History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 20

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013

USA > Tennessee > Davidson County > History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 20

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Learning on arrival that a considerable body of Crecks had assembled at Tullusatches, thirteen miles distant from bis camp, on the south side of the Coosa, Gen. Coffee was dispatched with one thousand mounted men to strike them. Being piloted by friendly Indians he surrounded the town, and after a desperate conflict took it, killing one hundred and ninety warriors and capturing eighty-four women and children ; his own loss was five killed and forty wounded, mostly from arrows, which the enemy relied upon after firing their guns.

Maj .- Gen. Cocke was acting in concert with a force from Kast Tennessee, and Gen. White's brigade, of that com- mand, having arrived at Turkey Town, twenty-five miles distant, the latter was ordered by Gen. Jackson to join him for an advance into the Indian country as far as the Talla- poosa, where he learned that the enemy were collecting in great force. Having strengthened his camp, which he named Fort Strother, he set out on the 8th of December for Tal- ladega, where a number of friendly Indians had taken ref- uge in a fort from a large force of hostile warriors who had completely invested the place and cut off every avenue of

escape. He arrived within six miles of the place at night, and sent out scouts to ascertain the numbers and position of the enemy. He was here informed that the march of Gen. White on Fort Strother had been countermanded by Gen. Cocke, which left his sick and wounded at the mercy of any hostile party that might discover the weakness of the place. He thereupon decided to give battle the next morning in order to hasten his return to his defenseless camp. At daylight on the 9th the march was resumed, and on reaching within a mile of the enemy the army was thrown into line of battle, Hull's brigade being on the right, and Roberts' on the left. The mounted men were divided into three portions, two to occupy the respective wings with orders to encircle the enemy, and one posted in the rear to act as reserve. The lines then moved forward in columns of companies until the advance-guard of four companies, among them Capt. Deaderick's company of ar- tillery, from Nashville, armed with muskets, reached within eighty yards of the concealed enemy, who now rose and, opening a hot fire, made a general advance along their lines. Several companies of Gen. Roberts' militia, getting alarmed at the impetuous rush and yells of the Indians, gave way on the first fire, leaving a gap in the lines, which, however, was quickly filled by the reserve cavalry under Col. Dyer, who advanced with great intrepidity and in turn drove the enemy, being assisted by the militia, who now returned to the battle. As the enemy began to retreat a general advance was made along Jackson's lines, which met the fleeing savages at every turn. In a brief time the battle was ended. Two hundred and ninety-nine warriors were killed, and the destruction would have been much greater but for a gap which was left in the encircling line, through which many escaped. Jackson had seventeen killed and eighty- three wounded. The joy of the besieged Creeks, who knew nothing of Jackson's approach until the battle opened, was said to have been indescribable. The army started on its return to Camp Strother the next day, and on arrival found that the contractors had not only failed to bring up provisions, but that the scanty stock left at the place for the sick and wounded had been consumed. Ten days of starvation at this point brought about such a state of discontent that the troops demanded to be marched home, or to a point where supplies could be had. . The general asked for two days' further delay, and, if at the end of that time supplies failed to come, he would grant their request. At the appointed time, no relief having come, the troops started on their return ; but on the second day, a herd of beef cattle having been met, the whole body returned to Camp Strother, but not without reluctance and an altercation with the general.

The expiration of the time of enlistment of the volun- teers being now close at hand, the general was sounded as to whether he would dismiss them honorably from the ser- vice and allow them to procced to their homes. He firmly refused their request, and announced his determination to hold them five months longer, to complete the amount of service which under his construction of the law they still owed to the government. The announcement of this answer, which the men construed in turn to be a direct violation of the terms of their enlistment and of their constitutional

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

rights, in which opinion they were sustained by most of their officers, aroused the feelings of the brigade to such a pitch that they announced their intention of marching home on the expiration of their time, which was on the 10th of December. On the night of the 9th, Gen. Jackson, having learned through the officers that the men were still firmly bent on executing their purpose, had them suddenly paraded in front of the fort, with the brigade of militia stationed to one side, and the artillery in front with lighted matches. A violent altercation now ensued between Gen. Jackson and Col. William Martin, who commanded one of the offending regiments. Col. Martin was an old pioneer soldier, a man of great personal worth of character, and one of the most faithful and vigilant officers in the service, exact- ing at all times of his men a rigid compliance with disciplinary regulations. The matter ended at length in a temporary relinquishment on the part of the men of their design to march home, but their discontent was so evident, notwith- standing the stirring appeals of their general to their patriot- ism, that on the arrival of the new regiments, which had been raised by Governor Blount for a service of two months, Gen. Jackson gave orders for their return home and dis- charge, in which the militia brigade was also included, at the expiration of its term, January 4th, it having turned out with the volunteers at the same short notice, and being equally as badly provided for the rigors of a winter cam- paign or for a lengthened absence from home.

In the mean time Col. Carroll and Gen. Roberts had by great exertions gotten up some recruits for a short time to go to Gen. Jackson's relief and enable him to hold the advanced post of Fort Strother. These amounted to nine hundred two months' volunteers under the command of Cols. Higgins and Perkins, and were assembled at Strother by the 15th of January. Besides, he had two spy com- panics (Capts. Gordon's and Russell's), the company of artillery from Nashville with one six- pounder, commanded by Lieut. Robert Armstrong, a company of volunteer offi- cers raised by Gen. Coffee on the disbandment of the lat- ter's brigade, and one company of infantry. With a net force of nine hundred men, exclusive of friendly Indians, he took up the line of march on the 17th for the purpose of striking the enemy a blow if possible, but particularly to give the raw recruits employment, a matter of vital im- portance in circumstances where discontent could be so easily fomented. On the 20th he encamped at Enotachopco, twelve miles from the mouth of the Emuckfaw, in a bend of the Tallapoosa. The next day he resumed his march, and by night found himself in the vicinity of a large force of the enemy. He encamped in a hollow square to guard against a night attack. A little before day the enemy at- tacked in heavy force the left wing, which held firm until daylight, when, being reinforced by Capt. Ferrill's infantry company, a charge was made along the entire line, which pushed the enemy back with much slaughter for the dis- tance of two miles. The friendly Indians joined in the pursuit-with much ardor. Gen. Coffee was now detached with four hundred men to burn their fortification ; but in making a reconnoissance he thought it prudent not to make the attempt, but to return to camp. In a half-hour after his return a fire on the right and rear of Jackson's little

army showed that Gen. Coffee had acted with wisdom. This officer at his request was now dispatched with two hundred men to act against the left flank of this force, but by mistake only about one-fourth of the number accom- panied him. Two hundred friendly Indians were also sent to co-operate. At the moment the firing began in this quarter a violent attack was made on Jackson's left, for which he had made preparation, correctly judging that the first attack was intended as a diversion to engage his atten- tion. The general repaired to this point.in person with his reserve, and after four or five volleys had been fired a vigorous charge was ordered, which drove the enemy back to the distance of a mile. In this pursuit a hand-to-hand . conflict took place between Lieut. Demoss, of Capt. Pip- kins' company, and a large Creek warrior. Each snapped his gun at the other, when, these weapons being discarded, they drew their knives and clinched in a desperate strug- gle ; but the issue was decided by a comrade of Demoss, who hastened to his succor and assisted in killing the war- rior. Demoss was badly cut by his antagonist, and had to be carried to Fort Strother on a litter. On the first alarm in this quarter, the friendly Indians instantly quitted Gen. Coffee and hastened to this point, thus leaving him to con- tend with a greatly superior force which was posted in a reedy creek affording many advantages. Coffee, however, made a vigorous fight, and was enabled to hold his ground until assistance came after the main battle was over, when a gallant charge was made and the Indians driven from that part of the field with a loss of forty-three killed.

In this charge Gen. Coffee was wounded, and his aide, Maj. Alexander Donelson, and three others were killed. Maj. Donelson was a grandson of Col. John Donelson, one of the founders of Davidson County, and the commander of the emigrants' boats in their marvelous voyage down the Tennessee in 1780. He was a young officer of ardent and determined bravery, and his death was greatly lamented. This ended the battle. The dead having been collected and buried, and the wounded attended to, Jackson began his re- turn march on the 23d, and encamped that night near Enotachopco Creek. The presence of the enemy was un- mistakable during the night, and the general became satis- fied that he would be attacked the next morning at a ra- · vine on the route, which he had noted in his advance sev- eral days before, the place being admirably suited for an ambuscade. He thercupon turned to the right to effect a crossing below, where the woods were open. His conjecture was correct; the front column had just crossed the creek, and also part of the flanking column, with the piece of the artillery just entering the descent, when shots were heard in the rear, being fired at Samuel Watkins (still surviving at the age of eighty-six), who had lagged behind to let his hungry horse pick on the cane-leaves. The Indians had quit their cover on discovering the manœuvre of Gen. Jackson, and now threw themselves precipitately on his rear. The onslaught was so sudden and vigorous that the right and left columns of the rear-guard gave way in con- fusion, which soon extended to part of the centre column. Some of this column remained firm, and with Russell's spy company and a part of the artillery company, dispatched to hold the ground with their muskets until the piece could

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THE WAR OF 1812-14.

be brought up, which was soon effected by the exertions of Lieut. Armstrong, held the hordes of the enemy in check. The gun was pushed up under a galling fire, and quickly opened with a discharge of grape. The rammer and picker having been left tied to the limber in the hurry of the movement, Craven Jackson used the ramrod of his mus- ket for a picker, and Constantine Perkins used his gun for : rammer. In this way the piece was loaded. A vig- orous charge was now made on the Indians by those gath- ered at this point, by which they were repulsed. At this moment Col. Higgins had led his regiment across the creek, and also Capt. John Gordon, an old pioneer hero, when a determined advance was made, before which the Indians fled, being chased for two miles. In this chase Col. Higgins engaged in combat with an Indian and slew him with his own hand far in advance of his men. Capt. Pipkins, who commanded a company from Davidson County, was conspicuous also in the pursuit. The enemy left twenty- six warriors dead on the field. Of the whites who were killed were two very brave officers, Capts. Hamilton and Quarles. The entire loss in the two engagements was twenty-two killed and sixty wounded.

The army continued its retreat without further inter- ruption, and reached Fort Strother on the 26th.

Reinforcements having shortly arrived from East and West Tennessee, the volunteers were now discharged, and preparations made for a decisive blow at the large force of Creeks assembled within a strong fortification in the Horse- shoe Bend of the Tallapoosa. On the 14th of March Jackson set out on his march with something over three thousand militia and a regiment of regular infantry six hundred strong. On the 26th he reached the mouth of Cedar Creek, where Fort Williams was established. A force under Brig .- Gen. Johnson having been left as a guard for this post, he set out on the 24th, by way of Emuckfaw, for the Tallapoosa Bend, near which were situated the Oakfuskee villages. The Indian name of the bend was Tohopoka or the Horseshoe. This peninsula con- tained about one hundred acres, and the isthmus, which was about three hundred and fifty yards across, had been forti- fied with unusual care, with a high breastwork of logs, in which were two rows of port-holes. Behind this fortifica- tion were nine hundred Creek warriors, and at the village in the rear over three hundred women and children. The river-bank at the farther point of the bend was lined with canoes, to favor escape in case of disaster. The interior of the space was covered with brush, trees, and ravines, ad- mirably adapted for defense.

Jackson arrived on the 27th of March before the place, and saw at once his opportunity of surrounding the enemy and destroying the whole force. He, therefore, dispatched Gen. Coffee with his mounted brigade to the right to cross the river below and cut off escape in that quarter. At half- past ten the artillery-a three- and a six-pounder-was brought to bear on the works at a distance of eighty yards, and fired for two hours without any other effect than to provoke derisive cheers from the besieged warriors.

At this juncture Gen. Coffee detached Col. Morgan with Russell's spy company to cross the river in some canoes which had been procured by volunteer swimmers. This 11

detachment quickly set fire to the Indian village near the bank and opened fire on such warriors as were in sight. This diversion being discovered by the troops at the front, these were now ordered to charge ; a desperate contest en- sued for the possession of the works, in which Maj. Mont- gomery of the Thirty-ninth Regulars lost his life as he mounted the parapet. The assault was at length successful, and the Indians took refuge behind trees and logs to the rear, whence they waged an obstinate conflict, but they were gradually driven from this shelter, when they sought to make their escape in canoes. Finding retreat cut off in this direction, many of them took shelter in the deep ravine and under the river-bank, where in the course of the day they were destroyed, disdaining to the last to surrender. Only about twenty escaped by swimming and diving. Four surrendered, and about three hundred women and children were taken prisoners. Jackson's loss was fifty-five killed and one hundred and forty-six wounded, of whom quite one-half were friendly Indians. Jackson sunk his dead in the river to prevent them being scalped by the enemy after his departure, and returned to Fort Williams. On the 7th of April he again set out on his march, and reached the Holy Ground of the Creeks, at the junction of the Tallapoosa and the Coosa, without bringing the Indians to another engagement. Here the chiefs of the hostile party began to arrive in his camp and make professions of submission, among them Weatherford, the leader of the attack on Fort Mimms. This brave chief, in tendering his submission, said, " I am in your power; do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I could; I have fought them, and have 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 misfor- tunes of my nation." These professions proved sincere as to the great body of these people; a certain part took refuge with the English and Spaniards at Pensacola, and continued in a state of hostility.

The war being virtually over, those troops whose term of service was nearly out were now discharged, the artillery company from Nashville among the rest, and on the 21st of April they started on their return home. Capt. Ham- mond's spy company from Davidson was retained to do duty at Fort Deposit.

Gen. Jackson being anxious to make sure of the fruits of his important victories, now sought to make the Spanish Governor of Pensacola a party, as it were, to the treaty with the Indians, so as to hold him to a stricter respon- sibility for his future conduct. But to reach him it was necessary for the bearer of his messages to traverse a long stretch of tropical wilderness, unmarked by road or path, and rendered doubly difficult of penetration by reason of numerous swamps, lagoons, and rivers. The bearer of the dispatches was Capt. John Gordon, of Davidson County, who, with a single companion, undertook the dangerous and seemingly desperate mission. At the end of the first day's jourwey the companion of Capt. Gordon became so much appalled by the prospects ahead that the captain drove him back and continued his mission alone. After many difficulties and dangers from hostile Creeks, he reached

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HISTORY OF DAVIDSON COUNTY, TENNESSEE.

Pensacola. On his arrival he was surrounded by a large body of Indians, and it was only by the greatest presence of mind that he escaped instant death and reached the protection of the commandant. His mission being ended, he returned as he came, and reached Gen. Jackson iu safety.

The designs of the British against the Gulf coast having been made known to Gen. Jackson, he urged at once on the neighboring Governors to hasten forward their levies. The call having been made on the 9th of September, the quota of Tennessee was soon full, many paying for the priv- ilege of places in the draft. About the 1st of October these troops, under Gen. Coffee, set out from the rendez- vous to join Gen. Jackson at Mobile. The attack on Fort Bowyer, at the entrance of Mobile Bay, on September 10th, by a British fleet of ninety guns and a combined land force of Spaniards and Indians, was but the precursor of greater events, and the development of the design of the grand invasion of the lower Mississippi region. The attack failed and the enemy's ships, with blood-stained decks, cock pits full of dead and wounded, and shattered hulls were scarce able to reach the shelter of Pensacola, whence they had rallied. Jackson now saw that the defense of New Orleans could not be successfully maintained until Pensacola was reduced. Gen. Coffce having reached the vicinity of Fort St. Stephens, he repaired there on the 26th of October and began preparations for an expedition against that point. Coffee's men, being mounted, cheerfully abandoned their horses, on account of the difficulty of procuring forage, and marched on foot. Besides these were some regulars and a few Indians, the whole force amounting in all to about three thousand men. The march began on November 2d, and the neighborhood of Pensacola was reached on the 6th. The news of Jackson's approach having been received at the place, it was in a state of preparation for an active defense.

Jackson, feeling the nature of the responsibility he was incurring in proceeding against a neutral power with which the United States were at peace, dispatched a flag to demand of the Spanish Governor the possession of the forts, in which a United States garrison should be placed to insure the preservation of neutrality from violation by the forces of Great Britain, then at war with his country. The flag was fired upon and forced to return. However, the American commander was anxious to make another effort at negotiation, and he sent a letter by a Spanish corporal who had been captured the day before. The Governor now re- plied that the outrage of the flag was committed by the British, and that he would be glad to hear any overtures that might be made. Jackson therefore dispatched the same officer with a communication in which he demanded possession of the forts within an hour. To this a decided refusal was returned. It being important to avoid the fire of the British fleet in the bay, Jackson sent forward a body of five hundred men to occupy the attention of the enemy, while the greater force was carried to a point whence it could issue against the forts under the cover of the houses. The manœuvre was eminently successful. The troops stormed the field-guns of the Spaniards posted in the street, and took them at the point of the bayonet, seeing which

the intendant, fearing Jackson's vengeance, rushed from his quarters with a white flag and submitted to his fate, which was the rendition of the various forts under his command. However, Spanish resentment and treachery in giving up Fort St. Michel came near provoking an indis- criminate slaughter of its garrison. During these transac- tions the British men-of-war kept up an active cannonade on the Americans, but were finally driven off by the fire of the light batteries ranged along the beach. Fort Barrancos was fourteen miles to the west, and preparations had been made for receiving its surrender the next day, but during the night it was blown up, and the British fleet retired from the bay. Jackson held the town two days, and then aban- doned it, hastening to Mobile, whither the fleet seemed to be bearing. The danger having blown over in this quarter, he left for New Orleans on the 22d of November, where he arrived the 1st of December. The troops under Gen. Coffee marched across the country, striking the Mississippi at the present site of Port Hudson. This journey is memorable for the hardships endured. It rained constantly, and the march lay through an uninhabited pine forest, intersected by numerous cypress swamps. Many of the horses succumbed to toil and hunger, while the backs of the survivors were stripped of hair, owing to the constant drenching of their bodies with water.

On the 17th of December he received orders from Gen. Jackson to hasten his march. Starting on the 18th, he ac- complished one hundred and fifty miles in two days, reaching within fifteen miles of New Orleans on the night of the 19th. In the mean time two thousand five hundred Tennessee mili- tia had embarked at Nashville on the 19th of November, under Maj .- Gen. Carroll, and were hastening in boats down the Mississippi to New Orleans, which they reached on De- cember 21st. Gen. Jackson had been making superhuman exertions for the defense of the place, but his preparations were far from complete when it was announced that the British army had come through Bayou Bienvenue and es- tablished itself on the Mississippi at Gen. Villery's planta- tion. He received these tidings about noon of the 23d of December, and resolved on a movement which virtually de- cided the fate of the invading army. Gens. Carroll and Coffee from above the city were ordered to join him at once, and in two hours those active and experienced officers had arrived at his headquarters with their respective commands. Here it was decided to detach Carroll's division to guard the Gentilly road, leading from Chef Menteur to the city, in case of a hostile movement from that quarter. With Coffee's brigade, the 7th and 44th regulars, the Louisiana battalions, and Col. Hind's Mississippi dragoons, Jackson arrived in presence of the enemy a little before dark. He immediately made his dispositions for the attack, Coffee being ordered to bear to the left and gain the rear of the British right wing, which extended out into the plain at right angles to the river, on which their left rested. The remainder of his forces were held to strike in the front at a signal from the " Caroline," an armed schooner, which had orders to drop down the river to a point opposite the enemy's camp, and open with grape-shot. Coffee, having farther to go than the rest, was unable to get in position be- fore the signal-guns from the " Caroline" announced that the

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History of Davidson County, Tennessee, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 20

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co. Number of Pages: 1013

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, J.W. Lewis & Co.
Number of Pages: 1013