USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 16
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about four months. These convulsions heralded their coming by a loud rumbling noise like distant thunder. When these con- vulsive throes of the earth first appeared, the people felt and acted like the soldier in his first battle-they were flurried, if not terribly alarmed, but like him, soon became accustomed to the surroundings and composed amid the danger that menaced them. It was during these convulsions of nature, when the foundations of the earth seemed to be heaved upward, that Reel- foot Lake, near the Mississippi, on the Western borders of our State, was formed. This lake is about thirty miles in length, and varies in width from one to two miles. Its depth is so great in some places that no bottom has been found. It is well stocked with the finest and most delicious fish in the world, and is a great resort for ducks, geese, and other waterfowl. The devotees of the rod and the gun find this a very paradise for the enjoyment of their favorite sports.
As soon as the United States had declared war against En- gland, the latter sought to engage the Indians of the lakes and of the South as allies, and active measures were taken to that end. The policy of the United States, which had been pursued since Washington's administration, was to make treaties with the various tribes of Indians inhabiting this country, as fast as prac- ticable, so as to extinguish their title within the United States, and give them homes in the territory bordering on the lakes and West of the Mississippi. It is more than probable, so eager were the agents appointed by our Government to make such trea- ties, that they paid little or no attention to the rights of prop- erty, nor were they particular to treat with the proper tribe, or with chiefs having authority to bind the tribes they represented, in every instance; and this was often a cause of dissatisfaction, which led to bloody conflicts of a more or less sanguinary char- acter. The Creeks and Cherokees had for many years previous to this period lived on friendly terms with the United States, and had meantime received the annuities stipulated to be paid them, and were protected and encuraged in the pursuit of various industrial avocations. These tribes resided mainly iu Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee, and would, in all probability, have con- tinued to live in peace with us but for our war with England, and the influences brought to bear upon the various tribes in this
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country as a result of that war. Previous to the declaration of war against England by the United States, there appeared among the Shawnees, located on the Big and Little Miami rivers, in Ohio, a chief who was destined to make his mark in the annals of this country. "He was born to command." Naturally a great man, athletic and of commanding person, an orator in the true sense of the term, sagacious and wiley, possessing an accu- rate knowledge of the Indian character, and how to work upon their passions; full of megnatism, as every great man must be- such as were Cæsar, Bonaparte, Washington, and Jackson-pos- sessing an absolute control over his fellow-men, and born to eter- nal hatred of Americans, he was a man to be feared in a crisis like that which menaced the country at this period. It was a favorite hobby of his that the Great Spirit had given all America to the red men, and all the country beyond the "big waters" to the rest of mankind. He, therefore, regarded the white men as usurpers and enemies of the Indians. He advocated the doc- trine that America was the common heritage of the entire Indian race, and that no tribe had the right to alienate by treaty any portion of the country. For years he had propagated this doc- trine among the Northern tribes with an earnestness and elo- quence that carried conviction to minds only too willing to be convinced. That chief was Tecumseh. His parents had emi- grated from the region of the Tallapoosa, in Alabama, about the middle of the last century, and he spent two years of his early manhood on a sporting visit to his parents' old friends, the Creeks of Alabama, among whom he formed friendships which proved of great importance to him in after years. When he became a power among the Northern Indians, he set on foot a scheme of uniting all the tribes from the Northern lakes to Florida in one grand confederation, with the design of expelling the whites from this continent and recovering the Indians' ancient heritage. For four years he was engaged in preparing the tribes for a gen- eral war with this object in view. Possessing wonderful influ- ence over the Northern Indians, it was an easy matter for him to unite them upon this grand scheme. Gen. Harrison, whose op- portunities enabled him to form a correct estimate of Tecumseh's character and abilities, speaks of him as "one of those uncom- mon geniuses which spring up occasionally to produce revolu-
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tions and overturn the established order of things. If it were not for the vicinity of the United States he would, perhaps, be the founder of an empire that would rival in glory Mexico or Peru. No difficulties deter him. For four years he has been in constant motion. You see him to-day on the Wabash, and in a short time hear of him on the shores of Lake Erie or Michigan, or on the banks of the Mississippi; and wherever he goes he makes an impression favorable to his purposes."
In the spring of 1811 Tecumseh left his army of a thousand warriors, with which he was preparing to give battle to Gen. Harrison, commanding the United States forces in the North- west, in charge of his brother, the Prophet, and went South, preaching his crusade, and endeavoring to persude the tribes in that section to join in the war he was about to inaugurate. Far and long he traveled, sowing the seeds of future wars. In Flor- ida, among the fierce and war-like Seminoles; in Georgia and Alabama, among the powerful and vicious Creeks, and even among the friendly-disposed Cherokees; in Missouri, among the tribes of the DesMoines, he delivered his impassioned " talk," portraying the Indian's wrongs and the white man's encroach- ments, with all the powers of his matchless eloquence. Of course his mission told powerfully in favor of his project. While he was absent on this mission the battle of Tippecanoe was fought by his brother, in which the Indians sustained a crushing defeat. Tecumseh's chosen warriors, the nucleus of the great army he had hoped to lead, were killed or dispersed. So disastrous was this battle to the plans of Tecumseh, that he was about to retire from the contest, but he was revived and encouraged by the declaration of war by the United States against England the fol- lowing year. Tecumseh's resolution to join the British was in- stantly taken. He was no friend of the Americans, and rejoiced in the opportunity of striking them a terrible blow. Some neigh- boring Indians inviting him to join in a council of tribes which had determined to remain neutral, he replied, "No, I have taken sides with the King, my father, and I will suffer my bones to bleach upon this shore before I will recross that stream to join in any council of neutrality." In a few days he was in the field. The first blood shed in the war was shed through him, and the first advantage gained by the British was due to his assistance.
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His scheme of uniting the Indian tribes was at once adopted by the British as a part of the system of carrying on the war against a country that had wrested its independence from their grasp. Tecumseh's zeal and activity were unbounded, and he seemed to be ubiquitous; first at home, then on the lakes, and then on the Mississippi, pushing forward his scheme. In the fall of 1812 he is again found in Alabama, accompanied by the Prophet and thirty of his " braves." They appeared in the Creek council en- tirely naked, except their flaps and ornaments; their faces painted black and their heads adorned with eagle plumes, while buffalo tails dangled behind them, suspended from girdles that were adorned with the scalps of "pale faces." Tecumseh haranged the Creeks with prodigious effect, pointing to the success of the British and the promises of assistance from them. He exhorted the Creeks to return to their primitive customs; to abandon their agricultural and other industrial pursuits, which were unbecom- ing Indian warriors. He told them that after the whites had possessed the greater part of their country, turned its beautiful forests into fields, and stained their rivers with the washings of the soil, they would subject them to African servitude. He ex- horted them to assimilate in no way with the grasping, unprincipled race, to use none of their arms, and wear none of their clothes, but dress in the skins of beasts which the Great Spirit had given his red children for food and raiment, and to use the war-club, the scalping-knife, and the bow. He told them that the King of England had sent him to invite them to join in the war against the United States, and the Americans would be exterminated, and their country restored to them in its entirety. This speech, delivered in town after town, and enforced by that of the Prophet, in which he declared that those who would join the war party should be shielded from all harm-none should be killed in bat- tle; that the Great Spirit would surround them with quagmires, which would swallow up the Americans as they approached, had the desired effect of inducing the chiefs to abandon their avoca- tions and go upon the war-path with their followers.
The first result of this defection among the Creeks was the massacre of Fort Mims, on the 30th of August, 1813. There was a sparse white population scattered along the Alabama river, engaged in the cultivation of the soil, and they had fine crops
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growing, and were considered " well-to-do" for a frontier settle- ment. The news spread that the Indians were on the war-path, producing the wildest alarm, and the settlers fled to the stockade of Mr. Samuel Mims, on the shores of Lake Tensaw, abandon- ing their homes, crops, and personalty. Gov. Claiborne, of Or- leans, at the show of hostility on the part of the Creeks, sent Maj. Daniel Beasley, with about one hundred and sixty soldiers, to assist in the defense of the fort. There were already in the fort a few militiamen from the neighborhood and some friendly Indians. On the morning of the fatal day, though Maj. Beasley had spared some of his armed men for the defense of neighbor- ing stations, Fort Mims contained no less than five hundred and fifty-three souls, more than one hundred of whom were white women and children, and one hundred and six negroes. Weath- erford, a half-breed chief, of great courage and tact, attacked the fort with one thousand Creek warriors, whom he had led from Pensacola, where the British had supplied them with weapons and ammunition. At noon a drum in the fort was beat for din- ner, and that drum was the signal which Weatherford had chosen for the attack. At the first tap the Indians leaped from their concealment in a neighboring ravine, and ran in a tumultuous mass toward the Eastern gate of the devoted fort, which was open, uttering a hideous whoop. There was a rush of women and children to the houses within the fort, and of men to the gates and port-holes. Maj. Beasley was one of the first at the gate of the outer pickets, and made an effort to close it, but could not in consequence of some obstruction, and while thus engaged was slain. At once the whole of that part of the fort which had been added by Maj. Beasley, and which was separated from the main enclosure by the old line of pickets, was filled with In- dians, hooting, howling, dancing among the dead bodies of many of the best officers and men of the little garrison. Capt. Bailey took command after the death of Maj. Beasley, and for three hours made a gallant defense, the women rendering most efficient aid in the desperate struggle. There were five prophets with the Indians, who boasted that the Great Spirit had rendered them bullet-proof-that bullets fired at them by white men would either fly wide their mark or split and thus pass around their persons. These prophets were all killed at the first volley fired
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after the recovery from the panic, and this fact coming to the knowledge of the Indians, they became very much demoralized, and finally beat a retreat. Weatherford, who had been tempo- rarily absent from the point at which the fight raged, met his warriors, and halting them, upbraided them for want of courage. He finally rallied them for another charge, which he led in per- son. The fort was set on fire by burning arrows and other ex- pedients, and soon the whole enclosure was a roaring sea of flame. The savages were soon upon the inmates, and then the work of slaughter-fierce, unrelenting slaughter-began. Chil- dren were seized by the feet and their brains dashed out against the pickets; the women were butchered, as Maj. Kennedy after- ward reported, "in a manner which neither decency nor language will permit me to describe;" and the men were tomahawed, and all were scalped. The main building, which was burned to ashes, showed heaps of bones. Twelve of the garrison escaped and wandered for days in the swamps and forests. A negro woman, with a ball in her breast, reached a canoe on Lake Tensaw, and paddled fifteen miles to Fort Stoddart, and gave the first news of the massacre. At sunset on that fatal day about four hundred mangled and scalped corpses were heaped and strewed within the walls of the fort. Not one white woman, not one white child, escaped. Weatherford did all he could to prevent the massacre, but he had lost control over his warriors, who acted more like demons that day than human beings. Weatherford was subse- quently captured by Gen. Jackson, and when the old hero ques- tioned him touching the massacre at Fort Mims, he denied em- phatically that he had countenanced that proceeding; on the contrary, he proved to the satisfaction of Gen. Jackson that he did every thing he could to restrain the brutality of his warriors, but they were like a pack of mad wolves thirsting for blood, and refused to listen to advice, entreaty, or threats. Under this state- ment of the case, Weatherford was treated as a prisoner of war, according to the usage of civilized nations.
At this period we had neither railroads, making any point ac- cessible to the whole country within a few hours; nor steam- boats, ploughing our quiet rivers; nor telegraps, that annihilate time and space. The only means of communication across the country was either on foot or horseback, which required many
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days to bring news from remote points along the border. Shortly after the massacre at Fort Mims, a number of bold and fearless horsemen might have been seen crossing the blood-stained line of Alabama, some going to Georgia, some to Tennessee, and others to Mississippi and Louisiana, carrying the news of the great ca- lamity that had fallen upon the people of Alabama, and the danger that menaced those States. Mississippi and Louisiana could do nothing for the relief of their countrymen of Alabama, for the British were threatening them, and they had to look to their own protection. It was about ten days after the massacre of Fort Mims that two men were seen galloping into the city of Nashville, their jaded horses showing that they had come a considerable distance. They brought tidings of the heart-sickening tragedy, and the relation of the particulars shocked the entire community. The patriotic fires were kindled in every breast, and the entire State rose up as one man, determined to give relief to the har- rassed citizens on our frontier, and to avenge their massacre and " the deep damnation of their taking off." A meeting of citizens was called to take action in regard to the matter. The Rev. Thomas Craighead (who in after years was my preceptor) presided and made a most eloquent speech, which lit up the patriotic fires of the State. A committee was appointed, who waited upon Gov. Willie Blount and laid the matter before him, and urged him to take action in behalf the people on the border. Gov. Blount called out two thousand five hundred volunteers from Middle Tennessee, and the same number from East Tennessee, to imme- diately march to the Creek nation to punish the Indians for the massacre of Fort Mims. The General Government had given no authority to raise these volunteers, for no hostile movement on the part af the Creeks was anticipated. The crisis had been pre- cipitated unexpectedly, and in the absence of authority from the General Government, Gov. Blount felt it a duty he owed the people on the frontier to act promptly for their protection. The Legislature of the State assembled and voted an appropriation of three hundred thousand dollars to meet the expenses of this ex- pedition, in the event the General Government failed to provide for the pay and subsistence of these volunteers. As soon as intelligence of these movements reached Washington, the ac- tion of Gov. Blount was approved, and the expen-es attending
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and incident to this army were assumed by the General Govern- ment.
Fortunately for Tennessee and the whole country, we had in Gen. Andrew Jackson a man for the crisis. From his known bravery, his quick perception, his knowledge of the Indian char- acter and mode of warfare, his great popularity, and the confidence the public reposed in him, all eyes were turned to him as the leader and commander-in-chief of the Tennessee forces. Some two weeks previous he had been disabled by a gunshot wound in a rencounter with Thomas H. and Jesse Benton, an arm having been broken and a shoulder shattered. These wounds were of so serious a nature as to confine him to his room at the Hermitage. Meantime the preparations for war against the Creeks were going forward with all possible dispatch, and Gov. Blount and a com- mittee of citizens waited upon Gen. Jackson to learn whether he would be able to assume the command of the Tennessee forces and to take the field in person. To their inquiry, he gave an emphatic assurance that he would. " It is no time," said he, " for a patriot to be sick when his country needs his services." He assured them that he would lead the army if he had to be borne upon a stretcher, but that he trusted in God he would be able by the time the army was ready to march, to be up and lead the brave sons of Tennessee to a glorious victory. It was ar- ranged and announced that Gen. Jackson would take command of the army. This announcement rallied around his standard the chivalry of Tennessee. The volunteers rendezvoused at Fayette- ville on October 3, 1813. Gen. Jackson, with his arm in a sling, arrived on the 7th, and assumed command of the forces. He immediately dispatched Gen. Coffee with a large detachment to Huntsville, Ala., to keep an eye on the Creek warriors who were congregating upon the Coosa and Talapoosa rivers, and threat- ening Tennessee and Georgia. Gen. Cocke, the commander of the East Tennessee forces, was at Nashville, when the plans of the campaign were agreed upon. He was then of opinion that sufficient supplies for the use of the army could be obtained in East Tennessee, and floated down the Tennessee river in flat-boats. Gen. Jackson, relying upon this arrangement for supplies, marched his army in search of the enemy to give him battle. The Ten- nessee river did not rise, and so the supplies from East Tennessee
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could not be sent to Gen. Jackson. In this emergency, he de- termined to forage upon the enemy, and on the 25th of October, 1813, he moved his whole army into the Indian country. Gen. Jackson arrived at the Coosa, and encamped near the town of Talluschatches, where a large body of Indians had assembled.
On the 2d of November, he issued an order to Gen. Coffee to take one thousand men and destroy this town. The attack was made on the 3d, and the Indians fought with great bravery and desperation, but they had to succumb to the gallant Tennesseeans, who decimated their ranks in a fearful manner. The Indians were finally driven from their stronghold, leaving on the field about two hundred warriors who had fallen vietims to the aim of of the Tennessee riflemen. The rout was complete and the vic- tory a brilliant one.
Talladega was the next battle fought by Gen. Jackson in per- son. It was a small fort, situated on a branch of the Coosa river, and is now the capital of Talladega county, Alabama. It is in the pine woods, and surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery. Into this fort a number of friendly Indians had retired for pro- tection. Upwards of one thousand hostile Creek warriors had surrounded this fort, and menaced the friendly Indians with de- struction. Those in the fort were without provisions and were weak in numbers. It was an emergency calling for prompt and decisive action, for if they did not receive immediate relief, they would be butchered by their infuriated countrymen. A noted chief of the party resolved upon a desperate expedient to secure relief. Enveloping himself in a hog-skin, with the head and feet attached, he went about rooting and grunting in so natural a manner as to deceive the hostile Indians, and was thus enabled to make his way through their lines; then disrobing himself, he hastened with the fleetness of the deer to the camp of Gen. Jack- son, to whom he gave intelligence of the beleaguered fort, the supposed strength of the besieging army, and the approaches to the fort. On the Sth of November Gen. Jackson, at the head of one thousand eight hundred cavalry and infantry, crossed the Coosa river, and at sunrise the next morning everything was in readiness to give battle to the enemy. The advance were ordered to make the attack and then fall back to the main body, which they did, followed by the Indians, who were confident of making
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an easy prey of so small a number of soldiers. When the Indians came within easy range, Jackson opened upon them a murderous fire from his ambush. They were repulsed at every turn, the fire of the Tennesseeans being terribly destructive. Finally they retreated, leaving Jackson in possession of the field and their dead and wounded, which numbered fully three hundred, and fled to the mountains. This brilliant victory exerted a powerful influ- ence upon the enemy as well as the country. Gen. Coffee, with his detachment of one thousand mounted volunteers, participated in this battle, and contributed largely to the victory achieved on that hotly contested field. He was a giant in stature, finely pro- portioned, taciturn, with nothing of the braggart about him. There was nothing of the pretender about him, and while he de- termined to do his duty, he was wholly unconcerned as to who should reap the glory. He was the first in the field, and had been in the saddle for a month, leading his brave soldiers up and down the country, keeping the enemy from the frontier, which they were watching like a wolf ready to pounce upon the flock. His presence on the frontier dispelled the alarm of the citizens, while his swift movements indicated that he meant business, and made him a terror to the Indians. He and Gen. Wm. Carroll were the right and left arm of Gen. Jackson, and faithfully they performed the duties entrusted to them.
Amidst the rejoicing over a campaign so brilliantly begun, hunger began to pinch the men who had exhibited such bravery and noble daring, and starvation actually menaced the army. Napoleon being asked what a soldier most needed in war, replied, " A full belly and a good pair of shoes." This army had neither. They were far in the interior of the enemy's country, without supplies, while but little could be procured by foraging. Every effort to procure supplies from the States had so far failed, and while Gen. Jackson was yet hopeful, he saw but too clearly that discontent was brooding over his army and hatching troubles of a very serious nature. Soon mutterings of mutiny began to be heard, bidding defiance to the commands of the General. Finally, the army became little less than a mob, most of the soldiers ex- pressing a determination to go to the settlements for food, if not to go home. In this crisis, Jackson appeared with a musket in his hand, and backed by a portion of the volunteers, threatened
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to shoot the first man who led the march homeward. He appealed to their patriotism, and conjured them by the memory of the men, women, and children who had fallen victims to the ferocity of relentless savages, to avenge the innocent blood that cried for redress. The appeal was effectual, and the men marched back to camp. The next day the mutinous spirit showed itself among the volunteers, who insisted that their time of service had ex- pired. Jackson again appeared with his musket, backed this time by the militia, and a parley ensued. He promised them that if supplies did not arrive within three or four days, they might go to the settlements to procure supplies of provisions and cloth- ing, provided they would return within a reasonable period ; meantime, he, with a few brave followers, would remain and hold Fort Strother, the place at which they were then encamped. This was agreed to by the mutinous volunteers. The stipulated time elapsed, but brought no supplies. Jackson redeemed his pledge, and a large portion of his army took up the line of march out of the Indian country. On their way they met supplies for the army, and many of them returned to Fort Strother, and after- wards did noble fighting under Jackson.
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