attacked the towns of these Indians, destroyed many of their warriors, and carried off several hundred captives. Supposing that this was by Jackson's orders, they expected no further favor, and fought thereafter with the desperation of men to whom no quarter was to be given. The result of this Indian campaign was the entire reduction of the hostile nations. We need not recount the various battles in which they were defeated and destroyed. The most noted of these were at Autossee, where some two hundred were massacred, on the 29th of November, and that of the great bend in the Tallapoosie, known as Horse-Shoe Bend. At this latter point, the Indians fortified themselves for a last and desperate stand. They were supposed to be about one thousand in number, and had been, for some time, strengthening their position by every means within their reach. This was in the month of March, 1814. On the 27th, General Jackson, with a force of whites and friendly Indians, three times the number of the enemy, commenced operations against the fort. General Coffee, with most of the cavalry and Indian allies, was directed to surround the bend, in order to cut off all retreat across the river. The place was then carried by storm, under a heavy fire from within. More than half the Indians were killed at the fort, and an unknown number perished in their endeavors to escape by crossing the river, beset as it was by the assailants. Some have asserted that probably not more than twenty ever reached a place of safety. At a time when it was evident that the fortune of the day was decided, General Jackson sent a messenger, with a flag of truce, to invite a surrender, but, from ignorance or desperation, the savages fired upon the bearer of the flag. After this, no mercy was shown: until night put an end to the work of destruction, they were shot or cut down wherever they could be found, and even on the following morning, a considerable number were ferreted out from the "caves and reeds," where they had sought concealment, and remorselessly put to death. Several hundred women and children were made captives. The loss of the attacking army in this battle was fifty-five killed, and one hundred and forty-six wounded. In the ensuing month, (April,) General Jackson having effected a junction with the troops from Georgia, under Colonel Milton, received a deputation from the principal hostile tribes, expressing a wish for peace. The general demanded, as one condition upon which he would treat, and as a test of the sincerity of the proposal, that the great but notorious Weatherford should be delivered up for punishment. This chief, hearing of the requisition, and hopeless of further success in resistance, came voluntarily to the American camp, and presenting himself before the commander, with characteristic dignity and composure, requested peace for his people, and announced his own submission to his fate, whatever it might be. His speech on this occasion is given as follows: "I am in your power do with me as you please I am a sol dier. I have done the whites all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight-I would contend to the last: but I have none. My people are all gone. I can only weep over the misfortunes of my nation." On being told that he was still at liberty to depart, and that no favor would be shown to him or his nation unless they should submit to whatever terms the whites should see fit to impose, he replied: "You can safely address me in such terms now. There was a time when I could have answered there I was a time when I had a choice have none now. I have not even a hope. I could once animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallusshatchee, Emuckfaw, and you Tohopeka. **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." This was the last important incident of the campaign. The Indians submitted to the dictation of the whites, and retired to the districts assigned them, eastward of the Coosa. CHAPTER IV. THE REMOVAL OF THE CHEROKEES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. - PRESENT LOCATION AND CONDITION OF THE OTHER TRIBES OF THE SOUTHERN STATES. 66 Bearing a people with all its household gods into exile, LONGFELLOW. BUT a few years have passed since the Cherokees were in the peaceful occupation of an immense and fertile territory in the northern part of Georgia. They numbered not far from eighteen thousand, and were increasing in a ratio which attested their power of self-support and improvement. They had made advances far beyond most of their red brethren in the arts of agriculture and manufactures. A system of legislation adapted to their capacities and wants had been established, and, generally speaking, the nation exhibited a praiseworthy spectacle of sobriety, industry, and good order. They were in possession of about eight millions of acres of land, and their ability and inclination to cultivate it may appear from the statistics of their stock and agricultural implements. In 1826, they were the owners of seven thousand six hundred horses, twentytwo thousand cattle, forty-six thousand swine, and two thousand five hundred sheep. There were in use among them two thousand nine hundred and forty-three ploughs, and one hundred and seventy-two wagons. They occupied their territory under the treaties entered into, and within the bounds assigned, at the negotiations between the confederate states and the Indian tribes of the south, at the close of the revolutionary war. In the year 1802, when the long-vexed question of the boundaries of the state of Georgia was finally settled, the United States stipulated to extinguish the title of the Cherokees to the lands then in their possession," as early as the same could be peaceably obtained, upon reasonable terms." As the states of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi increased in power and population, they became more and more impatient of the existence of self-governing and independent tribes within their boundaries, and began to exert a control over them in some instances exceedingly unjust and oppressive. Strong efforts were made to induce an emigration of these Indians to the west, which were in some measure successful, and, prior to 1829, a cession or sale of a very large district had been obtained from the Cherokees. The members of this tribe, naturally attached to the beautiful country in which they had passed their lives, finally determined to retain possession of what remained of their lands, and to allow of no further sales to whites. In December, of the above year, the state of Georgia passed a series of acts which justly aroused the fears and indignation of the Indians, and excited a feeling of sympathy in their behalf, as powerful as extensive. The laws of the state were declared to be in full force over all the Aborigines within its limits; the regulations and provisions of the Cherokee council were declared invalid and void; heavy penalties (amounting to years of imprisonment at hard labor) were awarded against any Cherokee who should "endeavor" to oppose emigration; and it was even enacted, by the fifteenth section, "that no Indian, or descendant of an Indian, within the Cherokee nation of Indians, shall be a competent witness in any court of Georgia, in a suit in which a white man is a party, unless such white man resides within said nation." Notwithstanding the adverse opinions of many of the ablest jurists in the country, as to the constitutionality or validity of these and other provisions of the Georgia legislature, and even a decision against them in the Supreme Court of the United States, they were, to a certain extent, enforced. The situation of the Indians became, in consequence, so precarious and uncomfortable, that a considerable party was formed among them of those favorable to migration. At the head of this faction was Major Ridge, while the celebrated John Ross was the leader of those opposed to the movement- a very large majority of the nation. Matters continued in a disturbed and unquiet state, until 1835. At this time, the Rev. J. T. Schermerhorn was deputed by the United States executive to bring about a treaty whereby the Cherokees should remove peaceably, receiving a reasonable compensation for the improvements which they should leave behind them. The negotiation appears to have been conducted as most Indian treaties have been, wherever a specific object was to be gained. Notice was given of a council to be held, and a collection of those favorable to the proposed emigration ratified a treaty by which the whole tribe was bound to remove within two years. Notwithstanding the obvious want of authority on the part of those individuals to bind the nation, and a remonstrance signed by the thousands who opposed the treaty, it was ratified by Congress. An appropriation was made for the indemnification of those who should suffer loss by being torn from their homes, and |