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Show 170 LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. CHAP. given by the United States: agent to the Creek~, _for v. him and his warriors to remam at home. On receJVmg ~this information, the general despatched a messenger 1814· to h'1 m, w1't h 1· n1rto rmat'ton , that whether he or the agent were to be obeyed, he might decide ; bu~ that he ';ould treat as enemies all who did not immediately retrre _to the section of country he had pointed out. The chtef of Owewoha found no difficulty in deciding the qu~tion, and prepared to retire where he had been prevt· ously ordered. Lieutenant colonel Gibson, who had been sent out, with a detachment of seven hundred and fifty men, returned and reported, that he had proceeded a con· siderabl: distance down the Alabama ' river' and had destroyed several towns of the w:rr party' but could gain no intelligence of a force bemg any where col· lected. · f By the establishment of Fort Jackson, a hne_o posts was now formed, from Tennessee and Georgta to ~e Alabama. The conduct of the Indians clearly maru· testing their desire for peace, nothing remained to be done but to organize the different garrisons in such a anll'er that should any hostile intention be hereafter Idlils cove'r ed,' 'it might be crushed, before .t t shou ld as· sume any very threatening aspect. 'Vhat final steps should be taken, and what plans adopted, for ~erma· nent security' were to be defen·ed for ~le arrtval of general Pinckney' who, being in the netghbourhood, ld on the next day, reach Fort Jackson. wou , . . d d urn· Cenerol On the 20th, general Pmckney an-tve , an ass . Pi•~ckney d . son the command of the army. The cours< ar\'1\'eS ate ' lll per ' . . I d' lS head qy»·- ed by Jackson towards sattsfymg the n tat ters. pursu ' . LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. 171 that to be peaceable was all that was required of them, CHAP. meeting his approbation, and understru1ding that the~ · chiefs and wan-iors of the nation were retiring, with 1814 . their families, where they had been directed, he was satisfied hostilities would now cease. Independent of their professions, heretofore given, much of the pro-perty plundered at Fort Mimms, and along the fron-tiers, having been brought in and delivered, no doubt was entertained, but that all further national opposition would be withdrawn. There being no necessity, therefore, for maintaining an army longer in the field, orders were issued, on the 21st, for the troops fi·mn Tennessee to be marched home, and discharged; tak-ing care, on the route, to leave a sufficient force, for the garrisoning and protection of the posts already established. To troops who had been engaged in such hasty and fatiguing marches, who had been so much and so often exposed to hardships and dangers, and who had now, by their zealous exertions in the cause of their country, brought the war to a successful termination, and severely chastised the savages, for their unprovoked outrages upon their defenceless frontiers, it was a pleasure to retire to their homes, from the scenes of wretchedness they had witnessed, and from a contest, where every thing being performed, nothing remained to be done. It was a cheering reflection to tl1em, tl1at, their trials being over, they were retiring to their families and homes, and carrying with tl1em that sweetest and happiest of all consolations, to a war-"·orn soldier's mind, that, in the trying and difficult situations in which thev had been placed, tl1ey had acted with honour to thcms~J ves, and fidelity to tl1eir country. |