Marching orders were issued in a few moments after the arrival of

the runner, and at midnight General Jackson was on the march for

Talladega, with his whole disposable force, consisting of twelve

hundred infantry, and eight hundred cavalry and mounted rifles. His

sick, wounded, and baggage, were left at Fort Strother. Crossing the

Coosa in the night, he pressed forward with such celerity--officers

and men vieing with each other in zeal--that, on the evening of

the eighth instant, he encamped within six miles of the fort at

Talladega, which was occupied by one hundred and sixty friendly

warriors, with their women and children. About midnight the chief

Chenubby arrived from Turkey Town, with a letter from General White,

informing General Jackson that he had received an order from his

division commander, General Cocke, to join him at Chattooga, higher

up the Coosa, and that he could not, therefore, advance to Fort

Strother.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF TALLADEGA.]

Jackson’s cup of disappointment was almost full. Neither General

Cocke, nor General White, wanted in patriotism; but they seem, more

particularly the former, to have been impressed with the belief,

that by remaining aloof from General Jackson, they would secure a

larger share of the honors of the campaign. It seems almost painful

to contemplate the struggles of the proud and ambitious spirit

constantly thwarted by their unwise movements. Had they joined him

at once, the war would have been brought to a close in a few weeks;

but they preferred to linger behind, in safety and security, eating

up the provisions better deserved by those who were enduring the

severest fatigues and privations; and when they recovered from their

inactivity, and advanced to strike a blow, it proved to be the only

unfortunate one of the whole campaign.

The dispatch from General White made no change, however, in the

determination of General Jackson. He resolved to dispose of the

enemy in his front, and then fall back, with all possible speed,

to Fort Strother, before the enemy would have time to profit by

its defenceless condition. The prospect before his troops was

disheartening in the extreme; if they conquered, there would be no

food to refresh or reïnvigorate them; yet his example inspired them

with confidence, and they obeyed his commands without hesitation or

reluctance.

Long before daylight on the morning of the ninth of November, the

army was again in motion. Silently threading their way through the

luxuriant forests, winding over the hills, and crossing the rich

intervals, that separated them from the enemy, they approached their

position. Within a mile, they were halted, and formed in order of

battle. The infantry brigades were placed in the centre,--General

Hall’s on the right, and General Roberts’ on the left. They were

flanked, on the right, by Colonel Alcorn’s volunteer cavalry, and, on

the left, by the mounted rifles of Colonel Cannon. An advanced corps

of riflemen, spies, and artillery, was formed under Colonel Carroll,

the inspector general, and a strong reserve of two hundred and fifty

mounted men, under Lieutenant Colonel Dyer.

At eight o’clock the attack was ordered; and the whole column moved

rapidly forward, all full of animation and enthusiasm. Colonel

Carroll preceded the main body, with the advance, having received

orders to rouse the enemy from the thicket on the banks of a small

rivulet, in which they had concealed themselves, and then to retire

towards the centre. The sharp quick report of his rifles, and the

hideous yells and screams, soon apprised the remainder of the column

that the savages had been started from their cover. Meantime, the

infantry regiments, which had previously advanced by heads of

companies, had displayed, in accordance with the orders of General

Jackson, and the cavalry were extending themselves, to the right

and left, so as to encircle the enemy. The orders issued by the

commanding general required the cavalry to keep up their connection

with the flanks of the infantry. This was neglected on the right, and

the plan of attack, which was most skilfully formed, was partially

defeated by this untoward circumstance. Colonel Bradley, the officer

commanding the infantry regiment on the right, also halted his men on

a rising ground, before he came in contact with the enemy, and the

gap was thereby considerably widened.

[Sidenote: DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY.]

When the fronts of the cavalry columns met on the further side of the

enemy, they faced inwardly, and a general rush was made towards the

centre. The Indians did not appear inclined to fly, at first, but

made a bold onset upon the right wing of General Roberts’ brigade.

Three of the companies, after delivering their fire, began to

stagger, and finally fell back in the rear. Colonel Bradley was then

ordered to advance with his regiment, and fill up the vacancy. This

he declined doing; and General Jackson, much against his will, as he

designed the reserve to pursue the enemy if they attempted to escape,

was forced to direct Lieutenant Colonel Dyer to dismount his men, and

engage them. Observing this movement, the retiring militia rallied

and did good service.

The action was not of long continuance. The savages could not

withstand the destructive fire poured in upon them from every side,

and in fifteen minutes they commenced flying hither and thither,

within the circle, seeking some avenue of escape. Whichsoever way

they turned, they encountered the rifle and the bayonet. At length,

they discovered the opening between Colonel Alcorn’s regiment of

cavalry, on the right, and the volunteers of Colonel Bradley.

Through this numbers of them dashed, hotly pursed by both cavalry

and infantry, who followed them for nearly three miles, strewing the

ground throughout the whole distance with their dead bodies. The

Indian force numbered one thousand and eighty warriors, of whom two

hundred and ninety-nine were found killed on the field of battle, and

many more must have perished in the woods. The Americans lost but

fifteen killed, and eighty-five wounded, some of the latter mortally.

The occupants of the fort thus timely relieved, crowded around

General Jackson and his brave troops, and poured forth their thanks

in eloquent and impressive terms. There were only one hundred and

sixty warriors, with their women and children, and the arrival of

the Tennesseans was most opportune, as the Red Sticks were to have

assaulted the fort in a few hours. They had been entirely cut off

from their supply of water, and had suffered considerably for want of

it. Their stock of provisions was also limited; but on discovering

the condition of Jackson’s troops, who had left Fort Strother with

but little over one day’s rations, they cheerfully furnished them all

they had to spare, which scarcely amounted to a single meal.

General Jackson complimented his troops, in the highest terms, for

their gallantry in this action. All the officers, with the exception

of Colonel Bradley, who was placed under arrest, but afterwards

released, were mentioned in his dispatches in terms of marked

approbation.

[Sidenote: DESTITUTION OF THE TROOPS.]

An instant retreat to Fort Strother was now necessary. The

horses were suffering for the want of forage, and the men were

half-famished, when they turned their backs on the field of victory,

and commenced their retrograde march. Jackson was with the van of the

army, and on the way discovered a quantity of acorns lying on the

ground. Dismounting from his horse, he threw the bridle over his arm,

and, having gathered a few of the nuts, sat down on the roots of a

tree to eat them. He was thus engaged in satisfying his hunger, when

a soldier approached him, and demanded something to eat. “I never

turn away the hungry,” said the general, “while I have anything to

give them.” He then offered the soldier a few acorns, adding, “I will

most cheerfully divide with you such food as I have.” Mortified and

surprised, the man shrunk back among his companions, who thereafter

repressed every disposition to murmur or complain.

The army reached Fort Strother on the evening of the eleventh

of November, but it was only to be once more disappointed. No

provisions, except the limited quantities forwarded by the

contractors, had yet arrived; and the private stores of the general

had been almost exhausted, in order to supply the wants of the sick

and wounded. Still he assumed a cheerful and confident tone, though

sad enough at heart, and resorting to the slaughter-pens, provided

himself with tripes, with which he made what he termed a comfortable

repast. His example was imitated by the soldiers, who seemed inclined

willingly to endure the hardships of the campaign.

But matters could not long continue in this situation. The battles of

Talluschatchee and Talladega had satisfied, to a considerable degree,

the desire for adventure which had previously animated the troops in

the midst of the most embarrassing difficulties, and they soon began

to pine for the comforts of home. Starvation was far more terrible to

them than “an army with banners.” They were brave,--this could not

be doubted,--and they would have gladly followed their general into

the very heart of the Creek country, if they could only have been

assured that a reasonable supply of food would be provided; of the

two enemies whom they met in the wilderness, they feared the savage

least; and was it not asking too much that they should encounter both?

Disaffection gradually gained ground, and, in a few days, the whole

army was on the verge of mutiny. The militia regiments were the

first to make known their determination to leave the camp, and return

to Tennessee. Apprised of their intention, General Jackson ordered

the volunteer brigade under arms, and when the militia attempted to

move off, the former were directed to fire upon them unless they

returned to their duty. This had the desired effect. The overawed

militia retired to their tents, but, on the following morning,

they were themselves paraded, in a similar manner, to prevent

the volunteers from deserting their colors. This arraying of one

species of force against another was a bold and happy conception of

Jackson’s; but it would not bear repetition. No one could be better

aware than himself, that the men had reasonable cause for complaint,

even though he insisted on a rigid compliance with his orders to

remain at Fort Strother. The horses were suffering so much, however,

for the want of forage, that the mounted men received permission to

go back to Huntsville, upon their pledge to return promptly when

required to do so.

[Sidenote: SUPPRESSION OF THE MUTINY.]

Having been positively assured by the new contractor, Colonel

Pope, in reply to his earnest and pathetic appeals, that supplies

would soon reach his camp, General Jackson made a most eloquent

and animated harangue to his troops on the fourteenth of November,

exhorting them, by every consideration and argument which should

influence brave and patriotic citizens, not to abandon the service,

and leave the frontier settlements exposed to the desolating

incursions of the Indians. He also promised them, that if a supply

of provisions did not arrive within two days, he would himself

lead them back where there was plenty. The militia consented to

remain; but the volunteer regiments, forgetful of the heavy debt

of gratitude which they owed to their commander, for his refusal

to desert them the previous winter, at Natchez, when they had been

abandoned by their government, determined to march forthwith to

the settlements. Discovering that it was useless longer to attempt

compulsory measures, General Jackson issued the necessary orders to

General Hall, to conduct his brigade to Fort Deposit. Before the

march was commenced, the second regiment wisely reconsidered their

determination, and concluded to stay with the general; whereupon the

first regiment moved off alone.

The specified time elapsed, and still no provisions had arrived.

On the sixteenth, General Jackson commenced his preparations for

the abandonment of Fort Strother; but, on reflecting how much

this movement would reïnspirit the savages, he declared that he

would not leave the post, if only two men would remain with him.

Captain Gordon, of the spies, instantly volunteered to be one of

his companions, and through his exertions, and those of some of the

members of the general staff, one hundred and nine men were found who

agreed to stay.

Feeling confident, however, that supplies were close at hand, General

Jackson marched with the militia, apprising them, in advance, that

they would be ordered back if his expectations should be realized.

Within ten or twelve miles of the fort, they met one hundred and

fifty beeves. The column at once halted; the cattle were knocked

down, and eagerly cooked and eaten by the half-starved troops. But

when the order to return was issued, none obeyed it. One company,

indeed, had resumed the march, before the general discovered the

mutinous disposition which prevailed among the troops. He immediately

dashed ahead of the men who were moving off, and with General Coffee,

a part of the staff, and a few soldiers, formed a line across the

road, and declared that he would fire on them if they endeavored

to pass. Well knowing that he was not the man to forfeit his word,

they fell back to the main body, who were soon discovered to be

likewise infected with the spirit of mutiny. Arguments and entreaties

proved of no avail,--the troops all formed, and were on the point of

continuing their march to Fort Deposit. As a last resort, the general

snatched a musket, threw it across the neck of his horse, and placing

himself in front of the column, declared that he would shoot down the

first man who moved a single step in advance.

The piece which General Jackson had seized was too much out of order

to be fired, and his arm was so weak that he could not aim it with

any precision; but the men before him knew nothing of this, or, if

they did, thought not of it. They only saw his flashing eye, and his

determined look. General Coffee and some of the staff took their

places in silence beside him. Two faithful companies also formed in

his rear. All were ready to fire when he gave the signal. For several

moments not a word was uttered. At length the power of numbers

quailed before the iron will, the moral greatness of that one man.

The mutineers signified their willingness to return, and in a short

time they were retracing their steps to Fort Strother.

[Sidenote: DESTRUCTION OF THE HILLABEE TOWNS.]

While General Jackson was engaged in quelling the disturbances in

his camp, the East Tennesseans, under General White, were proceeding

against the Hillabee towns, the warriors from which had been present

at the battle of Talladega. Intimidated by the result of this action,

they had applied to General Jackson, on the thirteenth of November,

for terms of peace. On the seventeenth he replied, making known to

them the conditions upon which their request would be granted. On the

same night, General White, who had been detached for this service by

General Cocke, on the eleventh of November, with all his cavalry and

mounted infantry, approached the principal Hillabee village, having

previously destroyed Little Oakfuskie, Genalga, and Netta Chaptoa.

At daylight the town was surprised, sixty warriors were killed, and

two hundred and fifty taken prisoners, without the loss of a drop of

blood on the part of General White’s command.

This unfortunate movement--unfortunate, inasmuch as the blow fell

with crushing weight upon a people already subdued, and anxious to

make peace on any terms--confirmed General Cocke in the opinion which

he had previously formed and communicated to General Jackson on the

fourteenth of November, that it was far better to unite his forces

with those of the latter, and act in concert with him, than, by

remaining separate, to paralyze his efforts, and defeat his plans.

Thereafter he made no attempt to operate independently of General

Jackson, and on the twelfth of December joined him at Fort Strother,

with fourteen hundred and fifty men.

Meanwhile the Georgia militia, under General Floyd, though, like the

Tennessee troops, much embarrassed by the want of supplies, had been

advancing from the frontier of that state into the Creek country.

Early in the morning of the twenty-ninth of November, they surprised

the Indian town of Antossee, situated on the left bank of the

Tallapoosa, about twenty miles above its junction with the Coosa, and

which the savages had been taught by their prophets to consider holy

ground. The force under General Floyd consisted of nine hundred and

fifty Georgians, and between three and four hundred friendly Indians.

Antossee, and another town about five hundred yards lower down, were

occupied by large parties of the enemy. Both were attacked at the

same moment; the houses were set on fire; and a furious contest took

place amid the surrounding flames. The Indians were ultimately routed

and dispersed, with the loss of two hundred killed and wounded.

General Floyd was himself severely wounded; and there were eleven

of his men killed, and fifty-four wounded. As the principal Creek

towns were within a short distance of Antossee, he completed the work

of destruction, and immediately retired to the Chatahoochee, which

he reached without molestation. On the ninth of December, another

detachment of Georgia militia, under General Adams, consisting of

five hundred and thirty men, marched on a second expedition against

the towns on the Tallapoosa. They were unable to bring the enemy to

action, but destroyed two of their villages, and then returned to

camp.

[Sidenote: ECCANAHACA DESTROYED.]

While these operations were going on, east and north of the Creeks,

the regulars and militia on the west, though cut off from all

communication with the other columns, by the trackless forests which

separated them, were not inactive. On the thirteenth of December,

General Claiborne moved up the Alabama river, from Fort Stoddart,

with a detachment, in order to destroy the towns above the mouth of

the Cahawba. On the twenty-third instant he attacked Eccanahaca, or

Holy Ground, a new town erected since the commencement of the war,

in the midst of tangled thickets, and almost impenetrable swamps

and morasses. This village was the general dépôt of the Indians in

this section, and contained large quantities of property and stores

of provisions. It consisted of about two hundred houses, and was

occupied by a considerable body of the enemy, under the half-breed

chief, Weatherford. General Claiborne advanced upon the town, with

his force divided into three columns. The Indians were quickly driven

out, leaving thirty dead on the ground. Having no facilities for

removing the property or provisions, the general ordered them to be

consumed with the town. He also destroyed another village, containing

sixty houses, eight miles higher up the river.

Among the slain at Eccanahaca were three Shawnee warriors, who had

probably joined the hostile Creeks after the terrible defeat of their

tribe on the banks of the Thames, in October previous; and among

the trophies of the expedition, was a letter to Weatherford, from

Manriquez, the Spanish governor of Florida, dated at Pensacola, the

twenty-ninth of September, affording ample and conclusive evidence of

his connivance with the Red Sticks.[18]

The troops called out under the authority of the Legislature of

Tennessee, were accepted by the General Government, and on the

seventh of November, General Pinckney, previously in charge of

the sixth military district, was ordered to assume command of the

seventh. His plan of conducting the campaign contemplated the

junction of the various corps operating in the Creek country, at the

confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa; and instructions were issued

by him to the different commanders, requiring them to take possession

of the country as they advanced, so as, at all times, to keep open

their communication in the rear.

[Sidenote: ANOTHER MUTINY.]

After allaying the mutiny in his camp, in November, General Jackson

visited Fort Deposit and Ditto’s Landing, to make arrangements for

supplying his army, preparatory to another forward movement which

he had in contemplation. Requisitions were issued for furnishing

a suitable number of rations at Fort Strother, Talladega, and the

junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, together with wagons and

pack-horses for their transportation. He then returned to Fort

Strother with the first regiment of volunteers. Shortly after

his return a new cause of disturbance arose. The volunteers had

originally engaged to serve for twelve months, and they claimed that

their term of service would expire on the tenth of December. General

Jackson, however, contended that the period which elapsed between the

time of their dismissal, after their return from Natchez, and that

of their subsequent remuster, at Fayetteville, must be deducted. Each

party insisted on its particular view of the case; and in the evening

of the ninth of December, General Jackson was informed by General

Hall, that his brigade were preparing to move off, with, or without

permission, on the following morning.

General Jackson had become familiar with scenes of this character,

and he immediately issued an order, stating that an actual mutiny

existed in the camp, and commanding all officers and soldiers to

unite in putting it down. He further directed the volunteer brigade

to parade on the west side of the fort; the company of artillerists

were ordered to take post, with one piece in front, and one in rear,

of their line; and the militia, under Colonel Wynne, were instructed

to occupy the eminences in advance. These dispositions being made,

the general rode in front of the volunteers, and addressed each

company separately, in eloquent and animated terms, informing them

that he had submitted the question in dispute to the governor, and

that, until his decision was known, or reïnforcements joined him, he

could not dispense with their services. He appealed to every noble

and worthy motive to induce them to remain; but declared, that he

should do his duty, regardless of consequences; and that they could

not leave him, without passing over his dead body. “Now,” said he, in

conclusion, “argument is at an end; and you must choose, and that at

once, whether you will go or stay!”

Not a word was uttered in reply, by the volunteers. He then demanded

a prompt answer. Still there was no response. He now ordered the

artillerists to prepare their matches. Ere the order was obeyed, the

obstinacy of the men gave way before his unyielding firmness. “Let us

return,” was whispered from one to another, with trembling lips; and

the officers soon came forward, and pledged themselves and their men,

to remain until the general should hear from the governor, or the

expected reïnforcements arrive.

On the twelfth of December, General Cocke reached the camp, from Fort

Armstrong, with the East Tennesseans. General Jackson then issued

an address to the volunteer brigade, offering to permit those who

desired to leave him, to return at once to Nashville, and those who

chose to remain, to organize themselves into a separate corps, with

officers of their own selection. But one man in the whole brigade,

Captain Williamson, consented to stay; the remainder were marched

back to Nashville, by General Hall, and soon after discharged from

the service.

The regiment of volunteer cavalry belonging to General Coffee’s

brigade, claimed the same indulgence with the volunteer infantry,

and the mounted rifles insisted that they were only bound for a

three months’ tour of duty. About one-half the brigade abandoned the

service, at Huntsville, and the other half returned to Fort Deposit,

but they also subsequently deserted their commander,--General

Coffee exerting himself, in vain, to induce them to remain,--and

returned home. These defections, and the expiration of the terms of

service of a portion of General Cocke’s division, reduced the force

under General Jackson, at Fort Strother, to six hundred militia,

two companies of spies, under Captains Gordon and Russell, one of

artillery, under Captain Deadrick, and a few volunteers from the

various corps, who had been, “faithful among the faithless found.”

The militia demanded their discharge at the expiration of three

months, although it had been supposed they were enlisted for six, and

it was not thought advisable to compel them to remain.

All these difficulties in keeping the troops in the field arose from

the want of sufficient supplies. Had General Jackson been properly

supported in this respect, it is probable there would not have been

a single case of defection, and the first of January, 1814, would

have witnessed the complete subjection of the Creeks. Still he was

determined to prosecute the campaign, as soon as he should be in

a condition to move forward. After the return of the militia, he

was left with only about one hundred men, and was, in consequence,

obliged to employ the friendly Cherokees in garrisoning Fort

Armstrong and protecting the stores at Camp Ross. Generals Cocke and

Roberts, Colonel Carroll, and Major Searcy, the aid of the commanding

general, were at this time absent in Tennessee, exerting themselves

to raise additional troops.

[Sidenote: LETTER TO GOVERNOR BLOUNT.]

On being informed of the situation of General Jackson, Governor

Blount advised him to fall back from his advanced posts, and content

himself with defending the frontiers of the state, until he was

placed in sufficient force to carry on the war. On the twenty-ninth

of December, 1813, the general unburthened his whole soul to the

governor,

“In thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.”

“What!” said he, in his letter, “retrograde under such

circumstances! I will perish first. What! a governor of a patriotic

state, whose citizens pressed for war, who bawled for permission

to exterminate the Creeks, to pause or hesitate at such a crisis

as this? Such conduct cannot be justified, cannot be excused. Hear

the voice of a friend: If you compel me to retrograde, the awful

responsibility must and will be ascribed to you.... I shall do my

duty. I will retain the post, or die in the struggle, unless ordered

to retreat by my commanding general!”

The earnest appeals of General Jackson, whose intrepidity of spirit

and resoluteness of purpose appeared only the more conspicuous, when

fortune smiled the most unkindly on him, were not without effect. On

the thirteenth of January, 1814, he was joined at Fort Strother, by

two regiments of mounted men, eight hundred and fifty strong, under

Colonels Perkins and Higgins, who had volunteered for sixty days.

Previous to this time, he had ascertained that the hostile Indians

from several towns on the Tallapoosa, had concentrated in a bend of

the river, thirty-five miles south-east of Talladega, near the mouth

of the Emuckfaw Creek, and were either preparing to attack Fort

Armstrong, or the Georgia troops.

The volunteer, cavalry having been enlisted for so short a period,

it was necessary to act speedily if he desired to avail himself of

their services. On the day of their arrival at Fort Strother, he

issued orders directing them to hold themselves in readiness for the

march, and, on the fifteenth and sixteenth of January, crossed the

Coosa with his whole force, numbering seven hundred and sixty-seven

men, though the official reports, which were not corrected lest the

army should be intimidated by the knowledge of its weakness, showed a

total of nine hundred and thirty.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF EMUCKFAW.]

At Talladega, General Jackson was joined by two hundred friendly

Creeks and Cherokees. The march was continued without intermission,

and on the night of the twentieth instant, he encamped at

Enotochopco, one of the Hillabee villages, within twelve miles of

Emuckfaw. In the morning of the twenty-first, the army proceeded

direct towards the bend of the river where the enemy were said to be

fortified. About the middle of the afternoon, the spies discovered

two Indians, who were pursued, but made their escape. Advancing a

short distance further, they came upon the main trail of the savages.

The general then determined to encamp and reconnoitre the surrounding

country. A proper position having been selected, the army encamped

in a hollow square. Pickets and spies were thrown out on every side;

the sentinels were doubled; fires were built in a circle around the

encampment; and every precaution taken to guard against a surprise.

Though General Jackson knew it not, as his spies could obtain but

little information, he was in the immediate vicinity of the three

principal, and most formidable, bands of the Red Sticks. Girded by

the belt of watch-fires which their vigilant and sagacious commander

directed to be formed, in order to prevent the approach of an enemy

undiscovered, his troops reposed in security. All remained quiet till

ten o’clock in the evening, when three of the savages were descried

stealing cautiously towards one of the pickets. They were instantly

fired on, and one of them was shot down. About an hour later, the

spies came in, and reported that there was a large Indian encampment

three miles distant, and that its occupants were whooping and

dancing, as if preparing to go out on the war-path. The general was

further informed by one of the spies, an intelligent Indian, that the

enemy were sending away their women and children--a sure indication

that they intended to decamp, or attack him, before morning. Orders

were now given for the men to be prepared for action, at any moment.

Moments and hours passed by in anxious suspense. From time to time

the orders enjoining strict caution and vigilance were repeated.

The darkest hour of the morning--the time usually selected by the

Indians for their attacks--approached; and when everything was the

most quiet and undisturbed, all at once there rose a loud pealing

yell on the left of the encampment, and with it came a hurtling

volley of rifle-balls. A deafening responsive shout went up, within

that fiery circle, like the wild pibroch of some Gaelic clan, rousing

the martial spirit of all who heard it. The enemy kept up a rapid

and unintermitting fire; but they could not approach near enough to

effect any execution, without entering the line of light which the

timely precaution of Jackson had thrown around his men; and whenever

a single swart form, or painted visage, was disclosed, the American

bullet sped away on its sure errand of death.

[Sidenote: THE ENEMY REPULSED.]

When the alarm was first given, General Coffee, Colonel Carroll, and

Colonel Sitler, the adjutant general,--who, with a number of other

officers previously belonging to different detachments, had remained

with the commander to whom they were devotedly attached, and formed

themselves into a corps, without privates,--mounted their horses

and rode to the left. Their presence inspirited and encouraged the

troops, and the savages were held firmly at bay till the dawning

light enabled objects to be distinguished with precision. A company

of infantry was then ordered to that flank, and thus strengthened,

General Coffee, supported by Colonels Higgins and Carroll, led the

whole line to the charge. The red warriors were driven from their

coverts at the point of the bayonet, and pursued for more than two

miles; the friendly Indians joining in the chase, and marking their

pathway with the blood of the slain.

The enemy having been effectually repulsed, General Coffee was

ordered to advance to the Indian encampment, with four hundred men

and all the friendly warriors, and destroy it. On approaching it, he

found that it was too strongly fortified to be carried by assault,

and therefore returned to bring up the company of artillery. Before

he again set out, his services were required at the camp. Within half

an hour after his return, a body of savages were observed on the

right, who opened a brisk fire on a party searching for the Indian

shot by the picket on the previous night. General Coffee solicited

the honor of attacking them. He was directed to take two hundred

men with him, but through some mistake, he was followed by only

fifty-four men, all of whom belonged to the company of volunteer

officers which he commanded. With this small force, he fell with such

fury on the left flank of the assailants, that they were forced to

take shelter in a thicket on the bank of a small creek.

In the meantime, as had been anticipated by General Jackson, who

supposed the demonstration on the right to be a mere _ruse de

guerre_, the main body of the enemy came rushing like demons, with

the most hideous and discordant yells, on the left of the American

encampment. He instantly repaired thither in person. His men always

knew how to fight under his eyes, and they stood their ground with

veteran intrepidity and firmness. A few well-directed and effective

volleys were delivered, and resort was then had to the bayonet; the

men advancing to the charge under the orders of Colonel Carroll. Once

more the enemy fled with precipitation, and were hotly pursued some

distance from the camp.

The savages were now completely repulsed on the left, and General

Coffee and his little band, who had been forced back into the open

wood where the battle commenced, were reïnforced by one hundred

friendly warriors. General Coffee, though severely wounded in the

fierce conflict, which had deprived him of several of his best

officers, including his aid, Major Donelson, placed himself at the

head of the united force, and charged home upon the assailants. They

could no longer make head against him, but retreated in confusion.

The pursuit was continued for about three miles, in which forty-five

of the enemy were killed.

Victorious as he was, General Jackson was still in a precarious

position. His men had but few rations left, and the horses had not

had corn or cane, for two days. The main object of the expedition--a

diversion in favor of the Georgia troops--had been accomplished; yet

his small force was seriously crippled, and it was to be feared, if

he remained at Emuckfaw, that the Red Sticks would rally in greater

numbers, and attack him once more, under all his disadvantages.

He therefore decided to fall back to Fort Strother as soon as

practicable. The remainder of the day was spent in burying the

dead, in taking care of the wounded and preparing litters for their

transportation, and in fortifying the camp. The militia sentinels

were repeatedly alarmed during the night, probably by their own

fancies, as no enemy was discovered; and on the morning of the

twenty-third, without having been again molested, the army commenced

the return march.

Not a solitary Indian was seen through the day, except those attached

to the command. They defiled, without interruption, through a

hurricane, covered with the huge bolls of prostrate oaks and pines,

with straggling branches of trees flung in every direction, and

closely-matted weeds and brambles, in which there were numerous

hiding-places that might have afforded shelter to an enemy; and just

before sunset, they arrived at Enotochopco, where they halted for the

night, selecting a strong position, which they fortified, within a

quarter of a mile of the creek.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF ENOTOCHOPCO.]

In the evening, small parties of the hostile savages were seen

prowling about the encampment, although no attack was made. This

circumstance, in connection with the fact that he had not been

molested during the day, convinced General Jackson that the enemy had

got in the advance, and were lying in wait for him at a dangerous

defile where he had forded the creek on his outward march. He

therefore sent out his pioneers, who discovered another crossing,

about six hundred yards lower down, which was approached through open

woodlands; and, unlike the other, its banks sloped gently down, and

were tolerably free from reeds and underbrush. The lower ford was, of

course, selected, in preference to the one above.

Presuming that the Indians would rush upon his men, when they were

engaged in passing the stream, the general made his preparations with

great care, and issued his orders with unusual precision. Colonel

Carroll was ordered to take command of the centre of the rear-guard;

Colonel Perkins of the right column; and Colonel Stump of the left.

Captain Russell was directed to bring up the rear with his company

of spies. If attacked, Colonel Carroll was instructed to face about,

display, and maintain his ground; while the right and left columns

were to face outward, wheel back on their pivots, and then attack the

Indians on both flanks.

[Sidenote: SUDDENNESS OF THE ATTACK.]

In this order the crossing proceeded on the morning of the

twenty-fourth. The front-guard, the wounded, and a part of the flank

columns, had passed over; and the artillery were in the act of

entering the creek--General Jackson being on the bank superintending

the movement--when an alarm gun was fired in the rear. The instant

after, the whole troop of Indians, who had discovered the effort to

turn their position, came plunging down upon the rear-guard. Captain

Russell received them gallantly, and fell back in good order. Colonel

Carroll had scarcely given the order to halt and form, when the right

and left columns, headed by their officers, broke and fled down the

bank. Colonel Stump was among the foremost, and as he approached

General Jackson’s position, the latter attempted to cut him down with

his sword.

All was now confusion and disorder. The panic was communicated to the

rear-guard, most of whom followed the example of their companions.

Colonel Carroll, and Captain Quarles, were left with only twenty-five

men, yet they sustained the unequal contest with unflinching bravery.

The savages were checked in their advance, but the men were rapidly

falling, and the iron hail came thicker and faster. General Jackson

fairly boiled over with rage and indignation; yet, smothering his

passion, he gave his orders coolly and calmly, but in a tone that

rang like the blast of a trumpet. Words of encouragement were not

wanting; and when the fearless and intrepid Coffee sprang from

his litter into the saddle, he cried, “We shall whip them yet, my

men!--the dead have risen and come to aid us!”

The company of artillery, who were armed with muskets, now rushed

up the acclivity, and ranged themselves by the side of Colonel

Carroll and his little band, while their commander, Lieutenant

Armstrong[19]--Captain Deadrick being absent--and a few of his men,

dragged up their six pounder. The gun had been unlimbered at the

foot of the height, and when they prepared to load it, the rammer

and picker were missing. No time was to be lost, as the savages were

fast closing upon them. One of the men instantly wrested off his

bayonet, and rammed the cartridge home with his musket; another used

his ramrod as a picker, and primed with a musket cartridge. Twice was

the gun loaded and fired with grapeshot. At the second discharge, the

enemy were thrown into confusion, when Colonel Carroll pressed upon

them with the bayonet, and forced them to retire a short distance,

though they still persisted in the attack.

Meanwhile, Captain Gordon, whose company had been in the advance, had

moved round and thrown himself upon the left flank of the Indians;

and a few moments later, General Jackson brought up a considerable

number of the rear-guard and flankers, whom he had rallied and

reformed, with the assistance of General Coffee, Colonel Higgins, and

other officers. Finding themselves baffled at every point, the enemy

gave up the contest and made a hasty retreat, throwing away their

packs as they fled, and leaving twenty-six of their warriors dead on

the field.

In this series of engagements, at Emuckfaw and Enotochopco, General

Jackson lost twenty men killed, and seventy-five wounded, four of

them mortally. One hundred and eighty-nine dead bodies of the enemy

were counted; but they removed all their wounded, and, probably, many

who were killed outright.

[Sidenote: A NEW ARMY RAISED.]

Important as were these actions in their immediate results, they

assumed additional consequence, as effecting a fortunate diversion

in favor of the troops under General Floyd. He was attacked by the

savages, at Camp Defiance, shortly before daylight, on the morning

of the twenty-seventh of January, three days after the battle of

Enotochopco. The furious onset of the savages was with difficulty

resisted, and they were only repulsed with the loss of seventeen

men killed, and one hundred and thirty-two wounded. Three hundred

warriors, at the least, were rendered _hors du combat_ in the several

contests with General Jackson, and many more were intimidated from

again taking up arms; and had they been present, the Georgia force

might, not unlikely, have been overpowered.

After caring for his dead and wounded, General Jackson resumed his

march, and arrived at Fort Strother on the twenty-seventh of January.

On the twenty-eighth, General Coffee and his corps of officers were

directed to return home, and wait the orders of the government; and

on the thirty-first instant, General Roberts was ordered to conduct

the volunteer regiments, whose bravery and patriotism were highly

commended by the commanding general, back to Fayetteville, where they

were discharged.

The brilliant successes of General Jackson in the Creek country now

began to attract unusual attention. The commander of the military

district, General Pinckney, referred to his conduct in terms of

strong approbation, and suggested his name to the Secretary of

War, for an appointment in the regular army. He had fought himself

into the confidence and affections of the public, and he had no

further need to depend on the reluctant services of a disorderly and

half-mutinous soldiery.

So far from being offended at the tone and language of General

Jackson’s letter, Governor Blount properly appreciated the feelings

of the writer, and made every possible exertion to send him both

troops and supplies. Men were not wanting to enrol their names;

but there were hundreds and thousands who longed to fight beneath

the standard, and under the eye, of Andrew Jackson. On the third of

February, General Doherty arrived at Camp Ross with two thousand

men from East Tennessee; and, shortly after, General Johnston

reported himself at Huntsville, with over seventeen hundred men,

from West Tennessee. Two regiments of cavalry, one from each section

of the state, under Colonels Dyer and Brown, also appeared, and

were organized into a brigade, under General Coffee. On the sixth

of February, the 39th infantry, under Colonel Williams, about six

hundred strong, joined General Jackson at Fort Strother, and about

the same time, the Choctaws took up the hatchet against the Red

Sticks, and offered him their services.

It was the intention of General Jackson to advance as soon as

possible towards the bend of the Tallapoosa, near which the battle

of Emuckfaw had been fought, and where, he was assured, the main

strength of the enemy lay. The want of supplies, as usual, retarded

his movements. It was now the rainy season; the streams were very

much swollen, and the bridges swept away; the roads were soaked with

water, and terribly cut up; and, although he kept five hundred men

at work on the route between Fort Deposit and Fort Strother, several

weeks elapsed before he was able to collect twenty days’ rations at

the latter place.

[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS TO TAKE THE FIELD.]

While the general was making his preparations at Fort Strother, most

of the detachments composing the force under his command remained in

the rear, that the supplies thrown forward to that post might not be

too quickly consumed. During this period of inaction, the spirit of

mutiny again made its appearance, among the West Tennessee troops. He

felt that he had so far dealt too leniently with this offence, and

determined to visit it with summary punishment. A private belonging

to General Johnston’s command was convicted of open mutiny, and

sentenced to death. This was his second offence, and the general

firmly refused to pardon him. The sentence was carried into effect,

and the example thus presented exerted a most salutary influence on

the whole army.

Early in March, General Jackson had finally completed his

arrangements. Colonel Dyer was ordered to scour the country between

the Coosa, Blackwarrior, and Cahawba, as low down as the old Coosa

towns; the Choctaws and Chickasaws were directed to watch the

country west of the Tombigbee, and prevent the escape of any of

the Red Sticks beyond the Mississippi; and the Cherokees received

instructions to range about the headwaters of the Tallapoosa. At

the same time, there was a large force of North Carolina and South

Carolina militia, under Colonel Pearson, who had relieved the Georgia

troops under General Floyd, on the eastern borders of the Creek

country, in readiness to coöperate in any simultaneous movement upon

the fastnesses of the hostile Indians.

Leaving a garrison of four hundred and fifty men at Fort Strother,

under Colonel Steel, General Jackson commenced descending the Coosa,

having embarked his stores in boats, with the remainder of his force,

on the sixteenth day of March. Arrived at the mouth of Cedar Creek,

he established a dépôt at this point, and commenced the construction

of a fort, which he named Fort Williams. The work on the fort being

in a sufficient state of forwardness, he took up the line of march

across the country to Emuckfaw, on the morning of the twenty-fourth

instant, with about two thousand men. A strong detachment was left at

Fort Williams, to protect the supplies, and continue the labor on the

fortifications.

Not far from five miles below the battle-ground of the twenty-second

of January, at Emuckfaw, is the great bend of the Tallapoosa, called

by the Indians, Tohopeca, or Horse Shoe. At this place, the warriors

from the hostile towns of Oakfuskie, Oakchoya, Eufaulee, New Youca,

the Hillabees and Fish Ponds, had concentrated their forces, near

one thousand strong, for a last desperate struggle. Across the

narrow neck of land, or isthmus, by which the peninsula formed by

the crooked river was entered, they had erected a breastwork of

logs, from five to eight feet high, with double portholes, arranged

with no little skill and ingenuity. Within the inclosure, there were

about one hundred acres of land; the centre was high ground, covered

with brush and fallen timber; and on the river bottom, at the lower

extremity of the peninsula, was the Indian village.

[Sidenote: TOHOPECA.]

On the night of the twenty-sixth of March, General Jackson encamped

within six miles of the Horse Shoe, and early on the following

morning, General Coffee was detached, with the mounted men and most

of the friendly Indians, under instructions to cross the river at

a ford two miles below Tohopeca, and take possession of the high

grounds on the opposite bank, so as to cut off all chance of escape

in that quarter. General Jackson then marched the remainder of his

force to a position in front of the enemy’s breastworks, where he

halted his men, until the preärranged signal announced that General

Coffee had drawn a cordon of soldiers around the elevated ground

overlooking the river and the hostile town and fortification. The

main column immediately moved forward; the two pieces of artillery, a

six and a three pounder, were planted on a hill eighty yards distant

from the left of the enemy’s line; and at half past ten o’clock in

the forenoon, the action was opened by a brisk fire, which was warmly

returned by the Red Sticks.

The firing on the American side was mainly confined to the artillery,

though a rifle or musket was occasionally discharged, whenever the

dark warriors incautiously exposed their persons. For nearly two

hours, the cannonade was kept up, with spirit and activity, though

without producing any sensible impression. Meantime the friendly

Indians had advanced to the left bank of the river, while General

Coffee remained on the high ground with the rest of his troops. Some

of the Cherokees now discovered that the enemy’s canoes, which were

drawn up on the shore, near their village, had been left unguarded.

They instantly plunged into the stream, swam across, and, in a few

moments, returned with a number of the canoes. Means being thus

provided for passing over, the Cherokees, headed by their chief,

Richard Brown, and Colonel Morgan, and Captain Russell’s company of

spies, crossed to the village, set it on fire, and attacked the enemy

in the rear.

Surrounded though they were, the hostile Indians fought with the

utmost bravery and desperation. Every avenue by which they might

have fled was occupied by the American troops, and their habitations

were in flames; still they refused to surrender, and successfully

resisted every attempt of the spies and Cherokees to dislodge them.

The soldiers with General Jackson, clamored loudly to be led to the

assault, but he hesitated to give the order, till he became convinced

that the party in the rear were not strong enough to overcome the

opposition they encountered. The command to storm the works was then

received with shouts and acclamations. General Doherty’s brigade,

and the 39th infantry, under Colonel Williams, promptly advanced to

the attack. The result of the contest did not long remain in doubt.

A fierce struggle was maintained for a short time, through the

portholes, muzzle to muzzle; the action being so close, as remarked

in the dispatch of the commanding general, that “many of the enemy’s

balls were welded to the American bayonets.” Major Montgomery, of the

39th infantry, was the first to spring upon the breastwork, but was

shot dead among his comrades, who were rushing forward to sustain

him. A smothered cry for vengeance rolled along the line,--and the

whole column dashed over the feeble barrier, like the avalanche,

crushing and bearing down everything before it.

[Sidenote: THE RED STICKS COMPLETELY ROUTED.]

The Indians, fighting with the fury of despair, met the shock with

clubbed muskets and rifles, with the gleaming knife and tomahawk.

Some few attempted to escape by swimming the river, but were

shot down in their flight, by the spies and mounted men under

General Coffee. Most of them, however, fought and died, where they

stood--behind the ramparts which they were unable to defend. The

conflict--nay, we may call it, without reproach to the victors,

the butchery--was continued for hours. None asked for quarter. The

Tallapoosa ran red with the blood of the savages, and the dead were

piled in mangled heaps upon its banks.

Driven from the breastwork, a considerable number of the enemy took

refuge among the brush and fallen timber on the high ground in the

centre of the peninsula. General Jackson sent them an interpreter,

to offer terms of capitulation, but they fired on and wounded him.

The cannon were brought to bear on their position, and a partially

successful charge was made, yet they were not dislodged. Finally,

the brush was set on fire. The flames spread with rapidity, snapping

and crackling as they caught the dry bark and leaves, and licking up

everything in their way, like some huge, greedy monster. The Indians

were now forced from their concealment; and all who attempted to fly,

or offered resistance, were shot down. Night at length put an end to

the carnage, and, under cover of the darkness, a few of the survivors

of that fatal field escaped into the adjoining forests.

Five hundred and fifty-seven dead bodies of the enemy were found

within the peninsula; and there were over three hundred taken

prisoners, nearly all women and children. The total loss of the Red

Sticks, in killed alone, must have been near eight hundred; as a

number of the dead were thrown into the river previous to the final

rout, by their surviving friends, or shot by General Coffee’s men

while attempting to make their escape. Among the slain were three

prophets, one of whom, by the name of Monohoe, was struck by a

grapeshot in his mouth, out of which had issued the lies which had

lured his nation to their ruin.

General Jackson lost fifty-five men killed, and one hundred and

forty-six wounded. Twenty-three of the killed, and forty-seven of the

wounded, were friendly Creeks and Cherokees.

After completing the destruction of the Indian fortifications

at Tohopeka, General Jackson commenced his return march to Fort

Williams, where he arrived on the second of April. He instantly began

his preparations for scouring the country lying in the forks of the

Coosa and Tallapoosa; and, on the seventh of April, his army was in

motion for Hoithlewalee, one of the principal towns on the Hickory

Ground;--the men being provided with eight days’ rations, which they

carried on their backs. The campaign was now drawing to a close, but

its hardships were not quite ended. The roads were flooded by the

heavy rains, and the streams scarcely fordable; and, consequently,

the march was tedious and difficult. General Jackson was much worn

by the fatigues and privations which he had encountered, but his

capability of endurance was not yet exhausted; and the strength of

constitution he manifested, though belied by the apparent weakness of

his frame, gave rise to the _sobriquet_ of “Old Hickory,” which was

applied to him by his soldiers, and adhered to him through life.

[Sidenote: INDIAN TOWNS DESTROYED.]

The terrible vengeance taken at Tohopeka, for the massacre at Fort

Mims, and the other monstrous cruelties perpetrated by the Red

Sticks, put an end to the war. The great body of the hostile savages

fled in dismay, before the advancing columns of General Jackson. Many

of the fugitives were killed by a detachment of the 3rd infantry,

under Colonel Russell, but numbers effected their escape into

Florida, on account of the remissness of Colonel Milton, the officer

in command of the South Carolinians, who were then on the left

bank of the Tallapoosa, not far above its junction with the Coosa.

McQueen, one of the most prominent chiefs among the Red Sticks, was

captured, but afterwards escaped to the Escambia river, with five

hundred adherents.

Arrived at Hoithlewalee, General Jackson found the town abandoned.

On the fourteenth of April it was destroyed, with several other

villages in the vicinity. The general then divided his command

into two columns; one scouring the country on the left bank, and

the other, with which he remained in person, advancing down the

right bank of the Tallapoosa, to the confluence, where a fort was

constructed, called by General Pinckney, in honor of the gallant

Tennessee commander, Fort Jackson. At this point most of the Hickory

Ground chiefs came in and submitted to the conqueror. Weatherford

also voluntarily surrendered, and the great prophet of the Creeks,

Hillinghagee, was taken prisoner. The only terms prescribed by

the victorious general were, that all who surrendered themselves

should retire to the country north of Fort Williams, where, if their

conduct was good, they would be permitted to remain proposition was

made known, numbers of the fugitives were on their way to the neutral

territory.

On the twentieth of April, General Pinckney arrived at Fort Jackson,

and on the following day assumed the command. General Jackson shortly

after repaired to his home in Tennessee, to recruit his health and

strength, which had suffered materially during his long and arduous

campaign. The thanks of the government and the applause of the nation

followed him in his retirement. An opportunity was soon afforded for

rewarding his services by an appointment in the regular army.--On

the resignation of General Harrison, President Madison nominated

him as a brigadier general, and major general by brevet; and, a

short time afterwards, he was appointed a full major general, to

fill the vacancy occasioned by the retirement of General Hampton.

Both commissions were received at the same time, and the latter was

accepted.

In the summer of 1814, General Jackson was ordered to take command

of the seventh military district, and established his headquarters

at Mobile. Associated with Colonel Hawkins, he concluded a favorable

treaty with the Creek nation, by which, with the exception of a

small portion of the tribe who chose to remain in Florida, they were

prevented from again taking up arms during the continuance of the war

with England.

[Sidenote: THE SPANISH AUTHORITIES IN FLORIDA.]

The hostile tribes were now entirely quieted, and a chain of military

posts established through the former theatre of their outrages. No

sooner had this been done, than the attention of General Jackson

was directed to the alarming state of affairs at Pensacola. He had

long been convinced that the Spanish authorities in Florida were

lending their aid and assistance to the English, in the prosecution

of hostilities. Indeed, the facts and circumstances which forced

him to such a conclusion, were so glaring and palpable, that it was

impossible to form any other opinion. It is barely probable that

Spain was the passive agent of Great Britain in this respect; but

if so, her pusillanimity, in thus tamely surrendering her neutral

rights and character, was equally censurable. If she was, in fact,

the coädjutor of England, the measures adopted by General Jackson

were justifiable; but if she was the creature only, they were

necessary. This is the only argument that need be offered, in defence

of the attack on Pensacola, which, in after times, was so severely

criticised and censured, by his political opponents.

In the month of August, Captain Gordon, of the spies, visited

Pensacola, and ascertained that a large body of savages had been

organized there by Colonel Nicholls, of the British army, and were

then being instructed and drilled by British officers, in the

presence, and with the knowledge, of the Spanish governor; that Fort

Barrancas was occupied by between two and three hundred British

troops; and that there were three armed vessels belonging to the

same nation, in the bay, from which a considerable quantity of arms

and provisions had been disembarked. Another reconnaissance was

subsequently made by Lieutenant Murray, of the Mississippi militia,

which fully confirmed the report made by Captain Gordon. On the

twenty-ninth of August, also, Colonel Nicholls issued a proclamation,

dated at his “headquarters, Pensacola,” addressed to the inhabitants

of the southern and southwestern states, and inviting them to join

his standard, in which he informed them that he was “at the head of

a large body of Indians, well armed, disciplined, and commanded by

British officers; a good train of artillery, with every requisite;

seconded by the powerful aid of a numerous British and Spanish

squadron of ships and vessels of war.”

General Jackson was not disposed to stand idly by, and see the rights

of his country violated, and her interests jeoparded. He forthwith

dispatched an express to the governor of Tennessee, requesting the

whole quota of the militia of that state to be brought into the

field without delay, and commenced his preparations for a march on

Pensacola. On the fifteenth of September Colonel Nicholls appeared

before Fort Bowyer, thirty miles below Mobile, at the entrance of

the bay, with four vessels, containing a number of siege pieces, and

several hundred sailors, mariners, and savages. The heavy guns were

landed, the fort invested, and a lively cannonade opened upon it.

Major Lawrence, of the 2nd infantry, the commander of the post, with

its garrison of one hundred and twenty men, made a brave defence, and

finally forced the enemy to retire, with the loss of one of their

ships, and over two hundred killed and wounded.

[Sidenote: CAPTURE OF PENSACOLA.]

Having been joined by about two thousand men from Tennessee, General

Jackson took up the line of march for Pensacola, with all his

disposable troops. His whole force consisted of upwards of three

thousand men, but a small part being regulars, and the remainder

militia from Mississippi and Tennessee, with a few Choctaw warriors.

On the sixth of November he arrived near Pensacola, and sent a flag

to the Spanish governor, to communicate the purpose of his visit. The

bearer of the flag was fired on from the batteries in the town, and

forced to return. Dispositions were then made for carrying the fort

by assault, which was discovered to be defended by both British and

Spanish troops, on the following day. On the morning of the seventh,

the general entered the town with his troops, under a heavy fire

from the fort, and the British flotilla in the harbor, and carried

one of the advanced batteries at the point of the bayonet. The

governor now supplicated for mercy, and surrendered the town and fort

unconditionally; the British troops retiring to Fort Barrancas, and

their savages allies seeking shelter in the everglades of Florida,

whither they were driven by a detachment from the American army under

Major Blue.

On the morning of the eighth of November, just as General Jackson

was making ready to march upon Fort Barrancas, the British spiked

and dismounted the cannon, blew up the works, and retreated to

their shipping. The object of his visit to Pensacola being thus

accomplished, and the enemy driven from the rendezvous, where they

had been invited, or welcomed, by the Spanish authorities, General

Jackson restored the town and fort to Governor Manriquez, and

immediately returned to Mobile with his troops.

Intimations of an intended attack, or descent, on the southern

frontier of the United States, had been previously given, and they

were corroborated by the statements of the pirates of Barrataria,

who, with their leader, Lafitte, had been solicited by Colonel

Nicholls to join the projected expedition, but were afterwards

induced, under a promise of pardon for their offences, to take an

active and important part in the defence of New Orleans. It was for

a long time uncertain at what point the blow would be struck; but,

early in September, it became known that formidable preparations

were making for the invasion of Louisiana, and the reduction of

New Orleans. Governor Claiborne promptly ordered the two militia

divisions of the state, under Generals Villeré and Thomas, to hold

themselves in readiness to march at a moment’s notice, and issued a

patriotic address to his fellow citizens, calling upon them to turn

out, in a mass, if necessary, in defence of their homes and families.

No immediate attack was then made, however, and the alarm subsided.

It was renewed again towards the close of November; the apprehensions

of danger were evidently well founded, and General Jackson at once

hastened to the city of New Orleans, giving directions, before he set

out, for his troops to follow as rapidly as possible, and dispatching

an express to expedite the movements of the Kentucky militia, who

were required to join him without loss of time.

[Sidenote: THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS.]

Important as was the position of New Orleans, as the great emporium

of the southwestern part of the Union, commanding the extensive

trade and navigation of the Mississippi and its tributaries, the

means provided for its defence were lamentably insufficient. It had

been understood for some time, that the expedition under Admiral

Cochrane, baffled at Baltimore, but subsequently reïnforced by a

large body of troops, supposed, after the conclusion of the Treaty of

Paris, to be no longer needed in Europe, was destined, ultimately,

to operate upon the Gulf coast. Although New Orleans was the most

liable to attack, and the most vulnerable point, in that quarter, few

preparations were made for its protection; for the reason, probably,

that the plundering and harassing warfare carried on by the enemy

on the Atlantic shore, and the operations on the Niagara frontier,

furnished constant employment for all the men and means at the

disposal of the General Government. Late in the fall of 1814, the new

levies raised in Kentucky and Tennessee, were ordered to proceed to

that city, and supplies of arms and ammunition were also sent down

the Mississippi.

New Orleans, at this time, contained about twenty thousand

inhabitants,[20] a great number of whom were of Spanish or English

descent, and, consequently, but little reliance was to be placed on

their fidelity to the American cause; so far from this, many were

known to be in correspondence with the enemy, and only waiting for

a favorable opportunity to act in a more open and decided manner.

General Jackson arrived in the city on the second of December, and

found everything in confusion and alarm. The apprehended invasion was

the principal topic of conversation in every _café_ and _boudoir_.

The opponents of the administration there, as elsewhere throughout

the union, confidently predicted that New Orleans must fall; and its

friends more than half feared that the prediction would be verified.

It was no easy task to reänimate those who had grown faint-hearted

under the influence of the pitiful Jeremiads which were constantly

sounding in their ears. The American commander was accompanied by

but few of his men, and his presence alone could not go very far

towards the restoration of confidence. Yet he set himself vigorously

to the work, and in a brief space of time, his impulsive energy, his

earnest zeal, and his determined patriotism had wrought marvellous

changes. The timid were reässured; the wavering were encouraged

to remain steadfast; and those who had never doubted or faltered,

derived new strength from his example. As yet, there were but a few

hundred regular troops in the city, and the imminence of the danger

was such, that it was necessary to commence operations without delay.

The general was deficient both in the _personnel_ and the _matériel_

of war; but the exigencies of his military career had long since

taught him to rely on his own unaided efforts. He was ever full of

resources,--but never more than now.

The geographical position of New Orleans was highly favorable to its

defence. It is situated on the left bank of the Mississippi, around

a bend of the river, shaped like a crescent, about midway between

the high ground at Baton Rouge, and the Gulf. On either side of the

river, there is a strip of arable alluvion, protected from inundation

by levees, and varying in width, from three hundred, to one thousand

yards. Beyond this there are dense cypress brakes and swamps, with

here and there a few acres of salt prairie, extending, on the east,

to Lakes Borgne and Pontchartrain. The river debouches into the Gulf

through several mouths, which are obstructed by numerous sand bars;

and its ascent, at all times difficult, is especially so in high

water, when the current is unusually rapid. Under the direction of

General Jackson, the militia were imbodied; the defences of Forts

St. Philip and Bourbon, on the Mississippi, below New Orleans,

were enlarged and strengthened; batteries were constructed at the

Rigolets, and on the Chef Menteur; all the numerous bayous and

inlets, intersecting the lower valley of the river, between the Chef

Menteur and the Atchafalaya, were obstructed, or guarded by strong

pickets; and lines of intrenchments and fortifications were traced,

below the city, extending from the Mississippi to the swampy grounds,

and their construction commenced. Commodore Patterson, the officer

in command of the naval station, zealously coöperated with General

Jackson, in carrying out the measures of defence which he projected.

[Sidenote: APPROACH OF THE BRITISH FLEET.]

Positive intelligence was received in New Orleans, on the ninth of

December, that the British fleet had been descried standing off

the Chandeleur islands; and Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones was

immediately dispatched by Commodore Patterson, with a flotilla of

five gun boats, and one hundred and eighty-two men, to watch the

motions of the enemy. On the twelfth instant, they were discovered

in such force, off Cat island, at the eastern extremity of Lake

Borgne, that Lieutenant Jones judged it safer to retire up the lake

and guard the passes leading towards the city. On the following day,

the schooner Seahorse, which had been sent to the bay of St. Louis,

to assist in the removal of some public stores at Shieldsboro, was

attacked by three of the enemy’s barges. These were driven off,

but they soon returned with four others. The crew then abandoned

the vessel and blew her up; and the storehouse on the bay was set

on fire. The flotilla under Lieutenant Jones was attacked on the

fourteenth instant, while becalmed, by a detachment of seamen and

marines, twelve hundred strong, under Captain Lockyer, in forty-two

launches and barges. Lieutenant Jones and his men made a brave

defence; but after an obstinate contest of more than an hour, during

which the enemy lost two of their boats, and over three hundred men,

they were obliged to surrender, with the loss of forty killed and

wounded.

In the meantime, large appropriations had been made by the

legislature of Louisiana for the defence of New Orleans; but that

body appeared extremely reluctant to adopt all the suggestions of

General Jackson and Governor Claiborne. Many of the members were

disaffected, and others had been led to believe, by the British spies

and emissaries who infested the city, that all attempts at resistance

would be unavailing, and that it would be far wiser to propose terms

of capitulation, immediately upon the appearance of the British

force. General Jackson in vain urged the legislature to suspend the

_habeas corpus_ act; and despairing of accomplishing anything, except

by the adoption of rigorous and decided measures, as a last resort,

he finally ordered martial law to be proclaimed in the city and its

vicinity. The functions of the civil authorities were only suspended

in part, however, and the legislature continued its sessions.

[Sidenote: PROCLAMATION OF MARTIAL LAW.]

This high-handed exercise of power, rendered necessary by the

temporizing and vacillating course of the legislature, naturally

provoked considerable comment. Those who were really and truly

devoted to the American cause had no fears, when they saw the

general wielding the authority which he had seized into his own

hands; those only clamored against what they termed this infraction

of the rights of the citizen, who were prepared to surrender the city

to the enemy, at the first summons. The proclamation of martial law,

though, perhaps, scarcely warranted by the law and the constitution,

was one of those acts which are sometimes absolutely requisite in

great emergencies. The power acquired under such circumstances, is,

doubtless, liable to abuse; but in the hands of one whose patriotism,

like that of Andrew Jackson, is _sans peur, sans reproche_, there can

be no danger. “_Silent leges, inter arma_,” is a maxim, as applicable

to free, as to monarchical governments. General Jackson was extremely

loth to assume any questionable power, until he became penetrated

with the conviction that the safety of the country demanded this

step, and he surrendered it the very moment he felt assured that the

crisis was past. His course was subsequently approved by the General

Government, and pronounced by the Secretary of War, both “just as it

respected the responsibility of the commanding general, and safe as

it respected the liberties of the nation.”

A new impetus was given to every movement, by the active and

energetic conduct of General Jackson. The fruitful and varied

resources of his great mind were in constant requisition. His

determined spirit, manifested in his expressive remark to Governor

Claiborne--that he would “defend the country, or die in the last

ditch!”--was communicated to those around him. Treason shrunk abashed

from his presence, and cowardice assumed the appearance of valor at

his side.

After the capture of the flotilla under Lieutenant Jones, it became

impossible to watch the movements of the British squadron; and

hence it was extremely difficult to foretell what point would be

first attacked. Large requisitions were made by General Jackson,

of negroes to work on the projected fortifications, intended to

secure the different approaches; and all those found in the streets,

together with the drays and carts, were impressed for the same

purpose. The militia were ordered out _en masse_, and disciplined

regularly every day. Orders were likewise again sent to hasten

the march of the reïnforcements; and to General Coffee, who was

rapidly approaching with his brigade of mounted men from Tennessee,

the commanding general said, “You must not sleep until you arrive

within striking distance!” The order was obeyed with characteristic

promptitude;--General Coffee marched his command eighty miles on

the last day, and arrived near the city late in the evening of the

twenty-first of December.

All the arrangements of General Jackson for the defence of New

Orleans were made with consummate skill. The batteries commanding the

passes from Lake Borgne into Lake Pontchartrain were well manned; the

colored battalion, under Major Lacoste, with the Feliciana dragoons,

were ordered to take post on the Chef Menteur, to cover the Gentilly

road; Major Plauche’s battalion, with Lieutenant Wagner’s company of

light artillery, were stationed at Fort St. John, on the bayou of

that name; the Tennessee cavalry and infantry, under Generals Coffee

and Carroll, remained about four miles above the city; the regular

troops, and the remainder of the state militia, occupied the city,

and the fortifications on the river below; and the schooner Caroline

and brig Louisiana were moored in the stream.

[Sidenote: LANDING OF THE ENEMY.]

The watchful care and vigilance of the American commander were

frustrated, however, by the want of due caution on the part of a

picket posted near the mouth of the bayou Bienvenu, which led up

from Lake Borgne. On the twenty-second of December, the picket

was surprised by a party of the enemy, belonging to the division

of General Keane, whose whole command, about four thousand five

hundred in number, with their heavy cannon and stores, immediately

proceeded, in their small boats, up the bayou, and, at four o’clock

in the morning of the twenty-third, arrived opposite the opening of

Villeré’s canal, which connected with the Mississippi. They halted at

this point for a few hours, and then continued up the canal. Early

in the afternoon of the same day, they gained the bank of the river

unmolested, and established themselves on the plantations of General

Villeré, Colonel La Ronde, and Major Lacoste, about eight miles below

the city.

General Jackson did not wait to be attacked. Within an hour after

receiving the information that the enemy had effected a landing,

he put his troops in motion. Anticipating that the city might be

simultaneously threatened by way of the Chef Menteur, General Carroll

was left posted on the Gentilly road, with his command and the city

militia; and the remainder of the troops, under General Jackson

in person, consisting of General Coffee’s brigade, Major Hind’s

dragoons, a detachment of artillery and marines, under Colonel

McRea, parts of the 7th and 44th infantry, the battalions of Majors

Plauche and Daquin, and two six pounder guns in charge of Lieutenant

Spotts, moved down the left bank of the river, to attack the enemy

who had landed below. The schooner Caroline, Captain Henley, with

Commodore Patterson on board, and the brig Louisiana, Lieutenant

Thompson, also dropped down the river. It was understood that the

signal of attack would be the fire of the Caroline, when she had

arrived opposite the position of the British troops.

At six o’clock in the evening of the twenty-third, the different

corps composing the main column, in all not far from two thousand

men, effected a junction at the canal Rodriguez, within sight of

the watch fires of the enemy, which were discovered gleaming dimly

in the distance. The night was prematurely dark, owing to the dense

fog rising from the river. This circumstance, however, favored

the movement, as it was thereby concealed from the enemy; and the

very best spirit pervaded the whole command. The troops were now

formed for the attack;--the artillery and marines, and the regular

infantry, on the right; the battalions of Plauche and Daquin, both

under Colonel Ross, in the centre; and the brigade of General Coffee,

dismounted, on the left. General Coffee was directed to turn the

enemy’s right, and attack them in the rear; while the rest of the

column advanced against them in front.

[Sidenote: NIGHT ATTACK.]

At half-past seven o’clock, the long looked-for signal was given

by the Caroline. The first intimation received by the enemy, of

the approach of the Americans, was the raking broadside of the

schooner, which completely swept their encampment. Before they had

fairly recovered from their astonishment, General Jackson fell upon

them like a thunderbolt. Though taken by surprise, General Keane

ordered his fires to be extinguished, and finally succeeded in

forming his men to beat off the attack. Before order was entirely

restored, General Coffee had forced his way into the enemy’s camp,

and General Jackson was moving upon them in front with equal daring

and impetuosity.

Notwithstanding the intense darkness, the American soldiers were

kept to their duty, and displayed the most praiseworthy gallantry.

The enemy were driven from their position, and several successive

charges were made, with great success. At length, it was discovered

that the troops were falling into confusion, on account of the thick

mist which shrouded everything around, and General Jackson thought

it best to call off his men. During the remainder of the night they

lay on the field of battle, and in the morning fell back to the canal

Rodriguez, about two miles nearer the city, where the swamp and the

Mississippi approached within a few hundred yards of each other.

The American loss in the engagement on the evening of the

twenty-third, was twenty-four killed, one hundred and fifteen

wounded, and seventy-four taken prisoners; that of the British

was forty-six killed, one hundred and seventy-four wounded, and

sixty-four missing. But the most important result of the action, was

the check given to the operations of the enemy. They were taught to

respect their antagonists far more than they had done; and, when they

were informed by their prisoners, who designed to deceive them, that

the American force was at least fifteen thousand strong, they began

to think the conquest of New Orleans would not, after all, be a mere

holiday affair.

General Jackson decided to make a stand at the position to which

he retired on the morning of the twenty-fourth of December, as it

was ascertained that reïnforcements were constantly arriving at the

enemy’s camp. The work of fortifying it was instantly commenced.

The canal Rodriguez, which was about four feet deep, served the

purpose of a ditch; and, behind this, a breastwork was constructed,

stretching from the Mississippi on the right, about one thousand

yards, to the cypress swamp on the left. The line extended some

distance into the marsh and then inclined to the right, in order to

prevent any attempt to turn that flank. The underbrush and trees in

this quarter were also cleared away for a considerable space, so

that an assailing column could not approach without being exposed to

a destructive fire. Earth being scarce in this low country, General

Jackson had recourse to a novel expedient. Bales of cotton, in large

numbers, were brought from the city, which were placed in line and

covered over with dirt. Flank bastions to enfilade the works, and

strong batteries, were also constructed, at irregular intervals.

On the right bank of the Mississippi, about half a mile in advance of

General Jackson’s main position, a line of intrenchments, extending

from the river to the low grounds, was also formed, and a heavy

battery of fifteen guns established, which enfiladed the whole front

©f the position on the left bank. In addition to this principal line

of intrenchments, there were others formed in the rear, to which

General Jackson designed to retreat, in succession, if the enemy

forced him to abandon his first position. Another precautionary

measure was likewise adopted, to render his main line more secure

against attack. Sluices were opened through the levee, and the

plains in front flooded with water from the river. The general was

so carried away with zeal and enthusiasm, and so deeply impressed

with the great responsibility resting upon him, and the importance

of every step, that for four days and nights, while his preparations

were in progress, he scarcely took a moment’s rest. No crisis seemed

to be too great for him; his vigilance became more keen sighted,

and his spirits rose higher, as dangers thickened around his path;

his resources grew more ample as the occasion required, and his

resolution hourly grew more stern and unbending.

[Sidenote: SKIRMISHING.]

Sir Edward Packenham, the Commander in Chief of the British land

forces, joined General Keane on the twenty-fourth of December with

heavy reïnforcements, and an additional supply of artillery. Frequent

skirmishes took place between detached parties of the hostile

commands, and on the twenty-seventh instant, the schooner Caroline,

which had been prevented from ascending the river by a strong

norther, was blown up by hot shot thrown from a battery erected by

the enemy, on the night of the twenty-sixth. Fortunately, the crew of

the vessel had previously made their escape. A similar attempt was

made upon the brig Louisiana, but her commander, Lieutenant Thompson,

succeeded in getting her up the river, and anchored her on the right

of General Jackson’s position.

It was at first designed by the British commander, to commence

regular approaches against the formidable line of intrenchments

occupied by the American troops. On the twenty-eighth of December,

a brisk cannonade was opened from a battery planted near the levee,

within half a mile of the river. Showers of Congreve rockets were

also thrown, which, although a new implement of warfare,[21] failed

to excite either fear or astonishment in the opposing ranks. The

firing was kept up for several hours without producing any sensible

effect; and the attack was then relinquished. During the night of

the thirty-first, heavy batteries were constructed on the plain,

directly in front of the American position; and the advent of the new

year was welcomed by a tremendous burst of artillery, accompanied by

incessant flights of rockets, which was continued till three o’clock

in the afternoon, when the batteries were effectually silenced by the

American guns. The casualties on these two occasions were,--on the

side of the Americans, eighteen killed and thirty-one wounded; and,

on the side of the enemy, forty-eight killed, and eighty-two wounded.

These repeated efforts having proved of no avail, General Packenham

decided to carry the works by a _coup de main_. For a number of

days all his men were employed in deepening Villeré’s canal, for

the passage of the boats, by which a detachment could be thrown

across the river to attack the fortifications on the right bank.

On the sixth instant, General Lambert joined the main body of the

enemy, already on shore, with his division; and the whole command was

thus increased to upwards of twelve thousand men. Everything being

in readiness for the contemplated assault, on the evening of the

seventh instant, it was directed to take place at dawn of day on the

following morning.

Meanwhile General Jackson had been actively employed in completing

his preparations. Near the river, and in advance of the cotton

embankment, he commenced the construction of a redoubt, with

embrasures, calculated to rake the ditch in front of the

intrenchments, and the road down the levee; but this was still

incomplete on the eighth of January. The line Dupré, about two

miles in rear of the main line, to which he designed to retreat and

make a second stand, if he should be compelled to retire, was also

strengthened as far as practicable. Various devices were employed

to mislead the enemy in regard to his position, and the strength of

his command, which was daily rendered more necessary, on account

of the increasing disaffection in the city. The number of his men

was represented to be greater than it was; their deficiency in arms

was carefully concealed; and no intercourse was allowed between the

lines and the city, except through officers in whom he had the most

implicit confidence.

[Sidenote: DISAFFECTION IN THE CITY.]

In spite of all his precautions, the enemy were informed by their

agents of every movement that took place, and the disaffection which

they eagerly fomented, ultimately increased to such an extent,

that it was seriously proposed that terms of surrender should be

offered by the legislature. On being apprised of this treasonable

design, General Jackson directed Governor Claiborne, whenever such

a proposition was made, to close the doors of the state-house.

The order was misunderstood by the governor, who closed the doors

forthwith, and the members of the legislature were thus prevented

from assembling. The commanding general did not design to interrupt

their ordinary deliberations, but it was probably fortunate for the

safety of the city, that they were not allowed to convene.

On the fourth of January, the anxiously-expected reïnforcements

from Kentucky, under Generals Thomas and Adair, twenty-five hundred

strong, reached New Orleans. They were poorly furnished with arms,

however, and, like most of the other troops, were nearly destitute of

clothing. The city was ransacked in search of weapons, but a scanty

supply could be obtained; and the other deficiency was partially

remedied, by the patriotic exertions of Mr. Girod, the mayor, and the

ladies of New Orleans.

General Jackson now made a final disposition of his troops.

Governor Claiborne was posted on the Gentilly road, with a portion

of the Louisiana militia; another portion, under General Morgan,

was stationed on the right bank of the river, and the battery on

that shore was manned by the sailors and marines under Commodore

Patterson. General Morgan was further reïnforced, on the night of

the seventh of January, when it was ascertained that the enemy were

opening a passage into the river, by a detachment of the Kentucky

troops. On the left bank, General Jackson was posted with his main

column, consisting of about thirty-five hundred men. There were eight

distinct batteries along the line, mounting, in all, twelve guns and

two howitzers. On the right, were the 7th and 44th infantry, between

which were the battalions of Majors Plauche, Lacoste, and Daquin;

in the centre was General Carroll’s command, supported by that of

General Adair; and, on the extreme left, were the Tennessee rifles

under General Coffee. The remainder of the Kentucky troops, under

General Thomas, remained in the rear.

The brave troops whom General Jackson had gathered around him calmly

awaited the approach of the enemy, behind the breastwork of cotton

bags which their sagacious commander had provided, not as a shelter

for cowardice, but as a protection against the onset of a superior

force. Night after night they slept upon their arms; the soldiers

of Coffee lying far out in the swamp, on heaps of logs and brush,

half benumbed with the cold, and covered with the moist ooze of the

morass; yet all indifferent to the inclemency of the weather, to

hardship and suffering, and anxious only to win new laurels for the

general whom they loved and honored.

[Sidenote: THE EIGHTH OF JANUARY.]

The wintry dawn was just breaking, and the cold silvery sheen of the

early morning was rapidly spreading over the plains of Chalmette, on

the memorable eighth of January, 1815, when the dark masses of the

British assaulting columns were discerned from the American lines, as

they emerged from the thick veil of mist which intercepted the view

of their encampment, and rapidly pressed forward to the storm. At the

same time, their batteries, planted on the previous night, within

eight hundred yards of the intrenchments, commenced an active fire,

which soon deepened into a continuous roar, that shook the whole

valley, and started the inhabitants of the city from their slumbers.

Simultaneously with the movement on the left bank of the river,

Colonel Thornton crossed the stream with five hundred picked men,

ascended the levee, and, by a sudden charge, turned the position, and

made himself master of the battery, which formed the strong point of

the line. General Morgan was at the head of a much superior force,

but finding himself unable to maintain his ground, he fell back

towards the city, followed slowly by the British troops.

Upon the other shore, the most desperate and unflinching valor failed

to achieve the least substantial success. The main attack, on this

bank of the river, was made in two columns, sixty or seventy deep;

that on the right, between eight and nine thousand strong, led by

General Gibbs, moving upon the centre of Jackson’s position; and the

left, about twelve hundred in number, under General Keane, advancing

along the levee road. The British troops moved forward slowly and

steadily, many of them carrying scaling ladders and fascines. “Beauty

and booty” was the watchword which inspired their zeal, and quickened

their steps.[22] A great number of them had served in the Spanish

Peninsula; and it is not to be wondered that this appeal to the

unholy passions that were suffered to riot unchecked at the storming

of St. Sebastian, produced its legitimate effect.

[Sidenote: TERRIBLE SLAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY.]

Three hearty cheers rose from the American lines, when the enemy

came within range. Every piece was instantly put in requisition.

A well-sustained rolling fire welcomed the assailants as they

approached. Still, the regularity of their array was unbroken.

Torrents of grape and round shot, hissing hot, swept through the

solid columns, rending them asunder like ropes of sand. Yet they

pressed on undaunted, through the driving storm of missiles poured

upon them from the different batteries, whose converging fires smote

them more and more heavily at every step of their advance, and

strewed the plain with the dying and the dead.

Meantime the American infantry and riflemen had remained at their

posts, with their hands clenched about the locks of their pieces,

attentively watching the movements of the enemy. General Jackson

himself occasionally rode along the lines, to cheer and animate his

men. It was, indeed, a critical period for his own fame, for the

martial reputation of his country. His chivalric courage, his proud

and lofty self-reliance, rose with the emergency. His eagle eye

blazed with an almost unearthly light, and the shrill notes of his

trumpet voice rang high above the roar of battle.

Making their way through the heaps of their comrades, who lay

weltering in their gore, pale, distorted, and stiffening in death,

the British soldiers advanced within reach of the American rifle and

musket. In an instant, a vivid stream of fire rolled down from the

whole line of intrenchments. The way was now blocked by a glistening

wall of flame. The bravest shrank back aghast. Stout-hearted men,

who had never faltered amid the sea of carnage whose crimson waves

dyed the ramparts of Badajoz, trembled like the aspen. The American

fire was never for a moment interrupted,--the western riflemen making

their mark at every discharge, and the men in the rear constantly

loading and exchanging pieces with their companions in front. At the

head of the glacis, the right column of the assailants staggered and

halted. Generals Pakenham and Gibbs dashed forward, eager to retrieve

the fortunes of the day ere all was lost. In vain was every effort to

turn the tide of battle. Both officers fell mortally wounded, while

hundreds were swept down around them, as the grass before the mower.

Some few pressed on,--on and on,--to sure destruction!

[Sidenote: FINAL REPULSE OF THE ASSAILANTS.]

On the left, the advance of General Keane’s column, led by Colonel

Rennie, gained the redoubt in front of the line of intrenchments;

but it was only to find a soldier’s grave. A murderous fire was at

once directed upon them from the main fortification, and every man

who had entered the work, including the gallant officer who headed

the attack, was cut down. General Keane made an ineffectual effort

to rally the troops for another onset, and was borne from the field

severely wounded. The command now devolved on General Lambert, who

promptly led up the reserve; but on discovering the dreadful havoc

which had been made in the shattered and terrified column before

him, he gave the signal to retire.

At mid-day the battle was ended; the bright sun looked down on that

red waste, everywhere marred by the ploughing shot, and dotted

all over with huge piles of festering corruption; and the cool

breeze that murmured among the acacia and orange groves, was loaded

with scents of slaughter, with the steam of the battle-field. The

appalling fire from the American lines was most terrible in its

effects. The British lost two hundred and ninety-three killed,

twelve hundred and sixty-seven wounded, and there were four hundred

and eighty-four taken prisoners. The American loss was trifling in

comparison; there were but thirteen killed, thirty-nine wounded, and

nineteen missing, on both sides of the river, during the day.[23]

General Lambert determined, on the day after this bloody repulse,

not to prosecute further the hopeless enterprise. The detachment

thrown across the river was recalled, and preparations commenced for

the reëmbarkation. The ditches and field in front of the American

line, were cleared of the débris of the assaulting army, and a warm

cannonade was kept up by the artillery for several days; but, on the

night of the eighteenth of January, the enemy evacuated all their

positions, and retreated to their shipping. Eight of their heavy guns

were abandoned, and eighty of their wounded were left to the humanity

of General Jackson, a duty which, in the language of a not too

partial historian, he discharged “with a zeal and attention worthy

of the ability and gallantry he had displayed in the action.”[24]

About the same time, the British fleet, which had ascended the

Mississippi, and bombarded Fort St. Philip, unsuccessfully, for about

eight days, from the eleventh to the nineteenth of January, retired

down the river. Having taken the land forces on board, the squadron

proceeded to Mobile bay and invested Fort Bowyer, which surrendered

after a short resistance. This proved a barren victory, however, as

a treaty of peace had been concluded in December previous, which was

officially proclaimed on the eighteenth of February.

All immediate danger having vanished, General Jackson, and his

victorious troops, entered the city of New Orleans in triumph, on

the twentieth day of January. Fêtes and rejoicings now took the

place of the consternation and alarm which had prevailed. The hero

of Chalmette was “the observed of all observers,” and no festive

occasion could be complete without his presence. A procession was

formed to the cathedral, in the midst of which walked the gallant

conqueror, ladies dressed in white strewing his path with flowers.

_Te Deum_ was chanted, and a solemn thanksgiving offered to Divine

Providence.

[Sidenote: FINED BY JUDGE HALL.]

Treason and disaffection still lingered in the city; and anonymous

articles appeared in one of the public journals, designed to excite

mutiny and sedition among the American troops. These were traced

to one Louailler, a member of the state legislature, whom General

Jackson instantly ordered to be arrested. A writ of _habeas corpus_

was shortly after issued by Judge Hall, the district judge, for

the purpose of procuring the release of the prisoner. The order

proclaiming martial law was still in force, and the judge was

promptly ordered into confinement. Two days later, intelligence was

received of the conclusion of the treaty of peace. On being restored

to his authority, Judge Hall summoned General Jackson before him. The

latter readily obeyed the summons, and appeared with his counsel.

The judge, whose only title to immortality is this one act of

injustice, refused to hear either reason or argument, and, to satisfy

his offended dignity, imposed a fine of one thousand dollars on the

general, for disregarding the writ of _habeas corpus_. A spontaneous

burst of indignation at once rose from the spectators, but General

Jackson magnanimously interposed to shield the trembling judge from

outrage. The fine was paid, and when he left the court room the

multitude followed him in crowds. In a few moments, he was waited

on by a committee of ladies, who had already raised the amount of

the fine among the citizens of New Orleans, and now entreated him to

accept it. He refused to take the money, and, at his suggestion, it

was distributed among the widows and orphans of those who had fallen

in defence of the city. After the lapse of many years, at the session

of Congress in the winter of 1843–4, tardy, though merited justice,

was done to General Jackson, by the passage of a bill directing the

amount of the fine to be refunded to him, with interest.

General Jackson remained in command at New Orleans, until the month

of March, when he was relieved by General Gaines. He immediately

retired to the tranquillity of the Hermitage, though compelled to

witness, everywhere on his homeward route, the evidences of the

respect and gratitude which thrilled the hearts of his countrymen.

The war with the Seminole Indians on the southern frontiers of

Georgia again called him from his retirement, in the winter of

1818.[25] Shortly after the breaking out of hostilities, he was

ordered to assume the command of the forces operating in that

quarter. On the ninth of March, 1818. he joined General Gaines at

Fort Scott, with nine hundred Georgia militia. Early in April, he

was reïnforced by one thousand volunteers from West Tennessee, and

fifteen hundred friendly Creek warriors, under their chief, McIntosh.

[Sidenote: THE SEMINOLE WAR.]

General Jackson now found himself at the head of four thousand five

hundred men, with whom he marched to the Indian town of Mickasauky,

which he laid waste. The hostile savages fled into Florida, whither

he followed them, and took refuge in the neighborhood of St. Marks,

the Spanish authorities of which endeavored to protect and shelter

them. Accordingly, the American commander took possession of the

town, and sent the garrison to Pensacola. On the sixteenth of April,

he destroyed the Suwanee villages, and then returned to St. Marks,

where two of the principal instigators of the Indian outrages, whom

he had captured, a Scotchman and an Englishman, whose names were

Arbuthnot and Ambrister, were tried by a court martial, sentenced

to death, and executed. Not long after, intelligence was received

that the governor of West Florida, at Pensacola, in violation of

the treaty with Spain, was affording countenance and protection to

the fugitive Seminoles. General Jackson proceeded thither without

delay, seized Pensacola, on the twenty-fourth of May, and on the

twenty-seventh Fort Barrancas surrendered to his authority. St.

Augustine was also captured by a detachment under General Gaines.

The seizure and occupation, by the American troops, of these places

of refuge for the hostile Indians put an end to the outbreak, and in

the month of June, General Jackson, whose health had become seriously

impaired by the unfriendliness of the climate, returned home, and

subsequently resigned his commission.

The Spanish posts in Florida seized by General Jackson were

afterwards ordered to be restored, but his conduct was approved

by President Monroe, and a resolution of censure, offered in the

House of Representatives, was voted down by a large majority. Any

difficulty with Spain that might have grown out of his proceedings

was obviated, by the cession of Florida to the United States, in the

winter of 1819. General Jackson was very appropriately selected by

the American Executive, as the commissioner to receive the territory,

and on the first of July, 1821, he issued a proclamation at

Pensacola, officially announcing its annexation to the United States.

His administration of the executive affairs of the new territory,

owing to the bad state of his health, was quite brief; during

it, however, he came in collision with the Spanish ex-governor,

in an effort, which proved successful, to protect the rights of

several orphan females. His firm and unyielding will, and his

determined purpose, were never exhibited in a more characteristic,

or more creditable manner. His health continuing to grow worse, he

transferred the authority with which he had been clothed, to his

secretaries, on the seventh of October, 1821, and immediately set out

for Nashville.

The gallant soldier was not forgotten. In August, 1822, he was

nominated for the presidency as the successor of Mr. Monroe, by

the legislature of Tennessee. In 1823 he declined the appointment

of minister to Mexico, tendered to him by the President, and, in

the same year, he was elected to the Senate of the United States.

On becoming a prominent candidate for the presidential office, he

resigned his seat. At the election in 1824, he received a plurality

of the electoral votes, but as there was no choice by the colleges,

the question was referred to the House of Representatives, by whom

his principal competitor, John Quincy Adams, was elected to the

office. In 1828, he was again a candidate, and received one hundred

and seventy-eight of the two hundred and sixty-one electoral votes.

In 1832 he was elected for a second term, by a still larger majority.

It is not within the scope of this work, to notice in detail the

political services of General Jackson. A brief recapitulation of

some of the most important acts of his administration must suffice.

On the twentieth of May, 1830, he vetoed the Maysville road bill,

and on the tenth of July, 1832, the bill to recharter the United

States Bank. On the sixteenth of January, 1833, his celebrated

nullification message, recapitulating the facts, and many of the

arguments, contained in his proclamation of December previous, was

issued. In October, 1833, the public deposits were removed from the

United States Bank. On the fifteenth of April, 1834, he protested

against the resolutions of censure adopted by the Senate, which were

afterwards, in January, 1837, expunged from their journal; and on the

fifteenth of January, 1835, his warlike, but patriotic message, in

regard to the refusal of the French government to pay the stipulated

indemnity, made its appearance.

[Sidenote: FINAL TERMINATION OF HIS PUBLIC CAREER.]

His long public career finally terminated on the third of March,

1837, when he issued a farewell address to the people of the

United States, and retired forever from the harassing cares and

responsibilities of an official position, to the peaceful shades of

his own quiet Hermitage. The wife whom he had so ardently loved, no

longer lived to bless him with her affection, and cheer him with her

smiles;--she had been taken from his side, by death, in December,

1828,--yet her memory was ever a sweet solace throughout the closing

hours of his earthly pilgrimage.

General Jackson had gained a world-wide reputation by the bravery and

skill displayed in his Indian campaigns, and in the war with Great

Britain. Lafayette was a guest at the Hermitage, on his visit to

this country in 1825, and, twenty years later, the portrait of the

general was painted, when almost in a dying condition, to adorn the

gallery of Louis Philippe, the King of the French. He was known and

honored by the great and good in every land. Whatever may be said of

the domestic policy of his administration, in his intercourse with

foreign nations he inspired or enforced respect, and few, perhaps

none, of our presidents, Washington alone excepted, ever commanded

greater consideration abroad.

A peaceful close was vouchsafed to the stormy and eventful life,

the prominent incidents of which have been briefly portrayed in

this sketch. The Imperial prisoner of St. Helena died amid a raging

storm, shouting, in imagination, to his marshalled legions, while the

winds howled and shrieked above his head; the words, _Tête d’armée!_

were the last to leave his lips, as his eye glazed in death, and

his frame was convulsed with the last agony. At the close of a

Sabbath afternoon, in the bright summer time, when Nature had spread

her richest garniture over her wide domains, and grove and forest

were vocal with sweetest melody; in the presence of his family and

friends; by his own fireside; on the eighth of June, 1845; Andrew

Jackson calmly yielded up his spirit. For weeks and months he had

suffered under a painful disease, yet not a murmur escaped him.

His heart was stayed on a noble hope--a hope sure, steadfast, and

unfading--the priceless hope of the Christian!

“Serene, serene,

He pressed the crumbling verge of this terrestrial scene,

Breathed soft, in childlike trust,

The parting groan;

_Gave back to dust its dust,--

To Heaven its own!_”

In person General Jackson was tall and thin. His frame was well knit,

but gaunt. He had an iron visage, and a commanding look. His eyes

were a deep blue, bright and penetrating. He was frank and easy in

his manners, courteous and affable in his address.

[Sidenote: HIS CHARACTER.]

His character was decidedly pronounced. It was full of salient

points, remarkable for their strength, and the fitness and harmony

of their combination. He was kind and affectionate, benevolent and

humane; pure and earnest of purpose; inflexibly honest; physically

and morally brave; ardent and sincere in his patriotism; direct in

his professions; and resolute and unflinching in determination.

He possessed a firm will, was clear in judgment, and rapid in his

decisions. His temperament was restless, though not mercurial. He had

an abundance of what the French call _fortes emotions_. His passions

were intense, and what he did, he did with all his might. Like

Cicero, he was a _new man_; and, by his own unaided exertions, raised

himself from comparative obscurity, to the highest distinction. He

was a good hater, but he never forgot his friends; and there are many

who still prize his friendship, bestowed while in life, as a favor

from heaven.[26]

All these traits and characteristics were strikingly exhibited, both

in his civil, and military career. His style as a writer partook of

his mental peculiarities; it was rugged and uneven as the mountain

torrent; yet it had a nervous eloquence, that never failed to produce

a deep impression, and indicated a powerful grasp of thought.

As a soldier, he was fruitful in expedients; he had the genius,

perseverance and skill, of Hannibal,--the indomitable will and

energy, without the selfishness, of Napoleon. He was persevering,

cool, and intrepid,--hardy in endurance, and gifted with rare

courage. In a word, as the historian remarks of the French soldier of

fortune,--“He was not a great man because he was a great general: he

was a great general because he was a great man”![27]