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Show 66 L1FE OF GEN. JACKSON. CHAP. a number of our fellow soldiers are wounded, and un~ able to help themselves. Shall it b~ sai~ that ':~ ar~ so lost to humanity, as to leave them m this conditiOn. Can any one, under these circumstances, and under these prospects, consent to an abandonme~1t of the camp ; of all that we have acquired in the midst of s? many difficulties, privations, and dangers ; of what It will cost us so much to regain ; of what we never can regain -:.our brave wounded companions, who will be murd:red by our unthinking, unfeeling inhumanity? Surely there can be none such! No, we will take with us, when we go, our wounded and sick . . TI~ey must not,-shall not perish by our cold-blooded mdifference. But why should you despond? I do not, and yet your wants are not greater than mine. To be sure, we do not live sumptuously: but no one has died of hunger, or is likely to die; and then how ani~ating are our prospects ! Large supplies are at Deposit, and already are officers despatched to hasten them on. ',y agons are on the way : a large number of beeves are in the 11eighbourhood; and detachments are out to bring them in.-All these resources surely cannot fail. I have no wish ·to starve you-none to deceive you. Stay contentedly; and if supplies do not arrive in two days, we will all march back together, and throw the blame of our failure where it should properly lie ; until then, we certainly have the means of subsisting ; and if we are compelled to bear privations, let us remember that they are bome for our country, and are not greater than rna· ny-perhaps most armies have been compelled to en· dure. I have called you together to tell you•my feelings and my wishes; this evening, think on them se· ri~usly; and let me know yours in the rooming." LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. 6T On retiring to their tents, and deliberating on the CHAP. measures most proper to be adopted in this emergen- Ill. cy, the officers of the volunteer brigade came to this._,.....,...._, conclusion; that "nothing short of marching the ar-my immediately back to the settlements, could pre-vent tlmt disgrace, which must attend a forcible deser-tion of the camp by the soldiers." The officers of ~e militia determined differently, and reported a wil~ mgness to maintain the post a few days longer, that It m~ght be ascertained whether or not a sufficiency of provisions could really be had. " If it can, let us pro-ceed w1th the campaign ;-if not, let us be marched back to where it can be procured." The general, who ~eat!y preferred the latter opinion, was, nevertheless, dispo~ed to gratify those, who appeared unwilling to submit to further hardships ; and with this view order-ed general ~all ~o march his brigade to Fort Deposit, and after sat1sfymg their wants, to retum, and act as an escort to the provisions. The second regiment, how-ever, u~willing to be outdone by the militia, consented to remam ; and the first proceeded alone. On this oc-casion, he could not forbear to remark, that men for whom he had ever cherished so warm an afl'ection, and fo~ whom ~u: would at all times have made any sa-cnfice, desrrmg to abandon him at a moment when. t~eir presence was so particularly necessary, filled him With emotions which the strongest language ll'llS too feeble to express. " I was prep<rred " . he continued " to endure every evi.l but d1. sgrace ; a' nd this, as I ne-' ver can submit to myself, I can give no encouragement to in others." ' |
