(SEE FRONTISPIECE.)
“I come, my Wilwullah!
Guide hither our boy!
I bring from the forest
Its spirit and joy:
Why lingereth my soft-eyed?”
And dark grew his brow;
“Thy hunter returneth—
Where, truant, art thou?”
He enters his wigwam—
What meaneth that cry?
His bold form what freezeth?
What filmeth his eye?
The work of the white men!
His mate of the wood,
And their fawns, the light-footed,
All couched in their blood!
Before a cold foeman
The Indian is cold;
But his heart in his wild-wood
Is like molten gold.
The warrior has clasped them—
He’s red in their gore!
Has raved and wept o’er them—
But ne’er will weep more!
“Ye snow-brow destroyers!
Ye false and ye foul!
For this, by Manito!
For this shall ye howl!
I swear that pale thousands
Shall weep for this blow;
For each drop here wasted,
Red rivers shall flow!
“When smoke dims the distance,
And shrieks fill the air,
Then white lips will whisper,
‘_Fly! Weatherford’s there!_’
Your warriors shall perish;
We’ll laugh at their shame;
And the blood of your loved ones
Shall hiss in the flame!”
How was that vow answered?
Ask Mimms: it will tell!
Where the battle was hottest
There _his_ hatchet fell;
Where the shriek was the loudest,
Where freest ran blood,
Be sure, mid his victims,
There Weatherford stood!
But feeble the red men,
Though fierce in the fray;
Like mists in the morning,
They melted away.
“Give us peace!” prayed the vanquished;
“The white chieftain gives
No peace”—was the answer—
“While Weatherford lives.”
That lion-souled chieftain’s[1]
Alone in his tent:
’Tis midnight; still over
His toil he is bent.
The drapery is rustled—
He turns not his ear:
“Ho! Look up, proud warrior,
Thy foeman is here!”
A dark form stood o’er him,
His red arm on high;
But quailed not the chieftain
Beneath his dark eye.
“What art thou, bold savage?
Sooth, light the foot fell
That stole through the watch
Of my tried sentinel.”
“Where Weatherford willeth,
Even there will he go;
He heeds not thy sentry
When seeking his foe.”
“I fear thee not, boaster!”
“Thou needest not fear;
For peace for my people,
For peace came I here.
“Thou’d’st have me sent to thee,
And sent to thee bound;
But Weatherford dies not
The death of a hound:
No recreant, no trembler,
No captive am I—
I’ve fetterless lived, and
Will fetterless die.
“To save my crushed people
I die, but die free—
A sacrifice worthy
Of them and of thee!”
“No—back to thy forest—
Bold warrior go!
I strike not the head
That is bent to the blow
“Aye, go! but remember
When meet we again,
Thy lot is the gibbet,
The cord and the chain.
Be strong for the battle!
No quarter we yield:
No fear and no mercy!
Now, back to the field!”
“I long have fought with thee,
And still would fight on—
But my true Seminoles—
My warriors are gone!
My brave ones I’d rally,
And fight at their head;
But where is the warrior
Can rally the dead!
“At red Talledegha,
Emuckfaw they stood—
Thou knowest that our valleys
Are black with their blood.
By the wailing Savannah
Unburied they lie;
Spare, warrior, the remnant,
Let Weatherford die!”
No longer the soldier
The bold plea could hear,
But quick from his bronzed cheek
He hurried a tear.
“Devoted and brave! As
Thou will’st shall it be;
Here’s peace to thy people,
And friendship for thee!”
THE FOLLOWING IS THE INCIDENT ON WHICH THE FOREGOING LINES ARE
FOUNDED.[2]
Billy Weatherford, the celebrated savage warrior, is, at length,
vanquished—the destroyer is conquered—the hand which so profusely
dealt death and desolation among the whites, is now paralyzed—it is
motionless. He died at his late residence near Montpelier, in this
state, on the 9th inst. His deeds of war are well known to the early
settlers in South Alabama, and will be remembered by them while they
live: and be talked of, with horror, by generations yet unborn. But his
dauntless spirit has taken its flight—“he is gone to the land of his
fathers.”
Billy Weatherford, denominated ‘The Prophet’ was about one-fourth
Indian (some say a half breed) his ancestry, on the white side, having
been Scottish. It has been said, that he boasted of having no _Yankee_
(meaning American) blood in his veins.
This ferocious chief led the hostile Indians to the attack of Fort
Mimms, at Tensau, on the 30th of August, 1813; which resulted in the
indiscriminate massacre of men, women, and children, to the number of
near four hundred. He was also a leader associated with the prophets
Francis and Sinquister, at the battle fought on the 23d of December
following, at Ekchanachaca, or ‘The Holy Ground;’ which had been
considered by them inaccessible to their enemies, and the ‘Grave of
White Men.’ But it proved a fatal delusion. His party suffered great
loss of warriors, and all the provisions, munitions of war, &c.,
deposited at this place of imaginary security; being, as they supposed,
rendered secure by the protecting influence of some supernatural
agency.
It is stated, that—after being sated with the blood of Americans, and
witnessing the almost total extinction of his warriors—he voluntarily
and dauntlessly flung himself into the hands of General Jackson, and
demanded his protection. He is said, on surrendering himself, to have
made the following speech to the General—which looks very little like
claiming _protection_. It displays a spirit, which would have done
credit to Napoleon, under similar circumstances, after the battle of
Waterloo:
“I am in your power: do with me what you please. I am a soldier. I have
done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and
fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight, and contend
to the last. But I have done—my people are all gone—I can do no more
than weep over the misfortunes of my nation. Once I could animate my
warriors to battle: but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no
longer hear my voice—their bones are at Talladega, Tallaschatchee,
Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly.
Whilst there were chances of success, I never left my post, nor
supplicated peace. But my people are gone, and I now ask it for my
nation, and for myself.
“On the miseries and misfortunes brought upon my country, I look back
with the deepest sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If
I had been left to contend with the Georgian army, I would have raised
my corn on one bank of the river, and have fought them on the other.
But your people have destroyed my nation. You are a brave man. I rely
upon your generosity. You will exact no terms of a conquered people,
but such as they should accede to. Whatever they may be, it would now
be madness and folly to oppose them. If they are opposed, you shall
find me among the sternest enforcers of obedience. Those who would
still hold out, can be influenced only by a mean spirit of revenge;
and, to this, they must not, and _shall not_, sacrifice the last
remnant of their country. You have told us, where we might go, and be
safe. This is a good talk, and my nation ought to listen to it. _They_
SHALL _listen to it_.”[3]