General Scott

by Marcus J. Wright

It may be necessary, for a better understanding of the Cherokee Indian difficulties, to add something more to what has been written. The chief troubles which had arisen were in Georgia, and many complications arose between the Indians and the whites. In a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, the opinion being rendered by Chief-Justice John Marshall, the status of these Indians was thus defined: "Their relation is that of a nation claiming and receiving the protection of one more powerful; not that of individuals abandoning their national character and submitting as subjects to the laws of a master."

Regarding the acts of Congress to regulate trade with the Indians the Chief Justice said: "All these acts, and especially that of 1802, which is still in force, manifestly consider the several Indian nations as distinct political communities, having territorial boundaries, within which their authority is exclusive, and having a right to all the lands within those boundaries, which is not only acknowledged but guaranteed by the United States." By one of the treaties made by the United States Government with this tribe of Indians, it was enacted and agreed that "the United States solemnly guarantee to the Cherokee nation all their lands not hereby ceded," and, "that the Cherokee nation may be led to a greater degree of civilization, and to become herdsmen and cultivators, instead of remaining in a state of hunting, the United States will from time to time furnish gratuitously the said nation with useful instruments of husbandry." Acting under this treaty, a greater portion of the Cherokees had become both cultivators and herdsmen, and rivaled their white neighbors in both.

The trouble which arose in Georgia was from the fact that she claimed the right to extend her criminal jurisdiction over these Indians, and that the United States was bound to extinguish the Indian titles within her borders. This claim of Georgia, persistently pressed, caused the United States Government in 1802 to agree to purchase the Indian lands, and remove them to some other territory. The Indians resisted this action on the faith of treaties. Eventually a treaty was made with a portion of the Cherokees by which they were to relinquish their lands and accept lands across the Mississippi River. Many of the Indians resisted and never ratified this treaty, yet the Government insisted upon carrying out the treaty. General Scott received his orders on April 10, 1838, and first established his headquarters at a small village called Calhoun, on the Hiawassee River, in East Tennessee. Colonel Lindsay, an officer of merit and who enjoyed the full confidence of General Scott, was in immediate command of that territory, had established posts in many of the settlements, and had arranged to have the mountain passes well guarded.

Referring to these matters, the National Intelligencer of September 27, 1838, said: "The manner in which this gallant officer [Scott] has acquitted himself within the last year upon the Canada frontier, and lately among the Cherokees, has excited the universal admiration and gratitude of the whole nation. Owing to his great popularity in the North, his thorough knowledge of the laws of his own country, as well as of those which govern nations, united to his discretion, his great tact and experience, he has saved the country from a ruinous war with Great Britain. And by his masterly skill and energy among the Cherokees, united to his noble generosity and humanity, he has not only effected what everybody supposed could not be done without the most heartrending scenes of butchery and bloodshed, but he has effected it by obtaining the esteem and confidence of the poor Cherokees themselves. They look upon him as a benefactor and friend, and one who has saved them from entire destruction. All the Cherokees were collected for emigration without bloodshed or violence, and all would have been on their way to the West before the middle of July, had not humanity induced General Scott to stop the movement until the 1st of September. Three thousand had been sent off in the first half of June by the superintendent, before the general took upon himself the responsibility of stopping the emigration, from feelings which must do everlasting honor to his heart. An approval of his course had been sent on by the War Department, before his report giving information that he had stopped the emigration had reached the seat of Government. In the early part of January last the President had asked Congress for enlarged powers, to enable him to maintain our neutral obligations to England—that is, to tranquilize the Canadian frontiers. Before the bill passed Congress, General Scott had finished the work and effected all its objects. These, too, he effected by flying from one end of the frontier to the other in the dead of winter, and during the severest and coldest period of it. He returns to Washington, and is immediately ordered to the Cherokee nation, to take charge of the very difficult and hazardous task to his own fame of removing those savages from their native land. Some of his best friends regretted most sincerely that he had been ordered on this service, and, knowing the disposition of the world to cavil and complain without cause, had great apprehension that he would lose a portion of the popularity he had acquired by his distinguished success on the Canadian frontier. But behold the manner in which this last work has been performed! There is so much of noble generosity of character about Scott, independent of his skill and bravery as a soldier, that his life has really been one of romantic beauty and interest."

It was General Scott's intention to accompany the Indian emigration farther west, but receiving information that the Canadian insurgents were making renewed attempts on the Canadas, he was directed to proceed at once to that frontier.

Passing through the States of Kentucky and Ohio, accompanied by Captain Robert Anderson, he called upon their respective governors and arranged for the calling out of volunteers should they be needed, and also gave proper instructions to the United States marshals and district attorneys for such duties as they might be called upon to perform. He passed on rapidly to Cleveland, Sandusky, and Detroit, and met great assemblages of excited citizens, and, by his appeals and reasoning with them, prevailed upon them to desist from any acts in violation of the neutrality with Great Britain. Pending these important services, he learned of the trouble which had arisen between the State of Maine and the British colony or province of New Brunswick, and at once made haste for Washington. On his arrival at the capital, after reporting to the President, he was called before the committees on foreign affairs of both Houses of Congress, before whom he urged and succeeded in securing the passage of two bills—one authorizing the President to call out the militia for six months and to accept the service of fifty thousand volunteers, and the other to place to his credit ten millions of dollars. On taking leave of the President he said to him: "Mr. President, if you want war, I need only look on in silence. The Maine people will make it for you fast and hot enough. I know them. But if peace be your wish, I can give no assurance of success. The difficulties in its way will be formidable." The President replied, "Peace with honor"; and the general, who fully reciprocated the President's feeling, took his leave, accompanied by Captain Robert Anderson and Lieutenant E.D. Keyes, his aid-de-camp. He left with general instructions, but in certain events he was to act on his own judgment without restriction. Arriving in Boston, he met Governor Edward Everett, and arranged for calling out the militia and accepting volunteers if needed.

Governor Everett introduced him to his executive council with the following address: "General, I take great pleasure in introducing you to the members of the Executive Council of Massachusetts. I need not say that you are already known to them by reputation. They are familiar with your fame as it is recorded in some of the arduous and honorable fields of the country's struggles. We rejoice in meeting you on this occasion. Charged as you are with a most momentous mission by the President of the United States, we are sure you are intrusted with a duty most grateful to your feelings—that of averting an appeal to arms. We place unlimited reliance on your spirit, energy, and discretion. Should you unhappily fail in your efforts, under the instructions of the President, to restore harmony, we know that you are equally prepared for a still more responsible duty. Should that unhappy event occur, I beg you to depend on the firm support of Massachusetts." He was then given a reception by the Legislature, and received on its behalf by Robert C. Winthrop.

From Boston he proceeded at once to Portland, where he found the people greatly excited, and demanding the immediate seizure and occupation of the disputed territory. At the capital, Augusta, where he next proceeded, he found the same excitement with the same demands. The Legislature was in session, and a large majority of its members were for war. The strip of disputed land was valuable chiefly for ship timber. Some British subjects had entered the territory and cut some of the timber, and the Governor of Maine sent an agent with a posse to drive them off. The British seized and imprisoned the agent, and much angry correspondence followed between the authorities of both sides.

General Scott soon determined that the only mode of settlement was to prohibit or have an agreement on both sides to leave the territory unoccupied by either party until the matters in dispute could be arranged between the governments of the United States and Great Britain, taking the matter out of the jurisdiction of the State of Maine and the province of New Brunswick. Previous to Scott's arrival in Maine the Legislature of that State had passed an act placing eight hundred thousand dollars at the disposal of the Governor and authorizing the calling out of eight thousand troops. Some of these troops had been organized and moved near the disputed territory, and others were held ready to move when ordered. British troops, both regulars and militia, had also been moved forward. Everything indicated a war. On February 27, 1839, President Van Buren had sent a message to Congress transmitting various documents received from the Governor of Maine, and a copy of a memorandum signed by the Secretary of State of the United States and the British Minister to the United States, which, it was hoped, would prevent a collision of arms. Mr. H.B. Fox, the British Minister, had acted without specific authority from his Government, and the memorandum therefore had only the force of a recommendation. All correspondence had for some time ceased between the governors of Maine and New Brunswick.

The Governor of New Brunswick, John Harvey, had been an adjutant general of one of the armies of Canada in the campaign of 1813, and was well known to General Scott. Scott, it will be remembered, was an adjutant general in this campaign, and he and Colonel Harvey had frequent correspondence, and it was so conducted as to create a feeling of respect on both sides. At one time in the campaign mentioned, when Scott was on a reconnoitering expedition, his party came upon Harvey, and a gun in the hands of a soldier near Scott was leveled on him. Scott caught the gun, and said, "Hold! he is our prisoner," but Colonel Harvey made a rapid turn and escaped.