President to adopt decisive measures, and induced him to
give orders to the governor of Louisiana for the occupation
of the contested district; anxious however, to avoid any col-
hsion with foreign powers^ he restricted him to such parts of
(he territory as were in a revolutionary slate, and directed
him not to molest the regular Spanish authorities. Under
these orders, Governor Claiborne excluded the town Mobile
and the adjacent country from the American jurisprudence,
and the courts and revenue ofiice of the United States were
established at Fort Stoddard, within their acknowledged
jurisdiction. On the ev^ f I a war with Great Britain it be-
came important that this j .ace should not be in the possession
of her friend and ally, as by means of its waters an easy
communication was opened with the hostile Indians of the
south-west.
Occupation of Mobile, With these views a law was passed
in May 1812, annexing l!ie country west of the Perdido, and
south of the 31st degree of latitude, including the district of
Mobile, to the Mississippi territory ; establishing the territorial
laws, and granting thcni a representation in the provincial
legislature. The Spanish garrison was required to leave
the district. After a lonji course of negotiation with the
governor of Pensacola, he refused lo remove the garrison ;
and General Wilkinson, the commanding officer at New-Or-
leans, was ordered to take possession. On the 27th of
March, he ordered Commodore Shaw lo send a detachment
^i iiun-boats to \-'Xe. fto.vfce.-^^it^D rif the b<^v of Mobile, and
1813. HISTORY OF THE LATJi: WAR. 195
cut oft' all communication with Pensacola •, and Lieutenant
Colonel Boycr, then stationed with a respectable force at
Fort Stoddard, on the Mobile river forty-four miles above its
mouth, to be in readiness ,to march down on Mobile at a day's
notice. Having made these previous arrangements, the
General left New-Orleans on the 29th, and embarked on
board the schooner Alligator. The troops destined for thp
expedition were ordered to rendezvous at the pass Christian.
On the 30th, the weather being calm, and the Alligator una-
ble to proceed, the general left the schooner, and took a
barge, which upset in the lake in fifteen feet water, and the
general and his suit lay on the keel for some time without any
prospect of relief; two vessels passed, but did not observe
them : at length the wreck was discovered by some Spanish
fishermen, who came to the relief of the half-drowned and
famished party. They towed them on shore, righted the
boat, and the general again embarked with his boatmen, and
reached Petit Coquille at midnight. The next day an ex-
press was sent to Colonel Boycr to fall down the river and
occupy the bank opposite the town. The troops embarked
from their general rendezvous on the 7th, arrived in the
bay of Mobile on the 12th of April, and landed near the
fort at two o'clock in the morning of the next day. The
sound of their bugles, as they were preparing to march up in
front of the fort, was the first notice which the Spanish com-
mandant had of General Wilkinson's approach. At noon
six hundred men appeared in column in front of the fort, and
demanded its surrender. A short negotiation between the
general and commandant took place, which ended in the
evacuation of the fort on the 15th, and the removal of i\\^
Spanish authorities to Pensacola.
Southern Indians. The southern Indians, immediately
northward of this district, inhabit the Mississip})i territory,
bounded on the north by the state of Tennessee, east by
Georgia, south by the Floridas, and west by the Mississippi,
'being about three hundred miles square. Thp s^il and r\\-
J96 HISTORY OF THE LATK WAU. Chai'. 1Q,
raate are equal to any in the United States. The Indian pop-
ulation, comprehending the Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and
Cherokee nations, is estimated at 60,000, and their warriors
^i about 6,000, and are as numerous as all the other tribes in
the United States, east of the Mississippi.* This population
is in a semi-civilized state, approaching much nearer in their
manners, customs, and modes of living, to the whites, that any
other Indian nation. The American government early turned
their attention to these people, and established an agency
among them, for the purpose of furnishing them with the
implements of husbandry, domestic manufacture, and
other necessaries, and instructing them in the arts of civilized
life. Under the judicious superintendence of Colonel Haw-
kins, they had long been kept in peace, and induced to turn
their attention from hunting, to the cultivation of the soil.
Many of them were regular farmers, and possessed stocks of
cattle, horses, and swine. Their women were taught to spin
and weave; intermarriages with the whites were frequent,
from which had sprung a race of half-breeds, which had
established an important and useful chain of connexion
between the white and red inhabitants of the territory. The
direct communication between Louisiana, and the Atlantic
states was through this country, and the mails between the
city of Washington, and New-Orleans, were regularly estab-
lished on this route. Surrounded on three sides by the white
population of the United States, and numerous white settle-
ments in the heart of their country, their safety, and even
existence, depended on the preservation of peace. Sensible
of this, they were ready, when any of their people had com-
B^itted depredations or murders on the border inhabitants, to
give them up to be punished ; and whenever they suffered
by trespasses from the whites, instead of revenging themselves,
ihey presented their complaints to the American authorities,
who readily listened to, and redressed their injuries. At the
Dr. Morse,
3?'^
..i:i,^
JiJia. HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. I 97
trading-houses established at various posts in their territory.
under the direction of Colonel Hawkins, they were enabled
to exchange at a fair price, their peltry, for articles suited to
their wants. From this peaceful and happy state, they were
most unfortunately seduced to take a part in the war. The
British authorities early perceived that a war with the south-
ern Indians, would cause a powerful diversion of the forces
destined to the northern frontier, interrupt the chain of com-
munication between Louisiana and the eastern states, and
cause such a desolation on the southern frontier, as in their
view, would greatly promote the objects of the war. By
means of runners, a constant intercourse was kept up between
the Indians of the south and the north-west. This species of
intercourse is common to all the Indian nations, and among
many of them is as regular as the mails of the United States.
The runner goes with incredible swiftness, carries, and dehv-
ers his messages laconically but correcdy, receives the
iinswers, and returns with the same speed. They are every
where well received and entertained; the news they carry
always compensating their entertainers. In time of war, the
privileges of a flag are considered as attached to the runners.
So regular and uninterrupted was this species of comnmnica-
tion, that the Indians of the south were much earher, and
more correctly informed of the events of the campaign of
1812, on the norlh-wcstcrn frontier, than their neighbouring
white inhabitants.
India7i JVar in the South, Tecumsch, the celebrated
vShawanee chief, and British ally, appeared among the In-
dians of the south, attended their councils, and by every art ot
persuasion endeavoured to induce them to join in a league
with their red brethren of the north, and with the aid of the
British, to extirpate the whites. With peculiar adroitness, he
availed himself of the assistance of their prophets, and of the
prevalent fanaticism, to induce them to believe that the Great
Spirit had ordered the destruction of the whites, and the re-
possession of their country by the red men. The capture of
1J9S -HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR, Chap. 10;
Detroit, and the successes of the British and Indians in the
north-west, in the year 1812, gave full credit to such repre-
sentations. Thus wrought upon, and liberally supplied with
the implements of war by the British, through the channel of
the Floridas, a large majority of the Creek nation, by far the
most numerous of the southern Indians, and a considerable
portion of the other tribes, were induced to commence hostili-
ties against the United States. Several murders and rob-
beries were committed, and the perpetrators refused to be
given up; evident appearances of hostility were now every
where visible. Alarm and consternation prevailed among the
white inhabitants; those of the Tensaw district, a considera-
ble settlement on the Alabama, fled for safety to fort Mimms
on that river, sixteen miles above fort Stoddard. The place
was garrisoned by one hundred and fifty volunteers of the
Mississippi territory, under Major Beasly. The inhabitants
collected at the fort, amounted to about three hundred.
Massacre at Fort Mimms. At eleven o'clock in the fore-
noon of the 30th of August, a body of Indians to the omount of
six or seven hundred warriors, issued from the adjoining
wood, and approached the fort ; they advanced within a few
rods of it before the alarm was given. As the centinel cried
out, "Indians," they immediately gave a war-whoop, and
rushed in at the gate before the garrison had time to shut it.
This decided their fate. Major Beasly was mortally wounded
at the commencement of the assault ; he ordered his men to
secure the ammunition, and retreat into the house; he was
himself carried jnto the kitchen, and afterwards consumed in
the flames. The fort was originally square, but Major Beasly
had enlarged it by extending the lines upon two sides about
fifty feet, and putting up a new side, into which the gate was
removed; the old line of pickets were standing, and the
Indians on rushing in at the gate, obtained possession of the
outer part, and through the port holes of the old line of pick-
ets, fired on the people who held the interior. On the oppo-
site side of the fort was an ofl^set or bastion made round the
Itil3. HISTORY OF THE LATE WAK. 'IS^f
back gate, which being open on the outside, was occupied by
the Indians, who, with the axes that lay scattered about, cut
down the gate. The people in the fort kept possession of
the port-holes on the other Hnes, and fired on the Indians who
remained on the outside. Some of the Indians ascended the
block-house at one of the corners, and fired on the garrison
below, but were soon dislodged ; they succeeded, however,
in setting fire to a house near the pickets, which communi-
cated to the kitchen, and from thence to the main dwelling-
house. When the people in the fort saw the Indians in full
possession of the outer court, the gate open, the men fast
falling, and their houses on flames, they gave up all for lost,
and a scene of the most distressing horror ensued. The
women and children sought refuge in the upper story of tlye
dwelling-house, and were consumed in the flames, the Indians
dancing and yelling round them with the most savage delight.
Those who were without the buildings were murdered and
scalped without distinction of age or sex; seventeen only esca-
ped. The battle and massacre lasted from eleven in the forenoon
\mtil six in the afternoon, by which time the work of destruction
was fully completed, the fort and buildings entirely demol-
ished, and upwards of four hundred men, women, and chil-
dren, massacred.* ^V
This event spread consternation and dismay through alf^
the neighbouring settlements; the inhabitants fled with the
utmost precipitation, without taking any means of subsistance
to fort Stoddard, Mobile, and other plvicGs, where they
deemed themselves safe from the fury of the savages. Their
dwellings and property were left a prey to the Indians, who
plundered and laid waste the adjacent country to a great
extent, without opposition.
Kxertions of the States of Georgia and Tennessee, These
unexpected and calamitous events excited the most lively
sensations in the neighbouring states of Tennessee and Gcor-
Juclg:e Toulrain's letter.
%^
^00 HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. Chap. i9.
gia, and led to prompt and spirited exertions. Eighteen
hundred volunteers under the command of General Floyd,
were immediately organized, equipped, and marched into the
southern section of the Creek nation from the state of Georgia.
The legislature of Tennessee were in session when the news
arrived. They immediately passed an act authorizing the
governor to raise thirty-five hundred men, for the purpose of
protecting the inhabitants of the Mississippi territory, giving
security, to their own borders, and repelling the incursions of
the Indians. Three hundred thousand dollars were ordered
to be raised, and appropriated to defray the expenses.
The Tennessee forces were commanded by generals Jack-
son and Cocke. The governors of the two states immedi-
ately communicated their proceedings to the war department.
Their measures were approved by the executive, and the
troops placed upon the United States establishment.
Destruction of the Tallushaiches. The infatuated Creeks
were now doomed to atone in the most exemplary manner
for the massacre at fort Mimms, and their subsequent
ravages. The first object to which the troops under Gen-
eral Jackson were directed, was their encampments at the
Tallushatches towns, on the Coosa river, a northern branch
f the Alabama. On the 2d of November, General Coffee
Was detached with a part of his brigade of cavalry, and a
corps of mounted riflemen, amounting to nine hundred, against
this assemblage. He arrived on the morning of the third,
and encircled the encampment with his cavalry; when he had
tipproached within half a mile, the Creeks sounded the war-
whoop, and prepared for action. Captain Hammond's and
liieutenant Patterson's companies advanced -within the circle
and gave a few shots for the purpose of drawing out the
enemy. The Creeks formed and made a violent charge.
Captain Hammond, according to his orders, gave way, and
was pursued by the Indians, until they met the right column,
which gave them a general fire, and then charged. The
Indians immediatclv retreated within and behind their build-
1613. HISTORY OF THE LATB WAft. 201
ings, and fought with desperation; but their destruction was
soon accompUshed. The soldiers rushed up to the doors of
their houses, broke them open, and in a few minutes killed
the last warrior of them : not one escaped to carry the news.
None asked for quarters, but fought as long as they could
stand or sit, and met death in various shapes without a groan.
Two hundred warriors were killed, eighty-four women and
children taken prisoners and discharged; of General Coftee's
troops five only were killed, and fort'y-Ofi^ wounded.
General Jackson established his head-quarters at the Ter*
Islands on the Coosa, and fortified his position, giving it the
name of Camp Strothfci. On the evening of the 7th of No-
vember, a runner arrivx^l from the friendly Indians at the
Tallageda fort, thirty miles below on the same river, giving
information that the hostile Creeks had encamped in great
force near that place, and were preparing to destroy it, ear-
nestly soliciting immediate assistance. General Jackson
determined on commencing his march the same night, and
despatched a runner to General White, informing him of his
movement, and urging him to hasten his march to camp Stro-
ther, to protect it in his advance. He had previously ordered
General White to form a junction with him as speedily as .
possible, and received iiis assurances that he would be with ^|
him on the 7th. General Jackson immediately commenced
crossing the river at the Ten Islands, leaving his baggage
wagons and whatever might retard his progress in the camp, g
and halted at midnight within six miles of the Tallageda.
Here a runner arrived with a note from General White in-
forming him that he had altered his course, and was on his
inarch back to join General Cocke at the mouth of the
Chataga.
Battle of Tallageda. It was then too late for the general to
• hange his plan of operations, or make any new arrangements.
I le renewed his march at three o'clock, and at sun-rise, came
vv ithin half a mile of his enemy, Avhom he found encamped a
quarter of a mile in advance of the fort. He immediately form-
^28
%
202 HISTORV OF THE LATE WAR. Chap. 10,
ed il)c iiiic or baule ; the militia on the left, the volunteers on
ihr right, and the cavah-y on the wings; and advanced in a
curve, keeping his rear connected with the advance of the
infantry line, so as to enclose the enemy in a circle. The
advance guard met the atiack of the Indians with intrepidity,
and having poured upon them four or five rounds, fell back
to tlie main body. The enemy pursued, and were met by
the front line. This line was broken, awd several companies
of militia retreated. At this moment a corps of cavalry un-
tler Lieutenant Colonel t)yer, which was kepi as a reserve,
were ordered to dismount and fill the vacancy. The order
was promptly executed, the militia soon rallied, and returned
to the charge. The fire now became general along the first
line and the contiguous wings. The Indians fled, and were
met and })ursued in every direction. The right wing followed
them with a destructive fire to the mountains, three miles dis-
tant. Two hundred and ninety of their warriors were found
dead, and a large number killed in the pursuit, who were
not found. General Jackson lost fifteen men killed, and
eighteen wounded. In consequence of the failure of General
White to proceed to camp Strother, General Jackson was
obliged to give up farther pursuit, and immediately return to
his camp to protect his sick, wounded, and baggage.
The Tennessee militia and volunteers called into service
at the commencement of the Creek war, consisted of two
divisions, one of West Tennessee, commanded by General
Jackson, and the other of East Tennessee, commanded by
Major General Cocke. Major General Thomas Pinckney,
of the United States army, was commander in chief of the
military disti'ict within which these troops were raised and
employed, and in that capacity, had the general direction of
their operations, after they were taken into the United States
service. General Jackson, as senior major general of the
Tennessee forces, claimed the right of commanding the whole
that were in service. General Cocke, of the East Tennessee
division, considered himself as possessing a command indc-
1813. HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. 20 J
pendent of General Jackson. This circumstance produced
a collision in the orders, and the embarrassment to which
General White, who commanded a brigade in General Cocke's
division, was subject ; while General Jackson ordered him
to march to camp Strother, to protect it in his absence, Gen-
eral Cocke ordered him to march in a contrary direction and
attack the Hillabec towns, distant from fort Armstrong one
hundred miles.
Destruciion of the Hillabec Towns. General White con-
sidered himself bound to obey the latter order, and the 1 1th
of November marched with the mounted infantry, cavalry,
and a corps of friendly Cherokee Indians, to Oakfusky,
where he took five hostile Creeks v/ho had been sent out as
spies, and burned a small village. On the 17th, he arrived
within six miles of the Hillabees, the object of his expedi-
tion ; and early in the morning of the 18th, surrounded and
completely surprised the town, killed sixty warriors, took
two hundred and fifty-six prisoners, and returned to fort Arm-
strong, without the loss of a man, either killed or wounded.
General FloydPs Operations, While the Tennessee forces
were performing these operations in the northern sections of
the Creek country, the Georgia troops under General Floyd
entered their territory from the east. The general, having
received information that a number of hostile Indians had
assembled at the Autosee towns, on the southern bank of the
Talapoosa, eighteen miles from the Hickory ground, and
twenty above the junction of that river with the Coosa, pro-
ceeded to that place with a corps of nine hundred and fifty
militia, and four hundred friendly Indians; and on the morn-
ing of the 29th of November, at half past six, a{)peared in
line of battle, in front of the priiicipal town. The Indians
presented themselves at every point, and fought with despe-
rate fury. The well directed fire of the artillery, and the
charge of the bayonet, soon drove them from the ground, and
obliged them to take shelter in the copses, thick^'ts, and out-
houses in rear of the town. Many concealed thcmselvr^ in
204 HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. (hap. 10»
raves previously provided as places of retreat, along the
high blulfs on the livcr, which were thickly covered with
reeds and brush-wood. The friendly Indians were divided
into four companies, under leaders of their own choice, and
directed to cross Canhabee creek, and occupy that flank to
prevent escapes from the Tallisee town, situated about one
hundred rods below the Autosee. Instead of obeying this
order, soon after the action commenced, most of them throng-
ed in disorder into the rear of the lines ; but the Covetans
under M'Intosh. and the Tookabotchians, under Mad Dog's
Son, joined the flanks of the militia, and fought with a bravery
equal to disciplined troops. At nine o'clock the Indians w^ere
completely driven from the plain, and the houses of both
towns were in flames. Warriors from eight towns had
assembled at Autosee, which their prophets had taught them
to believe was holy ground, on which no white man could
tread without inevitable destruction. Four hundred build-
ings were burned, some of which were of a superior cast for
the dwellings of savages. The loss of the Indians was esti-
mated at two hundred killed ; among whom were the Autosee
and Tallisee kings. The number of w^ounded could not be
ascertained, as they were taken olf by their friends, but must
have been very considerable. General Floyd was severely
wounded, and Adjutant General Newman slightly. The
whole loss of the Georgians was eleven killed, and fifty-four
wounded. The friendly Indians lost several killed and
wounded, but their loss was not great, as most of them sought
places of safety at the commencement of the action. From
the Autosee towns, General Floyd, after resting several days,
proceeded to camp Defiance, fifty miles further to the west,
into the enemy's country. At this place, at 5 o'clock in the
morning of the 2d of January, his camp w^as assailed by a
desperate band of hostile Indians, who stole unobserved upon
the centinels, fired gn them, and immediately rushed on the
lines. In twenty minutes the troops were formed in order of
Hattle, and the action became general. The front and both
J!J1*3. HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. oo.r,
flanks were closely pressed at once; l)ut the skilful conducl
of the officers, and lirnmess of the men, rejtulsed the enemy
at evQi-y point The incessant fire of Captain Thomas's
artillery, and Adams's riflemen, preserved the front line. Both
these companies suffered greatly. Captain Broadnax, who
commanded one of the piquet-guards, maintained his post with
great bravery until the enemy gained his rear, and then cut
his way through them to the lines. Timpochee Barnard, a
half-breed, at the head of the Uchies, distinguished himself,
and contributed to the relief of the piquet-guard. Most of
the other friendly Indians took refuge within the lines, and
remained inactive spectators of the contest. As soon as it
had become hght enough to distinguish objects, Majors Wat-
son^s and Freeman's battalions wheeled up at right angles
with Majors Booth's and Cleaveland's, and made a vigorous
charge. The enemy fled in every direction before the bayo-
net. The signal was then given for the cavalry to charge,
which w^as executed with great effect. The Indians left
thirty-seven dead on the field, and from the war-clubs, head-
dresses, and trails of blood found in various directions, their
whole loss must have been muck greater. The friendly
Indians, with Merriwether's and Ford's rifle companies, and
Hamilton's cavalry, pursued them through Caulabee swamp,
where they were trailed by their blood. In the first onset
Adjutant General Newman received three balls, which pre-
vented his further service in the action. General Floyd's
loss was seventeen killed, and one hundred and thirty
wounded ; of the friendly Indians five were killed, and fifteen