 
 to every species of hardship and mi- 
 sery, and wantonly expose them to 
 the most imminent perils. The sub- 
 ject of rations was not left untouch- 
 ed ; he asserted that five days' ab- 
 sumption could exhaust the total 
 stock, ad that there was no pros- 
 pect of its being replenished. As a 
 seal to this dismal catalogue of vex- 
 ations, he pointed to the General's 
 headstrong and tyrannical temper, 
 and broadly hinted that, once being 
 placed under his authority, the regu- 
 lar force which was at his hand, 
 would enable him to co-erce their 
 continuance as long as he chose to 
 keep them. Unpractised militia of 
 virgin timidity, were of course affect- 
 ed by suggestions of this sort, pro- 
 ceeding from the lips of a superior 
 
91 
 
 officer, who having himself exercised 
 a command, sanctioned his informa- 
 tion by the weight of his experience ; 
 the veracity of whose statements 
 therefore was the less to be question- 
 ed since an opportunity had been af- 
 forded him of ascertaining the facts. 
 Brigadier Doherty finding himself 
 thus awkwardly circumstanced with 
 respect to his own Major-General, 
 and not knowing what course to pur- 
 sue, sent advice to General Jackson 
 of the movement going forward 
 among his troops. The same per- 
 son who carried this intelligence 
 was sent back with a peremptory 
 command to Brigadier Doherty, by 
 which he was ordered to arrest any 
 officer of what rank soever, who 
 mio:ht be discovered sowin^' dissen- 
 sion through his brigade, and to 
 have him escorted to head-quarters. 
 General Cocke, surmising, or having 
 
92 
 
 perhaps been informed of, the mes- 
 sage which his Brigadier had des- 
 patched to Fort Strother, prudently 
 withdrew from the camp before the 
 answer reached it, and so for the 
 present escaped the penalty of his 
 criminal practices. 
 
 The General, having at last, by his 
 indefatigable efforts and unwearied 
 perseverance procured such a sup- 
 ply of provisions as he was of opin- 
 ion would answer the demands of 
 his army, resolved to put his troops 
 in motion, and lead them forward 
 against the enemy ; not only for the 
 sake of accelerating the great object 
 of the campaign, but that he might 
 besides preserve the order, and fos- 
 ter the .spirit of the men — inactivity 
 being ruinous to both. The Briga- 
 diers having been directed to dismiss 
 from the ranks all such as were phy- 
 sically inefficient, or accoutred de- 
 fectively, (that there might be no 
 
93 
 
 useless members,) he commenced 
 advancing. Seven days after the 
 march was begun, he arrived, after 
 crossing the Coosa, at the mouth of 
 Cedar Creek, where he estabhshed 
 the post, called Fort Williams, agree- 
 ably to a prior selection. Here he 
 halted, and remained for three days 
 to await the arrival of the provision 
 barges which were descending the 
 river. 
 
 From Fort Williams, where he 
 left a sufficient protection under Gen- 
 eral Johnston, he proceeded for the 
 Tallapoosa, taking the route of 
 Emuckfaw. As the position which 
 it was ascertained the Indians had 
 now chosen for their point of de- 
 fence was by the natural advantages 
 of the place, and the skill and assi- 
 duity bestowed on its improvement, 
 one of uncommon strength, no doubt 
 existed of their determination to 
 
94 
 
 make here a desperate stand. It 
 was formed by one of the curvatures 
 of the Tallapoosa, and being of a 
 peninsular shape was called in the 
 Indian tongue Tohopeka, the term 
 they use to denote a Horse Shoe, 
 whence the name given to the cele- 
 brated fight about to be detailed. 
 The General's design was to attack 
 this position, and then returning to 
 Fort Williams to lay in a sufficient 
 stock of provisions for undertaking 
 an expedition to the Hickory Ground, 
 where he indulged the expectation 
 that it would be in his power to 
 bring the Creek war to a happy close. 
 The available force which he now 
 had, fell somewhat short of three 
 thousand men — for he was obliged 
 to leave detachments behind him at 
 the several posts, it being indispens- 
 able to safety that communication 
 in the rear should be kept open and 
 unobstructed. About 10 o'clock in 
 
95 
 
 the morning after a march of three 
 days, he arrived near the village of 
 Tohopeka. The Indians apprized 
 of his approach, had assembled for 
 battle. Here the v^^arriors of the ad- 
 jacent towns, Oakfusky, Hillabee, 
 Eufalce, and New Youcka, had come 
 together, determined and ready to 
 oppose his progress. A fitter spot 
 for their purpose could not easily be 
 found. The narrow isthmus, by 
 which alone it could be approached, 
 was fortified by heavy timber and 
 trunks of trees, laid horizontally one 
 over the other ; and while they could 
 abide behind this breastwork in se- 
 curity, a double row of portholes 
 formed along it, enabled them to 
 take an unerring aim at their assail- 
 ants. 
 
 Early in the day, the mounted in- 
 fantry and friendly Indians were or- 
 dered out to gain the Southern side 
 
96 ' 
 
 of the river, and General CoffeCj 
 who had them in charge, was direct- 
 ed to make such offensive move- 
 ments as might engage the enemy's 
 attention, and draw it from the point 
 where the attempt upon them was to 
 be principally made. Instructions 
 were at the same time particularly 
 given to guard against the savages 
 obtaining an opportunity of escape, 
 by crossmg over in their canoes, 
 which were drawn up along the wa- 
 ter side. The General arranged tlie 
 rest of the army over-against the 
 breastwork. He planted the cannon 
 on a rising ground, about two hun- 
 dred yards distant from it, in order 
 to its demolition. And while the 
 ordnance played upon it from above, 
 the muskets and rifles were discharg- 
 ed as the Indians happened to ap- 
 pear behind it. The cannonade, 
 though very hotly maintained for 
 some minutes, had produced no ef- 
 
97 
 
 feet of eonseqiienee, when signal be- 
 ing made by General Coffee that his 
 force had safely gained the opposite 
 bank of the river, and was in readi- 
 ness for action, the order was made 
 to " charge." Never, it has been 
 said, were troops more eager to be 
 led on than were both regulars and 
 militia. They had been waiting 
 with impatience for the order, and 
 hailed it with acclamations. The 
 spirit that animated them alike, was 
 a sure augury of the success that 
 was to follow. No distinction could 
 be drawn between them; — either bo- 
 dy exhibiting an undaunted resolu- 
 tion and livelinessof courage worthy 
 the ranks of veteran conquerors. 
 The thirty-ninth regiment headed 
 by their commander, Colonel Wil- 
 liams, and the valiant Major Mont- 
 gomery, and Colonel Bunch's regi- 
 ment of militia, pushed on amidst a 
 destructive fire, and presently reach- 
 
98 
 
 ed the breastwork. The mastery of 
 the portholes now became the great 
 object of dispute, and was contested 
 on either side, with obstinate and 
 deadly eagerness ; insomuch that 
 many of the enemy's bullets became 
 welded between the bayonets and 
 musket barrels of the soldiers. Ma- 
 jor Montgomery boldly springing on 
 the top of the breastwork, shouted 
 to the men below to ascend and fol- 
 low him ; but scarcely were the 
 words uttered when he dropped, shot 
 through the head. The troops how- 
 ever, intrepidly scaling, the Indians 
 perceived their post no longer tena- 
 ble, and flying hastily from their 
 works, sought shelter among the 
 brushwood and timber with which 
 the ground was thickly scattered, and 
 from their concealment, kept up a 
 continual fire, until by a second 
 charge they were again forced to 
 withdraw. Now reduced to despair. 
 
99 
 
 rejecting all thoughts of throwing 
 themselves upon the clemency of the 
 victors, and yet seeing no place of 
 refuge near them whither to fly, they 
 resolved to make a bold effort to es- 
 cape, and pass in tlieir canoes to the 
 farther side of the water ; but here 
 too they met with a bitter disappoint- 
 ment, for they saw the opposite bank 
 lined with armed men prepared for 
 their destruction. The surviving 
 warriors in this emergency leaped 
 down the cliff's and declivities, and 
 secreted themselves among the trees 
 that lay on the edge of the river. 
 Some few of them had withdrawn 
 to the western angle of their works, 
 and under favour of the heaps of 
 brush, assailed the troops who had 
 entered their line and those who 
 were advancing towards it — making 
 their disappearance as soon as they 
 had let off" their pieces. 
 
100 
 
 The General, convinced that a con- 
 tinuance of the fight must under 
 such circumstances be attended with 
 useless havoc and the total annihila- 
 tion of the savages, hiunanely direct- 
 ed the interpreter to advance under 
 cover of some trees which stretched 
 in front, and in his name, assure them 
 that if they surrendered, they should 
 receive the treatment of prisoners 
 of war. But when the interpreter 
 went forward a sufficient space for 
 audible delivery and acquainted them 
 with the subject of his commission, 
 they remained for a while silent, af- 
 ter listening attentively to his ad- 
 dress throughout, and just as he was 
 awaiting their answer, and expected 
 their approbation of the overture, 
 instead of authorizing him to report 
 their acquiescence, they opened a fire 
 upon the flag, and wounded the in- 
 terpreter himself severely in the chest. 
 This behaviour admits of a double 
 
101 
 
 interpretation : either the savages 
 did not expect to obtain mercy, and 
 so were determined to spare no lives 
 by whatever casualty subjected to 
 their power, or the atrocious act sim- 
 ply resulted from the inherent trea- 
 chery of their heart, — in both cases it 
 was right to dislodge them, and the 
 General issued his order to that ef- 
 fect. The artillery was first brought 
 to bear upon them, the cumbrous 
 weight however of the ordnance 
 moved too sluggishly over places 
 thick set with obstructions to make 
 an impression of consequence ; and 
 therefore, a charge was directed to be 
 made, in which many brave men per- 
 ished, but the enemy had to abandon 
 the retreats, and thus the left angle 
 of the works was finally cleared. 
 Torches were now lighted and 
 thrown down the precipices, and the 
 brushwood and trees catciiing fire, 
 forced tiie unhappy refugees to come 
 
102 
 
 forth. Nevertheless they obstinate- 
 ly persisted in their opposition. 
 Thus the destruction continued until 
 nio^ht, when under cover of the dark- 
 ness, a number contrived to make 
 their hair^breadth escape. While 
 the main army v^^as thus employed at 
 the Horse Shoe, General Coffee's 
 detachment did not remain inactive 
 on the opposite bank of the river, 
 and there is no doubt but that the 
 breastwork would not have been so 
 easily carried had it not been for the 
 skilful operations of that detach- 
 ment. Let it be considered, that 
 the village stood on the river's edge, 
 and while the warriors were occupied 
 at the other extremity of the pen- 
 insula in defending the entrance in- 
 to it, a party of the friendly Indians 
 and mounted infantry swimming 
 across, brought off without observa- 
 tion several of the canoes, and in 
 these a considerable number being 
 
108 
 
 waited over, got admission into the 
 town and set it on fire. Whereup- 
 on many of the savages hastening 
 towards the scene of conflagration, 
 enfeebled the strength with which 
 the assailants of the breastwork had 
 to contend. 
 
 It had been always the custom of 
 the Indians when they expected to 
 have an engagement, cautiously to 
 remove their women and children at 
 a distance from danger ; but contra- 
 ry to this usage, their women and 
 children were left in the hamlet of 
 Tohopeka — an indubitable argument 
 that they regarded this to be an im- 
 pregnable position, and harboured 
 the firmest expectation of being able 
 to repel any force that might be 
 brought against it. Their defeat 
 therefore at the Horse Shoe, broke 
 down the energies of their spirit, 
 
 and crushed every hope of their bo« 
 
 10 
 
104 
 
 som, nor ever afterwards did thej 
 attempt a serious resistance. Al- 
 ready had they tried the fortune of 
 sudden attack, and what they could 
 avail by unexpected salUes from con- 
 cealment in the forest, and had ex- 
 hausted all the wily methods of am- 
 buscade. A train of miscarriages 
 had recently attended their efforts. 
 But here at the Horse Shoe, they 
 rested their confidence. It was a 
 post which nature had fashioned to 
 their hand, and all their ingenuity 
 was brought into requisition to con- 
 firm its advantages by art. 
 
 In this battle a greater number of 
 warriors fell than the Creeks had 
 lost in all their previous engage- 
 ments. Besides the corpses which 
 were thrown into the river, and 
 those savages who were taken down 
 in attempting to cross it, and of whom 
 therefore no exact computation can 
 be made, five hundred and fifty-se- 
 
105 
 
 ven were foiind dead in the theatre 
 of action, and among them three of 
 their prophets. These prophets 
 having their heads and shoulders 
 wreathed with the party-coloured 
 feathers of different birds, performed 
 their devotions to the Sun in the hot- 
 test of the fray, and greatly animated 
 their followers, chanting their un- 
 couth odes, twisting their bodies in- 
 to every attitude, and distorting their 
 features with horrible grimace. So 
 powerful was the influence vt^hich 
 they exercised over the credulity of 
 the warriors and perhaps over their 
 own, that even at the instant of scal- 
 ing their breastwork, no apprehen- 
 sion of danger was betrayed, but it 
 seemed rather as if the onset of the 
 troops only gave their Great Spirit 
 an opportunity of making them a 
 more intimate visitation. This their 
 confidence however, abated not a lit- 
 tle on the fall of Monohoe. Mono- 
 
106 
 
 hoe had in a peculiar manner ac* 
 quired tlieir reverence, and was 
 eminently distinguished amongst 
 them for his powers of divination ; 
 but in this fatal engagement while 
 actually uttering his prophecies and 
 impelling his hearers to the fight, a 
 cannon ball smote him in the mouth, 
 and brought his predictions to a close. 
 The Indian tribes had entertained 
 the belief, as their teachers had in- 
 structed them, that their hunting 
 grounds would be again restored to 
 their possession by means of a new 
 people who were to come for that 
 purpose from beyond the great wa- 
 ters. But the death of Monohoe 
 staggered the faith of many, and not 
 a few of them considered the strange 
 manner of his end as a judgment 
 upon him from above, inflicted ex- 
 pressly on account of bis oracular 
 impieties. 
 
107 
 
 To persons unacquainted with the 
 usages of Indian warfare, it may ap- 
 pear astonishing that so few men of 
 arms yielded themselves prisoners, 
 and that they preferred certain death 
 to the chance of experiencing the 
 victors' clemency. The fact is, that 
 conscious of their own want of gen- 
 erosity towards the vanquished, they 
 hardly ever think of finding that 
 quality in others, and when they per- 
 ceive themselves worsted, and their 
 success without hope, they aim only 
 to sell their lives as dearly as they 
 may, unless by a lucky flight, they 
 can eschew opportunely the fury of 
 their enemies. Their obstinate per- 
 severance and unwillingness to hear- 
 ken to any terms, may likewise be in 
 some measure accounted for by the 
 knowledge of what had befallen the 
 Hillabees, who being defeated by a 
 
 detachment of General Cocke's di- 
 
 10* 
 
108 
 
 vision, cried out for quarter in vain, 
 and surrendering at discretion, were 
 assailed and put to the sword. 
 Doubtless this occurrence would not 
 have taken place had that detach- 
 ment been aware that a liberal sys- 
 tern had been adopted with respect 
 to such conquered Indians as declar- 
 ed their submission; an ignorance of 
 which policy must be ascribed to the 
 absence of concert among the seve- 
 ral divisions of the army; but the 
 fact could not be undone, and it was 
 looked upon by the Indians as a sam- 
 ple of what might be expected from 
 the good faith of all commanders on 
 other occasions, so that the red men 
 placed their dependence thencefor- 
 wards upon their own dexterity and 
 prowess alone. And thus we have 
 seen them resisting with unavaihng 
 mischief after all reasonable hope 
 had vanished, whether of success or 
 escape, and even after the command- 
 
109 
 
 ing General had made a solemn pro- 
 posal to spare their lives. 
 
 The aggregate of the prisoners, 
 then amounting in all to three hun- 
 dred, consisted of women and chil- 
 dren. Amongst the latter was an 
 infant discovered at its mother's 
 breast. The circumstances of the 
 fight indeed were such as to baffle 
 the most attentive caution to avoid a 
 random havoc, and the mother of 
 this infant was one of those unfor- 
 tunate creatures who fell the victims 
 of accidental destruction. When 
 the General heard the story of the 
 babe, he desired to have it brought 
 before hioi, and endeavoured to pre- 
 vail with some-one of the Indian wo- 
 men to take charge of its nurture. 
 They however expressed a frank 
 opinion that since the parents had 
 fallen in battle, it were as well that 
 it should be put to death, as raised 
 without any protection. This ex- 
 
110 
 
 position of their sentiments brought 
 to the General's mind the forlorn 
 condition of his own childhood, in 
 which he was bereft of all his rela- 
 tives, and thrown upon the world 
 without a guide to direct his steps, 
 without a friend to soothe his sor- 
 rows or afford him counsel and as- 
 sistance. His sympathies were 
 touched by the case of the helpless 
 orphan, and he determined to be- 
 come himself its guardian. He gave 
 to the child the name Lincoier and 
 adopted him into his own family, and 
 has ever since treated his interesting 
 protege with parental tenderness and 
 care. 
 
 The intention of his descent be- 
 ing now accomplished, the General 
 made preparations to return to Fort 
 Williams, according to the plan of 
 operations which he had projected 
 before his departure from it. 
 
Ill 
 
 His first solicitude was to secure 
 the bodies of the dead from suffer- 
 inff violation at the hands of the sa- 
 vages. He discovered that fifty-five, 
 includino^ friendly Indians, had sur- 
 rendered their lives in compassing 
 this glorious and important victory. 
 Now as several of the Horse Slioe 
 or Tohopeka Indians, were found 
 habited in the very dress of the sol- 
 diers who had been killed and bu- 
 ried at Emuckfaw, it was clear that 
 the bodies of these men had been 
 raised stripped and scalped. Decen- 
 cy forbade that a practice so revolt- 
 ing to humanity should be suffered 
 to continue. But there was a seri- 
 ous public reason besides, wherefore 
 it should be prevented. It was well 
 ascertained that the Creek nation 
 was kept in darkness with respect to 
 the losses which they had sustained. 
 A display of scalps taken from their 
 adversaries was to them a sufficient 
 
112 
 
 evidence that victory crowned the 
 efforts of their warriors, while a 
 feigned expedition to some distant 
 quarter easily accounted for the ab- 
 sence of such as did not return. 
 Pohcy therefore combined with hu- 
 mane considerations for removing 
 the dead beyond the reach of the sa- 
 vages. The bodies were with that 
 intent sunk in the river. 
 
 Next to discharging these obse- 
 quies, he turned his attention to the 
 care of the wounded. And after 
 providing for their conveyance, he 
 commenced his return to the fort, 
 which was reached in safety and 
 without molestation. 
 
 That the ardour of the troops 
 might be kept ahve, and that he 
 might acquit himself of the acknow- 
 ledgments which he conceived were 
 due to their energetic and noble ex- 
 ertions in the recent combat of the 
 Horse Shoe, the day following his 
 
113 
 
 arrival, as they were drawn out on 
 parade, he presented them with a 
 handsome eulogy running in these 
 terms. 
 
 " You have entitled yourselves to 
 the gratitude of your country and 
 your General. The expedition from 
 which you have just returned, has, 
 by your good conduct, been render- 
 ed prosperous, beyond any example 
 in the history of our warfare ; it has 
 redeemed the character of your 
 state, and of that description of 
 troops of which the greater part of 
 you are. 
 
 "You have within a few days, 
 opened your way to the Tallapoosa, 
 and destroyed a confederacy of the 
 enemy, ferocious by nature, and who 
 had grown insolent from impunity. 
 Relying on their numbers, the secu- 
 rity of their situation, and the assu- 
 rances of their prophets, they derided 
 our approach, and already exulted in 
 
114 
 
 anticipation of the victory they ex- 
 pected to obtain. But they were 
 ignorant of the influence and effect 
 of government on the human powers, 
 nor knew what brave men, and civi- 
 lized, could effect. By their yells, 
 they hoped to frighten us, and with 
 their wooden fortifications to oppose 
 us. Stupid mortals ! Their yells but 
 designated their situation the more 
 certainly ; whilst their walls became 
 a snare for their own destruction. 
 So will it ever be, when presumption 
 and ignorance contend against bra- 
 very and prudence. 
 
 " The fiends of the Tallapoosa 
 will no longer murder our women 
 and children, or disturb the quiet of 
 our borders. Their midnight flam- 
 beaux will no more illumine their 
 council house, or shine upon the vic- 
 tim of their infernal orgies. In their 
 pU^ce a new generation will arise, 
 who will know their duty better* 
 
115 
 
 The weapons of warfare will be ex- 
 changed for the utensils of husband- 
 ry ; and the wilderness which now 
 withers in sterility, and mourns the 
 desolation which overspreads her, 
 will blossom as the rose, and be- 
 come the nursery of the arts. But 
 before this happy day can arrive, 
 other chastisements remain to be in- 
 flicted. It is indeed lamentable, that 
 the path to peace should lead through 
 blood, and over the bodies of the 
 slain ; but it is a dispensation of 
 Providence, and perhaps a wise one, 
 to inflict partial evils, that ultimate 
 good may be produced. 
 
 " Our enemies are not sufficiently 
 humbled, — they do not sue for peace. 
 A collection of them await our ap- 
 proach, and remain to be dispersed. 
 Buried in ignorance, and seduced by 
 the false pretences of their prophets, 
 
 they have the weakness to believe 
 11 
 
116 
 
 they will still be able to make a de- 
 cided stand against us. They must 
 be undeceived, and made to atone 
 their obstinacy and their crimes, by 
 still further suffering. Those hopes 
 which have so long deluded them, 
 must be driven from their last refuge. 
 They must be made to know, that 
 their prophets are impostors, and 
 that our strength is mighty and will 
 prevail. Then, and not till then, 
 may we expect to make with them a 
 peace that shall be permanent." 
 
 Imbued with patriotic sentiments 
 thus conveyed to them by their illus- 
 trious leader, the troops manifested 
 a zealous inclination to prosecute the 
 war. And the General was encou- 
 raged to hasten his departure to the 
 Hickory Ground, and carry into ef- 
 fect the plan he had contemplated, 
 while the recent defeat of the Indi^ 
 ans was still green in its impression, 
 and before they gained time to reco- 
 
117 
 
 ver from their consternation. Cer- 
 tain intelligence liad been received 
 that a considerable force was collect- 
 ed at Hoithlewalee, a town not far 
 distant from the Hickory land. 
 
 But discharges, which had been 
 liberally granted, united with sick- 
 ness, to thin his force materially, and 
 he was upon this account, anxious to 
 join the Southern army, that with a 
 combination of the two, he might be 
 able to act upon a more extensive 
 scale. It was understood that the 
 North-Carolina troops, under the 
 command of General Graham, (a re- 
 volutionary officer,) and the troops of 
 Georgia under that of Colonel Mil- 
 ton had arrived at no ijreat distance 
 South of the Tallapoosa. General 
 Pinckney had already acquainted him 
 that he should have no inconvenience 
 to meet from a scarcity of supplies 
 whenever he formed a junction with 
 those troops, as they were amply 
 
118 
 
 provided. Being apprehensive in 
 re >ard to the competency of Ins own 
 means to answer the demands of his 
 army, he was for this cause also de- 
 sirous of joining the Southern divi- 
 sion with the least possible delay. 
 
 Putting his troops in readiness 
 with all expedition, he placed Fort 
 Williams under the command of 
 General Johnston, to whom he gave 
 in charge the sick and wounded ; 
 and proceeded with the two-fold view, 
 as well of attempting the establish- 
 ment at Hoithlewalee, as of uniting 
 to his own the Southern force. To 
 accomplish the latter of these objects, 
 it was necessary to communicate with 
 Colonel Milton, and make hmi ac- 
 quainted with his movements. But 
 here there was a difficulty to be 
 overcome which did not previotisli/ 
 exist in the same degree, as now 
 that the troops had farther penetrat- 
 ed the regions occupied by the hos- 
 
119 
 
 tile parties. The friendly Indians 
 feeling assnred that a more nnmer- 
 ous collection had assembled than 
 hitherto, and that the country would 
 be now more extensively scoured 
 than ever for the purpose of observ- 
 ing whatever motions might affect 
 the waging of the war, grew subject 
 to an unusual dread in bearing des- 
 patches ; an office which was alone 
 to be confided to them, since they 
 alone were qualified by acquaintance 
 with the routes and situations of the 
 places, to manage the business with 
 requisite celerity and address. They 
 feared that tiiere would be now too 
 much circumspection used for them 
 to elude the notice of the adverse 
 party; and it was not without good 
 reason that they apprehended very 
 ungentle usage in the event of being 
 detected and seized. On the other 
 
 hand^ the General considered that if 
 11* 
 
120 
 
 the enemy could be induced to make 
 trial of their strength at Hoithlewalee, 
 and fortune declared strikingly 
 against them, they would be dispos- 
 ed to hearken to any terms of accom- 
 modation rather than draw down 
 obvious ruin, when they perceived 
 that no resort was left to them, as 
 would happen by preventing them 
 from crossing the river and thence di- 
 recting their steps towards Pensacola 
 and the Escambia. Whereas if they 
 could effect their escape towards 
 those points, m the result of their 
 dispersion here, they would at all 
 events have time allowed them to 
 respire from their overthrow, to re- 
 animate their flagging courage, and 
 rekindle their ardour ; or perhaps at 
 some juncture propitious to their en- 
 terprize, might obtain advantages to 
 justify their prolongation of the war. 
 The only sure method by which to 
 hinder an occurrence so much to be 
 
121 
 
 deprecated was the adoption of cor- 
 responding movements on the part 
 of the Southern troops ; and with 
 whose commanders therefore, it was 
 necessary for the General to main- 
 tain an intercourse, since they and 
 he could with certainty act by con- 
 cert in no other way. 
 
 Trusty Indians, whose local know- 
 ledge qualified them for the perform- 
 ance of the task, being at length 
 prevailed upon to undertake the mis- 
 sion, expresses were despatched to 
 Colonel Milton advising him of the 
 General's design ; and as a precau* 
 tion against the dangers of surprize, 
 accident or miscarriage, several mes- 
 sengers were sent directed to go by 
 different routes. The Colonel was 
 certified with respect to the particu- 
 lar day of the General's departure, 
 and that the march to Hoithlewalee 
 should be so conducted as to termin- 
 ate without fail the fourth day ensu- 
 
122 
 
 ing, on which day he would be pre- 
 sent with two thousand men supphed 
 with four days' provisions. He 
 impressed the absolute expediency 
 of harmonizing their movements, 
 and that the Georgia troops should 
 either reach the same destination 
 about the same time, or by making 
 some favourable diversion in its vi- 
 cinity, give immediate aid to the ac- 
 compHshment of the object proposed. 
 But the rain which had fallen in pro- 
 digious quantity, having swollen the 
 rivers to exundation, and overflooded 
 the country round, unexpected ob- 
 stacles lay before them and prolong- 
 ed the march two days beyond the 
 computation. This accidental de- 
 lay afforded the Indians time for 
 withdrawing into other parts, and 
 they availed themselves it seems, of 
 the interval tlius presented. For 
 the small rivulet running in front of 
 the town, then however, enlarged to 
 
123 
 
 considerable magnitude, had become 
 so difficult to ford, that the savages 
 had an opportunity to cross in their 
 canoes to the opposite bank in a dif- 
 ferent direction, and effect their 
 clearance by the Southern quarter, 
 while the Tennessee troops advan- 
 ced from the North ; which unfortu- 
 nate event could not have occurred 
 had a due co-operation been made 
 by the troops of Georgia ; but the 
 Indians must have been compelled 
 either to surrender their persons or 
 resign the power of doing any fur- 
 ther mischief, under a less uncertain 
 warranty. 
 
 No little mortification was felt by 
 the General at tlie fatal neglect of 
 Colonel Milton. He had given the 
 Colonel positive intimation that on a 
 day certain, the enemy's position 
 would be assailed, and even when 
 the state of the weather combining 
 with the obstructions 9f the way. 
 
124 
 
 procrastinated the march, he bad 
 communicated the disappointment, 
 and in either case, earnestly urged 
 that the South bank of the Talla- 
 poosa should be made secure; yet 
 was the admonition slighted, and the 
 unheeded Indians allowed to com- 
 pass their departure. All that re- 
 mained to be done under these cir- 
 cumstances, — the army from Tennes- 
 see was filed off towards the right, 
 and the rear of the fugitives being 
 overtaken, twenty-five of them were 
 made prisoners. On the same day, 
 Colonel Milton, having advanced five 
 miles from his encampment at Fort 
 Decatur, and within four miles of 
 Hoithlewalee, signified his intention 
 to attack the town on that day. It 
 so happened however, that a detach- 
 ment of the (ienerars army, vihich 
 had succeeded in passing the creek, 
 was already in possession of the 
 town, and had in part demolished it. 
 
125 
 
 Notwithstanding that a junction 
 with the Georgia troops conld be of 
 little use, in the light of auxiliars, 
 now that the Indians had contrived 
 to escape, there was still a consider- 
 ation which made their proximity 
 highly gratifying. The supply of 
 provisions with which the troops had 
 proceeded from Fort Williams was 
 now almost consumed. But as con- 
 stant assurances had been made, 
 that upon uniting with the troops of 
 the South, an ample abundance would 
 be had, their uneasiness on this score 
 was dispelled, and the approach of 
 the Southern army was hailed with 
 the most cheering anticipations. 
 The General took the earliest occa- 
 sion to make known the limited 
 means of his camp, and earnestly be- 
 sought the Colonel to succour their 
 necessities. Colonel Milton replied 
 to his request by stating that he had 
 forwarded some relief for the friend^ 
 
126 
 
 ly Indians, and that on the morrow 
 he would lend a supply of provisions 
 for the other troops, but that he did 
 not conceive himself bound to fur- 
 nish any. The General being tho- 
 roughly convinced that the Colonel 
 had the means of accommodating 
 him if he were inclined, did not re- 
 quest any more, but dropping the 
 language of entreaty, demanded as- 
 sistance. After representing the 
 need experienced in his camp, he di- 
 rected five thousand rations to be 
 sent forthwith to meet the exigen- 
 cies of the present, and ordered liim 
 and the forces he commanded to 
 join him the next day by 10 o'clock ; 
 — adding in plain words, *' This or- 
 der must be obeyed without hesita- 
 tion." The order was punctually 
 obeyed, and the two armies were at 
 length united. The provisions that 
 had been deposited in Fort Decatur 
 were brought down, and the Gen- 
 
127 
 
 eral procured for his troops a plenti- 
 ful subsistence to which the defalca- 
 tion of contractors had made and 
 continued them strangers from the 
 beginning of the campaign until now. 
 If then it be asked what did Gene- 
 ral Jackson effect by his categorical 
 manner of transacting affairs with 
 Colonel Milton ? The answer is rea- 
 dy, the instant compliance produ- 
 ced by the peremptory mandate led 
 to a copious stock of good victuals, 
 the system of his men was support- 
 ed and their vigour sustained in time, 
 against the fatigues of a most dis- 
 tressing warfare. 
 
 While GeneralJackson w as march- 
 ing towards Hoithlewalee, he had 
 been met by a flag purporting to 
 come from Fous-hatchee, the aged 
 prince of the Hickory Ground tribes, 
 praying that hostilities might cease, 
 
 and expressing the most positive as- 
 12 
 
128 
 
 surances that his own sentimenti* 
 were entirely pacific. Information 
 was returned upon that occasion to 
 the king, that the only pledge of an 
 amicable disposition which could be 
 regarded as such, was the departure 
 of all the clans connected with the 
 war measures, to some point North 
 of the United States' estabhshment 
 at Fort Williams. And now, after 
 the junction of the Tennessee and 
 Georgia troops, no fewer than four- 
 teen distinguished warriors of the 
 nation were present at the camp, to 
 renew the professions of Fous- 
 hatchee, the king, to report him as 
 being then actually on his journey to 
 repair with his people to the station 
 prescribed ; and commissioned to 
 solicit for that monarch the honour 
 of waiting upon the General and 
 paying him his devoirs. 
 
 That tract of the country occupied 
 by the Creeks which forms the sali- 
 
129 
 
 ent angle at the confluence of the 
 Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers was 
 known amongst them by the appel- 
 lation of The Holy Ground ; because 
 they believed it a spot peculiarly con- 
 secrated to the Indian race, and that 
 its sanctity had been at no time vio- 
 lated by the tread of a white person. 
 It was, therefore, to be expected that 
 religious enthusiasm would actuate 
 the savages to bend their whole 
 might in preserving undefiled from 
 aggression this favoured place* 
 Thither the General put the combin- 
 ed troops in readiness to march. 
 
 At the instant of commencing the 
 march, a message was delivered from 
 Colonel Milton, stating the inabihty 
 of his brigade to move on, because 
 that the night before some of the 
 wagon horses had strayed, that per- 
 sons had been despatched however 
 in search of them, and that upon 
 their coming in he should be ready 
 
130 
 
 to proceed. The Geneml declared 
 that he thought a want of carriage 
 horses a cause of interruption dis- 
 proportioned to impede the progress 
 of an army : twenty men he observ- 
 ed might do the business of a team. 
 However, he directed a few of the 
 dragoons to dismount, and with their 
 horses supplying the deficiency for 
 the wagons, ordered the troops to 
 march. This incident, the mention 
 of which can work no disparagement 
 to the military qualifications of Col- 
 onel Milton, is merely given to ex- 
 emplify the habitual resources of the 
 Generars invention upon every com- 
 mon emergency. 
 
 Upon his arrival at the Holy 
 Ground, chiefs of tribes flocked eve- 
 ry day to the camp, and made their 
 acknowledgments, desiring to have 
 peace and forgiveness vouchsafed to 
 them, upon whatever conditions he 
 might be pleased to dictate. The 
 
131 
 
 General .was uniformly assured l>y 
 them all, that every malcontent of 
 thek community, had fled for a re- 
 fuge in Pensacola, or along the coast 
 of Florida. To these petitioners 
 the answer already given was repeat- 
 ed, namely, a departure North of 
 Fort Williams and East of the Coo- 
 sa, and they were no doubt very well 
 satisfied with the easiness of the 
 terms. 
 
 By removing the savages of suspi- 
 cious fidelity and doubtful character 
 beyond the government post at Fort 
 Williams, and East of the river Coo- 
 sa, a total severance of intercourse 
 with Florida was made ; and more- 
 over their position in the midst of the 
 friendly Indians facilitated intelli- 
 gence of all their measures, and lay 
 open to immediate discovery what- 
 ever schemes of hostility they might 
 
 12* 
 
132 
 
 devise, or machinations of* war they 
 migiit happen to concert. 
 
 An experience of their duphcity 
 rendered tlieir present submissive- 
 ness in their humihation, too preca- 
 rious a proof, to be relied upon as 
 demonstrative evidence, of a change 
 of mind. The General well knew 
 that their castigation for unprovoked 
 cruelties and violence had been 
 smartly inflicted, and that they could 
 not on a sudden forget it, however 
 speciously a remembrance of it might 
 at the moment be dissembled. He 
 had reason to distrust the cordial 
 earnestness in which they courted 
 favour and solicited friendship. And 
 surely the perils he had passed and 
 the eff'usion of blood he had witness- 
 ed in reducing them to a sense of 
 their duty, or rather of their weak- 
 ness, did not justify his hasty accept- 
 ance of their professions, without 
 
133 
 
 any substantive guaranty, as a pledge 
 of their amicable disposition. 
 
 To make trial of their good faith 
 and as a slight criterion whereby to 
 form an opinion of it, the General 
 required of them to bring bound be- 
 fore him the celebrated Weather- 
 ford, of atrocious fame, the chieftain 
 who headed the assailants of Fort 
 Mimms, and performed a conspicu- 
 ous part in the horrid tragedy acted 
 there. Weatherford learning that 
 General Jackson insisted to have 
 him in custody, and sensible that 
 there was no possibility of evading 
 the execution of the order, boldly re- 
 solved to repair himself to the Gen- 
 eral's camp, and offer his person in 
 voluntary surrender ; as a course 
 which admitted of a less certain vi- 
 sitation of condign punishment, than 
 if, drawn forward in the guise of a 
 culprit, he stood expectant of the 
 penalty which natural law, and the 
 
134 
 
 simple law of retaliation assuredly 
 annexed to bloody deeds like his. 
 Having passed undiscovered to the 
 camp and obtained admission to the 
 General's quarters, he advanced to- 
 wards him with a steady mien and 
 countenance undismayed ; he said 
 that his name was Weather ford, that 
 it was he who commanded at Fort 
 Mimms, and that desiring peace for 
 himself and his people, he had come 
 to ask it. The General astonished 
 not a little at finding himself in such 
 company, and under such circum- 
 stances, after expressing his surprise 
 that Weatherford should entertain a 
 hope to meet with the lenity extend- 
 ed to venial transgressors, concluded 
 by telling him, " 1 had directed that 
 you should be brought to me confin- 
 ed ; and had you appeared in this 
 way, I should have known how to 
 have treated you." Weatherford re- 
 plied, " I am in your power — do with 
 
135 
 
 me as you please. 1 am a soldier. 
 I have done the white people all the 
 harm I could ; 1 have fought them, 
 aud fought them bravely : if I had an 
 army, I would yet fight, and contend 
 to the last ; but I have none ; my 
 people are all gone. I can now do 
 no more than weep over the piisfor- 
 tunes of my nation." Weatherford 
 in truth by his self delivery and his 
 manner of performing tiiat act, had 
 thrown the General into same little 
 embarrassment to determine the 
 process that should be observed in 
 treating him. The belligerent rela- 
 tion in which Weatherford stood to- 
 wards the government of the United 
 States, stripped his case in a great 
 measure of its felonious bearings, 
 and' put it beyond the GeneraFs 
 legitimate power to exercise over him 
 criminal dominion. A middle course 
 was judiciously adopted. He was 
 given to understand that no absolute 
 
136 
 
 injunction was imposed upon him to 
 lay aside his arms and cultivate 
 schemes of peace, but that he had it 
 in his power to depart and begin 
 again his operations of war ; never- 
 theless he was admonished that if, 
 being now a prisoner, he was set at 
 large, his subsequent capture would 
 place him in a perilous situation : 
 that if he chose to remain and be- 
 have inoffensively, he was at liberty 
 to stay, and that he might expect 
 the benefits of a full protection. 
 With an air of perfect composure the 
 sanguinary captive replied, that he 
 owned he did covet peace for the 
 sake of his nation, which had suffer- 
 ed much through the ravages of war ; 
 that their women and children had 
 become destitute of provisions, their 
 cattle carried off and their corn ne- 
 glected; "But," continued he, "I 
 may be well addressed in such lan- 
 guage now. There was ^ time when 
 
137 
 
 I had a choice, and could have an- 
 swered you : I have none now — even 
 hope has ended, once I could animate 
 my warriors to battle, but I cannot 
 animate the dead. My warriors can 
 no longer hear my voice : their bones 
 are at Talladega, Talluschatchee, 
 Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I have 
 not surrendered myself thoughtless- 
 ly. Whilst there were chances of 
 success, I never left my post, nor 
 supplicated peace. But my people 
 are gone, and I now ask it for my 
 nation, and for myself. On the 
 miseries and misfortunes brought 
 upon my country, I look back with 
 deepest sorrow, and wish to avert 
 still greater calamities. If I had 
 been left to contend with the Georgia 
 army, I would have raised my corn 
 on one bank of the river, and fought 
 them on the other ; but your people 
 have destroyed my nation. You are 
 a brave man : I relj upon your gen- 
 
138 
 
 erosity. You will exact no terms of 
 a conquered people but such as they 
 should accede to: whatever they may 
 be, it would now be madness and 
 folly to oppose. If they are opposed, 
 you shall find me amongst the stern • 
 est enforcers of obedience. Those 
 who would still hold out, can be in- 
 fluenced only by a mean spirit of re- 
 venge ; and to this they must not, 
 and shall not sacrifice the last rem- 
 nant of their country. You have 
 told our nation where we might go ; 
 and be safe. This is good talk and 
 they ought to listen to it. They 
 shall listen to it." Weatherford's 
 frank discourse spoken in a bold 
 and spirited manner left a favour- 
 able impression of his sincerity on 
 the mind of the General, who a 
 few days afterwards permitted him 
 to go with a small detachment 
 through the forest in search of his 
 old adherents, that by persuading 
 
139 
 
 them to a timely submission, the na- 
 tion might be preserved from the 
 desolating consequences of a useless 
 resistance. 
 
 Proctor, the chief of the Ovvewoha 
 clans, having solicited and obtained 
 permission from the United States* 
 agent to continue in the same posi- 
 tion, had expressed his intention to 
 disregard the General's order for re- 
 moval, and remain in his original 
 district. As Proctor was among the 
 first whose application was answer- 
 ed, by a statement of the terms upon 
 which security was to be had; this 
 tampering conduct and double deal- 
 ing of Proctor was justly deemed 
 contumacious, and held to be an ex- 
 ample of evil tendency. Wherefore 
 the General conveyed intimation to 
 the Owewoha chief, that he had his 
 choice whether to take the advantage 
 
 of the toleration act of the agent, or 
 13 
 
140 
 
 to comply with his order, but that 
 for his part he would consider it his 
 duty to treat as enemies all that did 
 not remove to the designated place. 
 The chief made his election without 
 a tedious demurrer, and set off with 
 his warriors to reside North of Fort 
 Williams and East of the Coosa. 
 
 General Pinckney, the command- 
 er in chief, arriving at the camp, 
 gave his cordial approbation of the 
 arrangement which General Jack- 
 son had sagaciously made with the 
 vanquished Indians. 
 
 Chiefs from the various hostile 
 villages were now coming every day 
 in such numbers to proffer their 
 humble duty, and acquiescence with 
 whatever stipulations might be pro- 
 posed, that General Pinckney was 
 convinced a thorough pacification 
 was virtually compassed. Besides 
 the property which had been pillaged 
 at Fort Mimms, the restoration of 
 
141 
 
 which furnished in itself a striking 
 evidence of their sincere intentions, 
 was industriously brought forws^rd by 
 parcels and promptly given back. 
 The persuasion that the savages, 
 crushed by the signal defeats wliich 
 had recently befallen them, were 
 heartily tired of waging hostilities 
 and truly anxious that the war should 
 terminate, was further confirmed by 
 the report of Colonel Gibson. That 
 officer had been sent to make a sur- 
 vey along the Alabama river. He 
 had descended the stream to a con- 
 siderable distance, and demolished 
 several war towns, but he learned no 
 accounts of an embodied force being 
 any where assembled. A post also 
 was here garrisoned on the Hickory 
 Ground, called in compliment of the 
 General, Fort Jackson. By this 
 castelline erection, a chain of fortifi- 
 cations was completed, stretching 
 
142 
 
 to Tennessee from the Alabama river, 
 and from the same river to Georgia. 
 
 From such an agreeable coinci- 
 dence of peaceful circumstances, 
 General Pinckney was satisfied that 
 a longer detention of the troops in 
 service had become unnecessary. 
 He ordered the Tennessee force to 
 be marched homewards and discharg- 
 ed ; directing General Jackson to 
 drop on the way an adequate number 
 of men for the protection of the se- 
 veral posts. On the third day ensu- 
 ing, they reached Fort Williams. 
 The General reported to the com- 
 mander in chief that his orders had 
 been so far complied with, that he 
 had detailed four hundred soldiers 
 for the safety of Fort Williams, and 
 that he would leave at the other 
 points a force correspondent to their 
 exposed situations. In his letter hq 
 took occasion to say, " I shall march 
 the remainder of my troops to Ten- 
 
143 
 
 nessee, where I shall discharge them : 
 after whicli I shall no longer consider 
 myself accountable for the manner 
 in which the posts may be defended, 
 or the line of communication kept 
 open ; — happy that the time for 
 which I offered my services to my 
 government, and the duties which 
 they assigned me to perform, will 
 have terminated together." 
 
 At his official separation from his 
 companions in arms, he pronounced 
 the high opinion he entertained of 
 their meritorious and exemplary con- 
 duct, and the cordial attachment with 
 which he felt himself drawn towards 
 them : " Within a few days," said he, 
 "you have annihilated the power of 
 a nation that for twenty years has 
 been the disturber of your peace. 
 Your vengeance has been satisfied* 
 Wherever these infuriated allies of 
 our arch enemy assembled for battle, 
 
 13* 
 
144 
 
 you pursued aud dispersed them. 
 The rapidity of your movements has 
 corresponded with the valour by 
 which you have been animated. The 
 bravery you have displayed in the 
 field of battle, and the uniform good 
 conduct you have manifested in your 
 encampment, and on your line of 
 march, will long be cherished in the 
 memory of your General, and will 
 not be forgotten by the country 
 which you have so materially bene- 
 fited." 
 
 In the progress of his journey 
 home, loud acclamations greeted his 
 presence, and the people were every 
 where emulous to express their res- 
 pect for his talents, and to show their 
 fervent gratitude for his patriotic la- 
 bours in exerting those powerful 
 abilities to redress the past wrongs 
 of his fellow citizens, and to ensure 
 their protection and safety against 
 the time to come. 
 
145 
 
 He now returned to enjoy the be- 
 loved society of Mrs. Jackson. She 
 had been very unfortunate in a prior 
 marriage with an unprincipled man^ 
 who finding her amiable disposition 
 unsuited to his profligate taste, after 
 behaving towards her with great 
 rudeness, flung her away from him — • 
 taking care, however, by legalising 
 the reparation, to set his mind at 
 ease on the score of expense. It was 
 at the house of her mother, the Gen- 
 eral saw her. She was lovely and 
 in distress, combining two attitudes 
 of appearance — well asserted to car- 
 ry a manly and sensitive bosom. 
 Her charms touched his heart and 
 he loved her, whilst her uncommon 
 merit, sanctioned in the eye of his 
 prudential friends, the strong predi- 
 lection her beauty had moved in his 
 own. 
 
146 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 The General negociates a compact 
 with the Indians — Requires from 
 the Governor of Florida an ex^ 
 planation of his conduct — Colonel 
 JVicholls arrives at Pensacola and 
 puts forth an inflammatory Pro- 
 clamation — The General drives 
 the British from that city. 
 
 The Indians having been made 
 
 sensible of their inability to cope 
 with the United States in hostile 
 operations, the juncture was favoura- 
 ble to impose upon them, during this 
 conviction of their own weakness, 
 some restrictive obligations that 
 might in a formal way render their 
 inoffensiveness less precarious ; and 
 the government judiciously took ad- 
 vantage of the occasion. That the 
 treaty might possess the greater au- 
 thority, the General, who was em- 
 
147 
 
 ployed to conduct it, had instructions 
 to model the terms in a mihtary 
 form, and impress the instrument 
 ivith the character of a capitulation. 
 The Creeks were required to in- 
 demnify the United States for the 
 <ixpense of prosecuting the war, by a 
 cession of so much denoted territory 
 as miolit be deemed an equivalent. 
 They were enjoined to admit into 
 their country no agents or traders 
 except those who should be furnish- 
 ed with a license from the United 
 States, and were also themselves to 
 abstain from intercourse with any 
 Spanish port, garrison, or town ; and 
 by way of further security, the go- 
 vernment was to be recognized as 
 having a right to open roads through 
 the Indian grounds, and to establish 
 military posts and hoises of trade. 
 
 The Creeks had from time to time 
 suffered the Cherokees to encroach 
 upon their territory ; and now that 
 
148 
 
 the question of surrender was to be 
 agitated, the latter attempted to draw 
 from the Creeks an acknowledgment 
 of title to their usurpations, with the 
 view of defeating the claim of the 
 United States. But the artful pro- 
 posal was met by a loconism of spe- 
 cific slyness — the Creeks simply ob- 
 serving, that since the pretended 
 boundaries were not in earnest the 
 boundaries of the Cherokees, it sure- 
 ly was not for them (the Creeks) to 
 give countenance to falsehood by es- 
 tablishing that lie. 
 
 The Big Warrior exerted his rough 
 abilities to resist the demand of ter- 
 ritorial cession, and after depicting 
 in moving colours the wretchedness 
 which would overtake his people if 
 constrained to forego their usual man- 
 ner of life, ventured to suggest, that 
 although the United States might in 
 justice exact indemnity for the ex- 
 pense attending the war, yet the re- 
 
149 
 
 quisition was made before the time ; 
 that the war had not been brought 
 to a full termination ; that those who 
 had fled might return again and com- 
 mence the conflict anew. His efforts 
 were strenuously supported by She- 
 locta, who, having done the State con- 
 siderable service, was not neglectful 
 of embellishing the common cause by 
 a display of his personal merits. The 
 Indians seem to have presumed that 
 by procrastinating the discussion, the 
 council might dissolve without adopt- 
 ing any definitive measures ; where- 
 by it would be in their power to 
 evade compliance with the conditions 
 which had been prescribed. But 
 the General gave then^ to under- 
 stand that he was not to be foiled — 
 declaring to them explicitly, " You 
 know," said he, ** that the portion of 
 country which you desire to retain, is 
 that through which the intruders and 
 mischief-makers from the lakes 
 
150 
 
 reached you, and urged your nation 
 to tiiose acts of violence that have 
 involved your people in wretchedness, 
 and your country in ruin. Through 
 it leads the path Tecumseh trod, 
 when he came to visit you : that path 
 must be stopped. Until this be done, 
 your nation cannot expect happiness, 
 nor mine security. I have already 
 told you the reasons for demanding 
 it : they are such as ought not- — 
 cannot be departed from. This 
 evening must determine whether or 
 not you are disposed to become 
 friendly. By rejecting the treaty you 
 will show that you are the enemies 
 of the United States — enemies even 
 to yourselves." The unfinished state 
 of the wargives an additional niotive 
 for the cession, that the troops may 
 thus be able to distinguish and know 
 their friends. " When our armies," 
 continued lie, ** came here, the hos- 
 tile party had even stripped you of 
 
151 
 
 your country: we re-took it, and now 
 offer to restore it ; theirs we pro- 
 pose to retain. Tliose who are dis- 
 posed to give effect to the treaty, will 
 «ign it. They will be within our 
 territory ; will be protected and fed ; 
 and no enemy of theirs, or ours, shall 
 molest the n. Those who are op- 
 posed to it shall have permission to 
 retire to Pensacola. Here is the pa- 
 per : take it, and show the President 
 who are his friends. Consult, iind 
 this evening let me know who will 
 assent to it, and who will not. I do 
 not wish, nor will I attempt to force 
 , any of you ; act as you think proper.'* 
 Whereupon a conference being 
 straightway held upon the subject, a 
 resolution was passed conceding to 
 the United States the indemnifica- 
 tion and security required. 
 
 Great Britain turning a deaf ear 
 
 to the remonstrances of this country^ 
 14 
 
152 
 
 and sustaining her claims by means 
 of force against the peaceful asser- 
 tion of American rights, the execu- 
 tive authority of the United States 
 had resorted to a declaration of war, 
 and at length the sword was produced 
 to vindicate the cause of the plume. 
 The asylum which the Indians had 
 found in Florida became doubly 
 dangerous now, that British agents 
 could through that medium obtain 
 facilities of communicating with 
 those savages, and fanning into acti- 
 vity their ferocious inclinations. 
 
 Even while ofSficially employed 
 with the Creeks at Fort Jackson, the 
 GeneraPs industrious care for the 
 welfare of his country extended to 
 another concernment in which its 
 interests were no less seriously im- 
 plicated. It appeared to his fore- 
 seeing judgment, that when the 
 winter solstice approached, and the 
 severity of the weather interrupted 
 
153 
 
 the Canadian campaign, the British 
 forces would be withdrawn to the 
 South, anil that they woidd vigor- 
 ously attempt to make an impression 
 there. His anticipation was judi- 
 ciously formed, and the inference of 
 such a result deduced from premises 
 that admitted of little dispute. First 
 of all, the dubious character of the 
 allegiance that attached to the 
 American government the affiliated 
 citizens of Louisiana, encouraged 
 the British to expect a civil, if not a 
 friendly reception among them. 
 Again ; a numerous black population 
 which overran the Southern country 
 were disposed, to judge by their well 
 known partialities, to abet, as far as 
 lay in their power, a British invasion. 
 As he was proceeding to Fort 
 Jackson, our General learned that an 
 English force to the number of three 
 hundred, had actually landed at the 
 mouth of the Appalachicola, had 
 
154 
 
 erected fortifications, and were in-^ 
 citing the savages to renew their 
 hostilities against the United States* 
 The General hastened to convey 
 this information to the Secretary at 
 War, and submitted to tlie consider- 
 ation of government, as he had ear- 
 nestly done before, the great expedi- 
 ency and advantage of being in pos- 
 session of Pensacola ; he urged not 
 only the fitness but the justice also, 
 of putting the key of the lower coun- 
 try in our own pocket : " If," said 
 lie, " the hostile Creeks have taken 
 refuge in Florida, and are there fed, 
 clothed, and protected ; if the Bri- 
 tish have landed a large force, muni* 
 tions of war, and are fortifying and 
 stirring up the savages ; will you only 
 say to me, raise a few hundred mili- 
 tia, which can be quickly done, and 
 with such regular fojce as can be 
 conveniently collected, make a de- 
 scent upon Pensacola and reduce it f 
 
155 
 
 If so, I promise you the war in the 
 South shall have a speedy termina- 
 tion, and EngHsh influence be for- 
 ever destroyed in this quarter.'' To 
 this apphcation, as well as to many 
 others of the like tenour, he received 
 no reply ; no instructions whatever 
 from government upon the subject. 
 But on the 17th of January, 1815, 
 after the repulse of the British from 
 New-Orleans, a letter from General 
 Armstrong reached him through 
 the Post office. The letter bore 
 date at the city of Washington, the 
 18th of July, 1814; at which time 
 General Armstrong was Secretary 
 at War. Its contents were : — " The 
 case you put is a very strong one : 
 and if all the circumstances stated 
 by you, unite, the conclusion is irre- 
 sistible. It becomes our duty to 
 carry our arms where we find our 
 
 enemies. It is believed and I am so 
 14* 
 
156 
 
 directed by the President to say, that 
 there is a disposition on the part of 
 the Spanish government, not to break 
 with the United States, nor to encou- 
 rage any conduct on the part of her 
 subordinate agents, having a tenden- 
 cy to such rnpture. We must there- 
 fore in this case, be careful to ascer- 
 tain facts, and even to distinguish 
 what, on the part of the Spanish au- 
 thorities, may be the effect of menace 
 and compulsion, or of their choice 
 and policy : the result of this inquiry 
 must govern. If they admit, feed, 
 arm, antl co-operate with the British, 
 and hostile Indians, we must strike 
 on the broad principle of self-preser- 
 vation : — under other and different 
 circumstances, we must forbear." 
 
 Had this letter arrived indue sea- 
 son, the General would undoubtedly 
 have felt himself free to pursue the 
 course which Iris own judgment 
 pointed out, and all the circumstan- 
 
157 
 
 ces that eould be wanted, justified 
 him in following. The retardation of 
 a paper of such high importance is tru- 
 ly surprizing, and exhibits a strange 
 fatality. Certain it is, that if it had 
 come into his hands in ordinary time, 
 the whole plan of the campaign 
 would have had a turn widely dilfer- 
 ent. Speaking on this subject, he 
 >said, " If this letter, or any hint that 
 such a course would have been even 
 connived at by the government, had 
 been received, it would have been in 
 my power to have captured the Bri- 
 tish shipping in the bay. I would 
 have marched at once against Bar- 
 rancas, and carried it, and thus pre- 
 vefiited any escape ; but acting on 
 my own responsibility against a neu- 
 tral power, it became essential for 
 me to proceed with more caution 
 than my judgment or wishes approv- 
 ed, and consequently important ad- 
 
158 
 
 vantages were lost, which might have 
 been secured." 
 
 But situated in this awkward 
 manner, with a stumbUng block in 
 his way, he did what alone remained 
 for him to do. Colonel Hawkins 
 having procured for him the servi- 
 ces of some confidential Indians ac- 
 quainted with the route, he despatch- 
 ed them to the Appalachicola and 
 towards the coast, enjoining them to 
 return upon gaining certain intelli- 
 gence of the strength of the enemy, 
 their position, and if attainable, their 
 ulterior views. After a lapse of fif- 
 teen days, the Indians came back 
 with information that corroborated 
 beyond question the tidings brought 
 at the first. They reported that the 
 English had made their appearance 
 in considerable force ; that they were 
 then in the Bay of St. Rose, and that 
 muskets and ammunition had been 
 freely distributed amongst the disaf- 
 
159 
 
 fected Indians, to the several tribes 
 of whom messengers had been sent 
 by the invaders, soliciting them to 
 come down to the coast. Hereupon 
 the General addressed a communi- 
 cation to the governor of Florida, ac- 
 quainting him with the intelhgence 
 that had been received, and desiring 
 him to state upon what principles he 
 regulated his conduct in harbouri^ig 
 and giving encouragement to the 
 avowed enemies of the United tStates. 
 An evasive answer was returned, 
 which drew from the General a more 
 explicit and unreserved appUcation. 
 He despatched a messenger to lay 
 before the governor the plain ground 
 of his complaint, to gather from him 
 a definite intimation of the course 
 he designed to follow, and whether 
 it was his intent to direct his steps 
 by the line that was marked in the 
 treaties subsistinir between the two 
 nations, or by takmg crooked ways. 
 
160 
 
 and adopting a sinister policy, to dis- 
 guise the realities of war under the 
 semblance of friendship. By this 
 method he hoped to conclude the 
 governor, and bring him at once to 
 his ultimatum. The governor delib- 
 erated for some time on the proprie- 
 ty of condescending to make any re- 
 ply at all. General Fournoy, acting 
 in conformity to the orders of Mr. 
 Madison, had heretofore omitted to 
 answer a despatch of his. But after 
 mature reflection upon this delicate 
 point, he thought best to forego the 
 satisfaction of a retaliating silence, 
 and give an explanation, in obedience, 
 as he said, to those " high and gener- 
 ous feelings peculiar to the Spanish 
 character." With respect to the In- 
 dian chiefs who themselves commit- 
 ted, and were the instigators of other 
 savages who did commit, bloody atro- 
 cities upon the persons of American 
 citizens, and whom the General 
 
161 
 
 sought to be given up to the execu- 
 tion of justice ; he averred that they 
 were not "at that time" within the 
 limits of his government ; that the 
 rules of hospitality forbade him to 
 turn them away unassisted in the 
 moment of their abject distress ; and 
 that he could not, if it were in his 
 power, surrender them, without vio- 
 lating the laws of nations, to which 
 the king, his master, had ever strict- 
 ly adhered, whereof ample proof was 
 furnished to the United States, in his 
 forbearance to demand of them, " the 
 traitors, insurgents, incendiaries, and 
 assassins of his chiefs, namely, 
 Guiterres, Toledo, i\\\d many others, 
 whom the American government pro- 
 tected and maintained in committing 
 hostilities — in fomenting the revolu- 
 tion, and in lighting up the flames 
 of discord in the internal provinces 
 of the kingdom of Mexico." As* 
 signing his motives for the permis- 
 
162 
 
 sion he granted the Enghsh to bring 
 arms and ammunition into his pro- 
 vince to be placed in the hands of 
 the ladians, wherewithal to render 
 their hostile operations the more ef- 
 fectual, he took occasion to ask, " if 
 the United States were ignorant, 
 that at the conquest of Florida, there 
 was a treaty between Great Britain 
 and the Creek Indians ; and whether 
 they did not know, that it still exist- 
 ed between Spain and those tribes ? 
 But turn your eyes," said he, " to the 
 island of BarVataria, and you will 
 there perceive, that within the very 
 territory of the United States, pirates 
 are sheltered and protected, with the 
 manifest design of committing hos- 
 tilities by sea upon the merchant 
 vessels of Spain ; and with such 
 scandalous notoriety, that the car- 
 goes of our vessels, taken by them, 
 have been publicly sold in Louisiana/' 
 How a treaty between Great Britain 
 
163 
 
 and the Creeks affected the Spanish 
 authorities in their exercise of do- 
 minion over the provinces of Florida, 
 is not so obvious to conjecture, as 
 Don Manrequez, from his manner of 
 putting this question about the know- 
 ledge of its existence, appears to 
 have supposed. True it is that La- 
 fite, and other freebooters of the high 
 seas, had carried spoliated cargoes 
 into Barrataria, and there obtained 
 the proceeds of their piratical enter- 
 prize. But their success on these 
 occasions contravened the known 
 laws and regulations of the country, 
 and arose from the contrivances and 
 clandestine arran^^ements of smui»- 
 gling, so ingeniously planned, and 
 dexterously managed, as to afford 
 those lawless depredators an oppor- 
 tunity to elude the vigilance of our 
 government and set at nought its le- 
 gal inhibitions. Whereas comfort 
 15 
 
164 
 
 and succour were openly and pro- 
 fusely given by the representative 
 officers of Spain to the avowed and 
 acrimonious foes of the United States, 
 at a time when Spain professed, and 
 was by treaty bound to observe, an 
 amicable conduct towards this re- 
 public, and in virtue of those friend- 
 ly ties was actually enjoying, as con- 
 cerned belligerents, the rights and 
 privileges of a nentral power. Yet 
 Don Manrequez, the governor, fur- 
 ther to show the sincerity of his good 
 will, and the interest he felt in the 
 concerns of the United States, took 
 leave to censure the means that had 
 been used to cancel the title of the 
 Indians to the Alabama, and was 
 kind to admonish the government of 
 the necessity to obviate with timely 
 precaution, the danger to which the 
 country might soon be exposed, in 
 consequence of the recent pacifica* 
 lion of Europe. This explanation 
 
165 
 
 fell short of giving to the General 
 the complete satisfaction he desired. 
 The governor appeared to him some- 
 what obtrusive in his remarks, and 
 ill a style of corresponding loftiness, 
 he replied to liis excellency thus : 
 " Were I clothed with diplomatic 
 powers, for the purpose of discussing 
 the topics embraced in the wide 
 range of the injuries of which you 
 complain, and which have so long- 
 since been adjusted, I could easily 
 demonstrate that the United States 
 have been always faithful to theiv 
 treaties, steadfast in their friendships, 
 nor have ever claimed any thing that 
 was not warranted by justice. They 
 have endured many insults from the 
 governors and other officers of Spain, 
 which, if sanctioued by their sove- 
 reign, would have amounted to acts 
 of hostility, without any previous de- 
 claration on the subject. They have 
 excited the savages to war, and af- 
 
166 
 
 forded them the means of waging it : 
 the property of our citizens has been 
 captured at sea, and if compensation 
 has not been refused, it has at least 
 been withheld. But as no such 
 powers have been delegated to me, 
 I shall not assume them, but leave 
 them to the representatives of our 
 respective governments. 
 
 " I have the honour of being en- 
 trusted with the command of this 
 district. Charged with its protec- 
 tion, and the safety of its citizens, I 
 feel my inability to discharge the 
 task, and trust your excellency will 
 always find me ready and willing to 
 go forward, in the performance of 
 that duty, whenever circumstances 
 shall render it necessarv. I aijree 
 with you perfectly, that candour and 
 poHte language should, at all times, 
 characterize the communications be- 
 tween the officers of friendly sove- 
 reignties ; and I assert without the 
 
167 
 
 fear of contradiction, that my former 
 letters were couched in terms the 
 most respectful and unexceptionable. 
 I only requested, and did not demand, 
 as you have asserted, that the ring- 
 leaders of the Creek confederacy 
 might be delivered to me, who had 
 taken refuge in your town, and who 
 had violated all laws, moral, civil and 
 divine. This I had a right to do, 
 from the treaty which I sent you, and 
 which I now again enclose, with a 
 request that you will change your 
 translator; believing, as I do, that 
 your former one was wrong, and has 
 deceived you. What kind of an an- 
 swer you returned, a reference to 
 your letter will explain. The whole 
 of it breathed nothing but hostility, 
 grounded upon assumed facts, and 
 false charges, and entirely evading 
 the inquiries that had been made. 
 15* 
 
168 
 
 "I can but express my astonish- 
 ment at your protest against the ces- 
 sion on the Alabama, lying within 
 the acknowledged hmits and juris- 
 diction of the United States, and 
 which has been ratified in due form, 
 by the principal chiefs and warriors 
 of the nation. But my astonishment 
 subsides, when on comparison, I find 
 it upon a par with the rest of your 
 letter and conduct ; taken together, 
 they afford a sufficient justification 
 for any course on my part, or conse- 
 quences that may ensue to yourself. 
 My government will protect every 
 inch of her territory, her citizens and 
 their property, from insult and de- 
 predation, regardless of the political 
 revolutions of Europe ; and although 
 she has been at all times sedulous to 
 preserve a good understanding with 
 all the world, yet she has sacred 
 rights, that cannot be trampled upon 
 with impunity. Spain had better 
 
169 
 
 look to her own intestine commo- 
 tions, before she walks forth in that 
 majesty of strength and power^ 
 which you threaten to draw down 
 upon the United States." 
 
 But notwithstandi ng the reluctance 
 of Don Manrequez, the governor, to 
 satisfy the General with an explicit 
 disclosure of the facts, he contrived 
 through another medium to attain 
 the information he coveted to pos- 
 sess. Captain Gordon, who had re- 
 paired to Pensacola for the purpose 
 of noting the occurrences there, hav^ 
 ing returned to Fort Jackson, ac- 
 quainted him that he had seen be- 
 tween one hundred and fifty and two 
 hundred soldiers and officers, with a 
 park of artillery, and likewise about 
 five hundred Indians dressed in Bri- 
 tish uniform, armed with new mus- 
 kets, and under the drill of British 
 officers. 
 
170 
 
 A critical period had now arrived 
 to quicken the powerful energies of 
 his capacious mind, and to draw 
 forth our General to an exhibition 
 of the qualifications he possessed to 
 bear the national a3^is around a 
 mighty people iu the hour of their 
 exigency, and menaced on all sides. 
 Expediting the settlement of his bu- 
 siness at Fort Jackson, he hastened 
 to Mobile that plans might be devised, 
 and dispositions formed with prompt- 
 itude, for the defence of the Southern 
 country. Strongly impressed by the 
 news from Pensacola, he again pre- 
 sented his opinions before the ad- 
 ministration, of the folly to use long- 
 er forbearance towards the Spanish 
 authorities in Florida, the kind of 
 treatment their insolence and un- 
 friendly partialities deserved, and 
 the important benefits to be gained 
 from having the disposal of those 
 fortresses which the officers of Spain 
 
171 
 
 were lending for the accommodation 
 and security of the hostile savajj^es, 
 and were hterally appropriating now 
 to facihtate the invasion of the trans- 
 atla^4ic enemy. Previous to his de- 
 parture, he ordered the warriors of 
 the different tribes to be marshalled, 
 and retained by pay in the service of 
 the United States. He likewise ad- 
 dressed the governors of Tennessee, 
 Louisiana, and Mississippi, entreat- 
 ing their efficient co-operation, and 
 exhorting them to vigilance and ac- 
 tivity, with many bold and patriotic 
 touches of eloquence. At this time 
 the regular force under his command 
 consisted of only the 8rd regiment, 
 a part of the 39th, and a part of the 
 44th. 
 
 There being now many cogent 
 reasons for desiring the service of a 
 numerous body of troops, and aware 
 of the delay inseparable from per- 
 fecting militia requisitions, he sent 
 
172 
 
 Colonel Butler, his Adjutant Gen- 
 eral, to Tennessee, for the purpose 
 of raising a volunteer force, that 
 some additional assistance might be 
 ready at hand to act upon the spur 
 of any sudden occasion. Symptoms 
 of a bold attempt were soon after 
 his arrival at Mobile, conspicuously 
 evident, and therefore he wrote to 
 the Colonel to expedite his levy, and 
 join him with all practicable speed. 
 Colonel Butler was not remiss to give 
 prompt attention to the GeneraPs 
 letter ; he also industriously urged 
 forward Colonel Lowry's militia, 
 which had been employed in the se- 
 veral garrisons established through 
 the Indian country. Captain Baker 
 and Captain Butler, with the regular 
 troops that were lately enlisted, set 
 out from Nashville with commenda-* 
 ble activity, and reached Mobile in 
 tlie space of fourteen days. Direct 
 application was made to General 
 
173 
 
 Coffee, to advance with the cavalry 
 whicii iie might be able to collect. 
 A public circular was at the same 
 time distributed amongst the people, 
 setting forth the alarming danger of 
 the country, and inviting all who took 
 an interest in the preservation of their 
 Hberty and free institutions,to rendez- 
 vous at Fa)etteville,on a day appoint- 
 ed. No fewer than two thousand men, 
 well provided with rifles and muskets, 
 assembled together at the designated 
 place, on the very day, though some 
 of them had to travel four hundred 
 miles over very rugged roads at a 
 very wet period of the year ; a vohm- 
 tary journey of patriotism, less credi- 
 ble than romantic, to be told in a land 
 of conscription, but in these United 
 States the storv would be heard with 
 patience, nay, even believed from tlie 
 lips of a doubtful narrator, who did 
 not neglect to say at the end of his 
 i^tatement, that th€ summons was 
 
174 
 
 undersigned by the name of the va- 
 liant and successful General Coffee. 
 Whatever delicacy may have ope- 
 rated to withhold the General from 
 reducing Pensacola, was superseded 
 by the necessity of the measure upon 
 its positive occupation by Colonel 
 Nicholls, who assuming the character 
 of a liberator, invited the Southern 
 people to range themselves under his 
 standard, and addressed them with 
 the following pompous harangue :* 
 
 * Natives of Louisiana! On you the first call 
 is made, to assist in liberating from a faithless, 
 imbecile government, your paternal soil: Span- 
 iards, Frenchmen, Italians, and British, whether 
 settled, or residing for a time in Louisiana, on 
 you, also, I call, to aid me in this just cause: the 
 American usurpation in this country must be abo- 
 lished, and the lawful owners of the soil put in 
 possession. I am at the head of a large body of 
 Indians, well armed, disciplined, and command- 
 ed by British officers — a good train of artillery, 
 with every requisite, seconded by the powerful 
 aid of a numerous British and Spanish squadron 
 of ships and vessels of war. Be not alarmed, 
 
175 
 
 It is doubtful whether Colonel 
 NichoUs was delegated to act in the 
 
 inhabitants of the country, at our approach; the 
 same good faith and disinterestedness, which has 
 distinguished the conduct of Britons in Europe, 
 accompanies them here; you will have no fear of 
 litigious taxes imposed on you for the purpose of 
 carrying on an unnatural and unjust war; your 
 property, your laws, the peace -iid tranquility 
 of your country, will be guaranteed to you by 
 men who will suffer no infringement of theirs; 
 rest assured that these brave red men only burn 
 with an ardent desire of satisfaction for the 
 wrongs they have suifered from the Americans; 
 to join you in liberating these Southern provinces 
 from their yoke, and drive them into those limits 
 formerly prescribed by my sovereign. The Indi- 
 ans have pledged themselves, in the most solemn 
 manner, not to injure, in the slightest degree, the 
 persons or properties of any but enemies. A flag 
 over any door, whether Spanish, French, or Bri- 
 tish, will be a certain protection; nor dare any In- 
 dian put his foot on the threshold thereof, u/ider 
 penally of death from his own countrymen; not 
 even an enemy will an Indian put to death, ex- 
 cept resisting in arms; and as for injuring help- 
 less women and children, the red men by their 
 good conduct, and treatment to them, will (if it 
 16 
 
176 
 
 character which he represented him- 
 self to bear. His pains were less 
 
 be possible,) make the Americans blush for their 
 more inhuman conduct, lately on the Escambia, 
 and within a neutral territory. 
 
 Inhabitants of Kentucky, you have too long 
 borne with grievous impositions — the whole brunt 
 of the war has fallen on your brave sons; be im- 
 posed on no longer, but either range yourselves 
 under the standard of your forefathers, or ob- 
 serve a strict neutrality. If you comply with 
 either of these offers, whatever provisions you 
 send down, will be paid for in dollars, and the safe- 
 ty of the persons bringing it, as well as the free 
 navigation of the Mississippi, guaranteed to you. 
 
 Men of Kentucky, let me call to your view, 
 (and I trust to your abhorrence) the conduct of 
 those factions which hurried you into this civil, 
 unjust, and unnatural war, at a time when Great 
 Britain was straining every nerve, in defence of 
 her own, and the liberties of the world— when 
 the bravest of her sons were fighting and bleed- 
 ing in so sacred a cause — when she was spending 
 millions of her treasure in endeavouring to pull 
 down one of the most formidable and dangerous 
 tyrants that ever disgraced the form of man — 
 "when groaning Europe was almost in her last 
 gasp — when Britons alone showed an undaunted 
 front— basely did those assassins endeavour to 
 
177 
 
 liberally requited if he was so em- 
 ployed, than migfit be expected, from 
 the wonted miinificcace of the Bri- 
 tish government, whose bounty has 
 been at times extended to private 
 spies and informers. The Colonel 
 brought two Indian chiefs along with 
 him to England, but finding his hos- 
 pitality too expensive for his meanSj 
 
 stab her from the rear; she has turned on them, 
 renovated from the bloody but successful struggle, 
 Europe is happy and free, and she now hastens^ 
 justly, to avenge the unprovoked insult. Show 
 them that you are not collectively unjust: leave 
 that contemptible few to shift for themselves: let 
 those slaves of the tyrant send an embassy to El- 
 ba, and implore his aid; but let every honest, up- 
 right American spurn them with united contempt. 
 After the experience of twenty-one years, can you 
 longer support those brawlers for liberty, who 
 call it freedom, when themselves are free? Be 
 no longer their dupes — accept of my offers — eve- 
 ry thing 1 have promised in this paper, I guaran- 
 to you, on the sacred honour of a British officer. 
 
 Given under my hand, at my Head- Quarters, 
 Pensacola, this 29th day of August, 1814. 
 Edward Nicholls. 
 
178 
 
 it is said, that he hinted rather 
 broadly to his guests, after many 
 fruitless applications to the govern- 
 ment to be assisted in the cost of his 
 table, that no detainer would be serv- 
 ed upon them, if they had grown 
 weary of roast beef and desired to 
 return to the enjoyment of their veni- 
 son. His actions received no pub- 
 lic avowal from the ministers. When 
 Mr. Whitbread, in the House of 
 Commons, accused tlie crown ad- 
 visers with the cruel meanness of 
 inciting the savages to butcher the 
 peaceful inhabitants ; Lord Cas- 
 tlereagh got rid of the difficulty, as 
 his manner was, when he found him- 
 self either unable or j)olitically dis- 
 inclined to confront it, by escaping 
 from the charge, smoothing his way 
 with that insipid oiliness which mark- 
 ed the general style of his discourse. 
 This doubtfulness gathers further 
 probability from the very character 
 
179 
 
 of Colonel Nicliolls, who rates as a 
 shallow fool-hardv sort of man, less 
 considerate than pushing and cou- 
 rageous, and might be named the 
 Captain Bobadil of the British ma- 
 rines. A respectable officer attached 
 to the marine corps, who made one 
 of a small evening party, talking of 
 Colonel Nicholls, observed, that he 
 had done his best to serve his king 
 and country, but that nothing could 
 be more irksome than to sit and 
 listen to him blowing up the air 
 drawn glories of his own achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 The proclamation he put forth 
 was adopted well enousfh to impress 
 individuals of principles already cor- 
 rupted, and to excite to activity such 
 as had a disrelish for the republican 
 system of the United States. There 
 are no persuasive charms in the com- 
 position, nor is there much force in 
 
 16* 
 
180 
 
 the reasoning whereby to affect ei- 
 ther the fancies or the understand- 
 ings of the people. The paper was 
 nevertheless calculated to work mis- 
 chief, and surely it was not to be 
 tolerated, that the author of an in- 
 llaniiiiatory publication, in a moment 
 of actual war, should be employed in 
 a neutral territory as the revolution- 
 izer of a friendly power. But when 
 it is considered that this territory 
 was not only neutral, but adjoining, 
 and virtually constituting a portion of 
 the same integral soil, and was 
 moreover disposted a vast distance 
 from the dominions of the enemy, and 
 such was the case of Florida ; it be- 
 comes a proposition which establishes 
 its own validity, that General Jack- 
 son, being entrusted with the pro- 
 tection of the South, was in duty 
 bound, to read Don Manrequez a 
 practical lesson, by which he might 
 learn the impropriety of entertaining 
 
181 
 
 Colonel Nicholls as his guest, and 
 behaving towards all his British vi- 
 sitors in a corresponding manner of 
 inconsiderate hospitality. It was 
 even ascertained that the national 
 flag of Britain played from the forts, 
 associated with that of Spain. No- 
 thing could have restrained the Gen- 
 eral from directly proceeding to Pen- 
 sacola, but a sense of the danger 
 that might arise if he left Mobile in 
 a state of destitution. And upon 
 this account he awaited the fidvance 
 of General Coffee with the Tennes- 
 see volunteers. 
 
 Meantime he devoted every hour 
 with ardent zeal to make defensive 
 preparations; and Fort Bowyerclaim- 
 cd his particular attention. Fort Bow- 
 yer is situated on the extremity of a 
 narrow neck of land, about eighteen 
 miles below the head of Mobile bay, 
 and commands the entrance into it, 
 and all those rivers which, emptying 
 
1S2 
 
 into the bay, coiiiinunicate with the 
 Indian country ; and yet the govern- 
 ment had hitherto bestowed but ht- 
 tle of its care in improving this val- 
 uable fortress. The General from 
 his coming to Mobile, had not ceased 
 to regard it with a serious eye, and 
 to contribute to its strength. He 
 entrusted the command to Major 
 Lawrence, and the sequel proves 
 that he was not mistaken in the ex- 
 pectations he had formed of that 
 skilful and intrepid officer. 
 
 On the 13th of September, 1814, 
 Colonel Nichoils, with a considera- 
 ble force of marines, Spaniards and 
 Indians, commenced his operations 
 against Fort Bowyer, seconded by 
 water with four vessels, two of them 
 brigs, and two schooners. But not- 
 withstanding a powerful assault was 
 made, and for some davs maintained 
 with the vigorous obstinacy the im- 
 portance of carrying it called forth, 
 
188 
 
 the eneiny retired again to Pensa- 
 cola, bavins^ lost in this attempt a 
 very excellent vessel and many lives. 
 Accounts had recently found their 
 way, that mighty preparations were 
 going forward in England, to send a 
 powerful body of troops across the 
 Atlantic, destined to act against the 
 lower country. Still therefore the 
 more anxiously was General Coffee 
 expected. At length the gratifying 
 intelligence arrived, that General 
 Coffee had reached a spot not far 
 distant from Fort St. Stephens, on 
 the Mobile river ; and that, his ori- 
 ginal force being augmented by sun- 
 dry accessions while on his march, 
 he had now under him nearly three 
 thousand men. Straightway the 
 General proceeded to join him on 
 the 26th of October, and lost not a 
 moment to set all things in readiness 
 for accomplishing his long projected 
 visit to Pensacola. His greatest dif- 
 
184 
 
 ficulty was the same which in com- 
 mon life, retards the execution of 
 many an enterprize — the insufficient 
 cy of means. The quarter masters 
 had no money to give, and the good 
 faith of the government was a doubt- 
 ed pledge. In this dilemma the 
 General, partly by using his person- 
 al funds, and partly by raising sums 
 on his own responsibility, contrived 
 to make an economical provision for 
 the troops on the 2d of November, 
 and started forthwith on his favour- 
 ite expedition. In a few days he 
 halted his army about a mile and a 
 half from the town. And although 
 it was a measure of necessity to dis- 
 lodge the British, yet his plan having 
 never received suitable encourage- 
 ment from his government, he was 
 anxious to show the Spaniards that 
 his conduct was not the result of any 
 unfriendly disposition towards themj 
 but impelled solely by the urgency of« 
 
185 
 
 his sitmtion ; and therefore he pre- 
 ferred a short trial at negotiatiun to 
 strikinii: an instantaneous blow. Ac- 
 cordingly he despatched Mnjor Piere 
 of the 44th regiment, with a rlag, to 
 acquaint the Governor that he had 
 come to require the forts of Barran- 
 cas, St. Rose, and St. Michael to be 
 held by the United States, until Spain 
 was enabled by an adequate force to 
 protect her own province, and pre- 
 serve unimpaired her neutral charac- 
 ter. The Major was charged to un- 
 fold with candour his commission^ 
 and to ask a reply to his embassage 
 equally frank and explicit. As the 
 Major approached the fort of St. 
 Michael, a fire was opened upon him, 
 and he was obliged to return without 
 an interview. There was now but 
 a moment left to balance, between 
 a second attempt to gain a peaceful 
 occupation, or to seize on Pensacola 
 by force of arms. It happened op- 
 
186 
 
 portunely that a Spanish corporal 
 was ill the camp: him therefore the 
 General employed to be the carrier 
 of another communication. He, 
 upon this occasion, desired to know 
 upon what account the flag that had 
 been sent was insulted, instead of 
 any spirit of conciliation being mani- 
 fested towards the United States. 
 The governor in his answer protest- 
 ed that the English were to be blamed 
 for the outrage committed on the 
 flag, and that he was ready to enter- 
 tain whatever proposals the General 
 might be pleased to make. The 
 governor's answer was a very accept- 
 able one, upon the whole ; his own 
 good sense indeed made it plain to 
 the General that if the Spaniards 
 themselves did the off<ensive act, it 
 was not of themselves they acted. 
 By a handsome apology, free from 
 evasion, the governor would have 
 eonsulied " those high and honoura- 
 
187 
 
 ble feelings so peculiar to the Spa- 
 nish character," niuch more appro- 
 priately than by offering an exculpa- 
 tion which was already very well un- 
 derstood. It was mean in him to do 
 so ; and it is worthy of remark, that 
 shifting the onus of their guilt from 
 their own shoulders to others', was 
 the second instance of depravity 
 shown by the first transgressors.* 
 But the ending clause, to wit, " that 
 the governor was ready to entertain 
 any overtures the General might be 
 pleased to make," was a piece of 
 most joyful news, for if the General 
 could but obtain possession of Fort 
 Barrancas and the other forts pre- 
 vious to the British gaining intelli- 
 gence of that event, their shipping 
 in the bay would be deprived of an 
 ability to escape into the outer chan- 
 
 * See Genesis, 3rd chapter, verses 12 and IS. 
 17 
 
188 
 
 nel, and be locked up in complete 
 duress. In the hope of attaining an 
 object so superlatively to be desired, 
 he again deputed RIajor Piere to 
 wait upon the intendant, and deliver 
 to him a paper, in which he stated, 
 " I come not as the enemy of Spain ; 
 not to make war, but to ask for 
 peace ; to demand security for my 
 country, and that respect to which 
 she is entitled and must receive. 
 My force is sufficient, and ray deter- 
 mination taken, to prevent a future 
 repetition of the injuries she has re- 
 ceived. I demand, therefore, the 
 possession of the Barrancas, and 
 other fortifications, with all your mu- 
 nitions of war. If delivered peacea- 
 bly, the whole will be receipted for 
 and become the subject of future ar- 
 rangement by our respective govern- 
 ments ; while the property, laws, and 
 religion of your citizens shall be res- 
 pected. But if taken by an appeal 
 
189 
 
 to arms, let their blood l)e upon your 
 own head. I will not hold myself 
 responsible for the conduct of my 
 enraged soldiers. One hour is given 
 you for deliberation, when your de- 
 termination must be had." The an- 
 swer was dissentient. The General 
 put his army in motion. To mislead 
 the expectations of the British he 
 ordered a detachment of five hun- 
 dred men to advance along that road 
 which was direct to the city from his 
 encampment ; and the feint succeed- 
 ing to impress the opinion that he 
 would approach the same way, the 
 vessels were ranged and the guns 
 pointed as if such in reality had been 
 his intention. But taking a differ- 
 ent course with the main strength of 
 his army, he was jSrst perceived on 
 the Eastern side of the town, too far 
 distant from the flotilla to be reach- 
 ed, and thence pushing forward, was 
 presently in the streets under cover 
 
190 
 
 of tlie houses. Here the temporary 
 batteries gave the troops some annoy- 
 ance, but the oppugnation did not 
 continue long. The governor him- 
 self bearinjj in mind Jackson's decla- 
 ration that " he would not hold him- 
 self responsible for the conduct of 
 his enraged soldiers, unless a peace- 
 able delivery was made/' ran hastily 
 in quest of the General, and in mani- 
 fest agitation of all his sensibilities 
 implored his tenderness — promising 
 to surrender all the forts^ arsenals, 
 and munitions of war, and to do what- 
 ever else might be required. Fort 
 Barrancas, lying fourteen miles be- 
 low the town, could not be safely vi- 
 sited till the other forts were proper- 
 ly secured ; and in the meantime the 
 British destroyed it by explosion, an 
 occurrence which was extremely 
 mortifying. After a lapse of two 
 days the General withdrew his force 
 from Pensacola, and returned to 
 
191 
 
 Mobile. The troops cannot be too 
 highly commended for their mode- 
 rate and correct behaviour while they 
 continued to possess the city. Be- 
 fore he departed, the General ad- 
 dressed a note to governor Manre- 
 quez, laying down specifically the 
 causes wherefore he had entered in- 
 to his province, and concluding thus : 
 " As the Barrancas and the adjacent 
 fortresses have been surrendered to 
 and blown up by the British, contra- 
 ry to the good faith I had reposed in 
 your promises, it is out of my power 
 to protect and guard your neutrality, 
 as otherwise I should have done. 
 The enemy has retreated, the hos- 
 tile Creeks have fled for safety to the 
 forest ; and I now retire from your 
 town, leaving you to re-occupy your 
 forts, and protect the rights of your 
 
 citizens." 
 
 17* 
 
192 
 
 At Mobile he awaited with anx^ 
 ions expectation the arrival of Gen- 
 eral Winchester, that he might in- , 
 vest him with the command there, 
 and set out himself for New Orleans. 
 He directed General Coffee and 
 Colonel Hinds with the dragoons 
 from the territory, to proceed towards 
 New Orleans, and to occupy, as forage 
 might be conveniently procured for 
 the horses, some centrical point 
 whence they might be summonsed 
 with readiness wherever need re- 
 quired. Colonel Hayne, the inspec- 
 tor general, was sent to the mouth of 
 the Mississippi to examine its bank 
 for the purpose of ascertaining 
 whether there was along that river 
 such a commanding position as by 
 the aid of batteries would hinder an 
 ascent, should one be attempted by 
 the enemy there. 
 
 And now, learning that General 
 Winchester had come to the Alaba- 
 
198 
 
 ma river ; on the 22d day of Novem- 
 ber, lie left Mobile, and arrived at 
 New Orleans on the 1st of December. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The British make an Assault on 
 New Orleans; and are overthrown 
 by the defensive contrivances of 
 the General, 
 
 Letters from Pensacola, particu- 
 lai'ly one addressed to Commodore 
 Patterson, announced the arrival of 
 the British armament. The letter 
 addressed to the Commodore, bear- 
 ing date 4th December, stated that 
 a large force of the enemy was de- 
 scried off that port, and that New- 
 Orleans was commonly understood 
 to be the object of attack. The 
 writer proceeded to^say, " it amounts 
 at present to about eighty vessels, 
 and more than double that number 
 are momentarily looked for to form 
 
194 
 
 a junction ; when an immediate com- 
 mencement of their operations will 
 take place, I am not able to learn 
 how, when, or where the attack will 
 be made ; but I understand they have 
 vessels of all descriptions, and a large 
 body of troops. Admiral Cochrane 
 commands; and his ship, the Ton- 
 nant, lies, at this moment, just out- 
 side the bar. They certainly appear 
 to have swept the West Indies of 
 troops, and probably no means will 
 be ieft untried, to obtain their object. 
 The Admiral arrived only yesterday 
 noon." 
 
 Every hour added fresh weight of 
 testimony that the British were at 
 hand, and every day witnessed new 
 exemplifications of our General's 
 industry and care. He was constant- 
 ly engaged in devising measures, or 
 personally employed in the superin- 
 tendence of their execution* 
 
195 
 
 Lieutenant Jones who command- 
 ed the g^un boats, was ordered to 
 watch the motions of the English 
 fleet, which, it had been discovered, 
 Jay off Ship Island, and to oppose 
 with his flotilla, the landing of the 
 enemy. He continued to hover in 
 the vicinity of Ship Island, until the 
 12th of December, when finding that 
 the strength of the British had re- 
 ceived a considerable augmentation, 
 he retired to a station close to Mal- 
 heqreux Isle, whence he could more 
 easily withdraw to the Rigolets, and 
 at the Rigolets he was expressly in- 
 structed to form his boats for battle. 
 Perceiving on the 18th that an attack 
 was about to be made, he lifted his 
 anchors in order to recede to the 
 moorings prescribed. But his aim 
 was defeated by a strong wind that 
 had blown for several days from the 
 lake towards the gulf, which by drift- 
 ing away the water had not only ren- 
 
196 
 
 dcred the deepest parts too shallow 
 to float the vessels, but occasioned 
 an mipetuous current adverse to the 
 proposed navigation. Oarage proving 
 ineffectual, every article of weight 
 that could be spared, was heaved 
 overboard, but to no purpose. Final- 
 ly, however, the tide rescued them 
 from their perilous situation; and 
 they cleared their pursuers, and an- 
 chored at 1 o'clock the next morning 
 on the West passage of Malheureux 
 Isle. Day light appearing, they ob- 
 served the English barges under way 
 towards them, and were again pre- 
 vented from reaching the Rigolets 
 by the same causes which obstructed 
 their attempts the day before. Con- 
 strained to meet or strike to the foe, 
 in the very quarter wherein they 
 were at the time, the best position 
 admissible was taken, and prepara- 
 tions were made for an engagement. 
 The issue of the contest was disas- 
 
197 
 
 trous ; but considering the vast in- 
 equality of strength, tlie fight by no 
 means soiled the honours of the star 
 spangled banner. The British are 
 silent with respect to the amount of 
 the force produced on their side, as if 
 they were themselves persuaded that 
 success rather followed their under- 
 taking than victory crowned theh' en- 
 terprise. 
 
 The General happened to be at 
 the lakes, whither he had gone to 
 survey the works directed to be 
 raised, when accounts were brought 
 to him of this misfortune. He was 
 greatly effected upon hearing it ; for 
 the opportunities of gaining intelli- 
 gence by water, ended with the loss 
 of the flotilla. 
 
 Expresses were sent off* immedi- 
 ately to General Coffee to urge for- 
 ward the Kentucky and Tennessee 
 troops with all possible haste. In 
 his iorcible manner, he said in his 
 
198 
 
 letter to General Coffee, " You must 
 jiot sleep, until you reach me, or ar- 
 rive within striking distance. Your 
 accustomed activity is looked for. 
 Innumerable defiles present them- 
 selves, where your services and rifle- 
 men will be all important. An op- 
 portunity is at hand to reap for your- 
 self and brigade the approbation of 
 your country." General Coffee obey- 
 ed the summons with amazing cele- 
 rity, hastening his march with such 
 expedition, that he formed his en- 
 campmetit within four mdes' distance 
 from New Orleans, in less than five 
 days after the date of the General's 
 communication, which came into his 
 hands while at the intermediate po- 
 sition he had recently taken, upwards 
 of one hundred and thirty miles from 
 the city. With equal speed Colonel 
 Hinds arrived at the head of his 
 dragoons; while General Carroll, 
 having on his route down the Mis- 
 
199 
 
 sissippi overtaken a boat laden with 
 arms, which were now so very much 
 needed, gave no little joy by an- 
 nouncing his advance with that ac- 
 ceptable appendage in his train. 
 
 All the troops, except those of 
 Kentucky had now come forward, 
 and the General had the gratifica- 
 tion to witness the most prompt 
 alacrity evinced by his officers, in 
 meeting his wishes to the full ex- 
 tent. 
 
 But his mind laboured under the 
 most perplexing uneasiness, when he 
 considered the universal apathy which 
 obtained, and the strong reason for 
 suspecting that treason lurked in the 
 hearts of some powerful men. The 
 legislature of the state ha.l decref'd 
 an embargo. The General saw in 
 the act an encroachment, however 
 defensible, upon congressional pow- 
 ers ; and the necessity of the times 
 
 18 
 
200 
 
 which dictated the embargo ap- 
 peared to his contemplation of it, to 
 suggest with equal force the prt prie- 
 ty of rendering the writ of habeas 
 corpus inoperative, during the con- 
 tinuance of this alarming juncture. 
 He had lately received a communi- 
 cation from governor Claibourne, in 
 which, adverting to the course which 
 the General pursued to strike from 
 the hands of the British the in- 
 strument of hostility they had found 
 in Pensacola, his excellency pointed- 
 ly says — " Enemies to the country 
 may blame your prompt and ener- 
 getic measures; but in the person 
 of every patriot you will find a sup- 
 porter. 1 am well aware of the lax 
 police of this city, and indeed of the 
 whole state with respect to strangers. 
 I think with you that our country is 
 filled with traitors and spies. On 
 this subject I have written pressing- 
 ly to the city authorities, and pariih 
 
201 
 
 judges* Some regulations, I hope, 
 will be adopted by the first, and 
 greater vigilance be exercised in fu- 
 ture by the latter.'^ Having found 
 that in this perilous situation of 
 things, when the British were about 
 to land to a certainty, and the point 
 of landing at which to give them op- 
 position alone unknown, when the 
 discontented were longing for the 
 slightest encouragement to become 
 truants to their country, finding that 
 at this very moment, the legislature, 
 instead of coming to a positive con- 
 clusion at once, upon the subject, 
 treated his proposal to suspend the 
 Habeas Corpus, as a theme of decla- 
 mation, he boldly ventured for the 
 public good, to assume the resposi- 
 bility himself, and declared " New 
 Orleans and its environs to be under 
 martial law." It was provided that 
 all persons entering the city, should 
 immediately report themselves to the 
 
202 
 
 Adjutant General ; or failing to do 
 so, be arrested and detained for ex- 
 amination. None were to depart 
 from it, or be suffered to pass beyond 
 the chain of sentinels, but by per- 
 mission from the commanding Gene- 
 ral, or one of the staff: nor was any 
 vessel or craft to be permitted to sail 
 on the river, or the lakes, but by the 
 same authority, or a passport signed 
 by the commander of the naval forces. 
 The lamps were to be extinguished 
 by 9 o'clock at night ; after which 
 time, all persons found in the streets, 
 or from their respective homes, w ith- 
 out permission in writing, signed as 
 above, were to be arrested as spies, 
 and detained for examination. 
 
 If the awful danger to which the 
 land was exposed, be taken into con- 
 sideration, and the discordant opin- 
 ions of a mixed community, by the 
 jarring elements of which, one uni~ 
 versal wreck was threatened, sureh 
 
203 
 
 the candid judgment will decide that 
 the preceding regulations were no, 
 less moderate than necessary. And 
 yet, the legislative body of Louisiana 
 took umbrage against the General, 
 for prescribing these rules of needful 
 austerity, influenced by technical 
 niceties of abstract doctrines, and a 
 captiousness on account of constitu- 
 tional forms, unworthy the good sense 
 of that enlightened assembly. He 
 proclaimed martial law " under a 
 solemn conviction that the country 
 committed to his care, could, by such 
 a measure alone, be saved from utter 
 ruin ; and from a religious belief, 
 that he was performing the most im- 
 portant and sacred duty. By it he 
 intended to supersede such civil pow- 
 ers, as in their operation, interfered 
 with those he was obliged to exercise. 
 He thought, that at such a moment, 
 
 constitutional forms should be sus- 
 
 18* 
 
204 
 
 pended, for the preservation of coH" 
 stitutional rights ; and that there 
 conld be no question, whether it 
 were better to depart, for a moment, 
 from the enjoyment of our dearest 
 privileges, or to have^them wrested 
 from us for ever. 
 
 Thus did our General wake and 
 watch for all — externally fortifying 
 the city, and at the same time, guard- 
 ing it against the internal machina- 
 tions of the ill disposed amongst its 
 own citizens. 
 
 Notwithstanding small gun boats 
 plied the lakes, and scouts were dis- 
 persed in all directions, the British 
 forces landed unperceived, and the 
 first notice of. their debarkation, was 
 the actual discovery of the hostile 
 troops issuing from the swamp and 
 woods, seven miles below the city. 
 
 The General, reflecting that his 
 own soldiers had been well inured 
 to the fatigues of marching, and 
 
205 
 
 were then fresh to undergo them, 
 whilst those of the enemy were spent 
 by the hardships and weariness of 
 navigation, and therefore unfit to 
 exert their usual powers of body, 
 whatever they might be ; and solicit- 
 ous to gain even a slight advantage 
 in the beginning, that his troops might 
 feel their own significance, and drop 
 the superstitious awe with which they 
 might have been impressed by the 
 idea of antagonists used to blood and 
 familiar with victory ; determined 
 to make trial of the invaders the 
 very day he heard of them setting 
 foot on land, which was about 1 
 o'clock in the afternoon of the 23d of 
 December. 
 
 The signal guns were fired and 
 the several divisions of the army 
 drawn together in hurried concen- 
 tration. The rough clangour and 
 military bustle preparatory to going 
 forth to the field of battle, over- 
 
206 
 
 stretched the sensibiHties of the 
 women, who now, unable longer to 
 stifle their apprehensiveness, and 
 restrain their emotions, burst into 
 open sobs or dissolved in tears. 
 The General pitying their distress, 
 curbed his prancing steed and re- 
 quested Mr. Livingston to bid them 
 in the French language, ^' Not to be 
 alarmed," and to tell them " that the 
 enemy should never reach the city*'^ 
 This assurance seemed to give them 
 a charmed life, banished their des- 
 pondency, and stilled the tumult of 
 their palpitating bosoms. 
 
 True to his vow, the General on 
 the eve of that very day, bade saluta- 
 tion to the foe. On the 28th of De- 
 cember also the embodied forces 
 came in sanguinary contact. But 
 on neither occasion was the result 
 decisive. From the day of landing, 
 however, till the end of the nu^nth, 
 sundry rencounters and skirmishes 
 
207 
 
 took place, wherein fortune alternat ed 
 her tavour with wonted versatility. 
 
 The British was encamped two 
 miles below the American army. 
 Nothing interposed to obstruct the 
 view of either, a level plain lying be- 
 tween them both. 
 
 A defective complement of heavy 
 ordnance was the imputed cause of 
 the failure to carry the works on the 
 28th of December, and to remedy 
 that want, occupied the attention of 
 the English during the three follow- 
 ing days. 
 
 The morning of the 1st of January 
 set in with a very thick fog which 
 did not clear away until 9 o'clock. 
 Several batteries were then discern- 
 ed, about six hundred yards distant, 
 mounting eighteen and twenty-four 
 pound carronades, which suddenly 
 opened with a tremendous peal that 
 
208 
 
 rent the air, while congreve rockets 
 hovered in every quarter. 
 
 At the \eYy first sound of cannon, 
 the CiENERAL hastened to the Hne, 
 prepared to make his arrangements 
 as occasions might suggest. The 
 roar of artillery vi^as uninterrupted 
 on both sides until noon, by which 
 time two of the British batteries 
 were nearly beaten down, and many 
 of the guns rendered unavailable, 
 dismounted and useless. The bat- 
 tery which was raised nearest to the 
 river continued in operation till 8 
 o'clock, when the assailants, finding 
 their endeavours to force a breach in 
 the American entrenchments to be 
 altogether impotent, dropped the at- 
 tempt and retired. 
 
 The British commander then or- 
 dered a division of his troops to pass 
 through the woods and make an ef- 
 fort to turn the left of the American 
 line, supposing it to reach to the bor- 
 
209 
 
 ders only of the swamp. But in this 
 he was mistaken. General Coffee's 
 brigade, which occupied the left sta- 
 tion, had been extended into the 
 swamp as far as it was practicable 
 to enter it. Tlie unforeseen elonga- 
 tion of the American line occasioned 
 the British detachment to pause, aud 
 they finally gave up the enterprize. 
 Had the extreme left of the line been 
 turned, a powerful diversion to fa- 
 vour the reserve columns, which 
 were in readiness to be brought for- 
 ward, was expected to ensue, but the 
 formation of that plan by the enemy 
 had not been concealed from the in- 
 tuitive foresight of General Jacksonj 
 nor did he neglect precautionary 
 steps to meet the execution of such 
 a project. 
 
 The heavy shot of the British hav- 
 ing penetrated the entrenchment in 
 many parts, its strength was found 
 less than had been at first supposed. 
 
210 
 
 A'lflitional hales of cotton were there- 
 fore ordered fo be brought a ad j^p- 
 plied. to the embrasures. Among 
 others whose property was made use 
 of at this difficult and indiscrimin- 
 ating crisis, was a French trader, the 
 sensibiHties of whom were deeply 
 affected through apprehension of the 
 damage that might befal his cotton. 
 His concern impelled him to go be- 
 fore the General, and desire that his 
 goods might be delivered back to 
 him. Understanding that at this 
 alarming juncture, when it behoved 
 all to appear in arms, the trader 
 was engaged in the performance of 
 no military service whatever, and 
 that he was a person of great pos- 
 sessions in the, city, the General or- 
 dered a bystander to put a musket 
 in the applicant's hand, and himself 
 to join the line, declaring that none 
 were better entitled than the owners 
 of property to fight in defence of it 
 
211 
 
 Meanwliile the British withdrew 
 to their encampment, in expectation 
 of being reinforced ; and the Ken- 
 tucky troops were looked for every 
 hour at New Orleans ; so that pre- 
 parations were busily made on either 
 side, and prognosticated the near ap- 
 proach of an awful time. 
 
 The American army was posted 
 behind an entrenchment, formed of 
 earth, and extended in a straight 
 line from the river a considerable 
 distance into the swamp. In the 
 front of it was a deep ditch which 
 had been used previously as a mill- 
 race. It was at that time dry to- 
 wards the Mississippi, the river hav- 
 ing receded, but collections of water 
 still remained in many parts of it. 
 Guns of different calibre, from six to 
 thirty-two pounders, were mounted 
 along the line, at unequal distances, 
 
 to the centre of General Carroll's 
 19 
 
212 
 
 division. In advance of the entrench- 
 ment and close to the river-side, a 
 redoubt was erected with embra- 
 sures, commandinsf the road along 
 the levee and capable of raking the 
 ditch in front. General Morsfan 
 had been ordered on the 24th of 
 December, to cross the Mississippi 
 and occupy the right or Western 
 bank ; for the General stretched his 
 defence to the right bank also of the 
 river, apprehensive lest the city 
 should be attempted through Barra- 
 taria. His greatest fears, next to 
 what visited his mind on account of 
 his own position where he stationed 
 the troops that most needed encour- 
 agement, were excited for the posi- 
 tion on the Chef Menteur road, oc- 
 cupied by Governor Claiborne, at 
 the head of the Louisiana militia, 
 and therefore he took the most in- 
 terested care in defending it. The 
 same plan was followed in disposing 
 
213 
 
 the line on the right, as had been 
 adopted in arranging the left, lower 
 down than that on the left, and ex- 
 tending to the swamp at a right an- 
 gle with the river. 
 
 About two miles in the rear of this 
 line of defence, the General had laid 
 out another, intended to constitute 
 a rallying point, should he be con- 
 strained to retire from the first. 
 And he expected to reach this se- 
 cond line of defence without materi- 
 al loss by means of the cavalry giving 
 a momentary check to the progress 
 of the advancing enemy. Superior 
 advantages attached to this position 
 likewise. 
 
 Both to present a commanding 
 front to the British, and encourage 
 his own troops, he placed in the rear 
 line for a display all the unarmed 
 men, who made no small nuoiber; 
 and strictly interdicting all communi- 
 cation between tl*e lines, unless 
 
214 
 
 through confidential officers, disguis* 
 ed his weakness from the enemy, and 
 even in his own Hnes an ignorance 
 respecting it. 
 
 On 'the 4th of January the troops 
 from Kentucky arrived at head-quar- 
 ters, under the command of General 
 Thomas. They amounted to up- 
 wards of twentv-two hundred men. 
 but the wretched state of their* ap- 
 pointments diminished very much 
 the real benefit of their acquisition. 
 The forwardness with which the ci- 
 tizens of Kentucky obeyed the first 
 summons to arms, and entered into 
 the North Western campaigns, un- 
 happily exhausted in the course of 
 their disasters the armory of the State. 
 But they nevertheless proceeded on 
 to New Orleans, expecting to be sup- 
 plied upon arriving there. About 
 five hundred of them had serviceable 
 muskets, but the guns which the 
 others had brought along with them 
 
215 
 
 n*e unfit for any beneficial applica- 
 »n. The Louisiana militia came 
 less destitute of arms ; so that 
 hough the mayor, at the instance 
 " the General, had brought into re- 
 / isition every instrument that could 
 / diet a wound, wherever to be found 
 roughout the city, the deficiency 
 / y beyond the remedial power of 
 esent means to repair it. Every 
 3dy knew that a boat was on the 
 tver, laden with arms intended for 
 he use of the lower country, but no- 
 3ody knew where it was then, nor 
 when it would come. Full three 
 hundred miles up the river was the 
 boat sought, to hurry her on, still 
 there was no account of the boat. 
 General Jackson was deeply affected 
 at seeing so many gallant spirits 
 obliged to remain unemployed at so 
 critical a time. All that he could do 
 was to range them at his entrench- 
 
 19* 
 
216 
 
 ment in the rear, and by their niJ 
 mercial exhibition, swell the concep. 
 tton of his streuffth. 
 
 General Lambert had now brought 
 a strong reinforcement to the British 
 camp, and some effort of consequence 
 was therefore expected to be made. 
 It became more necessary than be- 
 fore to hide the unarmed condition of 
 the troops, and none but very particu- 
 ar persons were allowed to quit the 
 line, or to hold communication with 
 It. The sentinels in front were in- 
 creased to prevent the escape of de- 
 serters, and the utmost vigilance and 
 circumspection observed, the expe 
 diency of concealment being render- 
 ed still greater as the danger more 
 nearly approached. But notwith- 
 standing all this precaution, a sol- 
 dier contrived, on the evening of the 
 6th to pass to the British camp, and 
 by him the enemy were made ac 
 quainted as to the defenceless situa- 
 
217 
 
 Ition of the force which had recently 
 joined the army, and learning, no 
 [doubt from the same informant, that 
 I the centre of General Carroll's divi- 
 i sion was composed altogether of mi- 
 litia, they resolved upon that pomt 
 to press their attack. 
 
 Some prisoners, who had been 
 talien on the lake, reported that a 
 number of British soldiers were kept 
 constantly at work on Villery's canal 
 to deepen it sufficiently for the trans- 
 portation of ordnance to the Missis- 
 sippi. Along the canal, companies 
 were marched in constant succession 
 back and forwards, to conceal those 
 who were busily working in the rear. 
 Doubt, however, upon this subject 
 was removed by the actual discovery 
 of the fact. For Commodore Pat- 
 terson having proceeded down the 
 river on the opposite side, took a 
 favourable position, whence he dis- 
 tinctly saw the operation going on. 
 
218 
 
 There could be no question but that 
 It was intended to attack the line of 
 defence under General Morgan ; and 
 if success followed that essay, the 
 troops on the left being totally ex- 
 posed to the fire of the redoubt con- 
 structed on the right, would be driv- 
 en from the ground they occupied. 
 An additional strength was therefore 
 given to this line, that danger so 
 momentous might be contravened. 
 The second regiment of Louisiana 
 militia, and four hundred of the 
 Kentucky, were ordered across to 
 sustain it. Much delay was occa- 
 sioned by the difficulty of providing 
 arms for them, so that of the four 
 hundred Kentucky militia one hun- 
 dred and eighty only were actually 
 sent, and these did not arrive until 
 the morning of the 8th. Upon ar- 
 riving they were immediately march- 
 ed on to support an advanced party 
 ander Major Arnaud, that had pro- 
 
219 
 
 ceeded to watch the enemy's mo- 
 tions, and prevent then* landing. No 
 opposition, however, had been given 
 at the proper time by Major Ar- 
 naud's detachment, and the British 
 quietly debarked. General Mor- 
 gan's position, besides being strength- 
 ened by several brass twelves, was 
 fortified by a battery mounting twen- 
 ty-four pounders, which was under 
 the management of Commodore 
 Patterson, and considerably aug- 
 mented the means of defence. The 
 line itself was not very strong, but 
 if the troops that composed it per* 
 formed their duty vigorously, compe- 
 tent enough to make an effectual 
 resistance. Late in the night the 
 Commodore ascertained that the 
 boats had passed through the canal, 
 and he forthwith communicated to tl^e 
 General, news of the event. It first 
 struck the Commodore to drop the 
 schooner Louisiana down the river 
 
220 
 
 for the purpose of sinking them ; 
 but fearing lest she should be blown 
 up by hot shot discharged from the 
 batteries along the river, he did not 
 execute the plan. Under the im- 
 pression, therefore, that the firmness 
 of the troops which amounted to fif- 
 teen hundred, aided by the line of 
 defence, would baffle the contem- 
 plated aggression, the coming of the 
 enemy was calmly awaited. 
 
 The General himself, who took 
 charge of the left bank, was in rea- 
 diness to repel an assault there when- 
 ever it might be attempted. Lieu- 
 tenant Ross, with a company of the 
 7th regiment^ was stationed to pro- 
 tect the redoubt on the levee. That 
 part of the entrenchment which lay 
 nearest to the river was occupied by 
 the regular troops. General Car- 
 roll's division was in the centre, sup- 
 ported by the Kentucky militia un- 
 der General John Adair ; while the 
 
221 
 
 extreme left of the line was guarded 
 by General Coffee's brigade, drawn 
 out a considerable distance into the 
 swamp. The moment of making 
 the attack was matter of uncertainty ; 
 but all appearances indicated that 
 the time was approaching nigh. The 
 great activity which pervaded the 
 British camp, the fascines and scaling 
 ladders which were seen in prepara- 
 tion united to their efforts to propel 
 the boats into the Mississippi, pre- 
 dicted the speedy developement of a 
 decisive enterprize. The General 
 was incessant in his application, to- 
 tally engrossed by the business be- 
 fore him, he was steadily at his post, 
 and spent little time in the refection 
 of his body. He doubled the senti- 
 nels and stretched forward their 
 train as nigh to the British line as 
 safety would admit. A considerable 
 portion of the army was ranged in 
 due order, with arms in their hands, 
 
222 
 
 ready for action at the shortest no- 
 tice. 
 
 The troops of both nations had 
 now occupied the same plain in sight 
 of each other for eight days. 
 
 At early dawn on the morning of 
 the 8th of January, a sky-rocket was 
 observed ascending from the left of 
 the enemy, and immediately after a 
 second was thrown from the right, 
 by the river side. These signals in- 
 timated that all was in readiness to 
 move. Presently the whole sky was 
 illuminated with a discharge of rock- 
 ets. Bombs and balls were poured 
 in thick succession from the batter- 
 ies, which had been re-constructed 
 the night before, and mounted with 
 heavy pieces of ordnance. Mean- 
 time the two divisions, commanded 
 by Sir Edward Packenham in per- 
 son, supported by the Generals 
 Keane and Gibbs, pressed forward, 
 the right against the centre of Gen- 
 
22S 
 
 eral Carroll's division, and the left 
 against our redoubt on the levee. 
 From the haziness of the atmosphere 
 they advanced unperceived within a 
 short distance of the entrencinnent. 
 They approached with a firm, quick 
 and steady pace, in column, having a 
 front sixty or seventy deep. As soon 
 as they appeared, the American army 
 gave three cheers; and the whole line 
 blazed in a moment, llie front of the 
 enemy was swept by the unerring aim 
 of the artillery and the destructive 
 fire of the muskets, which played 
 upon them without the least inter- 
 mission, for as one party discharged 
 their pieces, another came in their 
 place, there was no cessation, and ihe 
 whole was one continued volley. 
 Battery No. 7, on the left was ef- 
 fectively served by Lieutenant Spotts, 
 who kept up ac(mstani fire that pro- 
 duced great execution. And the 
 20 
 
224 
 
 batteries, Nos. 6 and 8, were also 
 worked in steady and fatal operation. 
 But notwithstanding the deadly rage 
 of our fire, some of those valiant men 
 pressed on, and succeeded in gaining 
 the ditch m iront of the works, where 
 they remained during the action, and 
 were afterwards taken prisoners* 
 At length the British troops began to 
 hesitate, and waver in their determin- 
 ation. Whereupon Sir Edward 
 Packenham hastened to the front, 
 and endeavoured to rouse their de- 
 clining courage to renewed activity. 
 The brave commander was suffered 
 to hold his perilous post but a very 
 short time. Near the American 
 line he received a mortal wound, and 
 sunk in death on the arm of his aid 
 de camp. 
 
 Upon the fall of Sir Edward Pack- 
 enham, the Generals Keane and 
 Gibbs succe^isively took the com- 
 mand; but they were both severely 
 
225 
 
 wounded very soon after, and borne 
 from the field. Meanwhile General 
 Lambert, who was coming on with 
 the reserve, met the troops retreating 
 precipitately, and in great disorder. 
 All his endeavours to stop them were 
 attended with no effect. They con- 
 tinued their flight to a distance of 
 four hundred yards, where a trench 
 affording a temporary protection, 
 the General contrived to rally them. 
 The ground that lay before them was 
 strewed with the bodies of the dead, 
 or men writhing in the agonies of 
 death, yet encouraged and impel- 
 led by the exhortations and authority 
 of their officers, they advanced to the 
 charge a second time. Attempting 
 to deploy, as soon as they had ap- 
 proached near enough for that pur- 
 pose, a fire, no less destructive than 
 what they experienced upon their 
 first assault, was opened upon them 
 and arrested their progress. Our 
 
226 
 
 batteries had been continued in ac- 
 tive employment without the sHghtest 
 intermission; and the grape and can- 
 nister supported by the discharges 
 of the musketry, prostrated the front 
 of the columns as fast as they could 
 be formed. Appalled by the fright- 
 ful scene around them, and sensible 
 that they had gained no advantage 
 by the dangers already encountered, 
 they shiunk back, confounded and 
 dismayed. Thus did the Kentucky 
 and Tenessee militia repel ihe ad- 
 vancing divisions of the enemy, and 
 force them to quit the field amidst 
 prodigious carnage. 
 
 The light companies of fusileers, 
 the 43d and 98d regiments, and a 
 liundred men from the West India 
 regiment, were ordered to proceed 
 under Colonel Rennie, taking the 
 shelter of some chimneys that stood 
 in the field, and then clearing them, 
 to oblique to the river, and if practi- 
 
227 
 
 cable carry the redoubt on the right. 
 Colonel Rennie exhibited the utmost 
 skill and manliness in the perform- 
 ance of his task. Although he met 
 with a smart reception from Com- 
 modore Patterson's battery on the 
 left bank, and the cannon with which 
 the redoubt was mounted, he reach- 
 ed the works notwithstanding, and 
 having crossed the ditch, he boldly 
 sprung upon the wall, sword in hand, 
 bidding his troops to follow him: but 
 scarcely were the words articulated 
 when he was covered and taken 
 down by the rifles. His party how- 
 ever urging on, mounted the wall and 
 entered at the embrasures in such 
 force, that our troops, unable to 
 withstand them retreated behind the 
 redoubt. The instant General Jack- 
 son learned that the redoubt had 
 been carried, he hastened a r,ein- 
 
 forcement to the right, to aid in it|s 
 
 21* 
 
228 
 
 recovery; but before they arrived, the 
 British seeing their right division 
 routed, and driven with precipitation 
 from the field, considered their ac- 
 quisition to be now untenable, and 
 of no use, and therefore relinquished 
 the redoubt to eschew the fruitless 
 disasters that might follow an idle at- 
 tempt to defend it. In this retreat 
 they suffered very severely from 
 Commodore Patterson's guns on 
 the right bank, which enfiladed them 
 also as they were advancing. Trains 
 indeed of lifeless bodies marked 
 their course to and from the redoubt. 
 Fiercely galled as they were, they 
 turned to the ditch whither the right 
 division had already withdrawn, and 
 remained there until night covered 
 their return to camp. 
 
 But while the unsuccessful attempt 
 wa§ made to carry our line of de- 
 fence on the left, an assault to second 
 and support it was directed against 
 
229 
 
 the rio'ht bank by a detachment of 
 eight hundred men, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Thornton. The 
 difficulty of passing the boats from 
 the canal to the river, and after that 
 was surmounted, the strong current 
 of the Mississippi retarded the troops 
 for some hours beyond the time at 
 which they were expected to land. 
 The flashes however of the guns 
 having intimated the commencement 
 of action on the left, the Colonel set 
 forward with all expedition towards 
 the entrenched position of General 
 Morgan. Two hundred of the Lou- 
 isiana militia, the detachment (al- 
 ready noticed) under Major Arnaud, 
 had been ordered by General 
 Jackson, for the General as we 
 have seen, had anticipated such a 
 project, to repair to the Mississippi, 
 and watchfully passing down the 
 water side, observe the motions of 
 the British, and hinder their debark- 
 
230 
 
 ation if they should offer to make 
 one. These two hundred Louisia- 
 nians were indulged by the major, 
 when they had marched along the 
 river about a mile, with permission 
 to halt, He down and take repose; 
 and to provide against incidental 
 surprise, he appointed a single per- 
 son only to keep watch, deeming 
 perhaps the General over-nervous in 
 his apprehensions. At day-break 
 the wakeful sentinel roused his slum- 
 bering companions, and in a tone of 
 much amazement, told them that he 
 distinctly heard a great bustle going 
 forward a httle below. Restored to 
 their senses, they unanimously agreed 
 that the man indeed had spoken no- 
 thing but the truth, and immediately 
 moved off the same way they had 
 come, without once attempting the 
 bu^^iiies^ of their mission. Mearuime, 
 about 5 o'clock in the morning, a 
 like number of Kentucky mihtia had 
 
231 
 
 arrived at General Morgan's line, and 
 been despatched (as was said before) 
 to second the Louisiana detachmciit. 
 Proceeding three quarters of a mile, 
 they had the mortification to meet 
 the Louisianians coming hastily up 
 the road with news that the British 
 troops had made a lamiing, and were 
 then ascending the levee at a rapid 
 pace. Major Davis, who command- 
 ed the Kentuckians, affirmed the 
 purport of the orders given him, and 
 declared his intention with the pre- 
 sent united force, to thwart the pro- 
 gress of the assailants. Some plank 
 and scantling that happened to lie 
 on the border of a saw-mill race, 
 promised a shelter, and behind it he 
 disposed the Kentucky militia on the 
 road adjoining the river. The mili- 
 tia of Louisiana occupied the right. 
 Here a check was given to the ad- 
 vance of the British, and they reced- 
 ed a little; and again pressing for^ 
 
232 
 
 ward to the charge, met again with a 
 spirited opposition. But General 
 Morgan's aid-de-camp, who was pre- 
 sent, becoming alarmed for the safe- 
 ty of the troops, imprudently ordered 
 a retreat ; which bringing on per- 
 plexity and disorder, the whole body 
 fled away to the entrenchment of 
 General Morgan, which they gained 
 without suffering loss indeed, but 
 exceedingly spent by the precipitate- 
 iiess of their flight. Upon reaching 
 the line they were instantly formed, 
 and stretched out to the swamp, for 
 the purpose of maintaining the right 
 of theentrencement. Colonel Thorn- 
 ton halted at an orange grove to take 
 a survey of the hne, and discovered 
 it "to consist of a formidable redoubt 
 on the river," and that its penetrable 
 and weakest point was that adjoining 
 the swamp. The entrenchment was 
 defended by about fifteen hundred 
 men, and upon it he made a most 
 
238 
 
 vigorous charge, dejjloying as soon 
 as lic^ liarl atteuipted in two divisions 
 the extre lie ri^ht and centre of the 
 Hne. His right division was annoyed 
 very sha ply by the field pieces 
 mounted a;ong our works, and was 
 compelled to oblique, whereupon 
 uidting with the left division, a jomt 
 attack was made upon the extreme 
 right of the line, the position occu- 
 pied by the Kentucky militia. Co- 
 lonel Thornton had discovered this 
 point to be the most assailable ; it was 
 unsupported by cannon,it was protect- 
 ed by a very slight ditch, and the hun- 
 dred and eighty Kentucky militia men, 
 whose station it was, were extended 
 to the length of three hundred yards. 
 It 4s therefore no subject for surprise 
 that seeing their open exposure to 
 the press of superior numbers^ they 
 should regard their means of defend- 
 ing it, inadequate to maintain their 
 ground. They did give way, gradii- 
 
234 
 
 a)!)^ at first, and a total discomfiture 
 piesentl, ensued. The Louisiana 
 militia after discharging a few volleys 
 were likewise j.ut to the rout. By 
 dint of great exertion their oilicers 
 arrested their fiight; but a discharge 
 of congreve rockets, having burst 
 among them, and set fire to the sugar 
 canes and other combustible mate- 
 rials in the place, filled them with 
 terror and dii^may. A precipitate 
 retreat was the consequence. Nor 
 could they be stopped, until, at tiie 
 distance of two miles, a saw-mill race, 
 offered them protection, where th* y 
 were rallied and reduced to order. 
 
 Had the Kentucky and Louisiana 
 militia been able to maintain their 
 station for a short time longer, great 
 assistance would have been rendered 
 them by the co-operation of Conmo- 
 dore Patterson, who taking notice 
 that the right of General Morgan's 
 line was thus sorely pressed, forbore 
 
to harass the retreating columns on 
 the opposite bank, and pointed his 
 guns so as to enfilade the enemy at 
 the parts nearest the swamp. But no 
 sooner was he enabled to adminis- 
 ter active aid, than he found the 
 troops of the right extremity in a 
 state of utter confusion. Marred in 
 his expectations, and besides, too 
 much exposed now to keep his situa- 
 tion, he spiked the guns, and de- 
 stroying the ammunition, withdrew 
 from the place. 
 
 In this manner was the lustre of 
 our brilliant achievement on one 
 side of the river, dimmed by the re- 
 verse that befel our arms on the 
 other, A position most advantageous 
 was gained by the enemy which laid 
 our whole line on the left bank open 
 to their fire; and ii^leed if Commo- 
 dore Patterson had neglected to 
 spike his cannon, and destroy the 
 
 21 
 
236 
 
 animunitioii, Colonel Thoi iiton would 
 have possessed the means of enfilad- 
 ing our line of defence completely, 
 and rendering ineffectual our most 
 skilful and strenuous efforts to main- 
 tain it. General Jackson, lest the 
 guns should be unspikecl, hastened 
 to send detachments across, and en- 
 joined them to retake the post at 
 every hazard. He forwarded also 
 an address to the troops on the right 
 bank, to awaken their gallantry and 
 incite them to such noble feats of 
 bravery as might expunge the blot 
 which had recently dashed their 
 character. Doubtless the faulty ar- 
 rangement of the militia, and their 
 perilous and helpless situation, were 
 unknown to the general at the time of 
 inditing: it: Misinfornialiou furnish- 
 ed from a quarter whence the truth 
 should have been revealed, for there it 
 was certainly known, produced a re- 
 monstrance, thus strongly conveyed : 
 
237 
 
 " While, by the blessing of heaven, one of the 
 most brilliant victories was obtained by the troops 
 under my immediate command, no words can ex- 
 press the mortification I felt, at witnessing tlie 
 scene exhibited on the opposite bank. I will 
 spare your feelings and my own, nor enter into 
 detail on the subject. To all who reflect, it must 
 be a source of eternal regret, that a few moments' 
 exertion of that courage you certainly possess, 
 was alone wanting to have rendered your success 
 more complete than that of your fellow-citizens 
 in this camp. To what cause was the abandon- 
 ment of your lines owing.^ To fear.'' No! You are 
 the countrymen, the friends, the brothers of those 
 who have secured to themselves, by their cou- 
 rage, the gratitude of their country; who have 
 been prodigal of their blood in its defence, and who 
 are strangers to any other fear than that of disgrace, 
 to disaffection to our glorious cause? No, my 
 countrymen, your General does justice to the pure 
 sentiments by which you are inspired. How 
 then could brave men, firm in the cause in wdiich 
 they were enrolled, neglect their first duty, and 
 abandon the post committed to their care.'' The 
 want of discipline, the want of order, a total dis- 
 regard to obedience, and a spirit of insubordina- 
 tion, not less destructive than cowardice itself, 
 are the causes which led to this disaster, and 
 they must be eradicated, or I must cease to com- 
 mand. I desire to be distinctly understood, that 
 
238 
 
 every breach of orders, all want of discipline, 
 every inattention of duty, will be seriously and 
 promptly punished; that the attentive officers, 
 and good soldiers, may not be mentioned in the 
 disgrace and danger which the negligence of a 
 few may produce. Soldiers! You wantonly the 
 will, in order to emulate the glory of your fellow- 
 citizens on this bank of the river — you have the 
 same motives for acticir, the same interest, the 
 same country to protect; and you have an addi- 
 tional interest, from past events, to wipe off re- 
 proach, and show that you will not be inferior, 
 in the day of trial, to any of your countrymen. 
 
 But remember! Without obedience, without 
 order, without discipline, all your efforts are vain. 
 The brave man, inattentive to his duty, is worth 
 little more to his country than the coward who 
 deserts her in the hour of danger. Private opin- 
 ions, as to the competency of officers, must not 
 be indulged, and still less expressed; it is impos- 
 sible that the measures of those who command 
 should satisfy all who are bound to obey; and 
 one of the most dangerous faults in a soldier, is a 
 disposition to criticise and blame the orders and 
 characters of his superiors. Soldiers! I know 
 that many of you have done your duty; and I 
 trust, in future, 1 shall have no reason to make 
 any exception. Officers! I have the fullest con- 
 fidence that you will enforce obedience to your 
 commands; but, above all, that by subordination 
 
239 
 
 in your difterent grades, you will set an example 
 to your men; and that, hereafter, the army of the 
 right will yield to none in the essential qualities 
 which characterize good soldiers; that they will 
 earn their share of those honours and rewards 
 which their country will prepare for its deliver- 
 ers." 
 
 Very soon after the reinforcement was ordered 
 across to aid in the recover}^ of General Mor- 
 gan's position, a communication was delivered 
 from General Lambert, on whom had now de- 
 volved the chief command of the British forces, 
 ^vlierein he courteously acknowledged to have 
 witnessed himself, the tenderness shown his 
 wounded men by the American troops, and ad- 
 dressing the liberal humanity of General Jack- 
 son, requested leave for an unarmed party to 
 inter the dead that lay before his line, and re- 
 move those dangerously wounded for the benefit 
 of surgical attendance. General Jackson grant- 
 ed the prayer of the request absolutely with' 
 respect to such as were farther than three hun- 
 dred yards distant from the line; but considering 
 it unsafe to allow the enemy an access near 
 enough for remarking the particular condition of 
 his entrenchment, he only so far complied with 
 respect to those within that distance, as to pro- 
 mise the comforts and attentions to the wounded 
 which their pitiable condition required, and that 
 21* 
 
240 
 
 tlie dead should be consigned to their count i^men 
 for burial, from American bands. At noon a 
 second message was received from General I^am- 
 ]>ert, proposing a cessation of hostilities for 
 Uventy-four hours, that an interval of uninter- 
 lupted security might be obtained for dressing 
 the wounds of his soldiers. General Jackson 
 immediately framed an armistice, and sending it 
 forward to General Lambert, desired that if it 
 received his approbation at all, it should be 
 ratified at once, and interchanged without the 
 least delay. A stipulation was inserted in the 
 armistice that hostilities should be discontinued 
 on the left bank during the time specified, but 
 tliat on the right bank they should «of, and that- 
 during the interim succour should not be sent 
 ncross by either party, under any pretext what- 
 rvev. The armistice indeed was finally conclud- 
 ed, but notification of its acceptance was defer- 
 red till the r^ext morning, although General 
 Jackson had so expressly mentioned his desire 
 10 have it expedited. General Lambert^s apolo- 
 i-y for the procrastination was quite common- 
 ])lace: but his tardiness favoured General Jack- 
 son's purpose too well for stickling at punctilios 
 about its justification. 
 
 Great men sometimes descend to little things; 
 and stratagem during seasons of war seems to be 
 disrobed of its habitual meanness. There wais 
 })erhaps in the management of this affair a slant 
 
241 
 
 towards deception, on the part of both command- 
 ers. General Jackson expected that the rein- 
 forcement lie had despatched to assist General 
 Morgan would have crossed the river before the 
 armistice could reach General Lambert, which 
 indeed they had not at that time effected; or else, 
 that General Lambert apprehensive for the safe- 
 ty of Colonel Thornton's detachment would 
 postpone an answer until these troops could be 
 recrossed; and on the other hand, General Lam- 
 bert designedly retarded his answer, with the 
 view that Colonel Thornton might be rescued 
 from his critical situation, as he had reason to 
 suppose it to be. And in the mean time Colonel 
 Thornton's troops leere brought over, and General 
 Morgan took qu'.et possession of his original 
 stand. The cards wxre artfully played on both 
 sides, but the benefit of the deal was entirely the 
 General's own. 
 
 On the morning of the ^th the armistice was 
 accordingly concluded5 and its operation was to 
 last till 2 o'clock in the afternoon. In pursuance 
 of its provisions, hostilities were forborne; and 
 the British came and took themselves the dead 
 and wounded at the distance of three hundred 
 yards from the American entrenchment, our troops 
 delivering all that were inside of that space, a 
 precaution adopted, for the reason already as- 
 signed — that the actual state of our means of de- 
 fence might not be subject to the enemy's inspee- 
 
242 
 
 tion. No scruple was made to the surrender of 
 the wounded men that were found within those 
 limits, because they were physically unable, and 
 too much discomposed in mind by their pains, to 
 make any nice observations; and wherever our 
 own security is not endangered, the sympathies 
 of our common nature prompt us to acts of ten- 
 derness and mercy. 
 
 A discrepancy in the computation returned of 
 the Eritisli loss in this disastrous failure has left 
 the exact amount of it controvertible to this day, 
 but certain it is that they suflered most sev^erely. 
 General Lambert in his report to the British Se- 
 cretary at War, estimates the killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners at two thousand and seventy; while 
 Colonel Hayne, the Inspector General, lengthens 
 the list by five hundred and thirty more. If one 
 ma} be guided by the information of prisoners, 
 and by considerations that give a strong colouring 
 to conjecture, the number might be rated still 
 higher. But this loss, tremendous enough ab- 
 stractedly by itself, strikes the mind with addi- 
 tional amazement when viewed in juxta-position 
 with that of our own troops, who, guarded by the 
 wise arrangements of our consummate General, 
 suffered in killed and wounded, a bare diminution 
 of thirteen men. 
 
 The threatening attitude of the British army 
 was now changed into a posture of defence; and 
 they were now observed to be raising temporary 
 
243 
 
 structures for their pi ot(3ction. Our General, 
 however, still continued to devise plans of pre- 
 caution, (ever studious as he was of safety,) and 
 to add to the strength of his fortifications. De- 
 fensive measures solicited his attention the more 
 forcibly throug^h the information he received, 
 that a powerful squadron had passed the Balize, 
 and having taken prisoners a detachment on that 
 station, was directing its course up the Missis- 
 sippi. This armament, he readily conceived, 
 had been designed to help the unfortunate assault 
 of the 8th, and now that it was coming, he knew 
 not but General Lambert might be inspirited to 
 venture the issue of a second trial. For, notwith- 
 standing the sanguinary defeat he had met with on 
 the left bank, General Lambert had still at his 
 command a formidable force that might very well 
 justify him in calculating yet upon a contingent 
 success. Fourteen thousand men had been land- 
 ed in Louisiana. Of these, sickness had disquali- 
 fied many for a discharge of active duty, and 
 some were maimed or cut off in previous actions. 
 However, the most feasible accounts give him 
 nine thousand at commencing the assault upon 
 the left bank, and General Jackson three thousand 
 seven hundred effective troops only, wherewithal 
 to repel it. So that although General Lambert's 
 prospects were greatly impaired, the enterprize 
 had not become utterly hopeless, nor had New 
 Orleans attained a sure exemption from danger. 
 
244 
 
 A loud cannonading heard from that quarter OB^ 
 the 11 th, announced that the reported squadron 
 was directing its fire on Fort St. Philip to open 
 its passage to the city. Already had the General 
 with his accustomed providence secured the 
 strength of the fort, and given scope for the exer- 
 tion of its local capacity to intercept any approach 
 to New Orleans, by the inlet of which it forms 
 the barrier. Early on the morning of the Oth, 
 Major Overton, who commanded Fort St. Philip, 
 was apprized by signals from the videttes of 
 Fort Bourbon, that the squadron, consisting of 
 two bomb vessels, a brig, a sloop, and a schooner, 
 were proceeding up the river; and preparations 
 were thereupon instantly made to prevent their 
 transnavigation. About 10 o'clock of the same 
 day, the assault was commenced and continued 
 for nine days with little intermission; but the 
 fortress being found impregnable in hands of 
 so skilful and courageous, and as without its 
 reduction a passage to the city could not be made, 
 further prolongation of the bombardment was 
 deemed useless, and therefore the squadron re- 
 tired. 
 
 General Lambert's situation was now extreme- 
 ly irksome. Whatever expectations he might 
 have cherished of being in a condition to renew 
 immediate hostilities against New Orleans, were 
 supplanted by the disappointment which had just 
 overtaken his naval force. Not a day passed 
 
245 
 
 that did not bring him annoyance. Ever since 
 the 8th, bombs were thrown into his camp from 
 time to time, and our batteries kept, in continual 
 play, suffered no party of his troops to go abroad 
 into the open air, without inflicting upon them 
 more or less injury. All things admonished him 
 to withdraw his army, and relinquish for the pre- 
 sent, operations against New Orleans. 
 
 Impediments to his march being removed, 
 bridges thrown across the pools and rivulets to 
 expedite it, and redoubts constructed to guard 
 against molestation in its progress. General Lam- 
 bert in the silence of the night left his encamp- 
 ment; and completing in safety his march to the 
 lake, had the troops conveyed in boats to the ves- 
 sels in the gulf. Eighty of the soldiers were too 
 precariously wounded to undergo disturbance, 
 and these of necessity remained in the camp. 
 
 Bustle and noise were so heed fully prevented, 
 that the very outposts of the American army took 
 no notice of the departure. When the morning's 
 sun diffused its light, and revealed the desertion 
 of the hostile camp; our general commanded re- 
 connoitering parties to go forth and explore the 
 meaning of this strange occurrence. Just as the 
 detachments were setting out, Surgeon Wadsdale 
 of the staff, arrived at the line with a communica- 
 tion from General Lambert, informing General 
 Jackson that "for the present, all further opera- 
 tions against New Orleans" should be w^ithheld. 
 
246 
 
 and commending to General Jackson's hospitality 
 and wonted kindness, the eighty invalids whom 
 he was constrained to leave behind him. The 
 detachments were then ordered to proceed, and 
 harass the enemy's rear if they were seriously 
 making a retreat. They found the enemy indeed 
 retreating, but the route was strongly protected, 
 and no efforts to interrupt it could prove suc- 
 cessful. A pursuit of the British, as they were 
 on the way to their ships, by the main body of 
 the American troops, might have diminished their 
 strength, but it must also have enfeebled our own; 
 and General Jackson was not one of those lottery 
 captains who incur certain loss for the chance of 
 incidental advantage. Some advantages at the 
 best but partial, may in the end produce no bene- 
 fit, and this was one of them. 
 
 On the 20th, the General returned with his 
 troops to New Orleans. He was received by 
 the inhabitants with joyous welcome. Amongst 
 anv people tiie arrival of a great public bene- 
 factor never Jails to call forth demonstrations 
 of earty gratulation; let the fancy then strain 
 her powers to conceive the greetings paid our 
 hero as he entered in that special character, a 
 city inhabited by the Sons and Daughters of the 
 graces, whose very dislike never comes abroad 
 in the garb of a slattern, whose gayety im[)arts a 
 gleam of cheerfulness to illumine the darkness of 
 
247 
 
 sorrow, and cajoles miscarriage of one half its 
 chagTin. 
 
 At the instance of the General, the 23d was 
 appointed, and kept accordingly, a day of solemn 
 thanksgiving to Heaven for the signal manifesta- 
 tion of Divine Providence, in averting threatened 
 calamities from the people, interposing an all 
 powerful arm to succour and defend the city, and 
 driving far away to the deep, the men of war who 
 had come against it. A long procession advanced 
 to the temple of God to send forth effusions of 
 their praise and grateful benediction. In the 
 midst appeared our General, the gvedit Jlstyanax. 
 At the entrance to the cathedral he was met by 
 the Reverend Mr. Duborg, Administrator Apos- 
 tolic of the Louisiana Diocess, who addressed 
 him in these impressive strains: 
 
 "General, — While the state of Louisiana, ia 
 the joyful transports of her gratitude, hails you as 
 lier deliverer, and the asserter of her menaced 
 liberties — while grateful America, so lately wrap- 
 ped up in anxious suspense, ou the fate of this 
 important city, is re-echoing from shore to shore 
 your splendid achievements, and preparing to 
 inscribe your name on her immortal rolls, among 
 those of her Washingtons — while history, poetry, 
 and tfie monumental arts, will vie in consigning 
 to the admiration of the latest posterity, a ''^^'umph 
 perhaps unparalleled in their records — while thus 
 
248- 
 
 raised, by universal acclamation, to the very pin- 
 nacle of fame, how easy had it been for you, 
 General, to forget the Prime Mover of your 
 wonderful successes, and to assume to yourself a 
 praise, which must essentially return to that ex- 
 alted source whence every merit is derived. 
 But, better acquainted with the nature of true 
 glory, and justly placing the summit of your am- 
 bition, in approving yourself the worthy instru- 
 ment of Heaven's merciful designs, the first 
 impulse of your religious heart was to acknow- 
 ledge the signal inter fosition of Providerice — your 
 first step, a solemn display of your humble sense 
 of His favours. 
 
 Still agitated at the remembrance of those 
 dreadful agonies, from which we have been so 
 miraculously rescued, it is our pride to acknow- 
 ledge, that the Almighty has truly had the prin- 
 cipal hand in oar deliverance, and to follow you, 
 General, in attributing to his infinite goodness, the 
 homage of our unfeigned gratitude. Let the in- 
 fatuated votary of a blind chance deride our 
 credulous simplicity; let the cold -hearted Atheist 
 look for the explanation of important events to 
 the mere concatenation of human causes: to us, 
 the whole universe is loud in proclaiming a 
 Supreme Ruler, who, as he holds the hearts of 
 men in his hands, holds also the thread of all con- 
 tingent occurrences. "Whatever be his interme- 
 diate agents," says an illustrious prelate, **still 
 
249 
 
 on the secret orders of His all-ruling providence^ 
 depend the rise and prosperity, as well as the 
 decline and dovvnfal of empires. From His lofty 
 throne he moves evei y scene below, now curb- 
 ing, now letting loose, the passions of men; now 
 infusing His own wisdom into the leaders of na- 
 tions; now confounding their boasted prudence, 
 and spreading upon their councils a spirit of 
 intoxication; and thus executing His uncontrolla- 
 ble judgmeni ^ un the sons of men, according to 
 the dictates of His own unerring justice." 
 
 To Him, therefore, our most fervent thanks 
 are due, for our late unexpected rescue. It is 
 Him we intend to praise, when considering you, 
 General, as the man of his right hand^ whom he 
 has taken pains to fit out for the important com- 
 mission of our defence. We extol that fecundity 
 of genius, by which, under the most discouraging 
 distress, you created unforeseen resources, rais- 
 ed, as it were from the ground, hosts of intrepid 
 warriors, and provided every vulnerable point 
 with ample means of defence. To Him we trace 
 that instinctive superiority of your mind, which 
 at once rallied around you universal confidence; 
 impressed one irresistible movement on all the 
 jarring elements of which this political machine 
 is composed; aroused their slumbering spirits, 
 and diffused through every rank, the noble ardour 
 wiiich glowed in your own bosom. To Him^ 
 in fine, we address our acknowledgments for 
 
250 
 
 that consummate prudence which defeated all the 
 combinations of a sagacious enemy, entangled 
 him m the very snares which he had spread for 
 us, and succeeded in effecting his utter destruc- 
 tion, without exposing the lives of our citizens. 
 Immortal thanks be to His Supreme Majesty, for 
 sending us such an instrument of His bountiful 
 designs! A gift of that value is the best token 
 of the continuance of His protection — the most 
 solid encouragement to sue for new favours^ The 
 first which it emboldens us humbly to supplicate, 
 as nearest our throbbing hearts, is, that you may 
 long enjoy the honour of your grateful country; 
 of which you will permit us to present you a 
 pledge, in thi? wreath of laurel, the prize of 
 victory, the symbol of immortality. The next 
 is a speedy and honourable termination of the 
 bloody contest in which we are engaged. No 
 one has so efficaciously laboured as you, General, 
 for the acceleration of that blissful period; may 
 we soon reap that sweetest fruit of your splendid 
 and uninterrupted victories." 
 
 The General thus replied: — 
 ^'Reverend Sir, — I receive, with gratitude 
 and pleasure, the symbolical crown which piety 
 has prepared. I receive it in the name of the 
 brave men who have so effectually seconded my 
 exertions; they well deserve the laurels which 
 their country will bestow. 
 
251 
 
 For myself, to have been instrumental in the de- 
 liverance of such a country, is the greatest bless- 
 ing that Heaven could confer. That it has been 
 effected with so little loss — that so few tear*; 
 should cloud the smiles of our triumph, and not a 
 cypress leaf be interwoven in the wreath which 
 you present, is a source of the most exquisite 
 pleasure. 
 
 I thank you, reverend sir, most sincerely, for 
 the prayers which you offer up for my happinesf. 
 May those your patriotism dictates, for our be- 
 loved country, be first heard: and may mine, for 
 your individual prosperity, as well as that of the 
 congregation committed to your care, be favoura- 
 bly received — the prosperity, w^ealth, and happi- 
 ness of this city, will then be commensurate with 
 the courage and other qualities of its inhabitants." 
 
 Since the ulterior designs of the British were 
 now entirely unknown, and their plans perhaps 
 fortuitous with themselves, and still unsettled, it 
 appeared to our General most advisable to quar- 
 ter his troops in the city and its immediate neigh- 
 borhood, as a centre whence to draw them forth 
 with equal convenience to any point whatever, 
 by which access to it might be again attempted. 
 The 7th regiment of Infantry remained to occupy 
 our late position. A detachment of Kentucky 
 and Louisiana militia was placed in advance to 
 guard Villery's Canal where first the British 
 
252 
 
 made their landing unresisted; and to give addi- 
 tional power to this particular spot, a fortifica- 
 tion was now directed to be raised at the junction 
 of Bayon Bienvenu and Manzant, but the order, 
 notwithstanding two strenuous efforts to execute 
 it, were made on different days, was left unfulfil- 
 led. The work was prevented by a party of 
 British who were securely entrenched, and pro- 
 tected from assault, — their position being inac- 
 cessible to a number competent for its reduction 
 
 From maintaining a garrison, and taking pains 
 to fortify a position at Villery's Canal, it was 
 evident that although the British refrained from 
 present operations against New Orleans, they 
 had not surrendered their ultimate views upon it; 
 discreetly holding the fruition in obeyance as it 
 were, they still turned a wistful look towards the 
 place, but withheld their hands, and prudently 
 awaited a term less unpropitious for livery and 
 seisin, — ignorant that among the recorded Jack- 
 soniana was, lis n'ai jamais seront en ville.* 
 
 The general therefore constructed fortifica- 
 tions at different points of the swamp, and to- 
 wards Terre au- Bieuf, and precluded the enemy 
 from all opportunities of gaining the bank of the 
 Mississippi in this quarter. He took a position 
 on La Fourche, and made that particularly strong. 
 After thus providing for the security of the city 
 
 'They shall never rea«h the city. 
 
25S 
 
 in the parts below it, he directed General Carroll 
 and General Coffee to occupy their former 
 encampment four miles above it, where they had 
 been stationed prior to the debarkation. He 
 placed the residue of his troops according as 
 their presence seemed to be required, and whence 
 they might be concentrated and brought into 
 action with readiness and facility. 
 
 In the ordinary concerns of private life, we 
 sometimes find persons, who, engaged in any 
 particular business are, at least apparently are, 
 so entirely engrossed by the prosecution of it, 
 that they become highly provoked by attempting 
 to invite their notice to other matters, the object 
 before them, like Aaron's rod, absorbing every 
 consideration besides. But our General's mind, 
 though intensely occupied with the salvation of 
 a great city, was free to entertain regard 
 of inferior subjects. During the siege of New 
 Oi'Ieans, a military novice, who had never been 
 so far from his mother before, was sorely galled 
 by the men who diverted themselves to his great 
 vexation, and used to call him from the clumsi- 
 ness, perhaps, of his gait. Ensign Pewter Foot. 
 One day his torment forced him to come before 
 the General, and laying open his intolerable 
 grievance,^ earnestly besought permission to go 
 home to his people. The General assuming an 
 air of seriOustK 53 deplored the prevalence of 
 flagitious scurrility throughout the camp. Ht 
 
254 
 
 declared that he was credibly informed he was 
 himself known as well bv Old Hickory as by his 
 proper title. We must, said he, as well as we^ 
 can, brook their insulting mockery; but once we 
 are rid of these troublesome British, we shah 
 vindicate the honours of our name, bring our men 
 of mirth to task, and make them smart for their 
 pleasantry. 
 
 That the splendour of England's martial renown 
 shone with diminished lustre before the bright 
 arms of freemen, brandished under banners that 
 received the benedictions of liberty, affords a 
 legitimate theme for a song of triumph, and the 
 subject may in some measure justify the extrava- 
 gance of the paean. But it is an inglorious emi- 
 nence that owes its elevation to the lowliness of 
 another's depression. That the British should 
 carry home a foul blot on their national 'scutcheon, 
 revolting to humanity and abhorrent of civiliza- 
 tion, is matter of regret; and scandalous it is in 
 the extreme, if the aspersion has been undeserv- 
 edly thrown upon them. A report has obtained, 
 nay a statement has been made with historiogra- 
 phical solemnity, that Sir Edward Packen- 
 ham, to kindle the ardour of his troops with an 
 extraordinary suscitation, promulged by way of 
 motto through his army, "Beauty and Booty," — 
 not only assuring his soldiers that he would 
 consign the property/ oi private citizens to their 
 pillage, but, horrid to relate, administer to their 
 
255 
 
 brutal appetites, and submit to violation the 
 persons of the defenceless women. The mind 
 shudders at the thought, and tries in vain to 
 reconcile a sentiment of such damnable turpitude 
 with our notion of the gallant Sir Edward Pack- 
 enham, the soldier, the gentleman, the scholar. 
 Every true lover of his species, every citizen of 
 the universe, must rejoice to learn that the 
 evidence adduced to sustain the imputation, is 
 irrelevant, imbecile, and defective. Two books, 
 it seems, were found in the pockets of two or- 
 derly Serjeants, inscribed with those words. 
 AVherefore were those w^ords written there? 
 Why else than because the books w' ere used for 
 private memorandums, end so among othey arti- 
 cles inserted, two miscreant sons of Belzebub set 
 down therein with clandestine wickedness, the 
 loathsome reveries of their gross imagination, 
 Doubtless had the city fallen, rapine and devasta- 
 tion would have been dealt liberally enough, on 
 the intrusion of a demoralized soldiery, with fury 
 in their breasts and arms in their hands, and vtell 
 may the gentle bosoms of the fair beat in respon- 
 sive gratitude at the name of Jackson. 
 
256 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The general is involved in troubles of Law.-'-~His 
 masterly exculpation of himself. 
 
 Before any official news of peace between the 
 two belligerent nations reached the General, 
 various rumours floated, respecting that event 
 as being certain, which were calculated to raise 
 and niaintain a spirit of disaffection. The just 
 concern for his country, and the dread of suffer- 
 ing the enemy to wrest so tamely from his hands 
 the advantages and glories of the victory he had 
 gained over them, called forth his energies to 
 repress the dangerous circulation of such vague 
 intelligence. 
 
 Amongst those who spread oral reports to this 
 effect were persons whose influence gave an 
 alarming weight of authority to their information. 
 But it unfortunately happened that a gentleman of 
 high respectability and talents, a Mr. Louaillier, 
 one of the state legislators, had procured the 
 insertion of an article in the Louisiana Courier, 
 embracing in its statements and dissertations 
 matter highly mutinous. In virtue of the martial 
 law which still existed in New Orleans, Mr. 
 Louaillier was taken into custody, and brought to 
 trial. He ©btained his acquittal on the ground 
 that no traitorous malignity could be attached 
 to the paper, inasmuch as the intention of writing 
 and jpublishing it, was not established to .have 
 
257 
 
 been aimed at the promotion of any hostile at- 
 tempts against the United States. 
 
 Application however having been previously 
 made to one of the Judges for a writ of habeas 
 corpus^ it was issued; contrary to the spirit of the 
 martial law which the General had considered ne- 
 cessary to proclaim for meeting the exigency of 
 the crisis; and which the speculative probability 
 of peace so far from warranting him to abrogate at 
 this moment, made it the more advisable to con- 
 tinue in force — the desire of being relieved from 
 military duties being rather stimulated than quash- 
 ed by the anticipation of peace; whWsi the clandes- 
 tine manner of the invaders' debarkation, furnish- 
 ed strong admonition to guard against the pseudo- 
 adherents of their country's cause. Was the 
 General then to suffer this writ at this time to take 
 its ordinary effect? — The same decisive prompti- 
 tude which so frequently upheld the vital inte- 
 rests of his government was shown on the 
 present occasion. He ordered the Judge to de- 
 part beyond the limits of his encampment, to 
 prevent the repetition of the improper conduct 
 laid to his charge, and t? at he should remain 
 without the line of the sentinels until the ratifica- 
 tion of peace was regularly announced, or until 
 the British withdrew from the southern coast. 
 This command was given on the 1 1th of January, 
 and on the 1 3th an express from the war depart- 
 ment reached head quarters with information that 
 
258 
 
 peace was concluded. In a few days afterwards 
 General Lambert received from his government a 
 similar communication: so that on the 1 9th of the 
 month all offensive motions ceased on the part of 
 either army. 
 
 War's alarms having now subsided, and the 
 cultivation of the peaceful arts being restored to 
 its supremacy, the Judge, placed again upon the 
 seat of his authority, resolved to vindicate the 
 honours of his insulted station. Accordingly, on 
 the 21st, a rule of court was made. "That 
 General Andrew Jackson should appear, and 
 show cause why an attachment for contempt 
 should not be awarded against him on the ground 
 that he had refused to obey a writ issued to him, 
 detained an original p^per belonging to the court, 
 and imprisoned the judge." On the 24th, the 
 General's appearance being entered, Mr. Reid, 
 his aid-de camp informed the court that he came 
 prepared with an answer showing cause, (and 
 supported by affidavit,) wherefore the rule should 
 be discharged. The Judge observed that if 
 within any of the Rules laid down by the court, 
 it should be heard, otherwise not. 
 
 If, said he, the party object to the jurisdiction 
 of the Court, he shall be heard: 
 
 If it be a denial of facts; or that the facts 
 charged do not amount to a contempt, he ehaii be 
 feeai*d: 
 
259 
 
 If it be an apology to the Court; or an intention 
 . to show, that by the constitution and laws of the 
 United States, or by virtue of his military com- 
 mission, he had a right to act as charged, tlte 
 court will hear him. 
 
 After some discussion, Major Reid was per- 
 mitted to commence reading the answer. But 
 having come to that part of it, setting forth the 
 necessity and consequent fitness to declare martial 
 law, he was, it is said, stopped by the Judge, 
 because that part of it did not fall under any of 
 the Rules laid down by the court. 
 
 Notwithstanding the rules of the court, some 
 might be disposed to venture upon the gratifica- 
 tion of reading over the General's defence of his 
 conduct; and accordingly the gravamen thereof 
 is submitted for their perusal. 
 
 Without submitting to the jurisdiction of the 
 court, or acknowledging the regularity of its pro- 
 ceedings, but expressly denying the same — The 
 respondent, in order to give a fair and true ex- 
 position of his conduct, on every occasion in 
 which it may be drawn into question— 
 
 Saith — 
 
 That previously to, and soon after, his arrival 
 in this section of the seventh military district, he 
 received several letters and communications, put- 
 ting him on Ir's ifuard against a portion of the in- 
 habitants of the state, the legislature, and foreign 
 33 
 
260 
 
 emissaries in the city. The population of the 
 country was represented as divided by political 
 parties and national prejudices; a great portion of 
 them attached to foreign powers and disaffected 
 fo the government of their own country, and 
 some, as totally unworthy of confidence. The 
 militia was described as resisting the authority 
 of their commander -in chief, and encouraged in 
 their disobedience by the legislature; and the 
 whole state in such a situation as to make it ne- 
 cessary to look for defence principally from the 
 regular troops, and the militia from other states. 
 Among those representations, the most important, 
 from the official station of the writer, were those 
 of the governor. On the 8th of August, 1814, he 
 says — 
 
 "I know that there are many faithful citizens 
 in New Orleans : but there are others, in whose 
 attachment to the United States / ought not to 
 confide. Upon the whole, sir, I cannot disguise 
 the fact, &c." ' 
 
 Again on the 12th of the same month, the res- 
 pondent was told — 
 
 "On the native Americans, and a vast majority 
 of the Creoles of the country, I place much 
 confidence, nor do I doubt the fidelity of many 
 Europeans, who have long resided in the coun- 
 try ; but there are others, much devoted to the 
 interest of Spain, and whose partiality to the 
 
261 
 
 English is not less observable than theif dislikip 
 to the American government." 
 
 After detailing subsequent communications of a 
 tenor no less alarming, th Geeneral proceeded to 
 say, with the impressions this correspondence 
 was calculated to produce, the respondent arriv- 
 ed in this city, where, in different conversations, 
 the same ideas were enforced, and he was advis- 
 ed, not only by the governor of the state, but by 
 very many influential persons, to proclaim mar- 
 tial LAW, as the only means of producing union, 
 overcoming disaffection, detecting treason, and 
 calling forth the energies of the country. This 
 measure was discussed and recommended to 
 the respondent, as he well recollects, in the 
 presence of the judge of this honourable court, 
 who not only made no objection, but seemed^ by 
 his gestures and silence, to approve of it being 
 adopted. These opinions, respectable in them- 
 selves, derived greater weight from that which 
 the governor expressed, of the legislature then in 
 session. He represented their fidelity as very 
 doubtful; and appeared extremely desirous that 
 they should adjourn. 
 
 The respondent had also been informed, that in 
 the house of representatives, the idea that a very 
 considerable part of the state belonged to the 
 Spanish government, and ought not to be repre- 
 sented, had been openly advocated, and favoura- 
 bly heard. The co-operation of the Spaniards 
 
262 
 
 with the English, was, at that time, a received 
 impression. This intimation, tJierefore; appear- 
 ed highly important. He determined to examine, 
 with the utmost care, all the facts that had htan 
 communicated to him ; and not to move upon the 
 advice heh^d received, until the clearest demon- 
 stration should have determined its propriety. 
 He was then almost an entire stranger, in the 
 place he was sent to defend, and unacquainted 
 with the language of a majority of its inhabitants. 
 While these circumstances were unfavourable to 
 his obtaining information, on the one hand, they 
 precluded, on the other, a suspicion that his mea- 
 sures were dictated by personal friendship, pri- 
 vate animosity, or party views. Uninfluenced 
 by such motives, he began his observations. H&- 
 sought for information, and to obtain it, communi- 
 cated with men of every description. He be- 
 lieved that even then he discovered those high 
 qualities, which have since distinguished those 
 brave defenders of their country: — that the va- 
 riety of language, the difference of habit, and 
 even the national prejudices, which seemed ta 
 divide the inhabitants, might be made, if properly 
 directed, the source of the most honourable emu« 
 lation. Delicate attentions were necessary to 
 foster this disposition; and the highest energy, to 
 restrain the effects, that such hn assemblage wa? 
 calculated to produce ; he determined to avail 
 himself of both, and with this vieWj, he called t» 
 
263 
 
 his aid, the impulse of national feeling, the higher 
 motives of patriotic sentiment, and the noble en- 
 thusiasm of valour. They operated in a manner 
 which history will record; all who could be in- 
 fluenced by those feelings, rallied, — without de- 
 lay, round the standard of their country. T/ieir 
 efforts, however, would have been unavailing, if 
 the disaffected had been permitted to counteract 
 them by their treason, the timid to paralyze them 
 by their example, and both to stand aloof in the 
 hour of danger, and enjoy the fruits of victory, 
 without participating in the danger of defeat. 
 
 All the acts indeed, mentioned in the rule, took 
 place after the enemy had retired from the posi- 
 tion they had first assumed — after they had met 
 with a signal defeat, and after an unofficial ac- 
 count had been received of the signature of a 
 treaty of peace- Each of these circumstances 
 might be, to one who did not see the whole 
 ground, a sufficient reason for supposing that 
 further acts of energy and vigour were unnecessa- 
 ry. On the mind of the respondent they had a 
 different effect. The enemy had retired from 
 their position, it is true; but they were stilfon the 
 coast, and within a few hours' sail of the city. 
 They had been defeated, and with loss; but that 
 loss was to be repaired by expected reinforce- 
 ments. Their numbers still much more thao 
 quadrupled all the regular forces which the re^s 
 23* 
 
264 
 
 pondent could commmand ; and the term of ser> 
 vice of his most efficient militia force was about 
 to expire. Defeat, to a powerful and active 
 enemy, was more likely to operate as .an incen- 
 tive to renewed and increased exertion, than to 
 inspire them with despondency, or to paralyze 
 their efforts. A treaty, it is true, had been pro- 
 bably signed ; yet it might not be ratified. Its 
 contents had not transpired, and no reasonable 
 conjecture could be formed, that it would be 
 acceptable. The influeixie which the account of 
 its signature had on the army, was deleterious in 
 the extreme, and showed a necessity for increas- 
 ed energy, instead of a relaxation of discipline. 
 Men, who had shown themselves zealous in the 
 preceding part of the campaign, now became 
 lukewarm in the service. Those whom no danger 
 could appal, and no labour discourage, complain- 
 ed of the hardships of the camp. When the 
 enemy were no longer immediately before them, 
 they thought themselves oppressed, by. being 
 detained in service. Wicked and weak 'men, whoy 
 from their situation in life, ought to have furnish- 
 ed a better example, secretly encouraged this 
 spirit of insubordination. They atjected to pity 
 the hardships oi those who were kepi in the field; 
 they fomented discontent by insinufitlug that the 
 merits of those to whom they addressed them- 
 selves, had not been sufficiently noticed or ap^ 
 plauded; and to so high a degree had the diso?- 
 
265 
 
 Jerai length arisen, that at one period, only fif- 
 teen men and one officer, out of a whole regiment, 
 stationed to guard the very avenue through which 
 the enemy had penetrated the country, were 
 found at their post. At another point equally 
 important, a who^e corps, on which the greatest 
 reliance had been placed, worked upon by the 
 arts of a foreign agent, suddenly deserted their 
 post. 
 
 If, trusting to an uncertain peace, the respond- 
 ent had revoked his proclamation, or ceased to 
 act under it, the fatal security by which we were 
 lulled, might have destroyed all discipline, have 
 dissolved all his force, and left him without any 
 means of defending the country against the ene- 
 my, instructed, by the traitors within our own 
 bosom, of the time and place at which they 
 might safely make an attack. In such an event, 
 his own life might have been offered up; yet it 
 would have been but a feeble expiation, for the 
 disgrace and misery, into which, by his criminal 
 negligence, he had permitted the country to be 
 plunged. 
 
 He thought peace a probable, but by no means 
 a certain event. If it had really taken place, a 
 few days must bring the official advice of it; and 
 lie believed it better to submit, during those few 
 days, to the salutary restraints imposed, than to 
 put every thing dear to ourselves and country at 
 risk upon an uncertain contingency. Admit tha 
 
266 
 
 ehances to have been a hundred or a thousand to 
 one in favour of the ratification, and against any 
 renewed attempts of the enemy; what should we 
 say or think of the prudence of the man, who 
 would stake his life, his fortune, his country, and 
 his honour, even with such odds in his favour, a- 
 gainst a few days' anticipated enjoyment of the 
 blessings of peace ? The respondent could not 
 bring himself to play so deep a hazard; uninflu- 
 enced by the clamours of the ignorant and the de- 
 signing, he continued the exercise of tnat law 
 which necessity had compelled him to proclaim; 
 and he still thinks himself justified, by the situa- 
 tion of affairs, for the course which he adopted 
 and pursued. Has he exercised this power wan- 
 tonly or improperly? If so, he is liable; not, as 
 he believes, to this honourable court for contempt, 
 but to his government for an abuse of power, 
 and to those individuals whom he has injured, in 
 damages proportioned to that injury. JVow thenit 
 was <^c. To have silently looked on such an offence 
 without making any attempt to punish it, would 
 have been a formal surrender of all discipline, all 
 order, all personal dignity and public safety. 
 This could not be done; and the respondent im- 
 mediately ordered the arrest of the offender. A 
 writ of habeas corpus was directed to issue for 
 his enlargement. The very case which had been 
 foreseen, the very contingency on which martial 
 law was intended to operate, had now occurre^^ 
 
267 
 
 The civil magistrate seemed to think it his duty 
 to enforce the enjoyment of civil rights, although 
 the consequences \Thich have been described, 
 would probably have resulted. An unbending 
 sense of v^'hat he seemed to think his station re- 
 quired, induced him to order the liberation of the 
 prisoner. This, under the respondent's sense of 
 d«ty, produced a conflict which it was his wish to 
 avoid. 
 
 No other course remained, than to enforce the 
 principles which he laid down as his guide, and 
 to suspend the exercise of this judicial power, 
 wherever it interfered with the necessary means 
 of defence. The only way effectually to do this, 
 was to place the judge in a situation in which his 
 interference could not counteract the measuresJC)f 
 defence, or give countenance to the mutinous dis- 
 position that had shown itself in so alarming a 
 degree. Merely to have disregarded the writ, 
 would but have increased the evil, and to have o- 
 beyed it, was wholly repugnant to the respondent's 
 ideas of the public safety, and to his own sense 
 of duty. The judge was therefore removed be- 
 yond the lines of defence. 
 
 The General closed in the following terms :— *• 
 
 "This was the conduct of the respondent, and 
 
 these the motives which prompted it. They 
 
 have been fairly and openly exposed to this 
 
 tribunal, and to the world, and would not have 
 
 been accompanied by any exception or waiver of 
 
268 
 
 jurisdiction, if it had been deemed expedient to 
 give him that species of trial, to which he thinks 
 himself entitled, by the constitution of his country, 
 The powers which the exigency of the times 
 forced him to assume, have been exercised ex- 
 clusively for the public good; and, by the blessing 
 of God, they have been attended with unparal- 
 leled success. They have saved the country; 
 and whatever may be the opinion ol that country, 
 or the decrees of its courts, in relation to the 
 means he has used, he can never regret that he 
 employed them." 
 
 As the reasoning of the defence would not b^ 
 entertained by the court, the rule was^ rendered 
 absolute, and the attachment was sued out, and 
 made returnable on the 31st. Upon that day the 
 General appeared at the bar in the common dress 
 of a private citizen. Rapturous acclamation 
 ■rung the hall the instant he was recognized. 
 The uproar became so obstreperous that the Judge 
 rising from his seat expressed his inability to 
 proceed ; but the General addressing the peo- 
 ple, quelled the tumult and established silence. 
 
 Nineteen interrogatories were propounded to 
 him, whereby to determine his culpability or 
 innocence; but the General declined to make any 
 explanation in addition to that . which he had 
 already presented, saying, "you would not hear 
 mj defence, although you Were advised it com 
 
269 
 
 lained nothing improper, but ample reasons why 
 no attachment should be awarded. Under these 
 circumstances I appear before you, to receive 
 the sentence of the court, having nothing more 
 in my defence to offer. Your honor will not 
 understand me as intending any disrespect to the 
 court; but as no opportunity has been afforded 
 me of explaining the motives by which I was 
 influenced, so it is expected, that censure or 
 reproof will constitute no part of that sentence 
 which you may imagine it your duty to pro- 
 nounce." Whereupon he was amerced in the sum 
 of one thousand dollars, 
 
 No sooner was the judgment delivered than 
 he was encompassed by the crowd, and borne 
 from the hall amidst peals of applause and huz- 
 zas for Jackson. Meeting a carriage in which a 
 lady was riding, they prevailed upon her to quit 
 her seat, and by main force, constrained the Ge- 
 neral to occupy her room: and then unyoking ihe 
 horses, drew the carriage to the entrance into the 
 coffee-house, whither he was followed by multi- 
 tudes= Having obtained a hearing, he implored 
 them to observe moderation, and repress their 
 bursts of feeling-, and assured them that their 
 gratitude for his exertions in their service could 
 be shewn in no form else so acceptably to him as 
 by assenting to the decision of the court, to which 
 he had himself respectfully bowed. He told 
 them that the civil authority was paramount, and 
 
270 
 
 iihould be supreme in the land. — that he had ne- 
 ver . held a diiferent principle, — that if he had 
 neglected to obey its precepts, it was only be- 
 cause he found them too feeble for the peculiar 
 state of the times — that by a resort to martial 
 law, he had succeeded in defending and protect- 
 ing a country, which without it must have been 
 lost; and that yet under its provisions he was un- 
 conscious of oppressing any, or extending them 
 to other purposes than of defence and safety, ob- 
 jects alone designed to be maintained by its de- 
 claration. "I (eel sensible, he said, of the person- 
 al regard you have evinced towards me; and with 
 pleasure remember those high efforts of valour 
 and patriotism which so essentially contributed to 
 the defence of the country. If recent events 
 have shown you what fearless valour can effect, it 
 is a no less important truth to learn that submis- 
 sion to the civil authority is the first duty of a ci- 
 tizen. In the arduous necessity imposed on me, 
 of defending this important and interesting city, 
 imperious circumstances compelled me either to 
 jeopardise those important interests which were 
 confided to me, or to take upon myself the res- 
 ponsibility of those measures which have been 
 termed high handed, but which I thought abso- 
 lutely essential to defence. Thus situated, I did 
 not hesitate — I could not. I risked all consequen- 
 ces; and you have seen me meet the penalty of 
 wy aggression, and bow with submission to the 
 
271 
 
 sentence of the law. Had the penalty imposed 
 reached the utmost extent of my ahility to meet 
 it, I should not have murmured or complained; 
 nor now when it is ended, would I forhear a simi- 
 lar course, were the same necessity and circum- 
 stances again to recur. If the offence with which 
 I am now charged had not been committed, the 
 laws by which I have been punished would not 
 now exist: sincerely do I rejoice in their mainte- 
 nance and safety, although the first vindication 
 of their violated supremacy has been evinced in 
 the punishment of myself The order and de- 
 corum manifested by you, amidst various circum- 
 stances of strong excitement, merits my warmest 
 acknowledgments. I pray you permit that mo- 
 deration to continue. If you have any regard 
 for me, you will not do otherwise than yield 
 respect to the justice of the country, and to the 
 character of its ministers; that feeling and dispo- 
 sition will, I trust, always characterise you; and 
 evince on your part, as firm a disposition to main- 
 tain inviolate and unimpaired the laws of the coun- 
 try, as you have recently shown to defend your- 
 selves against invasion and threatened outrage." 
 These expressions of friendly acknowledge- 
 ment and admonition, being repeated in the French 
 tongue, by Mr. Davasac, appeased the boiling 
 indignation of the crowd, who admiring the Gen- 
 eral's magnanimity, had the good sense to be 
 guided by his instructions. 
 
272 
 
 Intimation having been made to the General 
 that the citizens of New Orleans were about to 
 collecjt by subscription, the amount of the fine 
 imposed upon him, in order to discharge it; he in 
 secret haste paid into the hands of the marshal 
 the amount of money which the court had fixed 
 for his atonement. When the spontaneous offer 
 of gratitude was presented him, declining its ac- 
 ceptance because unnecessary, he proposed that 
 it should be distributed among the distressed 
 families of the gallant men who had fallen in the 
 protection of the city. 
 
 Thus gloriously terminated in the overthrow 
 of a powerful, high spirited, and well appoint- 
 ed' enemy, the train of successes that followed 
 the General's footsteps in his march.to fame: 
 and scarcely has he compassed the grand achieve- 
 ment, which caused the world to ring whh his 
 renown, when we behold him deferring to his 
 country's laws, and^x^mbellishing that noble de- 
 ference with a generous proposal of tender hu- 
 Hianity, — in either instance reducing with a tint 
 of softness, the striking brilliancy of his illustri- 
 trious character. 
 
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