CHAPTER V. Discharge of the old and arrival of new troops. Mutiny. The army marches. Tohopeka or the Horse-Shoe. Battle of the Horse-Shoe. Butchery. Humanity of general Jackson. Attempt on Hoithlewalee. The Muscogees sue for peace. Terms granted them. Wetherford; his speech. The army is disbanded. General Jackson, having now terminated this triumphant campaign, and hearing that new troops might soon be expected from Tennessee, where the news of his success had had much effect, dismissed his troops without wrangling. He was rewarded for his forbearance on the 6th of February, by the arrival of the thirty-ninth regiment of Tennessee militia, about six hundred strong. General Cocke was also enabled to furnish about two thousand men. These troops, with others, amounting in all to five thousand effective men, assembled at Fort Strother on the 14th, just in time to witness the execution of a militia man for an alleged mutiny,* an example certainly not altogether thrown away on such troops. A disgraceful scene of insubordination and tumult was soon exhibited in the camp, notwithstanding. Supplies were not received, the troops began to be mutinous and disorderly; and to cap the climax, no less a man than a major-general excited * His guilt has since been disputed. them to revolt. This was general Cocke, who it appears was jealous of the increasing fame of general Jackson, and wished nothing so much as to arrest the intended campaign. He mixed with the men, told them they were illegally drafted, and offered to discharge them if they would escape as far as Knoxville. A drum was at one time beat in the camp for deserters, and when at last our hero issued orders to arrest any apostle of mutiny who might be found in his camp, without regard to his rank, Cocke saved himself by a retreat.* Having at last, by unremitted exertions, overcome all obstacles, general Jackson led his troops to Tohopeka, or the Horse-Shoe, on the 27th of March. This was the town from which the Muscogees sallied to the battles of Emuckfaw, and which was, it will be remembered, reconnoitred by general Coffee on the 22d of January. If he found it then so strong as to bid defiance to attack, it was more so now. Since the Emuckfaw campaign, the Creeks had rendered it as formidable as their skill and means would permit, and had mustered their remaining warriors in its defence. The place was naturally very strong. Here the Tallapoosa river makes a great bend, in the form of a horse-shoe, from which its Indian name is derived. The peninsula was only to be entered by land, over a neck three hundred and fifty yards wide. To bar this they had erected a stubborn barrier, a parapet formed of trunks of trees, and pierced with a double tier of loop holes for small arms. This barrier curved inward, so that the approaching foe must necessarily have been exposed to a dreadful * Eaton. cross fire from within. On this occasion, the Muscogees were advised of the coming of general Jackson, and had collected upwards of a thousand fighting men. Determined (to use his own language) to exterminate them, he despatched general Coffee with the mounted men and the friendly Indians to cross the river, surround the peninsula, and prevent the escape of any by water. Coffee had also orders to divert the attention of the Indians from the principal point of attack. The rest of the army took a position in front of the Creek rampart, and the artillery were planted on a hillock two hundred yards from it. A constant fire was then opened, while the small arms were employed whenever an Indian showed himself behind the bulwark. This continued two hours, with little effect, when a part of the detachment under general Coffee re-crossed the river, set fire to some of the buildings on the peninsula, and, advancing toward the barrier, attacked the enemy's rear. The order for the charge was then given and executed. The troops made their way to the barrier under a heavy fire, steadily and in good order. The resistance was desperate, each side disputing the possession of the parapet hand to hand. Major Montgomery was the first to mount, and was shot dead on the spot. Animated by his example, the troops rushed up the ascent, and drove the savages before them. These, covering themselves with the brush and timber of the peninsula, kept up a galling discharge till they were dislodged at the point of the bayonet. Their case was now desperate; they had resolved to surrender at no rate, and their only chance of escape was in crossing the river in the front of general Coffee's troops. Thus hemmed in, some leaped down the river bank, and concealed themselves among the rocks, while others took refuge in the west angle of their rude fortification, behind heaps of brush. From these situations they continued to resist. General Jackson was now satisfied, and was willing to spare the poor relics of the gallant tribe at whose expense he had won so much honor. He ordered an interpreter to advance and offer them quarter, but they refused it and fired on the flag. The interpreter received a severe wound. The artillery was then turned against them, but in vain; a charge was made, which was valiantly met, and many of the whites were slain, but the savages were finally driven from the angle before mentioned. Fire was then thrown over the cliffs, which consuming the trees and brush, brought the poor wretches in view. Still they refused quarter, and were shot down from both sides of the river. Thus the slaughter continued till night put an end to it, and the few survivors swam the river, and escaped in the darkness.* The attack of general White on the Hillabees after terms had been granted them, had destroyed the confidence of the Creeks in the whites; but not to this wholly was owing their obstinate bravery. It is the characteristic of their race. In this instance they had resolved to conquer or die, as was made manifest by their having kept their women and children with them. Five hundred and fiftyseven of their best and bravest perished on this fatal field of battle. Most of them fell manfully fighting * Eaton and Jackson's Report. for their hearth-stones; but a considerable number were destroyed by general Coffee while endeavoring to escape by swimming. The vilest deed, and that which will forever remain a dark stain on the character of our hero, remains to be related. Humanity shudders to tell, that on the morning after the battle, sixteen Muscogees were dragged from their hiding-places, and butchered unresisting, in cold blood, with his knowledge and approbation. Two hundred and fifty prisoners were taken, of whom three only were males.* Another anecdote presents general Jackson in a more amiable light. We give it on the authority of major Eaton. Seeing a male infant clinging to the cold bosom of its dead mother, he caused it to be brought away, and afterwards carried it to Tennessee. When it had arrived at a proper age, he bound it apprentice to a saddler. General Jackson sank his dead in the river to prevent the enemy from stripping and scalping them, and marched back to Fort Williams. He was of opinion that the Muscogees were not yet sufficiently humbled; but as his force was now much reduced by sickness, discharges, and loss in the late battle, he was desirous to effect a junction with the Georgia and North Carolina forces. To this end he started with his troops on the 7th of April for the Tallapoosa, intending on his way to attack a body of Muscogees at a town called Hoithlewalee, near the Hickory Grounds. He expected the troops of Georgia to co-operate with him, and sent word to their commander that he should reach and fight the enemy on the 11th. A *Eaton, and Jackson's Report. |