it received. That it was after a number of our men were killed and wounded by those Indians, and after they had twice refused to surrender upon any terms, that the charge was made upon them, and the brush set on fire, from which a few only escaped with life. That the prisoners taken on that day, including a large number of women and children, were humanely treated by General Jackson; and that he felt himself impelled to state these facts in justice to General Jackson, and the brave men who fought the battle of the Horse-Shoe."

But these charges against General Jackson, were doubtless intended to inculcate the belief, that dislodging those desperate Indians, who rejected quarter, and prolonged the battle after resistance was vain, was of itself a "coldblooded massacre." Are then the enemies of the United States, when waging a savage unsparing war, to requite with wounds and death our offers of humanity and protection, and yet be saved from death or retaliation? Are our commanders to begin an action, overpower by great efforts the main force of the enemy, and then abandon the field and the victory to a few desperadoes? General Jackson's duty to his country and his government, compelled him, if in his power, to defeat the enemy; and that operation necessarily involves the destruction of every adversary, who refuses to yield. Had the desperate party` at the Horse-Shoe, been a detachment of Bonaparte's Imperial Guard, the veterans of fifty pitched battles, and commanded by Ney or Soult, they must have suffered the fate of the Indians—as a garrison which refuses a summons, may, by the laws of war, be blown into the air. But who were these determined and deluded savages? The same who, when the sudden hostility of their nation rose like an inundation on the settlements of Alabama, herding hundreds of women and children into Fort Mimms, broke into that asylum with treachery, fire, and

murder; who followed to that feast of butchery, where quarter was neither offered nor allowed, the volcanic voice of Weatherford, and as it rose above the shouts of fury, and the shrieks of despair, breathing inextinguishable rage, and demanding relentless slaughter, obeyed its ferocious summons, until but seventeen out of three hundred of our unarmed citizens were left alive. They were the same men who, under cover of a truce granted for their benefit by General Jackson, had entrapped and slaughtered the son of Chinnebee, the Massanissa of the Creeks, the friend and ally of the American people. These are the beings, whose self-provoked destruction in a fair and hard-fought action, it would be the wish of General Jackson's enemies to have considered a "coldblooded massacre." These are the facts relative to the battle of the Horse-Shoe; our readers will give them their due consideration, and censure or applaud, as the justice or circumstances of the case may seem to dictate. 8*

CHAPTER V.

General Jackson returns to Fort Williams-Marches to the Hickory Grounds-Prospects of the CreeksThey sue for peace-General Pinckney arrives at Fort Jackson-Interchange of courtesies between him and General Jackson-General Pinckney assumes the command-Disbands the troops-General Jackson returns to Tennessee-His reception there— Is appointed to negotiate with the Creeks-Eloquence of the Chiefs-He concludes a peace with them— Spanish aggressions—Correspondence between General Jackson and Governor Manriquez-General Jackson at Mobile-Attack on Fort Bowyer-Major Lawrence's report of it.

ABOUT the 1st of April, General Jackson returned with his army to Fort Williams. When he assumed the direction of the Creek war, his enfeebled health would have honorably excused him from a participation in the fatigues and hardships of the camp. But no minor considerations have ever been found to swerve General Jackson from the path of duty, nor avert his footsteps from the post of danger. The peculiar difficulties which he en countered during the Creek campaign, increased his debility, yet the fortunate results of his exertions afforded him the richest consolations. He was now desirous of forming a junction with the forces of Georgia, in order to effect a more speedy termination of the war, or compel the savages to sue for peace.

With this object in view, he took up the line of march with his troops on the 7th of April for the Tallapoosa, intending on his march to attack a body of the enemy a Hoithlewallee, on the Hickory Grounds. He here ex pected the co-operation of the Georgia forces, and dispatched a message to the commander, stating his expectation of meeting and attacking the Muscagees on the 11th. His march was however retarded by a heavy fall of rain; and it was not until the 13th that he arrived at Hoithlewallee. But he here found no resistance from the enemy. The constant succession of disasters which had attended their hostile operations, had depressed their spirits and withered their hopes. Their prophets, who held an unlimited influence over their superstitious minds, and urged them on by all the force of Indian eloquence, and savage daring, to the perpetration of deeds of horrid butchery, had fallen in the deadly encounters, to which they led their deluded followers by their incantations and thirst for blood. It was not until the last ray of hope was extinguished, that they deigned to supplicate their conquerors for peace. They then begged of the American commander an extension of that mercy to them, which they had sworn never to impart to us.

Although the power of the Creeks was broken, it was notwithstanding deemed necessary to establish posts for the defence of the frontier settlements. With this view, General Jackson established a fort upon the Coosa, near its confluence with the Tallapoosa, which was named Fort Jackson. This completed the line of forts through Tennessee, Georgia, and the Alabama Territory. The Georgia forces were now joined with those under the command of General Jackson; and on the 20th April, Major General Pinckney arrived at Fort Jackson, and assumed the command of the whole forces in the Creek country.

A most kindly interchange of courtesies here took place between these war-worn veterans, in the service of their country. General Pinckney prepared a splendid entertainment, and invited General Jackson and his staff to partake with him. Cheering, indeed, were the mutual congratulations of these brave officers, as at the convivial board they contemplated the dangers they had passed, the battles they had fought, and the blessings of peace and security which they had purchased for their countrymen, by toil, privation, and hardships.

General Jackson reciprocated the civility of his commander-in-chief, by inviting him to dine with him at his marquee the next day. The simple diet that had sustained his soldiers in the prosecution of this arduous campaign, constituted the bill of fare. None but those who have passed through similar scenes of danger, can appreciate the deep emotions of joy and gratulation that these meritorious men experienced, on an occasion like this. Proud, indeed, was such a day to Andrew Jackson. The storm of savage vengeance, which burst like a volcano upon the devoted inmates of Fort Mimms, had called him into the field to avenge the slaughter of his countrymen ; he had penetrated the unbroken forests and deep morasses of that region with an astonishing celerity, had attacked the enemy in their fastnesses; and at Tallushatches, Talladega, Emuckfaw, and Tohopeka, had taught the Creeks to respect the lives and property of our citizens.

General Pinckney assumed the command of General Jackson's corps only to disband them, after expressing his exalted sense of their bravery and patriotism. On the 21st, the next day after General Pinckney assumed the command, he ordered the Tennessee troops to be marched home, and discharged; retaining, however, sufficient to garrison the established posts. General Jackson immediately took measures to comply with the order.