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Great Commanders
EDITED BY JAMES GRANT WILSON

GENERAL SCOTT

The Great Commanders Series.

Edited by General James Grant Wilson.

Admiral Farragut.

By Captain A.T. Mahan, U.S.N.

General Taylor.

By General O.O. Howard, U.S.A.

General Jackson.

By James Parton.

General Greene.

By Captain Francis V. Greene, U.S.A.

General J.E. Johnston.

By Robert M. Hughes, of Virginia.

General Thomas.

By Henry Copper, LL.D.

General Scott.

By General Marcus J. Wright.

IN PREPARATION

General Washington.

By General Bradley T. Johnson.

General Sherman.

By General Manning F. Force.

General Grant.

By General James Grant Wilson.

Admiral Porter.

By James R. Soley, late Assist. Sec. of Navy.

General Lee.

By General Fitzhugh Lee.

General Hancock.

By General Francis A. Walker.

General Sheridan.

By General Henry E. Davies.

Each, 12mo, cloth, with Portrait and Maps, $1.50.

New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1, 2 & 5 Bond St.

GREAT COMMANDERS

GENERAL SCOTT

BY

General MARCUS J. WRIGHT

NEW YORK
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
1894

Copyright, 1893,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.

All rights reserved.

PREFACE.

In the preparation of this volume the author has consulted and used with freedom the following-named works: History of the Mexican War, by General Cadmus M. Wilcox; Autobiography of General Scott; Life of General Scott, by Edward D. Mansfield; Life of General Scott, by David Hunter Strother; Life of General Scott, by J.T. Headley; History of the Mexican War, by John S. Jenkins; Anecdotes of the Civil War, by General E.D. Townsend; Sketches of Illustrious Soldiers, by General James Grant Wilson; Fifty Years' Observation of Men and Things, by General E.D. Keyes; Reminiscences of Thurlow Weed, and Historical Register of the United States Army, by F.B. Heitman.

My thanks are due to Mr. David Fitzgerald, Librarian of the War Department; Mr. Andrew H. Allen, Librarian of the State Department; and Colonel John B. Brownlow, for many courtesies. I am specially indebted to Mr. John N. Oliver, of Washington city, for valuable assistance rendered me.

M.J.W.

Washington, August, 1893.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

facing page

[Frontispiece]Portrait of Winfield Scott

[12]The Niagara Frontier

[32]Battle of Chippewa

[170]Siege of Vera Cruz

[198]Route from Vera Cruz to Mexico

[226]Operations of the American Army in the Valley of Mexico

GENERAL SCOTT.

CHAPTER I.

Parentage and birth of Scott—Precocity—Enters William and Mary College—Leaves college and commences the study of law with Judge Robinson—Attends the trial of Burr at Richmond—Impressment of American seamen and proclamation of President Jefferson—Joins the Petersburg troop—Leaves for Charleston—Returns to Petersburg—Appointed captain of artillery—Trial of General Wilkinson—Scott sends in his resignation, but withdraws it and returns to Natchez—Is court-martialed—On staff duty at New Orleans—Declaration of war with Great Britain—General Wade Hampton and the Secretary of War—Hull's surrender—Storming of Queenstown—March to Lewiston—Scott's appeal to the officers and soldiers—Indians fire on a flag of truce—Incident with a Caledonian priest—Letter in relation to Irish prisoners sent home to be tried for treason.

Winfield Scott was born at Laurel Branch, the estate of his father, fourteen miles from Petersburg, Dinwiddie County, Virginia, June 13, 1786. His grandfather, James Scott, was a Scotchman of the Clan Buccleuch, and a follower of the Pretender to the throne of England, who, escaping from the defeat at Culloden, made his way to Virginia in 1746, where he settled. William, the son of this James, married Ann Mason, a native of Dinwiddie County and a neighbor of the Scott family. Winfield Scott was the issue of this marriage. There were an elder brother and two daughters. James Scott died at an early age, when Winfield was but six years old. William, the father of Winfield, was a lieutenant and afterward captain in a Virginia company which served in the Revolutionary army. Eleven years after the father's death the mother died, leaving Winfield, at seventeen years old, to make his own way in the world.

At the death of his father, Winfield, being but six years old, was left to the charge of his mother, to whom he was devotedly attached. It is a well-warranted tradition of the county in which the Scott family resided, that the mother of General Scott was a woman of superior mind and great force of character. In acknowledging the inspiration from the lessons of that admirable parent for whatever of success he achieved, he was not unlike Andrew Jackson and the majority of the great men of the world. He wrote of her in his mature age as follows: "And if, in my now protracted career, I have achieved anything worthy of being written, anything that my countrymen are likely to honor in the next century, it is from the lessons of that admirable parent that I derived the inspiration."

In his seventh year he was ordered on a Sunday morning to get ready for church. Disobeying the order, he ran off and concealed himself, but was pursued, captured, and returned to his mother, who at once sent for a switch. The switch was a limb from a Lombardy poplar, and the precocious little truant, seeing this, quoted a verse from St. Matthew which was from a lesson he had but recently read to his mother. The quotation was as follows: "Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The quotation was so apt that the punishment was withheld, but the offender was not spared a very wholesome lesson.

General Scott's mother, Ann, was the daughter of Daniel Mason and Elizabeth Winfield, his wife, who was the daughter of John Winfield, a man of high standing and large wealth. From his mother's family he acquired his baptismal name of Winfield. John Winfield survived his daughter, and dying intestate, in 1774, Winfield Mason acquired by descent as the eldest male heir (the law of primogeniture then being the law of Virginia) the whole of a landed estate and a portion of the personal property. The principal part of this large inheritance was devised to Winfield Scott, but, the devisee having married again and had issue, the will was abrogated. The wife of Winfield Mason was the daughter of Dr. James Greenway, a near neighbor. He was born in England, near the borders of Scotland, and inherited his father's trade, that of a weaver. He was ambitious and studious, and giving all of his spare time to study, he became familiar with the Greek, Latin, French, and Italian languages. After his immigration to Virginia he prepared himself for the practice of medicine, and soon acquired a large and lucrative practice. He devoted much of his time to botany, and left a hortus siccus of forty folio volumes, in which he described the more interesting plants of Virginia and North Carolina. He was honored by memberships in several of the learned European societies, and was a correspondent of the celebrated Swedish naturalist Linnæus. He acquired such a knowledge of music as enabled him to become teacher to his own children.

James Hargrave, a Quaker, was one of young Scott's earliest teachers. He found his pupil to be a lad of easy excitement and greatly inclined to be belligerent. He tried very hard to tone him down and teach him to govern his temper. On one occasion young Scott, being in Petersburg and passing on a crowded street, found his Quaker teacher, who was a non-combatant, engaged in a dispute with a noted bully. Hargrave was the county surveyor, and this fellow charged him with running a false dividing line. When Scott heard the charge he felled the bully to the ground with one blow of his fist. He recovered and advanced on Scott, when Hargrave placed himself between them and received the blow intended for Scott; but the bully was again knocked to the ground by the strong arm of Scott. Many years afterward (in 1816) Scott met his Quaker friend and former teacher, who said to him: "Friend Winfield, I always told thee not to fight; but as thou wouldst fight, I am glad that thou wert not beaten."

His next instructor was James Ogilvie, a Scotchman, who was a man of extraordinary endowments and culture. Scott spent a year under his tutelage at Richmond, and entered, in 1805, William and Mary College. Here he gave special attention to the study of civil and international law, besides chemistry, natural and experimental philosophy, and common law. At about the age of nineteen he left William and Mary College and entered the law office of Judge David Robinson in Petersburg as a student.

Robinson had emigrated from Scotland to Virginia at the request of Scott's grandfather, who employed him as a private tutor in his family. There were two other students in Mr. Robinson's office with Scott—Thomas Ruffin and John F. May. Ruffin became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina, and May the leading lawyer in southern Virginia. After he had received his license to practice he rode the circuit, and was engaged in a number of causes. He was present at the celebrated trial of Aaron Burr for treason, and was greatly impressed with Luther Martin, John Wickham, Benjamin Botts, and William Wirt, the leading lawyers in the case. Here he also met Commodore Truxton, General Andrew Jackson, Washington Irving, John Randolph, Littleton W. Tazewell, William B. Giles, John Taylor of Caroline, and other distinguished persons.

Aaron Burr was a native of Newark, N.J., and was the grandson of the celebrated Jonathan Edwards. He graduated at Princeton in September, 1772, and studied law, but in 1775 joined the American army near Boston. Accompanied Colonel Benedict Arnold in the expedition to Quebec, and acquired such reputation that he was made a major; afterward joined General Washington's staff, and subsequently was an aid to General Putnam. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel, he commanded a detachment which defeated the British at Hackensack, and distinguished himself at Monmouth. Burr became Vice-President on the election of Jefferson as President, and was involved in a quarrel with Alexander Hamilton, and killed him in a duel at Weehawken, N.J., July 7, 1804. This affair was fatal to his future prospects. In 1805 he floated in a boat from Pittsburg to New Orleans. His purpose was supposed to be to collect an army and conquer Mexico and Texas, and establish a government of which he should be the head. He purchased a large tract of land on the Wachita River, and made other arrangements looking to the consummation of his object. Colonel Burr was arrested and tried for treason in Richmond in 1807, but was acquitted. He died on Staten Island, September 14, 1836.

In May, 1807, the British frigate Leopard boarded the Chesapeake in Virginia waters and forcibly carried off some of her crew, who were claimed as British subjects. Mr. Jefferson, President of the United States, at once issued a proclamation prohibiting all British war vessels from entering our harbors. Great excitement was produced throughout the entire country. The day after the issuance of the President's proclamation the Petersburg (Va.) troop of cavalry tendered its services to the Government, and young Scott, riding twenty-five miles distant from Petersburg, enlisted as a member. He was placed in a detached camp near Lynn Haven Bay, opposite where the British squadron was at anchor. Sir Thomas Hardy was the ranking officer in command of several line of battle ships. Learning that an expedition from the squadron had gone out on an excursion, Scott, in charge of a small detachment, was sent to intercept them. He succeeded in capturing two midshipmen and six sailors, and brought them into camp. The capture was not approved by the authorities, and the prisoners were ordered to be released, and restored to Admiral Sir Thomas Hardy.

The prospect of a war with Great Britain had abated, and the affair of the Chesapeake being in train of settlement, Scott left Virginia in October, 1807, and proceeded to Charleston, S.C., with a view of engaging in the practice of law. The law of that State required a residence of twelve months before admission to the bar. Scott went to Columbia, where the Legislature was in session, and applied for a special act permitting him to practice. The application failed for want of time. He then proceeded to Charleston, with a view of office practice until he could be qualified for the usual practice in the courts; but the prospect of war being again imminent, he went to Washington, and on the application and recommendation of Hon. William B. Giles, of Virginia, President Jefferson promised him a captain's commission in the event of hostilities. No act of war occurring, he returned in March, 1808, to Petersburg, and resumed the practice of law in that circuit; but his life as a lawyer came suddenly to a close in the succeeding month of May, when he received from the President his commission as captain of artillery. He recruited his company in Petersburg and Richmond, and embarked from Norfolk to New Orleans, February 4, 1809.

It being thought that on the breaking out of hostilities the British would at once endeavor to invade Louisiana, a military force was sent to New Orleans under the command of General James Wilkinson. The discipline of the army became greatly impaired, and much sickness and many deaths occurred in this command. General Wilkinson was ordered to Washington for an investigation into his conduct as commanding officer, and General Wade Hampton succeeded to the command. The camp below New Orleans was broken up in June, 1809, and the troops were transferred to and encamped near Natchez.

General Wilkinson was charged with complicity with Aaron Burr, and with being in the pay of the Spanish Government, and was tried by court-martial; and although he was acquitted, there were many persons who believed him guilty, and among these was Captain Scott, who was present, as heretofore mentioned, at the trial of Burr, and participated in the strong feeling which it produced throughout the country.

The apparent lull in the war feeling having produced the impression that there would be no hostile movements, Captain Scott forwarded his resignation and sailed for Virginia, intending to re-engage in the practice of the law. Before his resignation had been accepted he received information that grave charges would be preferred against him should he return to the army at Natchez. This determined him to return at once to his post and meet the charges. Scott had openly given it as his opinion that General Wilkinson was equally guilty with Colonel Burr. Soon after his return he was arrested and tried by a court-martial at Washington, near Natchez, in January, 1810. The first charge was for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman," and the specification was "in withholding at sundry times men's money placed in his possession for their payment for the months of September and October." Another charge was "ungentlemanly and unofficerlike conduct," the specification being "In saying, between the 1st of December and the 1st of January, 1809-'10, at a public table in Washington, Mississippi Territory, that 'he never saw but two traitors—General Wilkinson and Burr—and that General Wilkinson was a liar and a scoundrel.'" This charge was based on the sixth article of war, which says: "Any officer who shall behave himself with contempt and disrespect toward his commanding officer shall be punished, according to the nature of the offense, by the judgment of a court-martial."

Captain Scott's defense to this charge was that General Wilkinson was not, at the time the words were charged to have been spoken, his commanding officer, that place being filled by General Wade Hampton. General Scott, in his Memoirs, says that some of Wilkinson's partisans had heard him say in an excited conversation that he knew, soon after Burr's trial, from his friends Mr. Randolph and Mr. Tazewell and others, members of the grand jury, who found the bill of indictment against Burr, that nothing but the influence of Mr. Jefferson had saved Wilkinson from being included in the same indictment, and that he believed Wilkinson to have been equally a traitor with Burr. He admits that the expression of that belief was not only imprudent, but no doubt at that time blamable. But this was not the declaration on which he was to be tried. This was uttered in New Orleans, the headquarters of General Wilkinson. The utterance on which he was tried, as will be seen, was made in Washington, Mississippi Territory, when General Wade Hampton was his commanding officer.

The finding of the Court on this charge was guilty, and that his conduct was unofficerlike. The facts in regard to the charge of retaining money belonging to the men of his command were, that prior to his departure for New Orleans he had recruited his company in Virginia, and, being remote from a paymaster or quartermaster, a sum of four hundred dollars was placed in his hands to be used in recruiting. Some of his vouchers were technically irregular, and at the time of his trial about fifty dollars was not covered by formal vouchers. This was the finding of the Court, but it expressly acquitted him of all fraudulent intentions. General Wilkinson nursed his wrath, and after the close of the war published an attack on General Scott. His own failure in the campaign of 1813, and especially his defeat at La Cale Mills, compared with Scott's brilliant campaign on the Niagara frontier in the following spring, may have induced this attack.

Captain Scott returned to Virginia after the trial, and under the advice of his friend, the distinguished lawyer and statesman, Benjamin Watkins Leigh, he devoted himself to the study of military works and of English attack. During the time mentioned he wrote a letter to Lewis Edwards, Esq., at Washington City, of which he following is a copy:

"Petersburg, June, 1811.

"Dear Sir: I believe we have very little village news to give you, nor do I know what would please you in that way. Of myself—that person who has so large a space in every man's own imagination, and so small a one in the imagination of every other—I can say but little; perhaps less would please you more. Since my return to Virginia my time has been passed in easy transitions from pleasure, to study, from study to pleasure; in my gayety forgetting the student, in the student forgetting my gayety.[A] I have generally been in the office of my friend Mr. Leigh, though not unmindful of the studies connected with my present profession; but you will easily conceive my military ardor has suffered abatement. Indeed, it is my design, as soon as circumstances will permit, to throw the feather out of my cap and resume it in my hand. Yet, should war come at last, my enthusiasm will be rekindled, and then who knows but that I may yet write my history with my sword?

"Yours truly,

"Winfield Scott."

Scott rejoined the army at Baton Rouge, La., in 1811, and was soon appointed Judge Advocate on the trial of a colonel charged with gross negligence in discipline and administration. By dilatory pleas this officer had several times escaped justice, but on this trial he was found guilty and censured. In the winter of 1811-'12 Scott was frequently on staff duty with General Wade Hampton at New Orleans, and while there saw the first steam vessel that ever floated on the Mississippi.

On May 20, 1812, Captain Scott embarked at New Orleans for Washington via Baltimore, accompanying General Hampton and Lieutenant Charles K. Gardner. As the vessel on which they had taken passage entered near the Capes of Virginia it passed a British frigate lying off the bar. In a short time they met a Hampton pilot boat going out to sea. This was on June 29th, and this pilot boat bore dispatches to Mr. Mansfield, the British Minister at Washington, announcing that Congress had two days before declared war against Great Britain. The vessel bearing Captain Scott and his companions went aground about sixteen miles from Baltimore, and he and some others undertook the remainder of the journey on foot. At the end of the fourth mile they passed an enthusiastic militia meeting which had just received a copy of the declaration of war. Scott, having on a uniform, was made the hero of the occasion, and was chosen to read the declaration to the meeting. He was here offered a seat in a double gig to Baltimore, but the driver, who had become intoxicated, overturned the gig twice, when Scott took the reins and drove the latter part of the journey. On his arrival at Baltimore he received the pleasing intelligence that he had been appointed a lieutenant colonel in the United States army. He was then in his twenty-sixth year.

He went with General Hampton to Washington, where the general asked him to accompany him on an official visit to the Secretary of War. An unpleasant correspondence had a short time previously occurred between the general and the secretary, yet he felt it his duty to make the call. On General Hampton's name being announced to the secretary the latter appeared at the door and extended his hand, while General Hampton simply bowed and crossed his hands behind him. A conversation on official matters was held, at first formal and cold, but gradually terminating in one of a friendly character. When General Hampton rose to leave he extended to the secretary both of his hands; but it was now the latter's turn, and he bowed and placed his hands behind him. General Hampton sent a challenge to mortal combat, but mutual friends settled the matter without bloodshed, by requiring that Hampton should on the next morning present himself at the secretary's door with both hands extended in the presence of the same persons who witnessed the former meeting. Colonel Scott was now ordered to Philadelphia to mobilize his regiment and organize a camp of instruction. On his own solicitation, he was soon afterward ordered to report to Brigadier-General Alexander Smyth, near Buffalo, N.Y.

The Congress of the United States made formal declaration of war against Great Britain and its dependencies June 18, 1812. In the month previous General William Hull had been appointed to the command of the northwestern army, intended for the invasion of Canada. This army arrived on the Maumee River on May 30th, and marching northward subsequently crossed over at Detroit. High hopes were entertained of the success of this expedition, and the bitterest disappointment and chagrin were manifested throughout the country when it was learned that Hull had surrendered his entire command to the British General Brock on August 14th. The regiment to which Colonel Scott was assigned was the Second Artillery. Colonel George Izard and he arrived on the Niagara frontier with the companies of Nathan Towson and James Nelson Barker. He was posted at Black Rock for the protection of the navy yard there established.

An expedition had been planned by Lieutenant Elliott, of the navy, for the capture or destruction of two armed British brigs which were lying under the guns of Fort Erie. On October 8th Colonel Scott detached Captain Towson and a portion of his company to report to Elliott. On the morning of the 9th the Adams was taken by Elliott and Lieutenant Isaac Roach, and the Caledonia was captured by Captain Towson. In passing down the river the Adams drifted into the British channel and ran aground under the British guns. The enemy endeavored to recapture her, but were successfully resisted by Colonel Scott. This was his first experience under fire, and he was complimented for his skill and gallantry. The Caledonia was afterward a part of Commodore Perry's fleet on Lake Erie. The Adams, having drifted aground, was burned to prevent recapture.

The northwestern army at this time consisted of about ten thousand troops. General Henry Dearborn held command near Plattsburg and Greenbush, and was the commanding officer of all the forces on the northern frontier. A portion of his army was camped at Lewistown under the command of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, of New York. General Alexander Smyth was at Buffalo with some fifteen hundred regular troops. Besides these, there were small detachments at Ogdensburg, Sackett's Harbor, and Black Rock.

General Van Rensselaer conceived the plan of making a bold and sudden move into Canada, with a view of capturing Jamestown, and there establishing winter quarters. The affair of the capture of the two English brigs with fifty men had roused great enthusiasm, and the country was anxious for some success of arms to alleviate the depression occasioned by Hull's surrender. General Van Rensselaer confided the immediate command of the expedition to his relative, Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, an officer of coolness and courage, who, with three hundred militia and three hundred regulars, under Colonel Chrystie, on October 13th began crossing the river.

The troops were on the river bank ready to embark an hour before daylight, but from some mismanagement there was not a sufficient number of boats to transport the whole, and they were compelled to cross in detachments. Colonel Chrystie's boat was swept down the river by the current, and he was wounded. On a second attempt he succeeded in landing. With about a hundred men Colonel Van Rensselaer led them up the bank, and halted to await the arrival of the remainder. It was now daylight, and the little command was in full view of the enemy, who opened a deadly fire. Every commissioned officer was either killed or wounded. Finding that the river bank afforded but little protection, Colonel Van Rensselaer determined to storm the Queenstown heights. He had now received four wounds, and was compelled to relinquish the command to Captains Peter Ogilvie, Jr., and John Ellis Wool. In a very short time the fort was taken and the heights occupied by the Americans. The enemy took refuge in a stone house, from which they opened a destructive fire and made two unsuccessful attempts to recapture the lost ground. General Brock rallied his men and led them on, but while moving at the head of the Forty-ninth Grenadiers he fell mortally wounded. General Van Rensselaer recrossed the river and assumed command, but hastening back to urge forward re-enforcements, the command fell to General Decius Wadsworth, who, however, did not assume to control the movements. Two light batteries from the Canada shore played on the boats attempting to cross, and there was no artillery with which the Americans could resist.

Colonel Scott had volunteered his services for the expedition, but they were declined, for the reason that arrangements had been made for detachments under Colonel John R. Fenwick and Lieutenant-Colonel James Robert Mullaney to sustain the assaulting columns. Permission was, however, given to Colonel Scott to march his regiment to Lewiston and act as circumstances might require.

He arrived there at 4 a.m. on the 13th. Finding no boats to transport his command, he placed his guns on the American shore, under the direction of Captains Towson and Barker. Seeing that a small portion of the troops had crossed over, and knowing the peril of Van Rensselaer's little force, he took one piece of artillery into a boat, and, accompanied by his adjutant, Lieutenant Isaac Roach, Jr., he crossed to the Canada shore. Wadsworth at once relinquished the command of the troops to him, and he soon animated every one with courage and resolution.

Six feet five inches in height, clad in a new uniform, he became a conspicuous mark for the enemy. The re-enforcements which had now crossed over increased the force to about six hundred, of which more than half were regulars. These were placed under Colonel Scott's directions in the most commanding positions, where they awaited further re-enforcements. About this time a body of five hundred Indians joined the British troops. The British with their Indian allies moved forward to the assault, but were speedily driven back. A second time they moved forward, but with the same result. They kept up a desultory firing, during which a body of Indians moved suddenly out and surprised an outpost of militia. Scott, who was at this moment engaged in unspiking a gun, rushed to the front, and, rallying his men, sent the dusky warriors rapidly in retreat. The British general Sheaffe, who held the command at Fort George, having heard the firing, at once put his troops in motion and marched for the scene of the conflict. Sheaffe's command consisted of eight hundred and fifty men. These, added to the garrison which the Americans were attacking, was a formidable force to be met by three hundred men. In the meantime the American troops had refused to cross the river and were in a state of mutiny. No entreaties, orders, or threats of Van Rensselaer could avail to move them. But the three hundred brave fellows, with only one piece of artillery, stood their ground. General Van Rensselaer, from the American shore, sent word to Wadsworth to retreat. Colonels John Chrystie and Scott, of the regulars, and Captains James Mead, Strahan, and Allen, of the militia, and Captains Ogilvei, Wool, Joseph Gilbert, Totten, and McChesney, took council of their desperate situation. Colonel Scott told them that their condition was desperate, but that the stain of Hull's surrender must be wiped out. "Let us die," he said, "arms in hand. Our country demands the sacrifice. The example will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes of the living. Those who follow will avenge our fall and our country's wrongs. Who dare to stand?" he exclaimed. A loud ringing shout "All!" came from the whole line.

General Sheaffe did not move to immediate attack on his arrival. He marched his troops slowly the entire length of the American line, and then countermarched.

As resistance was entirely hopeless, the order was given to retire. The whole line broke in disorder to the river, but there were no boats there to transport them. Two flags of truce were sent to the enemy, but the officer who bore them did not return. Colonel Scott then fixed a white handkerchief on the end of his sword, and, accompanied by Captains Totten and Gibson, passed under the river bluff and started to ascend the heights. They were met by Indians, who fired on them and rushed with tomahawks to assault them. A British officer happily arrived and conducted them to the quarters of General Sheaffe, and Colonel Scott made formal surrender of the whole force. The number surrendered, except some skulking militia who were discovered later, was two hundred and ninety-three. The American loss in killed, wounded, and captured was near one thousand men.

General Van Rensselaer was so mortified at the conduct of the militia that he tendered his resignation. The British general Brock was next day buried under one of the bastions of Fort George, and Colonel Scott, then a prisoner, sent orders to have minute guns fired from Fort Niagara during the funeral ceremonies, which orders were carried out—an act of chivalry and courtesy which greatly impressed the British.

The American officers who had been captured were lodged in a small inn at the village of Newark and divested of their arms, and a strong guard was posted at the door. Two Indians, Captain Jacobs and Brant, sent word that they wished to see the tall American, meaning Colonel Scott. The alleged object of their visit was to see if Scott had not been wounded, as he had been fired at several times at close range. On entering the room, Jacobs seized Scott by the arm and attempted to turn him around. Scott seized the Indian and threw him against the wall. Both then drew their knives, and advancing on the prisoner said, "We kill you now!" The sentinel at the door was not in view, and Scott, making a spring, seized a sword, which he quickly drew from the scabbard, and, placing his back against the wall in the narrow hall, defied his assailants. At this critical moment Captain Coffin, nephew of General Sheaffe and his aid-de-camp, entered the room and caught Jacobs by the throat and presented a cocked pistol to his breast. Both savages now turned on him, and Scott closed in to defend the captain. At this moment the guard entered, and arrested the two Indians and conducted them out of the room.

The volunteer officers and men were paroled and sent home, while the regulars were embarked for Quebec. On the passage to Quebec a priest of a Caledonian settlement reproached Colonel Scott severely for being a traitor to George III. Respect for his profession brought out a mild reply. In 1827, General Scott being at Buffalo on board a Government steamer, the master of the vessel asked permission to bring into his cabin a bishop and two priests. The bishop was recognized as the same prelate who had acted so rudely. General Scott, however, heaped coals of fire on his head by treating him and his party with the greatest courtesy.

After a cartel of exchange had been agreed upon, Colonel Scott and the other regulars, prisoners, were embarked on a vessel for Boston. As they were about to sail, Colonel Scott's attention was attracted by an unusual noise on deck. Proceeding from the cabin to the scene of the disturbance, he found a party of British officers in the act of separating from the other prisoners such as by confusion or brogue they judged to be Irishmen. The object was to refuse to parole them, and send them to England to be tried for high treason. Twenty-three had been selected and set apart for this purpose.

Colonel Scott learned with indignation that this proceeding was under the direct orders of Sir George Prevost, the Governor General. He at once protested, and commanded the remaining men to be silent and answer no questions. This order was obeyed despite the threats of the British officers, and none others than the twenty-three were separated from their comrades. He then addressed the party selected, explaining the laws of allegiance, and assuring them that the United States Government would protect them by immediate retaliation, and, if necessary, by an order to give no quarter hereafter in battle. He was frequently interrupted by the British officers, but they failed to silence him. The Irishmen were put in irons, placed on board a frigate, and sent to England. After Colonel Scott landed in Boston he proceeded to Washington and was duly exchanged. He at once addressed a letter to the Secretary of War as follows:

"Sir: I think it my duty to lay before the Department that on the arrival at Quebec of the American prisoners of war surrendered at Queenstown they were mustered and examined by British officers appointed to that duty, and every native-born of the United Kingdom of Great-Britain and Ireland sequestered and sent on board a ship of war then in the harbor. The vessel in a few days thereafter sailed for England with these persons on board. Between fifteen and twenty persons were thus taken from us, natives of Ireland, several of whom were known by their platoon officers to be naturalized citizens of the United States, and others to have been long residents within the same. One in particular, whose name has escaped me, besides having complied with all the conditions of our naturalization laws, was represented by his officers to have left a wife and five children, all of them born within the State of New York.

"I distinctly understood, as well from the officers who came on board the prison ship for the above purposes as from others with whom I remonstrated on this subject, that it was the determination of the British Government, as expressed through Sir George Prevost, to punish every man whom it might subject to its power found in arms against the British king contrary to his native allegiance. I have the honor to be, sir,

"Your most obedient servant,

"Winfield Scott,

"Lieutenant Colonel, Second U.S. Artillery."

This report was forwarded by the Secretary of War to both houses of Congress, and the immediate result was that Congress, on March 3, 1813, passed an act of retaliation. In May, 1813, at the battle of Fort George, a number of prisoners were captured. Colonel Scott, being then chief of staff, selected twenty-three to be confined and held as hostages. He was careful, however, to entirely exclude Irishmen from the number. Eventually the twenty-three men sent to England were released, and Scott took great interest in securing their arrearages of pay and patents for their land bounties.

The doctrine of perpetual allegiance had always been maintained by the British Government, and examples were numerous of the arrest or detention of prisoners claimed as British subjects. After this act of Colonel Scott no other prisoners were set apart by the British to be tried for treason.

These transactions gave rise to discussion of the question throughout the country and in both houses of Congress. President Madison, and Mr. Monroe as Secretary of State, took strong ground against the British claim. While subsequent treaties were silent on the question, the right is no longer asserted by Great Britain, and has been recognized by treaty. Colonel Scott then returned to Washington.

[A]

"If idle, be not solitary; if solitary, be not idle." An apothegm of Burton paraphrased by Johnson, "My Motto."

CHAPTER II.

Scott ordered to Philadelphia—Appointed adjutant general with the rank of colonel—Becomes chief of staff to General Dearborn—Death of General Pike—Leads the advance on Fort Niagara—Anecdote of Scott and a British colonel—Commands the expedition to Burlington Heights—March for Sackett's Harbor—Meets a force at Cornwall—Retreat of Wilkinson—Scott appointed brigadier general—Attack on and surrender of Fort Erie—Battle of Chippewa—Lundy's Lane and wounding of Scott—Retreat of the army to Black Rock—Fort Erie—Visits Europe.

From Washington Colonel Scott was ordered to Philadelphia to take command of another battalion of his regiment. In March, 1813, he was appointed adjutant general with the rank of colonel, and about the same time promoted to the colonelcy of his regiment. Notwithstanding his command of the regiment, he continued to perform staff duties. At this time General Dearborn was in command of the American forces at Fort Niagara, consisting of about five thousand men. In May, Colonel Scott, with his regiment, joined General Dearborn, and Scott became chief of staff. He first organized the service among all the staff departments, several of which were entirely new, and others disused in the United States since the Revolutionary War. On the British side of the Niagara was Fort George, situated on a peninsula and occupied by British troops. Just previous to Colonel Scott's arrival at Niagara an expedition was landed from the squadron of Commodore Chauncey, commanded by General Zebulon Montgomery Pike, for the capture of York, the capital of Upper Canada. The assault was successful, and the place was taken with a large number of prisoners and valuable stores. General Pike was killed by the explosion of a magazine. Animated by the success of General Pike's expedition, General Dearborn determined to make an assault on Fort George, having the co-operation of Commodore Chauncey and his naval force. Arrangements were made for an attack on May 20th. Colonel Scott asked permission to join the expedition in command of his own regiment, which was granted.

The fleet weighed anchor at three o'clock in the morning, and by four the troops were all aboard. The place of embarkation was three miles east of Fort Niagara, and was made in six divisions of boats. Colonel Scott led the advance guard, at his special request, composed of his own regiment and a smaller one under Lieutenant-Colonel George McFeely. He was followed by General Moses Porter having the field train, then the brigades of Generals John Parker Boyd, William Henry Winder, and John Chandler, with the reserve under the able Colonel Alexander Macomb.

Commodore Isaac Chauncey had directed the anchorage of his schooners close to the shore in order to protect the troops in landing, and to open fire at any point on the shore where the enemy were suspected to be. Lieutenant Oliver Hazard Perry joined Commodore Chauncey on the evening of the 25th, and volunteered his services in assisting in the debarkation of the troops. This service required the greatest coolness and skill, as the wind was blowing strong and the current running rapidly; the vessels were difficult to manage, especially as they were under almost constant fire of the British guns. Perry accompanied Scott through the surf, and rendered valuable service. He it was who as Commodore Perry soon after became known to the world as the hero of Lake Erie.

The landing was effected on the British shore at nine o'clock in the morning a short distance from the village of Newark, now known as Niagara. The line of battle was promptly formed under cover of a bank ranging from six to twelve feet in height. The line of the enemy was formed at the top of the bank, consisting of about fifteen hundred men. The first attempt to ascend was unsuccessful. Scott, in attempting to scale the bank, received a severe fall, but recovering himself and rallying his forces, he advanced up the bank and was met by the enemy's bayonets. The British fell back and reformed under cover of a ravine, but a vigorous assault of less than half an hour put them in a complete rout. These forces were assisted by Porter's artillery and Boyd with a portion of his command, who had landed soon after the advance forces. The enemy were pursued to the village, where the Americans were re-enforced by the command of Colonel James Miller. It was learned from some prisoners that the British garrison was about to abandon Fort George and preparing to blow up the works. Two companies were dispatched toward the fort, but on nearing it one of the magazines exploded, and a piece of timber striking Colonel Scott, threw him from his horse, resulting in a broken collar bone. Recovering himself, he caused the gate to be forced, entered the fort, and with his own hands pulled down the British flag. The fort had suffered great damage from the artillery fire directed against it from the opposite shore. The enemy were pursued for five miles, when an order from General Morgan Lewis recalled Scott when he was in the midst of the stragglers from the British forces. The American loss was seventeen killed and forty-five wounded, and that of the British ninety killed, one hundred and sixty wounded, and over one hundred prisoners.

It will be remembered that about a year before Colonel Scott was for a short time a prisoner at Queenstown. Dining one evening with General Sheaffe and several other British officers, one of them asked him if he had ever seen the falls of Niagara. He replied, "Yes, from the American side." To this the officer replied, "You must have the glory of a successful fight before you can view the cataract in all its grandeur." Scott replied, "If it be your purpose to insult me, sir, honor should have prompted you first to return my sword." General Sheaffe rebuked the officer, and the matter ended.

This same colonel was severely wounded and captured at Fort George. Colonel Scott showed him every attention and had his wants promptly supplied. On visiting him one day the British officer said to him: "I have long owed you an apology, sir. You have overwhelmed me with kindness. You now, sir, at your leisure, can view the falls in all their glory."

Within two days, after the capture of Fort George a body of some nine hundred British troops under command of Sir George Prevost, Governor General of Canada, landed at Sackett's Harbor, New York, for the purpose of destroying the stores and a vessel there on the stocks. General Jacob Brown, who subsequently came to the command of the United States army, hastily gathered a body of militia, attacked and drove the enemy back to their vessels, and saved the stores. On June 6th, General Winder, with about eight hundred men, had been re-enforced at Stoney Creek by a small force under General Chandler. They were in pursuit of the British forces who had escaped from Fort George under command of General Vincent. He determined not to await the attack of the Americans, but to attack himself. He moved out at night and attacked the center of the American line, which he succeeded in breaking, and captured both Generals Winder and Chandler; but the enemy was at last driven back, and a council of war decided on a retreat. Coming close on this disaster, Colonel Charles G. Boerstler, with a command of six hundred men, had been sent forward to capture the Stone House, seventeen miles from Fort George. The British force was much larger than Boerstler's, and on June 24th he was completely surrounded and forced to surrender. For some three months the main body of the army had remained inactive. Colonel Scott during the happening of the occurrences just related had been engaged in foraging expeditions for the supply of the army. These expeditions also resulted in combats between the opposing forces, in all of which Scott was successful. In July, 1813, he resigned the office of adjutant general and was assigned to the command of twenty companies, or what was known as a double regiment.

Burlington Heights, on Lake Ontario, was supposed to be the depot of military stores for the British, and in September an expedition was fitted out under Scott's command to capture it; but no stores being found there, he marched toward York, now called Toronto, where a large quantity of stores were taken and the barracks and storehouses burned. General Wilkinson being now in command of the army, a campaign was inaugurated for the capture of Kingston and Montreal. Kingston was an important port, and Montreal the chief commercial town of Lower Canada.

Wilkinson was ordered to concentrate at Sackett's Harbor early in October. General Wade Hampton was ordered to join him from northern New York. Wilkinson embarked on October 2d, and Scott was left in command of Fort George with some eight hundred regulars and part of a regiment of militia under Colonel Joseph Gardner Swift. Under directions of Captain Totten, of the engineers, work was rapidly advanced in placing the fort in tenable condition; but the work was not completed before October 9th, when, to Scott's surprise, the enemy near him moved down toward Wilkinson. As authorized by his orders, Colonel Scott turned the command of the fort over to Brigadier-General McLure, of the New York militia. It was arranged that Scott was to join Wilkinson, and that vessels for his transportation should be sent up to the mouth of the Genesee River.

On his arrival there he received information that Commodore Chauncey, commanding the fleet, had been detained by the protest of General Wilkinson against his leaving him, even for a few days. Scott was then compelled to undertake the long march for Sackett's Harbor by way of Rochester, Canandaigua, and Utica. The march was accomplished under many difficulties and with much suffering, as it rained almost incessantly, and the roads were in the worst of conditions. On his arrival in advance of his troops, he was appointed to the command of a battalion under Colonel Macomb. Being in command of the advance of the army in the descent of the St. Lawrence, he was not present at the engagement at Chrysler's Farm on November 11th. At that time, in conjunction with Colonel Dennis, he was forcing a passage near Cornwall, under fire of a British force, which he routed, and captured many prisoners.

The day before the occurrence of the affair just mentioned he landed at Fort Matilda, commanding a narrow place on the river, where he gained possession of the fort. The expedition which was announced for the conquest of Canada was, on November 12th, abandoned by its leader and projector, General Wilkinson, who commanded a retreat. This occurred when Scott was fifteen miles in advance of Chrysler's Field, there being no body of British troops between him and Montreal, and the garrison at the latter place had only four hundred marines and two hundred sailors.

Wilkinson's defense for his failure was that General Hampton had refused to join him at St. Regis for fear of lack of provisions and forage.

After the events just related, Colonel Scott was engaged in preparing the new levies of troops for the field and arranging for supplies and transportation for the next campaign.

On March 9, 1814, he was appointed to the rank of brigadier general, and ordered to join General Jacob Brown, commanding general of the United States army, then moving toward the Niagara frontier. On the 24th General Brown marched to Sackett's Harbor, where Scott established a camp of instruction. On assembling of the army at Buffalo, Scott was assigned to the command of the Ninth, Eleventh, and Twenty-fifth Regiments of infantry, with a part of the Twenty-second Regiment and Captain Towson's company of artillery. In addition to this command there were at this time at Buffalo the commands of Generals Porter and Eleazer Wheelock Ripley. The whole force was placed in camp under General Scott's immediate direction. In the latter part of June General Brown returned to Buffalo, and on the morning of July 3d Scott's brigade with the artillery of Major Jacobs Hindman, crossed the river and landed below Fort Erie, while Ripley's brigade landed a short distance above. Fort Erie was invested, attacked, and soon surrendered, and on the morning of the 4th Scott's brigade moved in advance in the direction of Chippewa. He was engaged for a distance of sixteen miles in a running fight with the British forces under the Marquis of Tweedale. Toward night the Marquis of Tweedale crossed the Chippewa River and joined the main army under General Sir Phineas Riall. Scott then took position on a creek some two miles from Chippewa. On the east was the Niagara River and the road to Chippewa, while an the west was a heavy wood. Between the wood and the river were two streams—the Chippewa and Street's Creek. General Riall, the British commander, was posted behind the Chippewa, flanked on one side with a blockhouse and a heavy battery on the other.

Both of these streams were bridged on the road to Chippewa, the one over Street's Creek being nearest to Scott, while that over the Chippewa was nearest to Riall. On the morning of the 5th General Brown had determined to make the attack, but the enemy, anticipating it, made the first forward movement, and there were a number of skirmishes. General Porter, whose command consisted of volunteers, militia, and friendly Indians, first engaged the British and drove them back through the woods. General Riall at this moment was seen advancing with the main body of his army, and the retreating troops rallied, attacking Porter furiously, and, despite his own coolness and gallantry, his troops gave way and fled. This was about four o'clock, and General Brown, being with Porter, saw the advance of the British force, and meeting General Scott, said to him, "The enemy is advancing." General Brown then moved to the rear and ordered the advance of Ripley's brigade. The British army was composed of the One Hundredth Regiment, under the Marquis of Tweedale, the First Royal Scots, under Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, a portion of the Eighth or King's Regiment, a detachment of the Royal Artillery, a detachment of the Royal Nineteenth Light Dragoons, and some Canadian militia and Indians. These were supported by a heavy battery of nine guns. Scott crossed the bridge under fire of this battery, losing a number of men. After crossing, the commands of Majors Henry Leavenworth and John McNeil, Jr., formed line in front opposite the center and left of the enemy. Major Thomas Sidney Jesup moved to the left and advanced to attack the enemy's right. Towson's battery was on the right, on the Chippewa road. Seeing that the British lines outflanked him, Scott ordered the movement of Jesup to the left. The battle now opened, Jesup holding in check the right wing of the enemy, his position in the wood concealing him from view. General Scott had now advanced to within eighty paces of the enemy, and ordering the left flank of McNeil's battalion formed on the right so that it was oblique to the enemy's charge and flanking him on the right. Scott called to McNeil's command, which had no recruits in it: "The enemy say we are good at long shot, but can not stand the cold iron. I call upon the Eleventh to give the lie to that slander. Charge!" The charge was made at once, supported by a corresponding charge of Leavenworth and a flank fire from Towson's battery. The British broke, and fled in great confusion.

In the meantime Major Jesup, commanding on the left, ordered his men to advance, which they did, driving the enemy into his intrenchments across the Chippewa. The British forces engaged were about twenty-one hundred men, and that of the Americans nineteen hundred. The British lost in killed, one hundred and thirty-eight; wounded, three hundred and nineteen; and missing, forty-six. The American loss was sixty killed, two hundred and forty-eight wounded, and nineteen missing. General Brown in his official report says: "Brigadier General Scott is entitled to the highest praise our country can bestow; to him more than to any other man am I indebted for the victory of July 5th. His brigade covered itself with glory. Every officer and every man of the Ninth, Twenty-second, Eleventh, and Twenty-fifth Regiments did his duty with a zeal and energy worthy of the American character." Two days after the battle of Chippewa General Scott forced a passage across the Chippewa, driving the enemy.

A fort called Messasauga was built after the campaign of 1813 by the British as a defense to Fort George, and being re-enforced by General Riall, he moved to Burlington Heights on Lake Ontario. It was General Brown's intention to capture these forts before beginning further or more extended operations. With this purpose, he ordered some heavy guns from Sackett's Harbor; but Commodore Chauncey being sick, and the enemy having a superior fleet on the lake, the attack on these forts was abandoned. General Brown then made a feint by moving up the Niagara and recrossing the Chippewa, with a view to draw the enemy down and to enable him to obtain supplies from Fort Schlosser. Failing in this, it was his purpose to send General Scott by the road from Queenstown and thus force Riall to battle.

On the afternoon of the 25th General Brown received a note from a militia officer who occupied some posts on the American side of the Niagara, that a thousand British troops had crossed from Queenstown to Lewiston, a few miles below the Chippewa. It was thought that the object of this movement was to capture the American magazines at Schlosser and cut off supplies from Buffalo. General Brown having determined to threaten the forts at the mouth of the Niagara, General Scott's command was put in motion for this purpose. It consisted of four battalions under Colonel Hugh Brady, and the commands of Majors Jesup, Leavenworth, and McNeil, Captain Towson's artillery, and Captain Harris's detachment of cavalry, the whole force aggregating thirteen hundred men. After a march of two miles some mounted British officers were discovered on a reconnoitering expedition, their forces being a short distance off and hidden from view.

General Scott's orders were to march on the forts, as information had been received that Riall had divided his forces, sending a thousand of them across the river. He, however, determined to move forward and give battle. Dispatching Adjutant-General Jones to General Brown with information that the enemy was in his front, he moved on, and was astonished to see drawn up in line of battle on Lundy's Lane a larger force than he had fought at Chippewa; but he determined to give battle and rely upon re-enforcements being rapidly sent to him. Lieutenant Richard Douglass was now dispatched to inform General Brown of the situation. On the night of the 23d Lieutenant-General Sir Gordon Drummond had arrived at the mouth of the river with re-enforcements. This was not known to General Brown. Riall had marched down the road which Scott was to have taken on the 26th, coming by Queenstown, and had not sent any troops across the Niagara. His re-enforcements were coming up rapidly. The battle opened late in the afternoon. The British line, eighteen hundred strong, posted on a ridge in Lundy's Lane running at right angles with the river, was in front of Scott. The left of this line was on a road parallel to the river, with a space grown up with small timber, extending some two hundred yards. He ordered Major Jesup and Colonel Brady to take advantage of this and turn the enemy's left from the concealed position which the brushwood afforded. The other infantry forces had been placed in line with detachments of cavalry on both sides and held as reserves. The British, outflanking Scott on the left, made a movement to attack in flank and fear. This was repelled by Major McNeil with heavy loss. Jesup had succeeded in his movement, while Brady, Leavenworth, and Towson were engaged in the front. Jesup had captured General Riall and a number of other officers far in his front, and then resumed his line. At nine o'clock the British right was driven back from its assault on Scott's flank, and his left was turned and cut off. The center posted on the ridge held its place, supported by nine pieces of artillery. Another battalion of British troops was on its way as a re-enforcement, and but a short distance away, when General Brown arrived on the field, in advance of the reserve. He thus describes in his report what occurred from the time of his arrival:

"Apprehending that these corps were much exhausted, and knowing that they had suffered severely, I determined to interpose a new line with the advancing troops, and thus disengage General Scott and hold his brigade in reserve. Orders were accordingly given to General Ripley. The enemy's artillery at this moment occupied a hill which gave him great advantage and was the key to the whole position. It was supported by a line of infantry. To secure the victory it was necessary to carry this with artillery and seize the height.

"The duty was assigned to Colonel Miller. He advanced steadily and gallantly to his object, and carried the height and the cannon. General Ripley brought up the Twenty-third (which had faltered) to his support, and the enemy disappeared from before them. The enemy, rallying his forces, and, as is believed, having received re-enforcements, now attempted to drive us from our position and regain his artillery. Our line was unshaken and the enemy repulsed. Two other attempts having the same object had the same issue. General Scott was again engaged in repelling the former of these, and the last I saw of him on the field of battle he was near the head of his column and giving to its march a direction that would have placed him on the enemy's right.... Having been for some time wounded and being a good deal exhausted by loss of blood, it became my wish to devolve the command on General Scott and retire from the field; but on inquiry I had the misfortune to learn that he was disabled by wounds. I therefore kept my post, and had the satisfaction to see the enemy's last effort repulsed."

General Brown said to General Miller, when he saw that to win the battle the artillery on the ridge must be captured, "Sir, can you take that battery?" He replied, "I will try, sir," and at once moved forward, conducted by Scott, who was familiar with the ground, and with his gallant command drove the enemy from its stronghold and captured the guns.

General Scott, though severely wounded, was not disabled at the time mentioned in General Brown's report. Having two horses killed under him, he was at this time on foot, but was finally prostrated by his two wounds—one in the side, the other in the shoulder. The American loss was one hundred and seventy-one killed, five hundred and seventy-two wounded, and one hundred and seventeen prisoners; that of the British was eighty-four killed, five hundred and fifty-nine wounded, and two hundred and thirty-five prisoners.

Generals Brown and Scott both being disabled, General Ripley was sent to bring off the wounded and dead. The captured artillery, owing to want of horses and harness, was left on the field. The army now fell back to Chippewa and fortified the place.

It being learned that General Drummond was advancing on Chippewa with a large force, the place was evacuated and the army retreated to the ferry near Black Rock. A division was ordered to remain at Fort Erie and repair the fort, and Brigadier-General Gaines was, by General Brown's orders, placed in command of the army.

Very soon the British General Drummond appeared in front of Fort Erie and commenced a regular investment. Cannonading was begun on August 13th and continued at intervals, and on the 15th a heavy British column assaulted Towson's battery, which was stationed at the northwest angle of the fort. The assault was repelled by Captain Towson with the aid of Major Wood, commanding the Twenty-fifth Regiment. The western angle was then attacked, with a like result. The British eventually succeeded in obtaining possession of the exterior bastion of the old fort. Just at this time a number of cartridges in a building near by exploded, killing many of the British and expelling them from the fort. The losses in these affairs were: British—killed, fifty-seven; wounded, three hundred and nine; missing, five hundred and thirty-nine. American—killed, seventeen; wounded, fifty-six; missing, eleven.

General Brown resumed command on September 2d, and determined to attempt to relieve the siege by a sortie on the enemy's works. The investment had now lasted fifty days, and the British during that time had erected two batteries and were engaged on a third. The force was divided into three brigades, two of which were encamped out of range of the American cannon. At half past 2 p.m. on the 17th the American troops marched out and the action began. In less than half an hour the Americans had captured two of the batteries and two blockhouses. Very soon a third battery was abandoned, the cannon spiked and dismounted. General Drummond retired on the night of the 21st, and took post in his intrenchments behind the Chippewa. The British losses in this investment were, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, nearly a thousand, while the American loss was five hundred and eleven. Early in November the American army took up winter quarters in Buffalo, and this brought to a close the war on the Niagara.

The following statement of the losses on either side in this memorable campaign is interesting:

General Jacob Brown, the commander of this army, became General in Chief of the United States army March 10, 1821. He died September 24, 1828. General Brown was born in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, May 9, 1775. He was secretary to Alexander Hamilton, where he acquired military information and experience, and in 1809 was made a colonel of militia. In 1810 he was promoted brigadier general, and two years afterward was assigned to the command of the frontier from Oswego to Lake St. Francis. In July, 1813, he was appointed a brigadier general in the United States army and placed in command of the Army of Niagara with the rank of major general. His subsequent career is briefly mentioned in this work. He received the thanks of Congress, November 3, 1814, and a gold medal, now in possession of his son, General N.W. Brown, of Washington City.

General Eleazer W. Ripley became a brevet major general, and resigned in May, 1820. He was a member of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress (the Twenty-fourth) from Louisiana, and died March 2, 1839. Hugh Brady became a brigadier general by brevet. William McRee resigned as colonel in March, 1819; was afterward surveyor general of Missouri, and died in 1832. Thomas S. Jesup became quartermaster general of the army with rank of brevet major general. Henry Leavenworth died a brigadier general by brevet, July 21, 1834. John McNeil resigned as brigadier general by brevet; was afterward surveyor of customs at Boston. Jacob Hindman died a colonel, February 17, 1827. Roger Jones was adjutant general of the army, and brigadier general by brevet.

General Scott's wounds were so severe and painful that it was a long time before he was fit for duty. In September, 1814, Philadelphia and Baltimore were so threatened by the enemy that General Scott took nominal command for the defense of those cities. Everywhere on his route he received the highest evidences of the love and esteem of the people. At Princeton, N.J., he had a distinguished reception, and had conferred on him by the college the degree of Master of Arts. From Princeton he proceeded to Baltimore, and on October 16, 1814, assumed command of the Tenth Military District, with headquarters at Washington.

The treaty of peace was signed December 24, 1814, and ratified by the Senate, February 17, 1815. He was tendered the appointment of Secretary of War, but declined on the ground that he was too young. When his recommendations for colonel and brigadier general were presented to the President he expressed in both instances the fear that he was too young. It was in allusion to this that he gave this reason. He was then requested to act as Secretary until the arrival of William H. Crawford, at that period Minister to France, and who had been appointed Secretary of War. He declined this also, in deference to Generals Jacob Brown and Andrew Jackson. He was engaged for some time in reducing the army to a peace establishment, which being completed he was ordered to Europe for professional purposes. He was also intrusted with certain important and delicate diplomatic functions relating to the designs of Great Britain on the island of Cuba, and the revolutionary struggles between certain Spanish provinces in America.

CHAPTER III.

Is received and entertained by prominent civilians and military men in Europe—Marries Miss Mayo—Offspring—Thanks of Congress—Thanks of the Virginia Legislature voted, and also a sword—Controversy with General Andrew Jackson and correspondence—Prepares general regulations for the army and militia—Controversy with General Gaines and the War Department about rank—In command of the Eastern Division—War with the Sac and Fox Indians—Black Hawk—Cholera breaks out among the troops.

General Scott received great attention from prominent military men in Europe. He was also treated with much respect by men of letters and science. On his return home, in 1816, he was assigned to the command of the seaboard, and established his headquarters in the city of New York. On March 11, 1817, he was married to Miss Maria D. Mayo, of Richmond, Va., daughter of Colonel John Mayo. She was a lady of many accomplishments and a belle in Virginia society. The issue of this marriage who lived to maturity were Virginia, who died unmarried; Cornelia who was married to Colonel Henry L. Scott, General Scott's adjutant general for many years, and who, dying, left one son, Winfield Scott, now a resident of Richmond, Va.; Camilla, who married Gould Hoyt, of New York, and died leaving children; Ella, who married Carroll McTavish, and has several daughters. She is now (1893) a resident of Baltimore. Mrs. Scott died June 10, 1862. Two sons and two daughters died before reaching maturity. Mrs. Scott's remains were buried by the side of her illustrious husband at West Point.

In November, 1813, Congress passed a joint resolution complimenting General Scott for his skill and gallantry in the battles of Chippewa and Niagara and for his uniform good conduct throughout the war, and directed the striking and presentation to him of a gold medal. This was presented to him in a speech of great feeling and high compliment at the Executive Mansion in the presence of the members of the Cabinet and many other distinguished persons. On July 4, 1831, General Scott watched the last moments and closed the eyes of President Monroe in New York city. In February, 1816, the Legislature of Virginia passed a resolution unanimously returning thanks to General Scott for his services to his country, and also voted him a sword. This was followed by like action by the Legislature of New York. In 1815 he was elected an honorary member of the Society of the Cincinnati.

In April, 1817, General Andrew Jackson issued from Nashville, Tenn., an order reciting that "the commanding general considers it due to the principles of subordination which might and must exist in an army to prohibit the obedience of any order emanating from the Department of War to officers of the division who have reported and been assigned to duty, unless coming through him as the proper organ of communication." At a dinner party in New York soon after the publication of this order Governor Clinton desired to know General Scott's opinion of it. He expressed views in opposition to General Jackson, and added that its tendency was mutinous. An anonymous writer published the details of this conversation in a New York paper called the Columbian, and a copy of it reached General Jackson, who wrote General Scott as follows:

"Headquarters Division of the South,

"Nashville, September 17, 1817.

"Sir: With that candor due the character you have sustained as a soldier and a man of honor, and with the fairness of the latter, I address you. Inclosed is a copy of an anonymous letter postmarked New York, August 14, 1817, together with a publication taken from the Columbian, which accompanied the letter. I have not permitted myself for a moment to believe that the conduct ascribed to you is correct. Candor, however, induces me to lay them before you, that you may have it in your power to say how far they be incorrectly stated. If my order has been the subject of your animadversions, it is believed you will at once admit it, and the extent to which you may have gone.

"I am, sir, respectfully,

"Your most obedient servant,

"Andrew Jackson.

"General W. Scott, U.S. Army."

General Scott replied to this letter denying the authorship of the article, and said: " ... I gave it as my opinion that that paper was, as it respected the future, mutinous in its character and tendency, and as it respected the past, a reprimand of the commander in chief, the President of the United States; for although the latter be not expressly named, it is a principle well understood that the War Department, without at least his supposed sanction, can not give a valid command to an ensign.... Even if I belonged to your division I should not hesitate to repeat to you all that I have said at any time on this subject if a proper occasion offered; and what is more, I should expect your approbation, as in my humble judgment refutation is impossible."

General Jackson replied to this in a very angry manner, and intimating that General Scott might, if he chose, call him to the field. Scott replied, and declined to write the challenge, "as his ambition was not that of Erostratus," intimating that he ruined his only chance of acquiring distinction by killing a defender of his country.

For years afterward Scott heard reports that General Jackson had made threats of personal chastisement whenever they should meet. In 1823, soon after General Jackson took his seat in the United States Senate, Scott made frequent visits there, and was entitled to the floor. Wearied at last with this state of things, he addressed General Jackson as follows:

"Washington, December 11, 1823.

"Sir: One portion of the American community has long attributed to you the most distinguished magnanimity, and the other portion the greatest desperation in your resentments.

"Am I to conclude that both are in error? I allude to circumstances which have transpired between us and which need not here be repeated, and to the fact that I have now been six days in your immediate vicinity without having attracted your notice. As this is the first time in my life that I have been within a hundred miles of you, and as it is barely possible that you may be ignorant of my presence, I beg leave to state that I shall not leave the district before the morning of the 14th inst.

"I have the honor to be, sir,

"Your most obedient servant,

"Winfield Scott.

"The Hon. General A. Jackson, Senator, etc."

The following answer was promptly returned:

"Mrs. O'Neil's, December 11, 1823.

"Sir: Your letter of to-day has been received. Whether the world is correct or in error as regards my 'magnanimity' is for the world to decide. I am satisfied of one fact: that when you shall know me better you will not be disposed to harbor the opinion that anything like desperation in resentment attaches to me.

"Your letter is ambiguous, but, concluding from occurrences heretofore that it was written with friendly views, I take the liberty of saying to you that whenever you shall feel disposed to meet me on friendly terms, that disposition will not be met by any other than a corresponding feeling on my part.

"I have the honor to be, sir,

"Your most obedient servant,

"Andrew Jackson.

"General W. Scott."

General Scott was gratified at the reply, and called at once on General Jackson, who received him kindly and graciously, and the next day he departed for the West. In mentioning these facts General Scott adds that "it is painful to reflect that so amicable a settlement only meant with one of the parties a postponement of revenge to a more convenient season."

This remark is in allusion to Scott's recall from the Indian War in 1836. General Jackson died the 8th of June, 1845, General Scott being then at West Point. He was president of the Board of Examiners, which was in session when the news was received. He at once arose, and, addressing the board of visitors and academic staff, said: "Ex-President Jackson died at the Hermitage on the 8th inst. The information is not official, but sufficiently authentic to prompt the step I am about to take. An event of much moment to the nation has occurred. A great man has fallen. General Jackson is dead—a great general, and a great patriot who had filled the highest political stations in the gift of his countrymen. He is dead. This is not the place, nor am I the individual, to pronounce a fit eulogy on the illustrious deceased. National honors will doubtless be prescribed by the President of the United States; but in the meantime, and in harmony with the feelings of all who hear me, and particularly with those of the authorities of this institution, I deem it proper to suspend the examination of the cadets for the day, and to await the orders of the Executive of the United States on the subject."

General Scott in his early training had studied the science of war, using the works of the greatest and best-known authors. He was in his early life a close student, and when he entered the army was, better equipped, in the knowledge of the standard authors on the science of war than most men in the army. In 1821 he prepared a work entitled General Regulations for the Army, or Military Institutes. This was the first book published in the United States which could be accepted as a manual for both the regular troops of the army and the militia. He had formerly, in 1814-'15, been president of a board of army officers which compiled a system of infantry tactics, a copy of the system which he had used in the camp of instruction at Buffalo in 1814. This was revised by another board, of which he was president, and was published in 1825.

In 1826 a board of army and militia officers was convened by order of the Secretary of War, of which he was made president, for the purpose of reporting a plan for the organization and instruction of the militia of the United States, a system of tactics for the artillery, a system of cavalry tactics, and a system of infantry and rifle tactics. The reports on the plan for the organization and instruction of the militia and that on the system of infantry and rifle tactics were written wholly by General Scott, and adopted by the board. Under a resolution of Congress in 1835 there was published a new edition of infantry tactics prepared by him.

General Scott was one of the pioneers in what is known as the temperance reform, and preceded Dr. Lyman Beecher in his celebrated discourses on this subject. In December, 1821, General Scott published his "Scheme for restricting the use of ardent spirits in the United States." It was first published in the National Gazette. He did not take ground for total abstinence, but against the use ardent of spirits, brandy, rum, and whisky. He was also a member of the society formed in New York in 1821 "for the prevention of pauperism, vice, and immorality."

General Scott, in 1823, took great interest in having the sons of General Paez, of Colombia, South America, admitted as students at the military academy at West Point, which drew from General Paez letters of thanks to General Scott and President Monroe.

A very serious controversy arose in 1828 between General Scott and General Edmund Pendleton Gaines on a question of rank. General Macomb had been appointed by President Adams major general of the United States army. There was at that time but one major general, and Scott held the rank of brevet major general, with an older date than Macomb's appointment, and he addressed a memorial to Congress claiming his superiority in rank to Macomb. He argued that from the beginning of the Revolutionary War down to the time of his appointment brevet rank was uniformly held to give rank and command, except only in the body of a regiment, etc.; that there existed in law or in fact no higher title or grade in the army than that of major general, there being no such thing as a commander in chief, except the President. That he [Scott] held a commission as major general, July 25, 1814, of older date than that of either Generals Macomb or Gaines. Congress did not pass an act, however, sustaining his claim, and the result was a construction by the authorities that a brevet appointment did not confer additional rank.

General Scott, on this decision of Congress, tendered his resignation, which was not accepted. When he was informed that the President and others high in authority sustained the action of Congress, he addressed a letter to Mr. Eaton, the Secretary of War, as follows:

"New York, November 10, 1829.

"Sir: I have seen the President's order of the 13th of August last, which gives a construction of the sixty-first and sixty-second articles of war relative to rank or command.

"Humbly protesting that this order deprives me of rights guaranteed by these articles, and the uniform practice of the army under them, from the commencement of the Government down to the year 1828, when the new construction was first adopted against me, in obedience to the universal advice of my friends, who deem it incumbent on me to sacrifice my own connections and feelings to what may, by an apt error, be considered the repeated decision of the civil authority of my country, I have brought myself to make that sacrifice, and therefore withdraw the tender of my resignation now on file in your department.

"I also ask leave to surrender the remainder of the furlough the department was kind enough to extend to me in April last, and to report myself for duty.

Winfield Scott.

"The Hon. J.H. Eaton, Secretary of War."

To this the Secretary of War replied:

"War Department, November 13, 1829.

"Sir: Your letter of the 10th instant is received, and I take pleasure in saying to you that it affords the department much satisfaction to perceive the conclusion to which you have arrived as to your brevet rights. None will do you the injustice to suppose that the opinions declared by you upon this subject are not the result of reflections and convictions; but since the constituted authorities of the Government have, with the best feelings entertained, come to conclusions adverse to your own, no other opinion was cherished or was hoped for but that, on your return to the United States, you would adopt the course your letter indicates, and with good feelings resume those duties of which she has so long had the benefit. Agreeably to your request, the furlough heretofore granted you is revoked from and after the 20th instant. You will accordingly report to the commanding general, Alexander Macomb, for duty.

J.H. Eaton.

"To Major-General Winfield Scott."

General Scott, on reporting to General Macomb, was assigned to the command of the Eastern Department, while General Gaines was assigned to the Western. From the assignment of General Scott to the command of the Eastern Department, for a period of nearly three years, his duties were those of an ordinary department commander, with no incidents necessary to be ingrafted into his biography.

A treaty had been made by the United States Government in 1804 with the chiefs of the Sac Indians, in which their lands east of the Mississippi were ceded to the Government, but with the reservation that so long as they belonged to the Government of the United States the Indians should have the privilege of occupying and hunting on them. The Sacs and Foxes were contiguous and friendly tribes, and their principal village was on a peninsula between the Rock River and the Mississippi. Their principal chief was known as Black Hawk. The United States Government in its treaty acquiring the title to these Indian lands made a guarantee that the Indians should be free from intrusion from any white settlers.

Their lands were very fertile, and soon white men in large numbers began to encroach on them, and no adequate steps were taken by the Government to protect the Indians in their treaty rights. In 1829 the Government ordered a public sale of lands which included a part of the Sac village. It was purchased by an Indian trader. This greatly disturbed the Chief Black Hawk, but he was assured that if the lands purchased by this agent had not actually been sold to the Government that the sale would be canceled and the Indian occupants allowed to remain. Nothing more was done in the matter until in the spring of 1831, when the corn planted by a number of Indians was plowed up by white settlers, and many annoying trespasses made by the whites upon the Indian occupants. The Chief Black Hawk then announced to the white settlers in the village that they must remove. This resulted in a memorial from some of the white settlers, in May, 1831, to the Governor of Illinois, stating that the Indians were committing depredations on them. The Governor called out seven hundred militia to remove a band of the Sac Indians, and so notified General Gaines. General Gaines, on May 29th, replied to the Governor that he had ordered six companies of troops from Jefferson City to Rock Island, and four other companies from Prairie du Chien, to assist the Governor's militia in repelling the Indians. When the United States troops reached Fort Armstrong a conference was held with some of the Indian chiefs, but with no practical results. On receiving this information General Gaines called on the Governor of Illinois for additional forces, and on June 25th Governor Reynolds and General Joseph Duncan arrived at Rock River with sixteen hundred mounted militia. The Indians from the Sac village, being informed of this movement, deserted their homes with their wives and children and crossed the Mississippi. The next morning General Gaines occupied the Sac village without opposition.

A treaty was then made (June 30th) by General Gaines and Governor Reynolds with the Sacs, by which the Indians agreed to take up their abode west of the Mississippi River. In April, 1832, Chief Black Hawk and his tribe recrossed the Mississippi, in violation of the treaty previously made, for the purpose of joining the Winnebagoes and making a crop of corn and beans.

General Henry Atkinson at this time was in command of Fort Armstrong. He notified Black Hawk that he must recross the river or be driven back. The Indians refused to obey the order. Black Hawk endeavored to enlist some of the Northwestern tribes to join him, but failing to gain their assent, resolved to recross the Mississippi. He was encamped with his tribe at a place which the Indians called Kish-wa-cokee.

Some of the Illinois mounted militia were at Dixon's Ferry, on Rock River, not far from the Indian encampment. Major Stillman, commanding some three hundred volunteers, moved from Dixon's Ferry to Sycamore Creek on a scouting expedition. Black Hawk, being apprised of their approach, sent three of his young Indians bearing a white flag to meet them. One of these young Indians was captured and killed. Another party of five Indians, following the flag-of-truce bearers to assist in pacific negotiations, were met by the whites and two of them killed. The Illinois militia moved on and crossed Sycamore Creek. Black Hawk, who was exasperated at the killing of his men whom he had sent under flag of truce, advanced with his warriors on May 14th, met the Illinois militia, engaged and defeated them, and forced them to recross the creek.

This success greatly encouraged the Indians, but created great alarm and excitement with the white people of Illinois. Many small battles took place after this between the whites and Indians, and the war was brought to a close by the delivery of Black Hawk to the Indian agent, General Street, August 27th, by two of his followers who betrayed him. This war created necessarily great excitement and alarm in Illinois. It was the general expectation that the Winnebagoes and Pottawattomies would sympathize with Black Hawk, and the result would be a general Indian war. At this juncture General Scott was ordered to proceed to Illinois and take command of the forces to bring the Indians into subjugation. In July, acting under this order, he left Buffalo with about one thousand troops, destined for Chicago. The general and his staff, with about two hundred and twenty men, embarked on the steamboat Sheldon Thompson, and on July 8th it was announced that several of the soldiers were attacked with Asiatic cholera. The vessel arrived at the village of Chicago on the 10th with eighty sick men on board, one officer and fifty-one soldiers having died during the passage.

The fate of the troops who were embarked in other vessels was even worse than those on the Thompson. Of the one thousand men who left Buffalo only about four hundred survived. General Scott gave every attention to the sick, exposing himself without fear day and night in seeing to the wants of his men. Leaving Colonel Abram Eustis in command, he proceeded to join General Atkinson at Prairie du Chien, which he reached on the 3d of August. The engagement called the Battle of Bad Axe had been fought before his arrival. He was here again confronted with the plague of cholera, which had broken out in Atkinson's command at Rock Island, and he devoted himself to the care of the sick and the consolation of the dying.

In this connection an extract from the Richmond Enquirer of August 7, 1832, will be of interest:

"Louisville, July 27, 1832.—The following is the latest official intelligence from Chicago. We are indebted to a commercial friend for it.—Advertiser.

"'Headquarters Northwestern Army,

"'Chicago, July 15, 1832.

"'Sir: To prevent or to correct the exaggerations of rumor in respect to the existence of cholera at this place, I address myself to your Excellency. Four steamers were engaged at Buffalo to transport United States troops and supplies to Chicago.

"'In the headmost of these boats, the Sheldon Thompson, I, with my staff and four companies, a part of Colonel Eustis's command, arrived here on the 8th. All on board were in high health and spirits, but the next morning six cases of undoubted cholera presented themselves. The disease rapidly spread itself for the next three days. About one hundred and twenty persons have been affected.

"'Under a late act of Congress six companies of rangers are to be raised and marched to this place. General Dodge, of Michigan, is appointed major of the battalion, and I have seen the names of the captains, but I do not know where to address them. I am afraid that the report from this place in respect to cholera may seriously retard the raising of this force.

"'I wish, therefore, that your Excellency would give publicity to the measures I have adopted to prevent the spread of the disease, and of my determination not to allow any junction or communication between uninfected and infected troops.

"'The war is not at an end, and may not be brought to a close for some time. The rangers may reach the theatre of operations in time to give the final blow. As they approach this place I shall take care of their health and general wants.

"'I write in great haste, and may not have time to cause my letter to be copied. It will be put in some post office to be forthwith forwarded. I have the honor to be

"'Your Excellency's most obedient servant,

"'Winfield Scott.

"'His Excellency, Governor Reynolds.'"

From the Richmond Enquirer, October 12, 1832.

"In laying the following article before our readers, our own personal feelings, as well as a just sense of gratitude to a meritorious officer, prompts us to add that we have known Winfield Scott long and have known him intimately, and that the conduct here attributed to him is precisely such as we should have expected, from his ardent patriotism, his humane disposition, and his distinguished intelligence."

From the Illinois Galenian, September 12, 1832.

"General Scott.—Perhaps on no former occasion has a more arduous and responsible duty been confided to any officer of our Government than that with which this gentleman has been clothed, in prosecuting to final issue the savage war upon our borders. And we hesitate not to say that in our estimation a better selection could not have been made.

"It might suffice, in justification of this assertion, to instance the promptitude of his movements to the scene of action, the ease with which he overcame space, and the facility with which he surmounted all obstacles opposed to the accomplishment of his object.

"But he had an enemy to encounter far more terrible than Black Hawk and his adherents—an enemy that bid defiance to military prowess and baffled all the skill of the tactician.

"That loathsome epidemic, the direful scourge of the Eastern hemisphere, the cholera, invaded his camp. Here was a new foe that had never yet been conquered. Victim after victim fell under its ravages. The general might have retired to some healthy clime, where he would have been freed from this pestilence, but not while his officers and men were falling around him; humanity prompted him to remain and succor a distressed army. During our stay at Rock Island the cholera commenced its work of death; and seeing the general almost every day, we had frequent opportunities of witnessing his untiring perseverance in and constant personal attention to all those duties appertaining to his official station, the calls of humanity, and the best interests of the country.

"On the arrival of the companies from Chicago (among whom the cholera had been severe) they were stationed on an island in Rock River, several miles from the fort, and all communication prohibited by special order. Some of his aids, on their way to Rock Island, having violated this order (without knowing it was given), were immediately ordered back to Rock River, while the general was left alone to perform all their respective duties. When a soldier was attacked with cholera he was the first to render assistance by the application of friction to the extremities in order to attract the fluids from the large internal vessels to the surface of the body. At the bake-house we found him one day giving instructions how to make the most wholesome bread, and on the next day we beheld one of his bakers consigned to the tomb. And if we follow him on, we next find him instructing those employed in the culinary art, so cautious is he about everything that his men eat and drink. And in order to insure temperance among the soldiers, he issued an order requiring every man found drunk to dig a grave.

"In his orders he was bound to be severe, and in their enforcement he was equally rigid. His whole soul seemed to be devoted to the benefit of his army.

"On one occasion he observed that his own honor, the duty he owed his country and his fellow-men, required his personal attention at his post, and also the severity of his orders. And if, in attending to his duties, he should be so unfortunate as to lose his life, the army could get along as well without him, but he could not get along without an army. Thus, with Roman firmness and a disinterested devotion of life to his country, has he remained at his post of duty. Such conduct deserves the highest praise, and we feel confident that it will be awarded by a grateful and virtuous community."

The cholera having subsided by the middle of September, negotiations were opened with the various Indian tribes at Rock Island. General Scott and Governor Reynolds were the commissioners on the part of the United States to make treaties with the Sacs, Foxes, Winnebagoes, Sioux, and Menomonees. The leading man among the Indians was Ke-o-Kuck, a Sac chief, who was of commanding appearance, eloquent in speech, and a brave warrior. He was not, however, a hereditary chief, and for this reason his tribe deposed him; but on General Scott's request he was again replaced as chief. General Scott conducted the negotiations in the way of speech-making at the request of his associate, Governor Reynolds. The speeches of Scott and those of the Indian chiefs were taken down by Captain Richard Bache, of the army, and are to be found in the archives of the War Department at Washington.

The result of the treaties was the cession to the United States by the Sacs and Foxes of about six million acres of land, the greater part of which is now included in the State of Iowa; and the United States gave in consideration of this cession a reservation of nearly four hundred square miles, on the Iowa River, to Ke-o-Kuck and his band, and agreed to pay the Indians an annuity of twenty thousand dollars per annum for thirty years to pay the debts of the tribe, and to employ a blacksmith and a gunsmith for them. The treaty also provided for ample space for hunting, and planting-grounds for the Indians and their posterity. A similar treaty was made with the other Indians. General Scott, on his return to Washington, was complimented by General Cass, the Secretary of War, "upon the fortunate consummation of his arduous duties," and he expressed his entire approbation of the whole course of his proceedings during a series of difficulties requiring higher moral courage than the operations of an active campaign under ordinary circumstances.

CHAPTER IV.

Troubles in South Carolina growing out of the tariff acts apprehended, and General Scott sent South—Action of the nullifiers—Instructions in case of an outbreak—Action of the South Carolina Legislature.

On the conclusion of the treaties with the Indian tribes, mentioned in the preceding chapter, General Scott went to New York, where he arrived in October, 1832. A few days after his arrival he received an order to proceed to Washington.

The passage of the tariff act of 1828 had produced great excitement in several of the Southern States, but especially in South Carolina. By this act the duties on foreign goods imported into this country were raised much higher than by any previous tariff. It was passed for the protection of American manufactures, of which at that time none were in the South, but all, or nearly all, in the New England States.

The cotton planters of South Carolina opposed and resisted it on the ground that it was not only in violation of the Constitution of the United States, but injurious to their interests, and in the interest of other States as opposed to theirs. They argued, as it is now argued, that a tariff is a tax, and that this tariff discriminated in favor of certain portions of the country as against other portions, and that therefore it unquestionably violated the fundamental law of the land.

This tariff act was passed on May 15, 1828, and on the 12th of June following the citizens of Colleton District, South Carolina, met at the courthouse in Walterborough and adopted an address to the people. Among other things this address stated: "For it is not enough that imposts laid for protection of domestic manufactures are oppressive, and transfer in their operation millions of our property to Northern capitalists. If we have given our bond, let them take our blood. Those who resist these imposts must deem them unconstitutional, and the principle is abandoned by the payment of one cent—as much as ten millions." The address assumed "open resistance to the laws of the Union."

Governor Taylor was asked to convene the Legislature. He declined to take action on the request of the Colleton meeting, on the ground that "the time of great public excitement is not a time propitious for cool deliberation or wise determination."

George McDuffie, a member of the House of Representatives in Congress from South Carolina, and a man of high character and great ability, was the leading spirit in the opposition to this tariff and resistance to its enforcement. At a dinner in Columbia, S.C., he recommended that the State fix a tax on Northern manufactured goods, and proposed as a toast "Millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute." In the district of St. Helena, S.C., a public meeting was held at which this resolution was adopted:

"Resolved, That, differing from those of our fellow-citizens who look to home production, or more consumption of the fabrics of the tariff States as a relief from our present burdens, we perceive in these expedients rather an ill-judged wasting of the public energy and diversion of the public mind than an adequate remedy for the true evil, the usurping of Congress, which (since that body will never construe down its own powers) can be checked, in our opinion, only by the action of States opposed to such usurpation."

The reference to "expedients, rather an ill-judged wasting of the public energy," was to the action of certain meetings in South Carolina where it was resolved to wear only their own manufactures, and abstain wholly from those made north of the Potomac. The supporters of nullification defended themselves on constitutional grounds and on the Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798. Congress revised the tariff in May, 1832, modifying some of the duties imposed by the act of 1828. In October, 1832, the Legislature of South Carolina passed an act providing for the calling of a convention of the people of the State.

The object of the convention was "to take into consideration the several acts of the Congress of the United States imposing duties on foreign imports, for the protection of domestic manufactures or for other unauthorized objects; to determine on the character thereof, and to devise the means of redress."

The convention authorized under this act assembled on November 19, 1832. An ordinance was passed to provide for arresting the operations of certain acts of Congress of the United States, purporting to be taxes laying duties and imposts on the importation of foreign commodities. On its final passage the word "arresting" was stricken out and the word "nullifying" substituted in its place.

The substance of this ordinance was to interdict the action of the courts, and to require all officers to take an oath to obey the ordinance and the laws passed to give it effect. It also declared that the tariff acts of 1828 and 1832 were null, void, and not binding on the State, its officers or citizens. It further declared it to be unlawful for any of the constituted authorities of the State or of the United States to enforce the payment of the duties imposed by the act within the limits of the State of South Carolina. Other provisions were that no case of law or equity decided in South Carolina, in which was involved the question of the validity of the ordinance of the South Carolina convention, or any act of its Legislature to give it effect, should be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States, or be regarded if appealed; and that, if the General Government should employ force to carry these acts into effect, or endeavor to coerce the State by closing its ports, South Carolina would consider the Union dissolved, and would proceed to organize a separate government. A union convention was called in South Carolina to endeavor to suppress the movement inaugurated by the ordinance of the recent convention.

The States of Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia—the first through its Governor, Gayle, and the latter by resolutions of their Legislatures—took strong anti-nullification grounds. On December 10th President Andrew Jackson issued his famous proclamation exhorting all persons to obey the laws, and denouncing the South Carolina ordinance. He said in this proclamation: "I consider, then, the power to annul a law of the United States, assumed by one State, incompatible with the existence of the Union, contradicted expressly by the letter of the Constitution, unauthorized by its spirit, inconsistent with every principle on which it was founded, and destructive of the great object for which it was formed."

"This, then, is the position in which we stand. A small majority of the citizens of one State in the Union have elected delegates to a State convention. That convention has ordained that all the revenue laws of the United States must be repealed, or that they are no longer a member of the Union. The Governor of that State has recommended to the Legislature the raising of an army to carry the secession into effect, and that he may be empowered to give clearance to vessels in the name of the State. No act of violent opposition to the laws has yet been committed, but such a state of things is hourly apprehended; and it is the intent of this instrument to proclaim not only that the duty imposed on me by the Constitution—'to take care that the laws be faithfully executed'—shall be performed to the extent of the powers already vested in me by law, or of such other as the wisdom of Congress shall devise and intrust to me for that purpose, but to warn the citizens of South Carolina, who have been deluded into an opposition to the laws, of the danger they will incur by obedience to the illegal and disorganizing ordinance of the convention; to exhort those who have refused to support it to persevere in their determination to uphold the Constitution and laws of their country, and to point out to all the perilous situation into which the good people of that State have been led; and that the course they are urged to pursue is one of ruin and disgrace to the very State whose rights they affect to support."

This proclamation, of which the foregoing are extracts, was signed on December 10, 1832. The ordinance adopted by the convention of South Carolina was passed November 24th; and the Legislature of South Carolina, which had formulated laws necessary to carry out the ordinance, adjourned on December 21st.

President Jackson, in anticipation of the troubles likely to arise, had, as early as October 29th, directed General Macomb to issue an order to Major Heileman, commanding the United States troops at Charleston, stating that "it is deemed necessary that the officers in the harbor of Charleston should be advised of the possibility of attempts being made to surprise, seize, and occupy the forts committed to them. You are therefore especially charged to use your utmost vigilance in counteracting such attempts. You will call personally on the commanders of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie, and instruct them to be vigilant to prevent surprise in the night or day on the part of any set of people whatever who may approach the forts with a view to seize and occupy them. You will warn the said officers that such an event is apprehended, and that they will be held responsible for the defense, to the last extremity, of the forts and garrisons under their respective commands, against any assault, and also against intrigue and surprise.

"The attempt to surprise the forts and garrisons, it is expected, will be made by the militia, and it must be guarded against by constant vigilance, and repulsed at every hazard. These instructions you will be careful not to show to any persons other than the commanding officers of Castle Pinckney and Fort Moultrie."

Two companies of artillery were ordered to Fort Moultrie on November 7th, and on the 12th General Macomb directed Major Julius Frederick Heileman that a building called "The Citadel," in Charleston, and which was the property of the State of South Carolina, should, with its State arms, be delivered up if demanded by the State authorities. He was further instructed to act in this matter with the greatest courtesy; but should he be attacked, he must make a stubborn defense.

This was the state of affairs in South Carolina at the time stated. On November 18th, President Jackson, after a conference with General Scott, ordered him on a confidential or secret order to Charleston. The order was, of course, issued from the War Department by direction of the President, and the main points of it are as follows:

" ... The possibility of such a measure furnishes sufficient reason for guarding against it, and the President is therefore anxious that the situation and means of defense of these fortifications should be inspected by an officer of experience, who could also estimate and provide for any dangers to which they may be exposed. He has full confidence in your judgment and discretion, and it is his wish that you repair immediately to Charleston and examine everything connected with the fortifications. You are at liberty to take such measures either by strengthening these defenses or by re-enforcing these garrisons with troops drawn from any other posts, as you may think prudence and a just precaution require.

"Your duty will be one of great importance and of great delicacy. You will consult fully and freely with the collector of the port of Charleston, and you will take no step, except what relates to the immediate defense and security of the posts, without their order and concurrence. The execution of the laws will be enforced through the civil authority and by the method pointed out by the acts of Congress. Should, unfortunately, a crisis arise when the ordinary power in the hands of the civil officers shall not be sufficient for this purpose, the President shall determine the course to be taken and the measures adopted. Till, therefore, you are otherwise instructed, you will act in obedience to the legal requisitions of the proper civil officers of the United States.

"I will thank you to communicate to me freely and confidentially upon every topic upon which you may deem it important for the Government to receive information.

"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"Lewis Cass."

General Scott, acting in obedience to these orders, arrived in Charleston November 28th, two days after the passage of the ordinance. He found, on his arrival and after conferring with many of the leading people, that the sentiment in regard to the action of the convention was divided, there seeming to be as many persons in opposition as those who favored it.

His arrival created no special notice, as he had been in the habit of visiting Charleston about this time of year in discharge of his duties as inspector. It should be added to what has been said in regard to his conference with President Jackson before leaving Washington, that the President announced to him in the most emphatic terms that "the Union must and shall be preserved." On asking General Scott for any suggestions he had to make, the general told the President that Fort Moultrie, Castle Pinckney, and the arsenal at Augusta should be strongly garrisoned. He also advised that a number of troops, sloops of war, and revenue cutters would be needed at Charleston to enforce the collection of duties on foreign importations. The President said to him: "Proceed at once and execute those views. You have my carte blanche in respect to troops; the vessels shall be there, and written instructions will follow you."

The President at this interview invited General Scott to remain and take supper with him. He declined, on the ground that he desired to call on his friend ex-President Adams before leaving. To this President Jackson replied, "That's right; never forget a friend."

On his journey he met with an accident and sprained his ankle. This turned out a fortunate thing, for it enabled him to delay so as to spend needed time in Charleston, Savannah, and Augusta without exciting any suspicion of the real object of his visit. Had it been known that he was there to make preparations for defense and to strengthen the garrisons, it would have excited the populace who sustained the action of the convention, and might have resulted in open hostilities. He visited Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, and gave oral confidential orders to enlarge and strengthen both places. Orders were also sent for re-enforcements in single companies, which excited no alarm. These important matters being accomplished, he went to Savannah and posed as a sick man, for the reason that an early return to Fort Moultrie might have excited alarm. In the latter part of January he returned by sea to Fort Moultrie, but his presence there was unknown to all outside of the fort.

In the meantime the leaders of nullification had, at a large meeting, agreed that no attempt to execute the ordinance should be undertaken before the adjournment of Congress on March 3d following. The Legislature of South Carolina, at its meeting in December, had passed laws for the raising of troops and providing money for the purchase of arms and ammunition, and many organizations of volunteers had been formed wearing the palmetto cockade and buttons. A very decided and unexpected rebuff was given by the Court of Appeals of South Carolina, which decided, in the case of State vs. Hunt (2 Hills, S.C. Reports), that the ordinance which required the citizens of South Carolina to take a test oath of exclusive allegiance to the State was unconstitutional. It is a curious piece of history that the palmetto buttons worn by the volunteer nullifiers were manufactured in Connecticut.

There was in Charleston, as in other parts of the State, a very large number of Unionists. Both parties in Charleston held frequent meetings, and it was with great difficulty that riots or encounters between the two were prevented.

The officers of the army and navy at and near Charleston during these perilous times showed great prudence. Their first public display was the celebration of Washington's birthday; but the most intense nullifier could raise no objection to this. During these exciting times a fire broke out in the city of Charleston, and General Scott, being one of the first to observe it, called for volunteers and went to the scene, and, with the assistance of the naval volunteers and men of the army, succeeded in extinguishing the fire. This act of General Scott, seconded by army and navy men, had much to do with quieting the intense political excitement in Charleston.

In the latter part of January, 1833, the General Assembly of Virginia passed a resolution asking Congress to modify the tariff, and also to appoint a commissioner to South Carolina and endeavor to conciliate that State. The commissioner appointed was Benjamin Watkins Leigh. On his request, Mr. James Hamilton, president of the South Carolina convention, called it to assemble, when it rescinded the ordinance, the troops which had been called were disbanded, and the whole State and country were happily relieved of an impending internecine war. Congress had passed the compromise act, and the United States troops and vessels which had been sent to Charleston were withdrawn, and peace and quiet again dawned on the lately excited city.

Mr. Leigh, the Commissioner of Virginia to South Carolina, says of General Scott's part of that historic period: ... "General Scott had a large acquaintance with the people of Charleston; he was their friend; but his situation was such that many of the people—the great majority of them—looked upon him as a public enemy.... He thought, as I thought, that the first drop of blood shed in civil war—in civil war between the United States and one of the States—would prove an immedicable wound, which would end in a change of our institutions. He was resolved, if possible, to prevent a resort to arms, and nothing could have been more judicious than his conduct. Far from being prone to take offense, he kept his temper under the strictest guard, and was most careful to avoid giving occasion for offense; yet he held himself ready to act if it should become necessary, and he let it be known that he strictly understood the situation. He sought the society of the leading nullifiers, and was in their company as much as they would let him be, but he took care never to say a word to them on the subject of political differences; he treated them as friends. From the beginning to the end his conduct was as conciliatory as it was firm and sincere, evincing that he knew his duty and was resolved to perform it, and yet his principal object and purpose was peace. He was perfectly successful, when the least imprudence might have resulted in a serious collision."

CHAPTER V.

Events that led to the war in Florida—Treaty of Camp Moultrie and its stipulations—Complaints of Indians and whites—Treaty of Payne's Landing—Objections of the Indians to complying with the latter treaty—Councils and talks with the Seminoles—Assiola—Murder of mail carrier Dalton—Murder of Charley Amathla—Dade's massacre—Murder of General Thompson and others—General Clinch—Depredations by the Indians on the whites and by the latter on the Indians—Volunteers—Military departments of Gaines and Scott.

It is proper to give as brief a résumé as the subject will permit of the events that led to the outbreak of hostilities in Florida.

General Jackson, when Governor of Florida in 1821, urged upon the Government the necessity of adopting measures to send back to their own reservations the large number of Creek Indians who had left their nation and settled with other tribes in Florida. He argued that this was an encroachment by the Creeks, and that an increase of Indians in this territory would lead to unhappy results. Colonel Joseph M. White, the delegate from the territory of Florida, fully concurred with General Jackson in this view, and so informed the Secretary of War.

The Government, disregarding these wise suggestions, entered into a treaty with the Florida Indians, September 18, 1823, at Camp Moultrie, stipulating for their continued residence in the territory for twenty years. They were by this treaty established in the heart of the country, and their claims to the lands acknowledged and guaranteed. The treaty provided, among other things, that the Seminole Indians should relinquish all their claim to lands in Florida except a tract estimated to contain some five millions of acres, within the limits of which they agreed to abide.

The Government of the United States agreed to pay to the Indians two thousand dollars to aid them in removal to the new reservation, to furnish them with certain articles of husbandry and stock to the amount of six thousand dollars, to furnish them with corn, meat, and salt for one year, to pay them forty-five hundred dollars for their improvements on their surrendered lands, to allow them one thousand dollars per annum for a blacksmith and one thousand dollars per annum for a school fund, and these last two allowances to extend during the term of the treaty. Complaints were made by the whites, and counter complaints by the Indians, of depredations, but the preponderance of testimony is that the whites were the principal aggressors. These Indians were slave-holders, having a number of negroes held in slavery by the same tenure that slaves were held by the whites in Florida. The whites commenced and carried on a systematic and continued robbery of the slaves and cattle belonging to the Indians, sending them to Mobile for sale. A protest was made by the inhabitants of ten of the Seminole towns, complaining in substance that the white people had carried all their cattle off; that the white men first commenced to steal from them; that within three years six Indians had been killed by the whites, admitting that the Indians had taken satisfaction, but were not even on that score by three.

Complaints from whites of Indian depredations and counter complaints from the Indians became so frequent that the President determined to endeavor to make a new treaty, abrogating that of Camp Moultrie. For this purpose Colonel James Gadsden, of Florida, was appointed a commissioner to carry out this purpose. The Indians, by invitation, assembled at Payne's Landing, on the Ocklawaha River, on May 8, 1832. The points agreed upon were that the Seminole Indians relinquish their claim to the tract of land reserved for them by the second article of the Camp Moultrie treaty, containing four million thirty-two thousand six hundred and forty acres, and to remove west of the Mississippi River and there become a constituent part of the Creeks.

The United States engaged to pay the Seminoles fifteen thousand four hundred dollars as a consideration for the improvements on the lands which they abandoned, and a further sum of two hundred dollars each to two negroes, Abraham and Cudjoe, each Indian to be furnished with a blanket and homespun frock, and a sufficient quantity of corn, meat, and salt for one year's support after arriving in the new reservation. Two blacksmiths, at one thousand dollars a year, were agreed to be furnished for a period of ten years, and an annuity of three thousand dollars for fifteen years to be paid after their arrival in the West; which sum, together with the four thousand dollars stipulated for in the Camp Moultrie treaty, making seven thousand dollars per annum, was to be paid to the Creek nation with their annuities.

In order to relieve the Seminoles from vexatious demands on them for their slaves and other property, the United States stipulated to have the matter investigated, and to liquidate such as were satisfactory, provided the amount did not exceed seven thousand dollars. This treaty was executed on May 9, 1832, and signed by Holata Amathla and fourteen other chiefs. Seven of the chiefs were deputed to visit and explore the new country, accompanied by their interpreter and by Major John Fagan, formerly Indian agent in Florida. The delegation reported their approval of the country, and the ratification on the part of the Indians was made by seven of the chiefs at Fort Gibson, La.

This ratification by the seven chiefs was in excess of their authority, as they were only authorized to examine the country and report the result of their mission to a general council of the nation, which was to be convened on their return.

Colonel Gadsden, the commissioner on the part of the United States, addressed a letter to the Secretary of War, in which he said: "There is a condition prefixed to the agreement without assenting to which the Florida Indians most positively refused to negotiate for their removal west of the Mississippi. Even with the condition annexed, there was a reluctance, which with some difficulty was overcome, on the part of the Indians to bind themselves by any stipulations before a knowledge of the facts and circumstances would enable them to judge of the advantages or disadvantages of the disposition the Government of the United States wished to make of them. They were finally induced, however, to assent to the agreement....

"The payment for property alleged to have been plundered was the subject most pressed by the Indians, and in yielding to their wishes on this head a limitation has been fixed in a sum which I think, however, will probably cover all demands which can be satisfactorily proved. Many of the claims are for negroes said to have been enticed away from their owners during the protracted Indian disturbances, of which Florida has been for years the theater. The Indians allege that the depredations were mutual, that they have suffered in the same degree, and that most of the property claimed was taken as reprisal for property of equal value lost by them. They could not, therefore, yield to the justice of restitution solely on their part, and probably there was no better mode of terminating the difficulty than by that provided for in the treaty now concluded. The final ratification of the treaty will depend upon the opinion of the seven chiefs selected to explore the country west of the Mississippi River. If that corresponds to the description given, or is equal to the expectations formed of it, there will be no difficulty on the part of the Seminoles. If the Creeks, however, raise any objections, this will be a sufficient pretext on the part of some of the Seminole deputation to oppose the execution of the whole arrangement for removal."

On March 8, 1835, the Hon. John H. Eaton addressed a letter to Lewis Cass, Secretary of War, raising the question whether the treaty of Payne's Landing was valid, it not having been ratified until 1834. To this the Secretary replied that, the question had been referred to the Attorney General, and that he had decided that the obligation of the treaty was not affected by the delay, but that the Indians might be required to move in the years 1835-'37.

The Indian agent called a meeting of the Indians, who assembled in council on October 23, 1834. The agent stated that he had convened them by order of the President, who said that he had complied with all the promises made to them, and that they must prepare to move by the beginning of cold weather. He further stated that he had a proposition to them from the Creeks, and exhibited a map of the country allotted to them west of the Mississippi.

The proposition from the Creeks was that the Seminoles, instead of settling in the country allotted to them, in a separate body, settle promiscuously among the Creeks. The agent stated in regard to this last proposition: "It is left, as it should be, entirely optional with you, and no persons but yourselves have any right to say you shall or shall not accede to the proposition." Other questions were submitted, such as the disposition of their cattle, whether they preferred to march by land or go by water, and the manner in which they desired the annuity paid them. The Indians then retired for a private council, and on their return Holata Amathla said: "My brothers, we have now heard the talk that our father at Washington has sent us. He says that we made a treaty at Payne's Landing, and we have no excuse now for not doing what we promised; we must be honest. Let us go, my brothers, and talk it over, and don't let us act like fools."

At four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day the Indians met in private council and were addressed by Assiola, in which he opposed emigrating from Florida to the Creek country, denouncing the Creeks as bad Indians. He also denounced the agent for advising them to remove "from the lands which we live on—our homes and the graves of our fathers." He announced that when the Great Spirit told him to go he would go. But he said the Great Spirit had told him not to go. He also threatened the white people with his rifle, for he still had that, and some powder and lead. He also said that if any of the Indians wanted to go West they would not be permitted to do so. Assiola was followed by Holata Amathla, who strongly urged his brothers to abide by the treaty of Payne's Landing, and advised them to "act honest and do as our great father at Washington tells us." Jumper, the sense-keeper, also urged a compliance with the last-named treaty, because if they did not comply the white men would make them. Chief Arpincki proposed that Holata Amathla be selected to represent to the agent the objections of the nation to removal. This was declined by Holata Amathla, and Jumper was selected in his stead to speak the sentiments of the people on the next day.

On October 24, 1834, the Indians again met in council. The agent asked them if they were ready to reply to the proposals made to them. Holata Mico and Miconopy made short talks. When Jumper rose he complained that a treaty had been made or rather forced on the Indians at Payne's Landing before the twenty years provided in the Camp Moultrie treaty had expired. He was one of the chiefs who had gone to look at the new lands and liked them, but did not like the neighbors they would have, and spoke of these latter Pawnees as savages and horse thieves. He told the agent that his talk always seemed good, but that the Indians did not want to go West. Holata Amathla, who was also one of the chiefs who went West, objected to his people removing there for substantially the same reason as Jumper. Charley Amathla said that seven years of the time stipulated in the Camp Moultrie treaty remained unexpired. He did not say that he would not go, but did not think he would give an answer until the expiration of the seven years. He also complained that the distance to the West was so great that many would die on the way. In these talks the chiefs spoke well of the agent. The latter, in reply, said: "I have no answer to make to what you have said to me to-day. My talk to you yesterday must and will stand, and you must abide by it." He then repeated the question he had previously submitted, and told them to deliberate further, and let him know when they were ready to meet him. Another meeting was held on October 25, 1834. The agent told them he was ready to receive their answers. The speakers on the part of the Indians said their people still refused to comply with the treaty of Payne's Landing and leave their native country. They thought the agent was mad with them. General Thompson, the agent, told them he was not mad, but was their friend; that what they said was not an answer to his questions, and added, "Your father, the President, will compel you to go." He argued that the treaty of Payne's Landing had been duly signed. This was denied by Miconopy, when the general told him he lied, and that by the terms of the treaty the decision of the delegation sent out to view the country was binding on the Seminoles, and they were compelled under its provisions to move. He told them that the Payne's Landing treaty abrogated that made at Camp Moultrie. Replying to Charley Amathla's assertion that the last treaty had been forced upon them, he said: "You say that the white people forced you into the treaty of Payne's Landing. If you were so cowardly as to be forced by anybody to do what you ought not to do, you are unfit to be chiefs, and your people ought to hurl you from your stations." He explained to them the white people's Government; that the Indians living among white people might be charged with all kinds of offenses under the law, and would not be permitted to testify themselves; that the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws who live in the States were moving beyond the Mississippi River, because they could not live under the white people's laws, and the Seminoles were a small handful compared to their number; that when the jurisdiction of the State government was extended over them the Indian laws and customs would have to be abolished; and told them it was this view of the subject that had induced the President to settle them beyond Florida; and told them further that the land to which they were to go should be theirs "while grass grows and water runs," It was for this reason the treaty had been made with them at Payne's Landing, and for the same reason they would be compelled to keep it and comply with their bargain. His speech was a long one, reiterating, elaborating, and emphasizing the determination of the Government to make them move, whether they desired to or not. During this speech the agent was interrupted by Assiola, who urged Miconopy to be firm, and to assure the agent that he did not care whether any more annuity was paid or not. The agent closed by hoping that mature reflection would make them act like honest men, and not compel him to report them to their father, the President, "as faithless to your engagements." The Indians then, through Assiola and Miconopy, announced positively and emphatically that their answer had been made, and that they did not intend to move. The agent told them that he was satisfied now that they were willfully and entirely dishonest in regard to their engagements with the President, and regretted that he had to so report them. He told them the talk he had given them must and should stand, and directed them to retire and prepare their stocks to receive their annuity on the following day.

It will be remembered that by the treaty of Payne's Landing it was stipulated that seven chiefs should be sent to examine the lands to which it was proposed to remove the Seminoles. They were to report its general aspect and fertility to the nation, but were not invested with power to ratify the treaty. That was the province of the nation in general council. Jumper, as stated in these pages, was one of the chiefs selected for the purpose of examining and reporting upon the new country. General Thompson, the agent, had told the chiefs in council that "no person has a right to say to you, You shall go, or that you shall accede to the proposition made to you by the Creeks; but it is left, as it should be, entirely optional with you." This is in singular contrast to the words heretofore quoted from the agent, and altogether different from his assurance to one of the chiefs: "The President, backed by the Secretary of War" (the Indian Bureau was then under the jurisdiction of the War Department) "and the whole Congress, never should compel me to act so dishonorably as to violate the treaty [of Camp Moultrie] made with your people. If such a thing were required of me I would spurn the President's commission and retire to the bosom of my family." General Thompson reported to the authorities at Washington what had taken place, as just related, and stated that, in view of the circumstances, no doubt remained that the Indians intended to resist the execution of the treaty of Payne's Landing. After giving a full statement of the situation, he felt it his "imperious duty" to urge the necessity of a strong re-enforcement at Fort King, and the station of a strong force at Tampa Bay, as early as possible. "An imposing force, thus marshaled to coerce the refractory people, would have the effect to crush the hopes of the chiefs and those who had been tampering with them into a proper respect for the Government, afford protection to the neighboring white settlements, and supersede the necessity of Holata Amathla and his followers fleeing the country." At this time the force at the two posts mentioned was two hundred and thirty-five men. General Thompson, sustained by Governor William P. Duval, continued to urge upon the Government, an increase of the military force. The latter, in a letter to the Secretary of War, informed that official that even with a respectable military force stationed at Fort Brooke and Tampa Bay the agent and superintendents would have much difficulty in carrying the treaty of Payne's Landing into effect. The necessity for additional military force was urged by Generals Clinch and Eaton and Lieutenant Joseph W. Harris, the disbursing agent. These representations went unheeded. In the whole of Florida there were but two hundred and fifty men of the United States army, while more than three thousand were stationed at other convenient points totally inactive.