dega by a force of more than a thousand hostile Creeks. On the 9th, the Battle of Talladega was fought, in which General Jackson was again entirely successful. On January 22d and 24th, the battles of Emuckfau and Enotachopco were fought. In the latter action, General Coffee was severely wounded. The venerable William Cocke, whom Jackson had succeeded in the United States Senate in 1797, at the age of sixty-five, entered this engagement, joined in the pursuit of the enemy with youthful ardor, and saved the life of a fellow soldier by killing his savage antagonist.1

294. Jackson Prepares for a Decisive Battle.- The decisive battle of the campaign was that of Tohopeka, or Tehopisca, as General Jackson calls it in his official report to Governor Blount, from which this account of the battle is taken. After the battle of Enotachopco, Jackson had been reinforced by six hundred regulars under Col. John Williams, and large bodies of militia from both East and Middle Tennessee. He now had all the force he required, and at once set about making provisions for an energetic campaign. His first objective point was the Indian stronghold at Tohopeka. His army now numbered about five thousand men. After detaching such numbers as were necessary for other duties, particularly for garrisoning Forts Strother and Williams, the latter of which he erected between Fort Strother and Tohopeka, he was left at the head of some three thousand With these he set out from Fort Williams on the 24th of March for Tallapoosa. He reached the bend of the Tallapoosa three miles beyond the scene of the battle of Enotachopco, on the morning of the 27th.

men.

295. The Indian Stronghold. This bend, the report says, "resembled in curvature that of a horseshoe, and is thence called by that name by the whites. Nature furnishes few situations so eligible for defense, and barbarians have never rendered one more secure by art. Across the neck of land which leads into it on the north, they had erected a breastwork of the greatest compactness and strength, from five to eight feet high, and prepared with double rows of port holes very artfully arranged. The figure of this wall manifested no less skill in the projectors of it, than its constructors. An army could not approach it without being exposed to a double and cross-fire from the enemy, who lay in perfect security behind it. The area of this peninsula thus bounded by the breastworks, includes, I conjecture, eighty

or one hundred acres.' ." This fort was defended by perhaps a thousand Indian warriors

o. That angle at which Montgomery fell.

2 See Plan of Battle above. It was prepared by Gen. Jackson, to accompany his report.

296. Disposition of Jackson's Forces.- General Jackson meant that his victory should be complete, and early on the morning of the 27th, he dispatched General Coffee with his force of some seven hundred mounted men, and nearly all the Indians, with instructions to cross the river, and surrounded the bend, so that none of the enemy could escape in that direction. By 10.30 o'clock the artillery was placed on a small eminence in front of the breastworks, and opened fire upon its center, which was continued about two hours.

297. Jackson Takes the Fort by Storm.-At this point, Captain Russell's company of spies and the Cherokee force crossed over to the extremity of the peninsula in canoes, and set fire to a few of the Indian buildings in that part of the place. They then advanced upon the breastworks, and commenced firing upon the enemy from his rear.

General Jackson now determined to take the place by storm. The men entreated to be led to the charge with most pressing importunity, and received the order with the strongest demonstrations of joy. The regulars were soon in possession of the nearer side of the breastworks. The militia accompanied them with great vivacity and firmness.

After a short but very obstinate muzzle to muzzle contest through the port-holes, in which many of the enemy's bullets were welded to the Tennesseans' bayonets, the latter succeeded in gaining possession of the opposite side of the works.1 Maj. L. P. Montgomery, for whom the capital of Alabama is named, was the first man upon the breastworks, and while calling upon his men to follow, he received a ball in his head and fell to the ground dead. A young ensign instantly mounted to his place. A barbed arrow pierced his thigh, but, nothing daunted, he called to his comrades to follow, and leaped down among the Indians. This was Sam Houston, afterwards the hero of San Jacinto. He was followed by the others, and the enemy was routed and cut to pieces. When they gave way, Ensign Houston sat down and called a lieutenant from his company to extract the arrow from his thigh. Two vigorous efforts failed to release it. In a fury of pain and impatience he cried, "Try again, and if you fail I will smite you to the earth." Exerting all his strength, the lieutenant literally tore the barbed missile from the ensign's flesh. The wound Eled so profusely that he had to retire for the purpose of having it bandaged. Nevertheless, it was Ensign Houston who volunteered to lead a charge for the purpose of dislodging a party of the enemy who had taken cover under the bluffs of the river. Two balls in his right shoulder brought his arm powerless to his side, and staggering out of the fire, he lay down totally disabled

1

1 Jackson's Report, manuscript in Tennessee Historical Society, published in American Historical Magazine.

The carnage was terrible. they receive quarters. Between eight and nine hundred of their braves were slain. Hardly more than a score escaped. Jackson's fatalities. were 49 killed and 154 wounded, about one-third of whom were friendly Indians. This was the last stand made by the Indians.

The Indians neither asked nor would

was utterly and permanently broken.

Their power

even

298. Weatherford's Speech.-Weatherford accepted Jackson's terms of peace in a speech that has been pronounced the most remarkable of any in the Indian tongues.3 "There was a time," he said, "when I had a choice and could have answered you. I have none now hope has ended. Once I could animate my warriors to battle, but I can not animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice; their bones are at Talladega, Tellushatchee, Emuckfau, 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 deepest sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If I had been left to contend with the Georgia army, I could have raised my corn on one bank of the river, and 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 murder and folly to oppose. If they are opposed, you shall find me amongst the strongest 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 our nation where we might go and be safe. This is good talk, and they ought to listen to it. They shall listen to it!" 299. Jackson Goes to New Orleans.- On the return of General Jackson and his militia to Tennessee, they were everywhere received with unbounded enthusiasm. Jackson was the idol of the State. Old enmities were forgotten; geographical boundaries were obliterated; the whole State united to do him honor. His fame penetrated even beyond the State. In May, 1814, a brigadier generalship in the regular army fell vacant, and the President offered it to General Jackson. A few days later, Major General William Henry Harrison resigned. Before General Jackson had accepted or rejected the brigadier generalship, Henry A. Wise's Seven Decades of the Union, p. 62. See Pickett's History of Alabama.

3

he received a tender of the major generalship, which he at once accepted. He now marched to New Orleans, and the fame of his exploits there penetrated to the remotest quarters of the civilized world.

300. The Battle of New Orleans.- The principal engagement at New Orleans was fought on the 8th of January, 1815. Jackson's position was protected by a line of mud breastworks, with a ditch in front, and was defended by a miscellaneous force of some 5,500 men, consisting largely of Tennessee and Kentucky riflemen. The enemy numbered 10,000 fighting men, chiefly veterans of the Peninsular war, and were commanded by Sir Edward Packenham, among the ablest of the Iron Duke's lieutenants. They were reputed the best troops in Europe, and certainly lost nothing of their character by their conduct in America. All night on the 7th, the din of preparation could be heard in the British camp. By sunrise on the 8th, they were drawn up in martial array. Then the column moved forward with a firm step and determined purpose. The main attack was to be on the Americans' left, which was defended by the Tennessee riflemen under Generals Carroll and Coffee. Amid a terrific artillery duel, the scarlet column moved steadily forward in perfect order and with unfaltering tread. As they approached the American works, they broke into a fun. eral Carroll coolly waited until they were within two hundred yards before he gave the word "fire!" Then rank after rank of the Tennessee riflemen rose and fired with such deadly aim that the withering column

Gen

of the enemy staggered, halted, and gave back. The gallant Packenham then rallied them, and with the determined purpose of veterans, they renewed the assault. The leaden hail again beat in their faces, and Packenham and Gibbs both fell before it. In vain Keane brought the stubborn Highlanders to the assault. They could do no more than mingle their blood with that of their comrades, as his blood mingled with that of Packenham and Gibbs. The British lost more than two thousand men in the engagement, most of whom fell in the main attack, in which the American loss was only "The American soldiers deserve great credit for doing so well; but greater credit still belongs to Andrew Jackson, who, with

thirteen.