USA > Tennessee > History of Tennessee from the earliest time to the present : together with an historical and a biographical sketch of from twenty-five to thirty counties of east Tennessee, V.2 > Part 3
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Jackson built and entrenched a camp, and called it Fort Deposit. While awaiting supplies he drilled his men, and wrote letters to Gov. Blount, Judge Hugh L. White, and other prominent men urging the necessity of rapid movements. The army was reduced to the greatest straits, and it was with great difficulty that discipline was maintained. Col. Coffee was sent to scour the country for supplies. and returned in a short time with a quantity of corn. Gen. Jackson broke camp at Fort Deposit October 25, and advanced into the country and built Fort Strother. He learned that the friendly Indians at Two Islands of the Coosa were in slanger, and went to their rescue. He learned there was a large body of Indians at Tallushatches. thirteen miles distant, on the south side of the Coosa; thither he sent Col. Coffee with 1,000 mounted men to attack them. They were piloted by friendly Indians. The Indians were sur- prised and defeated with great slaughter. The attack began on the morning of the 3d. Col. Allen, who commanded the right wing, managed to get to the rear of the Indians. They fought with the desperation of despair. and not a warrior was captured. They left 156 warriors upon the field, and doubtless more were killed. A number of women and children were killed and 54 were captured. The Indians fired their guns and then used bows and arrows. Jackson's loss was 5 kiffed and 41 wounded: among whom were Capts. Smith. Bradley and Winston. An Indian infant was found upon its dead mother's breast. The other women refused to nourish it. Gen. Jackson had the child cared for and took it into his own family. Young Lincolyer was given a practical education, and found a warm friend in the General and his family. He was taken away by con- sumption at the age of seventeen.
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Gen. Jackson began again with great energy and next struck the In- dians at Talladega, about thirty miles from his camp, at Fort Strother. Here he left his sick and wounded with a small guard, having made the place as secure as possible. He expected a junction of a part of the force of Gen. Cocke, who was operating in concert with him with the East Tennessee troops. Gen. White, with a brigade of these troops, had arrived at Turkey Town, twenty-five miles from Jackson's camp. These were or dered by Gen. Jackson to join him in the advance upon Talladega. When near Fort Strother White received an order from Gen. Cocke to join him. Jackson advanced upon Talladega on December S. and when within six miles of the place he learned that White had been ordered to join Gen. Cocke. His sick and wounded men being in danger, he determined to fight alone the next morning. Talladega was a fortified place, and was filled with friendly Indians who were being besieged by the hostile Creeks. It was for their relief that the battle was fought. The Indians were or the point of starvation. One disguised as a hog crept through the hostik lines, and brought Jackson word as to their condition. Scouts brough him information as to the number and position of the enemy. The march was resumed at 4 o'clock on the morning of the 9th; when within a mile of the enemy the line of battle was formed. Hall's brigade was on the right and Roberts' on the left. and Coffee's cavalry covered the wings. with a portion in the rear for reserve. When Capt. Deaderick's men arrived within eighty yards of the enemy they rose and with a yell opened fire and began an advance. Some of the militia under Gen. Rob- erts began to give way, frightened by the terrible yells of the Indians. The reserve under Col. Dyer boldly advanced and restored the line. when the militia again returned to the fight. A general advance along the whole line was now made. The Indians were slaughtered unmercifully : a gap in the lines alone allowed any to escape. They lost 280 killed: Gen. Coffee says 299. The loss of the whites was 15 killed and 55 wounded. The Indians numbered 1,000: Jackson's forces numberel about 2,000, not more than half of whom were engaged. Great was the joy of the besieged Indians when they were relieved.
Jackson now returned to Fort Strother, but to find no supplies. week's starvation brought the army to a state of mutiny. The troops threatened to march home in a body, but Jackson persuaded them to de- lay two days longer, in which case, if there were no supplies. he would allow them to go. The time came but no supplies. The men started home but Jackson went with them. On the way provisions were met with. but it required the utmost firmness to force them to return. Ther- was a difference of opinion as to when the term of enlistment expired.
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The 10th of December was set as the time for their departure for home. Col. William Martin was commander of one of the mutinous regiments. Gen. Jackson had the men brought out in front of the army, with men on either flank and the artillery in front, ready to fire in case the men moved. After a sharp dispute between Gen. Jackson and Col. Martin the matter was dropped for the time being. Gen. Cocke joined Gen. Jackson's forces at Fort Strother with 2.000 East Tennessee troops on December 13, 1513. The time of the men having expired, all except about 800 were discharged. In the meantime Gen. Coffee, Col. Carroll and Rev. Gideon Blackburn had been very active in raising recruits for the army to support Gen. Jackson at Fort Strother. The new troops were under Cols. Higgins and Perkins and amounted to about 900 men ; there were two spy companies under Capts. Russell and Gordon and one artillery company under Lieut. Robert Armstrong. Besides these there
was a body of the old riflemen under Gen. Coffee. A large force of friendly Indians accompanied the expedition. The force started on tho 13th of January. The object was not only to defeat the Indians. but particularly to keep up the spirits of the men. On the 20th they en- camped at Enotochopco, twelve miles from Emuckfau Creek, near a bend in the Tallapoosa. On the 21st Jackson found himself in the vicinity of a large force of Indians. The army encamped in a hollow square, ready to receive a night attack which was made upon them. The expected at- tack fell upon Jackson's left before day, but the line was maintained till sunrise, when re-enforcements were sent to their relief. A charge along the whole line drove the Indians two miles. The friendly Indians joined vigorously in the pursuit. An effort was made by Gen. Coffee to burn their fortifications, but did not succeed. An attack was made upon Jackson's right, which was sustained by Gen. Coffee and some friendly Indians. This was only a preliminary to a heavy assault upon the left which Jackson had anticipated and for which he was prepared. After a vigorous fight the Americans were able to sustain their lines, when a charge was made and the Indians were driven a mile, with a loss of for- ty-three killed. The loss of the whites was four killed, including Maj. Alexander Donelson. Gen. Coffee was wounded in the last charge.
Fearing for the sick and wounded, Gen. Jackson began his movement for his return to Fort Strother. On the 23d he arrived again at Enotochop- co Creek, where it was evident that the Indians were meditating a night attack. He crossed the stream a short distance below the intended ford to avoid an ambuscade that had been laid for him. While the artillery was crossing the Enotochopeo the Indians suddenly fell upon the rear guard, they having detected Jackson's movement. Nearly the whole linc
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was thrown into confusion: a part, however, remained firm, and C.p. Russell's spy company was sent to assist till the artillery could be place? in position, when it opened upon the Indians with grape, which held them in check. Col. Higgins soon led his regiment across the stream. A charge along the whole line drove the enemy two miles. The Indians left twenty-six dead upon the field. Among the American killed were Capts. Hamilton and Quarles. Jackson now returned to Fort Strother. where the men whose time had expired were discharged with flattering encomiums by the General.
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A dispute arose between Gen. Jackson and Gen. Cocke as to the Jatter's action in the campaign. Crimination and recrimination followed. Gen. Cocke was arrested and brought to Nashville for trial, but was tri- umphantly acquitted. In March Gen. Jackson was made major-general. He was now re-enforced by 2,000 men from East Tennessee, under Gen. George Doherty. Seventeen hundred men joined him from West Ten- nessee (Middle Tennessee), under Gen. Thomas Johnson; another regi- ment of East Tennesseeans. under Col. John Brown; Gen Coffee's caval- ry, under Col. Dyer, and the Thirty-ninth Infantry. under Col. John Williams. The whole force amounted to nearly 4,000 men, about 1,000 of which were friendly Indians, under Maj. McIntosh, a half-breed. The supplies for the expedition were collected at Fort Deposit and hauled to Fort Strother. Most rigid discipline 'was enforced by Jackson. The execution of John Woods, a lad of eighteen, who had belonged to the army but a few weeks, was considered harsh. His offense was a refusal to obey an order from a superior, and his execution took place March 14, the day the army started. On the 26th Jackson reached Cedar Creek, where Fort William was built.
The Indians had concentrated their forces at a bend in the Talla- poosa, from its shape called Tohopeka-horseshoe. Here they had col- lected about 900 of their warriors and about 300 women and children. They had been well supplied with weapons by the British. They had been taught that this was holy ground, and to tread upon it would be death to the whites. The space enclosed about 100 acres, and the dis- tance across the neck was only about 350 yards, which had been pretty well fortified by logs and brush. The place was fifty-five miles south of Jackson's camp. Toward this Jackson put his column in motion, and after eleven days arrived on March 27. The cavalry under Coffee and some of the friendly Indians surrounded the place from the river, and the main force attacked from the peninsula, first by artillery. but were compelled to charge. Col. I. P. Montgomery was first to leap upon the works, but was killed; Ensign Houston ,(Gen. Sam Houston) was shot
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with an arrow in the thigh, but after several attempts tore it out and continued to fight. The friendly Indians slipped across and cut loose the boats of the enemy, which were tied next to the town. No Indian asked for quarter; 557 dead were left upon the peninsula, and about 200 more were killed by Gen. Coffees' men and Indians at the river and in the woods. Only a few escaped under cover of the night. An Indian chief lay under the water and breathed through a long reed till darkness gave him a favorable opportunity to escape; 4 warriors only surrendered besides 400 women and children. Jackson lost 25 killed, among whom were Maj. Montgomery, who was of the Thirty-ninth Regulars, and Lieu- tenant Somerville; the wounded amounted to 105. The loss to the the friendly Indians was 29 killed and 54 wounded. Jackson sunk his killed in the river to prevent their being scalped by the Indians, and re- turned to Fort Williams with his sick and wounded. On April 7 he started for the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, their "Holy of Holies." Most of the Indians were destroyed and their power was for- ever broken. Among the chiefs who came in to surrender was William Weatherford, an intelligent half-breed, who had planned the attack upon Fort Mimms. He rode boldly into the American lines and up to Gen. Jackson's quarters. He was mounted upon a magnificent charger, and carried with him a large buck, which he presented to the General. With the bearing of a king he 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 I have fought them bravely. If I had an army I would fight you longer and contend to the last, but I have none; my people are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation. All I ask is for the women and children." He was treated with great civility, and lived to show his good faith after- ward. Fort Jackson, in addition to Fort William, was built to protect the conquered country, the former near the junction of Coosa and Talla- poosa. A treaty was signed at Fort Jackson on August 9, 1814, by which the Indians ceded all the lands east of the Tombigbee and west of the Coosa to the United States. The time of enlistment of the men having expired. they were discharged. Many of the Creeks never joined in the treaty, but their power being broken they joined the Seminoles. with whom a war was waged later. The burning of the Hillibee towns by Gen. Cocke made that tribe the most furious and implacable of foes. They were thought to be kindly disposed but for this unfortunate act. The Creeks or Muscogees were the most powerful of the Southern In- dians, and before the war their limits extended from the Chattahoochee on the east to the Tombigbee on the west; from the Tennessee ou the
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north to Florida on the south. Among them was a tradition that they "came out of the ground."
Gen. Jackson determined to reach the cause of the war, and strike at both the Spanish and the British. The threatened condition of the gulf coast led him to urge forward new lines from the Sites. On September 10 a British fleet of ninety guns and a large land forvs of Spanish and Indians made an attack upon Fort Boyer at Mobile Harbor, but met with a bloody repulse. The levies under Gen. Coffee left New Orleans October 1 to join Jackson at Mobile. Jackson determined to reduce Pensacola, and determined to take possession of the forts there. The march for the place began on November 2. and the vicinity of Pensacola was reached on the 6th. A flag of truce was sent to the Spanish gover- nor demanding the surrender of the forts to the Americans, to prevent the British from using them to the detriment of the Americans. The flag was fired on and compelled to return. Another effort was made the next day by sending a Spanish corporal to the governor with a letter demanding possession of the forts. A very polite note was sent to Jack- son, stating that the firing upon the dag had been done by the British. Jackson then demanded the surrender of the forts within an hour. This was refused. Jackson then sent a force of 500 men to draw the fire of the British fleet, while with the remaining force he attacked the Spanish in the streets and forts. The white flag was soon displayed. and the British fleet was driven off. Fort Barrancos, fourteen miles west, was abandoned and blown up by the British the next day to prevent its cap- ture. Jackson then hastened to Mobile to ward off a threatened attack on that place, but the place being relieved, he hurried on to the defense of New Orleans on November 22, where he arrived on December 1. Gen. Coffee moved with the cavalry toward the Mississippi, striking that at Baton Rouge. After suffering almost untold hardships from rains, cypress swamps and other difficulties from traveling through an unin- habited country of pine forests, he reached there with his men and horses in a sad plight. Jackson himself turned to New Orleans on horseback. which he reached after an eight days' ride. Sickness and the hardships of the campaign had almost reduced him to the grave. He was agree- ably entertained at breakfast at Mr. J. K. Smith's on the morning of his arrival.
The accomplished Mrs. Smith was greatly disappointed in his appear- ance. She saw nothing in him but "an ugly old Kentucky flat-boat man," instead of "your grand general with his plumes, epaulettes and long handsome mustache." To oppose the British forces, consisting of over 10,000 soldiers and 50 heavy war vessels of 1.000 guns and 10,000
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enemies bore him tenderly within the works and said: "Bear up. dear fellow, you are too brave to die." In twenty-five minutes' time the Brit- ish lost 700 killed, 1.400 wounded and 500 prisoners. The American loss was but 8 killed and 7 wounded. The British, disconcerted, returned to their ships and in a few days sailed away. Peace came and Jackson and his men received the plaudits of the nation for a victory that was useless, yet none the less brilliant. On March 15 he dismissed his men with: "Go, then, my brave companions, to your homes; to those tender connections and those blissful scenes which render life so dear, full of honor and crowned with laurels which shall never fade." Whether the British had promised their soldiers, as is generally believed, the license of " beauty and booty " or not, the Americans believed it and so fought.
Trouble began with the Seminole Indians in 1817. The name Sem- inole is said to mean vagrant, reckless, and they are supposed to have sprung from the Creeks. The Seminoles, Creeks and escaped negroes began ravages in Georgia. The difficulty grew out of the treaty of Ghent made with Great Britain at the close of the war of 1812. By that treaty it was stipulated that the previous boundaries should be con- firmed, and the Creeks being allies of Great Britain claimed their old boundaries, thus not recognizing the treaty made between them and Gen. Jackson. This the American Government refused to grant. Gen. Gaines sent Col. Twiggs from Fort Scott to Fowltown, thirteen miles distant, to demand of the chief some Indians who had been committing depredations. The party was fired upon, when the fire was returned aud a woman and two warriors were killed and the town burned by order of Gen. Gaines. Supplies were brought up the Appalachicola, by permis- sion from the Spanish, to forts in the Creek country. On November 30, as Lieut. Scott was proceeding up the river with a boat of supplies, forty soldiers, seven women and four children, he was fired on by a party of concealed Indians, and every one (except four who leaped out and swam ashore) was killed and one woman was carried off. Gen. Jackson was sent to conduct the war. He was instructed by the Secretary of War, Mr. Calhoun. to call on the adjacent States for such additional troops as he might need. He was not long in construing this order to mean Tennessee. He issued a call and set January 11, 1818, as the day of rendezvous at Fayetteville. Two regiments of 1.000 men assembled under Cols. Dyer and Williamson, and a body of 100 men under Capt. Dunlap; the whole were under Inspector-Gen. Hayue. Jackson himself left Nashville on January 22 and joined his forces. He started with twenty days' rations. He experienced the same difficulties as in 1813-14. Supplies were ordered to be shipped from New Orleans to Fort Scott,
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where he arrived on March 9. a distance of 450 miles, with 1, 100 hungry men. This was accomplished in forty-six days. Before arriving at Fort Scott he was joined by McIntosh, now a brigadier-general in the United States Army, with 2,000 Indians.
Perceiving the Spanish were, giving aid to the Indians, Jackson de- termined to capture Fort St. Mark's, a Spanish fort. He left Negro Fort. now rebuilt and called Fort Gadsden, on March 26, and arrived before St. Mark's April 7. On his way he destroyed several Indian towns. On the 8th Jackson entered St. Mark's, and hauled down the Spanish flag and ran up the American flag, notwithstanding the protest of the Spanish governor. Here was captured Alexander Arbuthnot. a Scotch trader. who was aiding the Indians. On his way to St. Mark's Capt. Mckeever. of the navy, who was going to the assistance of Jackson. lured the prophet Francis and his head chief on board his vessel by displaying an English flag. and held them as prisoners. They were executed by Gen. Jackson for being at the massacre at Fort Mimms. On the 11th he started for the Suwanee Old Towns, 107 miles distant. After a tiresome march through snows and bogs he arrived to find the towns deserted. the Indian chief, Bowlegs, and his warriors having fled. Here was cap- tured R. C. Ambrister, an Englishman of rank, who had been suspended from the army for sending a challenge for a duel. He was assisting the Indians against the Americans. Jackson returned to St. Mark's on the 26th. A court martial was called to try Arbuthnot and Ambrister, which ended in two days in their conviction. The sentence was approved by Jackson and they were executed, the former having been hung and the latter shot. Jackson returned to Fort Gadsden. where he remained a few days, when he started for Pensacola. The Indians were committing depredations in that vicinity, and were receiving protection from the Spaniards. Jackson seized the place in spite of the governor's protest. and placed thereon an American garrison. The execution of Ambrister and Arbuthnot and the invasion of Spanish territory came near involving the United States in war with England and Spain. Fort Gadsden, form- erly called Negro Fort, was built about seventeen miles above the coast. on the Appalachicola, by Col. Nichols during the war of 1812, and was a store-house for the Indians. After the war the Indians neglected it and Garçon took possession of it with several hundred runaway negroes. They refused to allow supplies to go up the river, when it was de- termined to destroy the fort. It was surrounded by settlers and friendly Indians, but they were unable to make any impression on it. A gun- boat was ordered up the river to assist in its destruction. This was in 1816. The fort was defended by ten or twelve cannon, and had stored
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in the magazine 700 barrels of powder. A red- hot shell fired from the gun-boat lodged in the magazine and a terrific explosion followed. Of 334 inmates only three were unhurt. The explosion is said to have been felt for 100 miles. A treaty was signed at Moultrie Creek Septem- ber 18. 1823, by which the Seminoles were to be kept in the interior. aud were paid the sum of $5,000 a year for twenty years.
The pressure of the whites upon the Indians to take possession of their rich lands led to frequent difficulties, and not unfrequently were persons killed by the Indians. To avoid these growing evils it was de- termined by the Government if possible to send the Seminoles to a reser- vation west of the Mississippi River. The Indian chiefs were sent to the Indian Nation to examine the situation and report. Arriving there in the winter they were not favorably impressed, but were at last induced to sign a treaty. Through the influence of Col. Gadsden this treaty was made at Payne's Landing, May 9, 1532, by which it was stipulated that the Indians, for a small consideration, should within three years move to a new reservation west of the Mississippi River. Osceola and other chiefs bitterly opposed.this. Gen. Thompson, who had wronged Osceola. was killed December 23, 1835, and on the same day Maj. Dade and 110 men were waylaid and massacred in Wahoo Swamp. Volunteers were called for in June, 1536, the apportionment of Tennessee being 2,000. more than double the number offered. The East Tennessee troups ren- dezvoused at Athens and elected R. G. Dunlap brigadier-general over their brigade. Troops of Middle Tennessee assembled at Fayetteville, the old place of rendezvous. Here met the companies of Capt. Rodgers, of Warren County; Capts. Jetton and Yoakum, of Rutherford; Turney and Roberts. of Franklin: Terry, of Bledsoe; Cronck, of Williamson; Henry. of Robertson; Grundy, Washington and Battles, of Davidson; and Trousdale and Guilt, of Sumner. These were organized into a brigade. of which Robert Armstrong was elected general; Washington Barron. adjutant: A. M. Upsham, inspector-general, and W. G. Dickson, sur- geon. Of the First Regiment A. M. Bradford was colonel; T. H. Cahal. lieutenant-colonel ; -- Goff, first major; Powhatan Gordon, second major. Of the Second Regiment W. Trousdale was colonel: J. C. Guilt, lieutenant-colonel: Meddow, first major; W. L. Washington, sec- ond major, and J. P. Grundy. adjutant.
The force moved in due time following near Jackson's old route to the Creek Nation. The army was little encumbered by baggage, as what little was carried was placed upon Sumter mules and the necessity of wheeled vehicles was in a great measure avoided. The army moved from Huntsville by way of Elyton, Montgomery, to Watumpka or Camp
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Jordan, where it remained till the Ist of September. It then crossed the Coosa at Fort Meigs, the Appalachieola at the confluence of the Flint and Chattahoochee, thence by way of Quincy, Marietta to Tallahassee. From Tallahassee the army moved through the wilderness to the Suwa- nee Old Towns, thence to Fort Drane. On October 13, a battle was fought on the Withlacoochee with no great loss on either side. The forces were compelled to withdraw for supplies but returned, and another engagement was fought on November 13 near the same place. Bat- tles were fought at the Wahoo Swamp on the 18th and 21st of Novem- ber. Osceola, Sam Jones, and Alligator are said to have been present on the side of the Indians. After a stubbornly contested engagement, the Indians retreated into their fastnesses. This was the last fighting done
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