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Show 60 LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. CHAP. haps, not so important to the country, as that they III. should, by acting in concert and harmony, endeavour ~to accomplish the grand object intended. National, and not individual advancement, was the inducement to carry an army into the field : and the best and most effectual mean of securing this, every officer, acting on liberal· principles, should have constantly held in view. Having buried his dead with all due honour, and provided litters for the wounded, he reluctantly commenced his return march, on the morning succeeding the battle. He confidently hoped, from the. previous assurances of the contractors, that by the time of his return to·Fort Strother, sufficient supplies would have arrived there ; but, to his inexpressible uneasiness, he found, that not a particle had been forwarded since his departure, and that what had been left ~~~~i;;.;'n~\vas already consumed. Even his private stores, brought on at his own expense, and upon which he and his staff had hitherto wholly subsisted, had been, in his absence, distributed amongst the sick by the hospital surgeon, who had been previously instructed to do so, in tl1e event their wants should require it. A few dozen biscuit, which remained on his return, were given to hungry applicants, without being tasted by himself or family, who were probably not Jess hungry than those who were thus relieved. A scanty supply of beef, taken from the enemy, or purchased of the Cherokees, was now the only support af. forded. Thus left destitute, Jackson, with the utmost cheerfulness of temper, repaired to the bullock pen, and of the offal there thrown away, provided for himself and staff, what he was pleased to call, and see!Iled ,LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. 61 really to think, a very comfortable repast. Tripes, CHAP. h owever, has t-ilvvr ·o v1'd e d m· a camp, W'It ho ut bre ad orIII~. seasoning, can only be palatable to an appetite very highly whetted ; yet this constituted, for several days, the only diet at head quarters, during which time the general seemed entirely satisfied with his fare. N ei-ther this, nor the liberal donations by which he disfurnished himself, to relieve the suffering soldier, should be ascribed to ostentation or design : the one flowed from benevolence, tl1e other from necessity, and a de-sire to place before his men an example of patience and. suffering, which he felt might be necessary, and hoped might be serviceable. Of these two imputa-tions, no human being, invested with rank and power, was ever more deservedly free. Charity in him is a warm and active propensity of tl1e heart, urging him, by an instantaneous impulse, to relieve the \vants of the distressed, without regarding, or even thinking of the consequences. Many of those to whom it \vaS ~tended, had no conception of the source that supplied them, and believed the comforts they received were drawn from stores provided for the hospital department. But while general Jackson remained wholly unmoved by his own privations, he was filled witl1 solicitude and concern for his army. His utmost exertions, unceasingly applied, were insufficient to remove ti1e sufferings to which he saw them exposed ; and although they were by no means so great as they themselves represented, yet were undoubtedly such as to be severely felt. Discontents, and a desire to return home, |
