of the wood until a fresh regiment was called into action to oppose them. A company of cavalry having crossed the hills and gained the rear of the savages, the rout became general. They fought bravely, and sustained a heavy loss in killed and wounded. The death of their leader, Tecumseh, was an irreparable loss to them.

Tecumseh was the most extraordinary Indian that has ever appeared in history. He was by birth a Shawanese, and would have been a great man in any age or nation. Independent of the most consummate courage and skill as a warrior, and all the characteristic acuteness of his race, he was endowed by nature with the attributes of mind necessary for great political combinations. His acute understanding, very early in life, informed him that his countrymen had lost their importance; that they were gradually yielding to the whites, who were acquiring an imposing influence over them. Instigated by these considerations, and, perhaps, by his natural ferocity and attachment to war, he became a decided enemy to the whites, and imbibed an invincible determination (he surrendered it with his life) to regain for his country the proud independence he supposed she had lost. For a number of years he was foremost in every act of hostility committed against those he conceived the oppressors of his countrymen, and was equally remarkable for intrepidity as skill, in many combats that took place under his banner. Aware, at length, of the extent, number, and power of the United States, he became fully convinced of the futility of any single nation of red men attempting to cope with them. He formed, therefore, the grand scheme of uniting all the tribes east of the Mississippi into hostility against the United States. This was a field worthy of his great and enterprising genius. He commenced in the year 1809; and in the execution of his project he displayed an unequalled adroitness, eloquence, and courage. He insinuated himself into every tribe from Michilimackinack to Georgia, and was invariably successful in his attempts to bring them

over to his views. He played upon all their feelings, but principally upon their superstition, and sometimes assumed the character of a prophet, and carried with him a red stick, to which he attached certain mystical properties, and the acceptance of which was considered as the joining of his party; hence the name of Red Sticks applied to all Indians hostile to the United States. Unfortunately for Tecumseh, but happily for the United States, was it, that, before his plan had/ become matured, before his arrangements for general hostility were perfected, before, in fact, he had brought into the field any of his forces, his brother made a premature attack upon the forces of the United States under the command of Gen. Harrison, in the summer of 1811, at Tippecanoe, in which he suffered a signal defeat.

This disaster marred the prospects of the gallant Tecumseh. His own soul was unshaken; but it damped the ardor of his associates; and although many continued firm in their warlike attitude, nor shrunk from a contest that had commenced with defeat, all the efforts of Tecumseh were unavailing to supply the links thus broken in his chain of operations. The war against England, declared soon after this event by the United States, opened new views to the talents of Tecumseh. His merits were duly appreciated by the British government, and they made him a brigadier general in their service. At the head of his formidable warriors, he more than once turned the scale of victory against the Americans, and laid down his life for the cause he had espoused.

Tecumseh had fought during the first year of the war under Gen. Brock, to whom he gave great praise, not only for his bravery, but for his kindness and gentlemanly treatment to him and the warriors under his command. They had been remarkably successful in all their operations during the campaigns in which they fought together. But in Gen. Proctor he had no confidence, and they never agreed in the plans that were adopted in prosecuting the war. A few days before

the last battle, in a talk he had with him at a council, he expressed in the strongest manner his entire disapprobation of all his measures. Being in company with some British officers, he was asked his opinion of Gen. Brock, in comparison with the merits of their present general. He answered-" Gen. Brock very brave man, great general. He say, Tecumseh, come, we go. Gen. Proctor say, Tecumseh, you go. Proctor

no Brock."

The day after the battle, the American troops took possession of the Moravian towns, where they found great quantities of such provisions as were very acceptable to the troops. Among the trophies of the day, captured from the British, were six brass field-pieces that had been surrendered by Hull, on two of which was the motto "Surrendered by Burgoyne at Saratoga." The town was found deserted, and so panicstruck were some of the squaws in their flight, that they are said to have thrown their papooses into the river, to prevent their being butchered by the Americans! The Indians who inhabited this town had been very active in committing depredations upon the frontiers, massacring the inhabitants, &c., for which reason the town was destroyed by the troops previous to their leaving it.

Soon after the return of Gen. Harrison to Detroit, the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawatomies, Miamis, and Kickapoos, proposed a suspension of hostilities, and agreed to "take hold of the same tomahawk with the Americans, and to strike all who were or might be enemies of the United States." They offered their women and children as hostages. Walk-in-the-water, a distinguished chief who had taken an active part in the late engagement, waited upon the general in person to implore peace. The white flag which he bore in his hand attracted a great crowd, who were struck with admiration at the firmness with which this distin guished warrior passed through the ranks of the American troops, whom he so gallantly opposed but a few days before; yet his adverse fortune was calcu

lated to depress his spirits and produce humility. Almost all the other chiefs had been killed, or had surrendered themselves prisoners, and he was without the means of living or resisting.

CHAP. XIX.

WAR WITH THE CREEK NATION.-MASSACRE AT FORT MIMS.— BATTLES OF TALLUSHATCHES, TALLEDAGA, ANTOSSE.-ATTACK UPON CAMP DEFIANCE, AND BRILLIANT VICTORY AT THE BEND OF THE TALLAPOOSA.

THE enemy, apparently disposed to enlist the savages in the war at its commencement, despatched messengers to several of the Indian tribes in the Mississippi Territory, distinguished by the names of Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws, to persuade them to take a part with them in their contest with the United States. The most friendly relations had subsisted between these tribes and the United States for many years; and the latter, dictated by a generous policy, had been successful in their endeavors to introduce among them the improvements of civilized society. But so ardent is the propensity of the Indian character for war, that many were induced to commit the most wanton and unprovoked acts of barbarity upon the Americans.

The most experienced and well-disposed chiefs, aware of the evils a war with the United States must produce upon the tribes, made use of their best endeav ors to suppress their acts of cruelty; but those determined on war were not disposed to listen to the dictates of discretion or wisdom, and commenced open hostilities against the United States by one of the most bloody massacres recorded in Indian history. The particulars

of the bloody transaction are copied from a letter of Judge Toulman, dated September 7th, 1813.

"The dreadful catastrophe which we have been some time anticipating has at length taken place. The Indians have broken in upon us, in numbers and fury unexampled. Our settlement is overrun, and our country, I fear, is on the eve of being depopulated. The accounts which we received led us to expect an attack about the full moon of August; and it was known at Pensacola, when the ammunition was given to the Indians, who were to be the leaders of the respective parties destined to attack the different parts of our settlement. The attempt made to deprive them of their ammunition, issued by the Spaniards on the recommendation of a British general, on their way from Pensacola, and in which it was said the Indians lost more than twenty men, although only one third of our peo ple stood their ground, it is highly probable, in some measure, retarded their operations; and the steady succession of rain contributed to produce the same effect. Had their attempt been conducted with more judgment and supported with more vigor, there would have been an end, for a time, of Indian warfare. In consequence of the delay, our citizens began to grow careless and confident; and several families who had removed from Tensaw to fort Stoddert, returned again, and fell a sacrifice to the merciless savages.

"A few days before the attack, some negroes of Mr. M'Girt, who lived in that part of the Creek territory which is inhabited by half-breeds, had been sent up the Alabama to his plantation for corn; three of them were taken by a party of Indians. One escaped and brought down news of the approach of the Indians. The officer gave but little credit to him; but they made some further preparation to receive the enemy. On the next day Mr. James Cornels, a half-breed, and some white men, who had been out on the late battle-ground, and discovered the trail of a considerable body of Indians going towards Mr. M'Girt's, came to the fort and informed the commanding officer of the discovery.