of the wagon. At length the young man opened his eyes, and the next instant exclaimed, "Where am I?”

"On your way home, my good fellow," replied the general, in a cheering tone. The effect was electric; he improved from that moment, and in a few weeks the general had the pleasure of restoring him, in good health, to his family and friends. It deserves to be mentioned, that the quarter-master, as soon as he received directions for furnishing transportation, had despatched an express to General Wilkinson; and there can be little question, that the course of duplicity he afterwards pursued, was a concerted plan between him and that general, to defeat the design of Jackson, compel him to abandon the determination he had formed, and, in this way, draw to the regular army many of the soldiers, who would be driven to enlist. In this attempt they were fortunately disappointed. Adhering to his original purpose, General Jackson successfully resisted every stratagem of Wilkinson, and marched the whole of his division to the section of country whence they had been drawn, and dismissed them from service, in the spring of 1813.

In addition to the philanthropic act we have just detailed, General Jackson gave up his own horses to the sick, and, trudging along on foot, submitted to all the privations that were endured by the soldiers. It was at a time of the year when the roads were extremely bad; and the swamps along their route were deep and full; yet, under these circumstances, he gave his troops an example of patience and endurance of hardship that lulled to silence all complaints, and won for him additional respect and esteem. On arriving at Nashville, he communicated to the president of the United States the course he had pursued, and the reasons that had induced it. If it had become necessary, he had sufficient grounds on which he could have justified his conduct. Had he suffered General Wilkinson to have accomplished what was clearly his intention, although it was an event which might, at the moment, have benefited the service, by adding an increased strength to the army, yet the example would have been of so serious and exceptionable a character, that in

jury would have been the final and unavoidable result. Whether the intention of thus forcing these men to enlist into the regular ranks, had its existence under the direction of the government or not, such would have been the universal belief; and all would have felt a deep abhorrence, at beholding the citizens of the country drawn off from their homes under pretence of danger; while the concealed design was, to reduce them to such necessity, at a distance from their residence, as to compel them to an act which they would have avoided under different circumstances. His conduct, exceptionable as it might at first appear, was, in the end, approved, and the expenses incurred were directed to be paid by the government. General Armstrong, the secretary of war, by whom the cruel and unfeeling order was issued, was soon after severely censured, and forced to resign his seat in the cabinet, on account of his culpable neglect to provide suitable means of defence for the city of Washington. The reputation of General Wilkinson, who had been appointed to supplant Jackson, was also tarnished, by his unfortunate operations in Canada, during the campaign of 1814.

CHAPTER IV.

1813. Depredations committed by the Creeks on the borders of Tennessee and Kentucky-Attack on Fort Mimms-Preparations for war-Jackson calls out the volunteers and militia-Address to the troops-Takes the field-Enforces strict military discipline-Rapid march to Huntsville-Delay in forwarding supplies-Thwarted in his movements by General Cocke-Jealousy of the latter-Scarcity of provisions-Efforts of Jackson to procure supplies-Address to the soldiers on entering the enemy's country-Arrival at the Ten Islands-Difficulty with the contractors-Destitute_condition of the army-Battle of Tallushatchee-Humanity of JacksonHis adoption of an Indian boy. 1813.

THE repose of General Jackson and his volunteers was of short duration. They had scarcely reached their homes, when the Indian nations scattered over the territory composing the states of Alabama and Mississippi, made incursions into Tennessee and Kentucky, and committed the most savage murders and cruelties. The frontier settlements were constantly harassed by their depredations, and one atrocious act of barbarity followed so closely on another, that the inhabitants began to fear the worst from the revengeful spirit which Tecumseh, and his brother, the prophet, who were secretly aided and encouraged by the English government, had aroused in the breasts of their followers. The Creek Indians, residing in the vicinity of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, were the most hostile and vindictive of all the tribes. Having collected a supply of ammunition, from the Spaniards at Pensacola, a party of their warriors, numbering about seven hundred men, commanded by Weatherford, a distinguished chief of the nation, made an attack on Fort Mimms, situated in the Tensaw settlement, in the territory of Mississippi. The fort was occupied by Major Beasley, with a force of one hundred and fifty men, and a large number of women

and children who had sought shelter and protection. The assault was commenced on the 30th of August, 1813, and proved to be successful. A most dreadful slaughter took place. Mercy was shown to none; neither age nor sex were respected; and the same stroke of the tomahawk often cleft mother and child. But seventeen of the whole number of persons in the fort made their escape.

As soon as the intelligence of this monstrous outrage reached Tennessee, the authorities of that state took immediate measures to chastise the perpetrators. All eyes were instinctively turned towards General Jackson, who, though suffering severely from a fractured arm, promptly responded to the orders of his government by calling out the militia and volunteers. In his proclamation, he made a special appeal to those who had accompanied him to Natchez, to join him on this occasion. He pointed out the imperious necessity that demanded their services, and urged them to be punctual. "Already," said he, "are large bodies of the hostile Creeks marching to your borders, with their scalping-knives unsheathed, to butcher your women and children: time is not to be lost. We must hasten to the frontier, or we shall find it drenched in the blood of our citizens. The health of your general is restored-he will command in person." In the mean time, until these troops could be collected and organized, Colonel Coffee, with the force then under his command, and such additional mounted riflemen as could be attached at a short notice, was directed to hasten forward to the neighborhood of Huntsville, and occupy some eligible position for the defence of the frontier.

The 4th of October, which was the day appointed for the rendezvous, having arrived, and the general not being sufficiently recovered to attend in person, he forwarded by his aid-de-camp, Major Reid, an address, to be read to the troops, in which he pointed out the unprovoked injuries they were called upon to redress, in the following eloquent and stirring appeal:

"We are about to furnish these savages a lesson of admonition; we are about to teach them that our long forbearance has not proceeded from an insensibility to wrongs,

or an inability to redress them. They stand in need of such warning. In proportion as we have borne with their insults, and submitted to their outrages, they have multiplied in number,and increased in atrocity. But the measure of their offences is at length filled. The blood of our women and children, recently spilt at Fort Mimms, calls for our vengeance; it must not call in vain. Our borders must no longer be disturbed by the war-whoop of these savages, and the cries of their suffering victims. The torch that has been lighted 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 merciful, 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 imitate the example of our enemies, in the disorder of their movements and the savageness of their dispositions? Is it worthy the character of American soldiers, who take up arms to redress the wrongs of an injured country, to assume no better models than those furnished them by barbarians? No, fellow-soldiers; great as are the grievances that have called us from our homes, we must not permit 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 owe nothing to chance, and who, in the midst of victory, can still be mindful of what is due to humanity!

"We will commence the campaign by an inviolable attention to discipline and subordination. Without a strict observance of these, victory must ever be uncertain, and ought hardly to be exulted in, even when gained. To what but 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 glorious will it be to remove the blots which have tarnished the fair character bequeathed us by the fathers of our revolution! The bosom of your general is full of hope. He knows the ardor which animates you, and already exults in the triumph which your strict observance of discipline and good order will render certain."

Accompanying this address, was the following order for