Instantly a half dozen, Jack Davis and Frank Lawrence among them, stepped forward. Jackson’s deep-set eyes glowed.
“Volunteers!” he cried, sweeping the ranks with his stern gaze. “Volunteers to hold Fort Strother against the Creeks!”
In a few minutes one hundred and nine men had responded; and the army to the tap of a single drum set off for the border. It now looked as though the thing were at an end; but not so. Barely a dozen miles from the fort the returning soldiers met a large herd of cattle being driven forward. This was the meat expected by the general; delighted, the soldiers halted, killed what they required and settled themselves for a feast.
But when they had finished and had formed to resume their homeward march they were astonished to receive the command to face about and return to the fort. At once they rebelled. But General Jackson was on the ground, and at once took the situation in hand.
“Men!” he cried, one hand uplifted, “you have the food you required. In the future things will be better. Turn back. The work the border requires of you is yet to be done.”
A cry of dogged protest went up from the men; one company, in spite of its officers, started forward. With blazing eyes, Jackson rode forward, some of his followers at his side.
“I’ll give you ten seconds to turn back,” he shouted, as he rushed his horse at them. Sullenly, doggedly, muttering their anger, the company fell back upon the main body.
No move was made homeward by any of the others; but at the same time neither did they show any disposition to face about as ordered and march back to the fort. General Jackson threw himself from horse, the pain of his wounded arm forgotten; and he stalked among the rebellious troops with bent brows and blazing eyes.
“Soldiers!” he cried. “You are all men of the border. You know its dangers. In the face of the rising savage tide you swore to serve your state; like brave men you moved forward to strike a blow at the murderers of your fellow settlers. But you have had a change of heart! Why is this? Has the wilderness frightened you? Have the savages, whom you have twice beaten, broken your spirit? You have said it was lack of food which turned your thoughts homeward. Well, here is food in plenty. Be men; march back to Fort Strother in good spirits; and in one month we shall have ended the campaign.”
But the men refused; even while he was speaking, the boldest of them broke their ranks; the others followed suit; in a mass, disorganized, with no thought of anything but their own desires, they moved forward on the road home.