On the Border with Andrew Jackson

by John T. McIntyre

If it had not been for the rawness and confusion on the part of some militia, there is scarcely any doubt that General Jackson would have ended the Creek war right there. But unused to the grimness of a protracted fight the militia at one place gave way; and before they could be rallied, the savages had discovered the break made by their retreat, and poured through it in a frenzied stream.

In this way seven hundred hostiles escaped to face Old Hickory on another day in the wilderness. But even as it was, three hundred of them fell before the rifles of the Tennesseeans; and this, added to the blow dealt the Creeks at Tallushatchee, went a great way toward weakening their power.

Jackson saw the advantage he had gained, and was eager to follow it up; if he had been able to do so he would have been enabled to force the Creeks into another battle before many days and so delivered the blow which failed at Talladega.

But it was not to be so. Many things conspired to prolong the brave Tennesseean’s task. In the first place, much to his amazement, no supplies were being sent them from Fort Strother; indeed, a rider brought the news that the fort itself was almost destitute. To maintain an army in the wilderness without food is of course impossible; and so, instead of pressing forward to the victory which would have ended the war, the army was forced to retreat.

On top of this came the tidings that the brigade of troops left at Fort Strother to protect those wounded at Tallushatchee had been ordered away by the commander of another division which was also operating in the hostile country.

Jackson was never a man of mild temper; and seeing the result of all his work snatched from him in this way caused him to burst into a furious denunciation of all concerned. Raging like a baffled lion he fell back on Fort Strother. Even his friends advised him to continue his retreat to Fort Deposit on the Tennessee.

“You cannot maintain your army here,” he was told. “Go on falling back until you have accumulated enough supplies; then you can push on once more.”

But the stubborn spirit of Jackson was aroused. Weakened as he was by his wound, haggard, worn and really in a dangerous state due to his over-exertion, still he was resolved to retreat no further.

“I’ll hold my position at the Ten Islands,” declared he, “if we have to live on acorns.”

Because of this inefficiency of those who were in charge of the army’s supplies, and because of the loose nature of the terms under which his men had volunteered, General Jackson was soon plunged into a series of crises which would have broken the spirit of a less powerful man. Besides the Tennessee militia, there was a body of men in his force known as the United States volunteers; these troops, because of the lack of food, demanded to be led back to the border. There is no doubt that the army was in a wretched condition, needing not only food, but clothes and shoes as well. However, General Jackson realized that if they were allowed to have their way, the chances were against the advance ever being resumed. So without hesitation he refused to sanction the demand.