Under an agreement with the Cherokee in 1813 a company composed
of representatives of Tennessee, Georgia, and the Cherokee nation
was organized to lay out a free public road from Tennessee river to
the head of navigation on the Tugaloo branch of Savannah river, with
provision for convenient stopping places along the line. The road was
completed within the next three years, and became the great highway
from the coast to the Tennessee settlements. Beginning on the Tugaloo
or Savannah a short distance below the entrance of Toccoa creek,
it crossed the upper Chattahoochee, passing through Clarkesville,
Nacoochee valley, the Unicoi gap, and Hiwassee in Georgia; then
entering North Carolina it descended the Hiwassee, passing through
Hayesville and Murphy and over the Great Smoky range into Tennessee,
until it reached the terminus at the Cherokee capital, Echota,
on Little Tennessee. It was officially styled the Unicoi turnpike,
[215] but was commonly known in North Carolina as the Wachesa trail,
from Watsi'sa or Wachesa, a prominent Indian who lived near the
crossing-place on Beaverdam creek, below Murphy, this portion of the
road being laid out along the old Indian trail which already bore
that name. [216]
Passing over for the present some negotiations having for their
purpose the removal of the Cherokee to the West, we arrive at the
period of the Creek war.
Ever since the treaty of Greenville it had been the dream of Tecumtha,
the great Shawano chief (33), to weld again the confederacy of the
northern tribes as a barrier against the further aggressions of
the white man. His own burning eloquence was ably seconded by the
subtler persuasion of his brother, who assumed the role of a prophet
with a new revelation, the burden of which was that the Indians must
return to their old Indian life if they would preserve their national
existence. The new doctrine spread among all the northern tribes and
at last reached those of the south, where Tecumtha himself had gone
to enlist the warriors in the great Indian confederacy. The prophets
of the Upper Creeks eagerly accepted the doctrine and in a short time
their warriors were dancing the "dance of the Indians of the lakes." In
anticipation of an expected war with the United States the British
agents in Canada had been encouraging the hostile feeling toward the
Americans by talks and presents of goods and ammunition, while the
Spaniards also covertly fanned the flame of discontent. [217] At the
height of the ferment war was declared between this country and England
on June 28, 1812. Tecumtha, at the head of fifteen hundred warriors,
at once entered the British service with a commission as general,
while the Creeks began murdering and burning along the southern
frontier, after having vainly attempted to secure the cooperation of
the Cherokee.
From the Creeks the new revelation was brought to the Cherokee, whose
priests at once began to dream dreams and to preach a return to the
old life as the only hope of the Indian race. A great medicine dance
was appointed at Ustanali, the national capital, where, after the
dance was over, the doctrine was publicly announced and explained by
a Cherokee prophet introduced by a delegation from Coosawatee. He
began by saying that some of the mountain towns had abused him and
refused to receive his message, but nevertheless he must continue to
bear testimony of his mission whatever might happen. The Cherokee had
broken the road which had been given to their fathers at the beginning
of the world. They had taken the white man's clothes and trinkets,
they had beds and tables and mills; some even had books and cats. All
this was bad, and because of it their gods were angry and the game was
leaving their country. If they would live and be happy as before they
must put off the white man's dress, throw away his mills and looms,
kill their cats, put on paint and buckskin, and be Indians again;
otherwise swift destruction would come upon them.
His speech appealed strongly to the people, who cried out in great
excitement that his talk was good. Of all those present only Major
Ridge, a principal chief, had the courage to stand up and oppose it,
warning his hearers that such talk would inevitably lead to war with
the United States, which would end in their own destruction. The
maddened followers of the prophet sprang upon Ridge and would have
killed him but for the interposition of friends. As it was, he was
thrown down and narrowly escaped with his life, while one of his
defenders was stabbed by his side.
The prophet had threatened after a certain time to invoke a
terrible storm, which should destroy all but the true believers,
who were exhorted to gather for safety on one of the high peaks of
the Great Smoky mountains. In full faith they abandoned their bees,
their orchards, their slaves, and everything that had come to them
from the white man, and took up their toilsome march for the high
mountains. There they waited until the appointed day had come and
passed, showing their hopes and fears to be groundless, when they
sadly returned to their homes and the great Indian revival among the
Cherokee came to an end. [218]
Among the Creeks, where other hostile influences were at work, the
excitement culminated in the Creek war. Several murders and outrages
had already been committed, but it was not until the terrible massacre
at Fort Mims (34), on August 30, 1813, that the whole American nation
was aroused. Through the influence of Ridge and other prominent
chiefs the Cherokee had refused to join the hostile Creeks, and
on the contrary had promised to assist the whites and the friendly
towns. [219] More than a year before the council had sent a friendly
letter to the Creeks warning them against taking the British side in
the approaching war, while several prominent chiefs had proposed to
enlist a Cherokee force for the service of the United States. [220]
Finding that no help, was to be expected from the Cherokee, the Creeks
took occasion to kill a Cherokee woman near the town of Etowah, in
Georgia. With the help of a conjurer the murderers were trailed and
overtaken and killed on the evening of the second day in a thicket
where they had concealed themselves. After this there could be no
alliance between the two tribes. [221]
At the time of the Fort Mims massacre McIntosh (35), the chief of
the friendly Lower Creeks, was visiting the Cherokee, among whom he
had relatives. By order of the Cherokee council he was escorted home
by a delegation under the leadership of Ridge. On his return Ridge
brought with him a request from the Lower Creeks that the Cherokee
would join with them and the Americans in putting down the war. Ridge
himself strongly urged the proposition, declaring that if the prophets
were allowed to have their way the work of civilization would be
destroyed. The council, however, decided not to interfere in the
affairs of other tribes, whereupon Ridge called for volunteers, with
the result that so many of the warriors responded that the council
reversed its decision and declared war against the Creeks. [222]
For a proper understanding of the situation it is necessary to state
that the hostile feeling was confined almost entirely to the Upper
Creek towns on the Tallapoosa, where the prophets of the new religion
had their residence. The half-breed chief, Weatherford (36), was the
leader of the war party. The Lower Creek towns on the Chattahoochee,
under McIntosh, another half-breed chief, were friendly, and acted
with the Cherokee and the Americans against their own brethren.
It is not our purpose to give a history of the Creek war, but only to
note the part which the Cherokee had in it. The friendly Lower Creeks,
under McIntosh, with a few refugees from the Upper towns, operated
chiefly with the army under General Floyd which invaded the southern
part of the Creek country from Georgia. Some friendly Choctaw and
Chickasaw also lent their assistance in this direction. The Cherokee,
with some friendly Creeks of the Upper towns, acted with the armies
under Generals White and Jackson, which entered the Creek country from
the Tennessee side. While some hundreds of their warriors were thus
fighting in the field, the Cherokee at home were busily collecting
provisions for the American troops.
As Jackson approached from the north, about the end of October, 1813,
he was met by runners asking him to come to the aid of Pathkiller,
a Cherokee chief, who was in danger of being cut off by the hostiles,
at his village of Turkeytown, on the upper Coosa, near the present
Center, Alabama. A fresh detachment on its way from east Tennessee,
under General White, was ordered by Jackson to relieve the town,
and successfully performed this work. White's force consisted of one
thousand men, including four hundred Cherokee under Colonel Gideon
Morgan and John Lowrey. [223]
As the army advanced down the Coosa the Creeks retired to
Tallaseehatchee, on the creek of the same name, near the present
Jacksonville, Calhoun county, Alabama. One thousand men under General
Coffee, together with a company of Cherokee under Captain Richard Brown
and some few Creeks, were sent against them. The Indian auxiliaries
wore headdresses of white feathers and deertails. The attack was
made at daybreak of November 3, 1813, and the town was taken after
a desperate resistance, from which not one of the defenders escaped
alive, the Creeks having been completely surrounded on all sides. Says
Coffee in his official report:
They made all the resistance that an overpowered soldier could
do--they fought as long as one existed, but their destruction
was very soon completed. Our men rushed up to the doors of the
houses and in a few minutes killed the last warrior of them. The
enemy fought with savage fury and met death with all its horrors,
without shrinking or complaining--not one asked to be spared,
but fought as long as they could stand or sit.
Of such fighting stuff did the Creeks prove themselves, against
overwhelming numbers, throughout the war. The bodies of nearly two
hundred dead warriors were counted on the field, and the general
reiterates that "not one of the warriors escaped." A number of women
and children were taken prisoners. Nearly every man of the Creeks had
a bow with a bundle of arrows, which he used after the first fire with
his gun. The American loss was only five killed and forty-one wounded,
which may not include the Indian contingent. [224]
White's advance guard, consisting chiefly of the four hundred other
Cherokee under Morgan and Lowrey, reached Tallaseehatchee the same
evening, only to find it already destroyed. They picked up twenty
wounded Creeks, whom they brought with them to Turkeytown. [225]
The next great battle was at Talladega, on the site of the present
town of the same name, in Talladega county, Alabama, on November 9,
1813. Jackson commanded in person with two thousand infantry and
cavalry. Although the Cherokee are not specifically mentioned they
were a part of the army and must have taken part in the engagement. The
town itself was occupied by friendly Creeks, who were besieged by the
hostiles, estimated at over one thousand warriors on the outside. Here
again the battle was simply a slaughter, the odds being two to one, the
Creeks being also without cover, although they fought so desperately
that at one time the militia was driven back. They left two hundred
and ninety-nine dead bodies on the field, which, according to their
own statement afterwards, was only a part of their total loss. The
Americans lost fifteen killed and eighty-five wounded. [226]
A day or two later the people of Hillabee town, about the site of the
present village of that name in Clay county, Alabama, sent messengers
to Jackson's camp to ask for peace, which that commander immediately
granted. In the meantime, even while the peace messengers were on
their way home with the good news, an army of one thousand men from
east Tennessee under General White, who claimed to be independent
of Jackson's authority, together with four hundred Cherokee under
Colonel Gideon Morgan and John Lowrey, surrounded the town on November
18, 1813, taking it by surprise, the inhabitants having trusted so
confidently to the success of their peace embassy that they had made
no preparation for defense. Sixty warriors were killed and over two
hundred and fifty prisoners taken, with no loss to the Americans, as
there was practically no resistance. In White's official report of the
affair he states that he had sent ahead a part of his force, together
with the Cherokee under Morgan, to surround the town, and adds that
"Colonel Morgan and the Cherokees under his command gave undeniable
evidence that they merit the employ of their government." [227] Not
knowing that the attack had been made without Jackson's sanction or
knowledge, the Creeks naturally concluded that peace overtures were
of no avail, and thenceforth until the close of the war there was no
talk of surrender.
On November 29, 1813, the Georgia army under General Floyd, consisting
of nine hundred and fifty American troops and four hundred friendly
Indians, chiefly Lower Creeks under McIntosh, took and destroyed
Autossee town on the Tallapoosa, west of the present Tuskegee,
killing about two hundred warriors and burning four hundred well-built
houses. On December 23 the Creeks were again defeated by General
Claiborne, assisted by some friendly Choctaws, at Ecanachaca or the
Holy Ground on Alabama river, near the present Benton in Lowndes
county. This town and another a few miles away were also destroyed,
with a great quantity of provisions and other property. [228] It is
doubtful if any Cherokee were concerned in either action.
Before the close of the year Jackson's force in northern Alabama
had been so far reduced by mutinies and expiration of service terms
that he had but one hundred soldiers left and was obliged to employ
the Cherokee to garrison Fort Armstrong, on the upper Coosa, and to
protect his provision depot. [229] With the opening of the new year,
1814, having received reinforcements from Tennessee, together with
about two hundred friendly Creeks and sixty-five more Cherokee,
he left his camp on the Coosa and advanced against the towns on the
Tallapoosa. Learning, on arriving near the river, that he was within a
few miles of the main body of the enemy, he halted for a reconnoissance
and camped in order of battle on Emukfaw creek, on the northern bank
of the Tallapoosa, only a short distance from the famous Horseshoe
bend. Here, on the morning of June 24, 1814, he was suddenly attacked
by the enemy with such fury that, although the troops charged with the
bayonet, the Creeks returned again to the fight and were at last broken
only by the help of the friendly Indians, who came upon them from the
rear. As it was, Jackson was so badly crippled that he retreated to
Fort Strother on the Coosa, carrying his wounded, among them General
Coffee, on horse-hide litters. The Creeks pursued and attacked him
again as he was crossing Enotochopco creek on January 24, but after
a severe fight were driven back with discharges of grapeshot from a
six-pounder at close range. The army then continued its retreat to Fort
Strother. The American loss in these two battles was about one hundred
killed and wounded. The loss of the Creeks was much greater, but they
had compelled a superior force, armed with bayonet and artillery, to
retreat, and without the aid of the friendly Indians it is doubtful
if Jackson could have saved his army from demoralization. The Creeks
themselves claimed a victory and boasted afterward that they had
"whipped Jackson and run him to the Coosa river." Pickett states,
on what seems good authority, that the Creeks engaged did not number
more than five hundred warriors. Jackson had probably at least one
thousand two hundred men, including Indians. [230]
While these events were transpiring in the north, General Floyd again
advanced from Georgia with a force of about one thousand three hundred
Americans and four hundred friendly Indians, but was surprised on
Caleebee creek, near the present Tuskegee, Alabama, on the morning
of January 27, 1814, and compelled to retreat, leaving the enemy in
possession of the field. [231]
We come now to the final event of the Creek war, the terrible battle
of the Horseshoe bend. Having received large reenforcements from
Tennessee, Jackson left a garrison at Fort Strother, and, about the
middle of March, descended the Coosa river to the mouth of Cedar
creek, southeast from the present Columbiana, where he built Fort
Williams. Leaving his stores here with a garrison to protect them,
he began his march for the Horseshoe bend of the Tallapoosa, where the
hostiles were reported to have collected in great force. At this place,
known to the Creeks as Tohopki or Tohopeka, the Tallapoosa made a bend
so as to inclose some eighty or a hundred acres in a narrow peninsula
opening to the north. On the lower side was an island in the river,
and about a mile below was Emukfaw creek, entering from the north,
where Jackson had been driven back two months before. Both locations
were in the present Tallapoosa county, Alabama, within two miles of
the present post village of Tohopeka. Across the neck of the peninsula
the Creeks had built a strong breastwork of logs, behind which were
their houses, and behind these were a number of canoes moored to the
bank for use if retreat became necessary. The fort was defended by a
thousand warriors, with whom were also about three hundred women and
children. Jackson's force numbered about two thousand men, including,
according to his own statement, five hundred Cherokee. He had also
two small cannon. The account of the battle, or rather massacre,
which occurred on the morning of March 27, 1814, is best condensed
from the official reports of the principal commanders.
Having arrived in the neighborhood of the fort, Jackson disposed his
men for the attack by detailing General Coffee with the mounted men
and nearly the whole of the Indian force to cross the river at a ford
about three miles below and surround the bend in such manner that none
could escape in that direction. He himself, with the rest of his force,
advanced to the front of the breastwork and planted his cannon upon a
slight rise within eighty yards of the fortification. He then directed
a heavy cannonade upon the center of the breastwork, while the rifles
and muskets kept up a galling fire upon the defenders whenever they
showed themselves behind the logs. The breastwork was very strongly
and compactly built, from five to eight feet high, with a double row
of portholes, and so planned that no enemy could approach without being
exposed to a crossfire from those on the inside. After about two hours
of cannonading and rifle fire to no great purpose, "Captain Russell's
company of spies and a party of the Cherokee force, headed by their
gallant chieftain, Colonel Richard Brown, and conducted by the brave
Colonel Morgan, crossed over to the peninsula in canoes and set fire
to a few of their buildings there situated. They then advanced with
great gallantry toward the breastwork and commenced firing upon the
enemy, who lay behind it. Finding that this force, notwithstanding
the determination they displayed, was wholly insufficient to dislodge
the enemy, and that General Coffee had secured the opposite banks of
the river, I now determined on taking possession of their works by
storm." [232]
Coffee's official report to his commanding officer states that he had
taken seven hundred mounted troops and about six hundred Indians,
of whom five hundred were Cherokee and the rest friendly Creeks,
and had come in behind, having directed the Indians to take position
secretly along the bank of the river to prevent the enemy crossing,
as already noted. This was done, but with fighting going on so near
at hand the Indians could not remain quiet. Continuing, Coffee says:
The firing of your cannon and small arms in a short time became
general and heavy, which animated our Indians, and seeing about
one hundred of the warriors and all the squaws and children of the
enemy running about among the huts of the village, which was open
to our view, they could no longer remain silent spectators. While
some kept up a fire across the river to prevent the enemy's
approach to the bank, others plunged into the water and swam
the river for canoes that lay at the other shore in considerable
numbers and brought them over, in which crafts a number of them
embarked and landed on the bend with the enemy. Colonel Gideon
Morgan, who commanded the Cherokees, Captain Kerr, and Captain
William Russell, with a part of his company of spies, were among
the first that crossed the river. They advanced into the village
and very soon drove the enemy from the huts up the river bank
to the fortified works from which they were fighting you. They
pursued and continued to annoy during your whole action. This
movement of my Indian forces left the river bank unguarded and
made it necessary that I should send a part of my line to take
possession of the river bank. [233]
According to the official report of Colonel Morgan, who commanded
the Cherokee and who was himself severely wounded, the Cherokee took
the places assigned them along the bank in such regular order that no
part was left unoccupied, and the few fugitives who attempted to escape
from the fort by water "fell an easy prey to their vengeance." Finally,
seeing that the cannonade had no more effect upon the breastwork than
to bore holes in the logs, some of the Cherokee plunged into the river,
and swimming over to the town brought back a number of canoes. A
part crossed in these, under cover of the guns of their companions,
and sheltered themselves under the bank while the canoes were sent back
for reenforcements. In this way they all crossed over and then advanced
up the bank, where at once they were warmly assailed from every side
except the rear, which they kept open only by hard fighting. [234]
The Creeks had been fighting the Americans in their front at such
close quarters that their bullets flattened upon the bayonets
thrust through the portholes. This attack from the rear by five
hundred Cherokee diverted their attention and gave opportunity to the
Tennesseeans, Sam Houston among them, cheering them on, to swarm over
the breastwork. With death from the bullet, the bayonet and the hatchet
all around them, and the smoke of their blazing homes in their eyes,
not a warrior begged for his life. When more than half their number
lay dead upon the ground, the rest turned and plunged into the river,
only to find the banks on the opposite side lined with enemies and
escape cut off in every direction. Says General Coffee:
Attempts to cross the river at all points of the bend were made
by the enemy, but not one ever escaped. Very few ever reached
the bank and that few was killed the instant they landed. From
the report of my officers, as well as from my own observation,
I feel warranted in saying that from two hundred and fifty to
three hundred of the enemy was buried under water and was not
numbered with the dead that were found.
Some swam for the island below the bend, but here too a detachment
had been posted and "not one ever landed. They were sunk by Lieutenant
Bean's command ere they reached the bank." [235]