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Show S2 LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. CHAP. Additional reasons were at hand, why active opera· II. tions should be commenced with the least possible delay. ....,..,......_The settlers were fleeing to the interior, and every day brought intelligence, that the Creeks, collected in ~ge force, were bending their course towards the frontiers Cre<k war.of Tennessee. The governor now issued an order to general Jackson, requiring him to call o~t, an~ rendez-vous at Fayetteville, in the shortest possibl~ tm~e? ~vo thousand of the militia and volunteers of his diviswn, to repel any invasion that might be contemplated. Colonel Coffee, in addition to five hundred cavalry, already raised, and under his comman?, w~s au~orize_d and instructed to organize and receive mto lus regi· ment, any mounted riflemen, that might make a tender , < of their services. Having received these orders, Jackson_ directed colonel Coffee, with the force then under his command, and such additional mounted riflemen as could be attached at a short notice, to hasten forward to the neighbourhood of Huntsville, and occupy some eligible po; ition for the defence of the frontier, until the infantry could, arrive ; when it was contemplated to push him on, by the nearest route, to fort St. Stephens. The infantry, consisting, in part, of the late detachment ~f volunteers, who descended the Mississippi, were di· rected to appear at the place appointed, on the 4th of October, well equipped for active service. He stated to them the imperious necessity, which demanded their services, and required them to be punctual ; that their frontiers were threatened with invasion by a savage foe. " Already are large bodies of the hostile Creeks marching to your borders, with their scalping knives LIFE OF QEN. JACKSON. ss unsheathed, to butcher your women and children : CHAP. .time is not to be lost. We must hasten to the frontier II. or we shall find it drenched in the blood of our citi:~ zens ! The ·health of your general is restored-he will ,command in person." Every exertion was now made, to hasten the pre~rations for a vigorous campaign. Orders were given to the quarter master, to furnish th~ necess.-uy munitions with the proper transportation ; and to the contractors: to provide ample supplies of provjsions. The day ofoctobe<4. their rendezvous being arrived, and the general not being sufficiently recovered of his wound, to attend . in person, he sent, by his aid-de-camp, major Reid, an address, to be read to the troops, accompanied by an order for the establishment of the police of the . -~.m~. In this address, he pointed to the unprovoked 1nJunes that had been so long inflicted by this horde of merciless and cruel savages ; and intreated his soldiers to evince that zeal in the defence of tl1eir country which the importance of the moment so much re: quired. " \Ve are about to furnish these savages a lesson of admonition ;-we are about to teach them tod~i:" that our long forbearance has not proceeded from ~ troops. insensibility to wrongs, or inability to redress them. They stand in need of such warning. In proportion as we have borne with tl1eir insults, and submitted to their outrages, have they multiplied in number, and increased in atrocity. But the measure of their offences is at lengt11 filled. The blood of our women and chil- . dren, recently spilled at Fort Mimms, calls for our vengeance; it must not call in vain. Our borders must no longer be disturbed by the war whoop of these E |
