try ahead; but the failure of General White to occupy Fort Strother made an instant retreat absolutely necessary Already had his foraging parties gleaned up every thing in the shape of food for man and horse which could be found in the vicinity of the fort and it was with a starving army that he turned back from the field of victory, after burying his dead and providing transportation for the wounded.

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From the occupants of the relieved fort he purchased a small quantity of provisions, being all they had to spare; but they were not a meal for his army.

The General and his men were equally destitute, and with eagerness seized on any thing which the forest presented to gratify the cravings of hunger. While marching with the van of his army, General Jackson observed under an oak tree a quantity of acorns, which tempted his appetite. Dismounting, he gathered some handfulls of them into his pocket, and, holding his bridle in one hand, sat down on the roots of a tree to enjoy his repast, while the rear came up. A soldier observing him in the act of eating, and supposing that he had taken care to provide for himself, while his men were starving, approached and demanded something to eat. I never turn away the hungry," said the General, "while I have any thing to give them." Thrusting his hand into his pocket and offering the soldier a few acorns, he added, "I will most cheerfully divide with you such food as I have." Struck with surprise, the soldier reported the incident to his companions, who, for the time, cheerfully submitted to privations which they knew were shared in common by them and their commander.

QUELLING A MUTINY.

During his Creek campaign great difficulties grew out of the scarcity of provisions. So long as the aspect of the army was forward, and an expectation of soon meeting the enemy occupied the minds of the men, they cheerfully submitted to privation, and with alacrity complied with every wish of their commander. But their eagerness for battle had been satisfied at Talluschatchee and Talladega, and when, instead of advancing to new conflicts, they found themselves in retreat, harassed by

an enemy which no valor could repel, their spirits sank within them, and their thoughts turned upon home. Cruelly neglected by their country, whose battles they had fought, resentment and discontent took possession of their bosoms. Increasing from day to day, and extending from individuals to companies, and from companies to regiments, they soon threatened an entire dissolution of the army. The volunteers, though deeply imbued with this feeling, were at first restrained from any public exhibition of it by their soldierly pride; but the militia regiments determined to leave the camp, and return to Tennessee. Apprized of their intention, General Jackson resolved to defeat it; and as they drew out in the morning to commence their march, they found the volunteers drawn up across their path, with orders to require them, under penalty of instant military execution, to return to their position. They at once obeyed, admiring the firmness which baffled their design.

In this operation the volunteers had been unwilling instruments in the hands of their general, and, chagrined at their own success, resolved themselves the next day to abandon the camp in a body. What was their surprise, on making a movement to accomplish that object, to find the very militia whose mutiny they had the day before repressed, drawn up in the same position to resist them! So determined was their look, that the volunteers deemed it prudent to carry out the parallel, and returned quietly to their quarters. This process, by which nearly a whole army, anxious to desert, was kept in service by arraying one species of force against another, though effectual for the moment, would not bear repetition, and the general was sensible how feeble was the thread by which he held them together. The cavalry, who not only shared in the general privation, but had no forage, petitioned for permission to retire to the vicinity of Huntsville, pledging themselves to return when called on, after recruiting their horses and receiving their winter clothing. Their petition was granted, and they immediately left the camp.

Having received letters from Colonel Pope, assuring him that abundant supplies were on the way, General Jackson resolved to make an effort to produce good feeling throughout

his army, and induce them to give him their cheerful obedience until he should be able to strike a decisive blow. He therefore called them together, laid this information before them, painted in glowing colors their devotion to their country, their services and their sufferings, depicted the miseries they would bring on their own sick and wounded companions, and upon the defenseless frontier settlers, and the deep and irretrievable disgrace upon themselves, if they were now to abandon the service and dissolve the army. He presented every consideration which could operate on the heads and hearts of patriotic, brave, humane, and proud men, and requested them to confer together that night, and communicate to him their views the next morning. Judging others by his own devoted heart, he could not but believe that such an appeal would be effectual.

With mortification and grief, he received from the officers of the volunteer regiments in the morning the annunciation that, in their opinion, "Nothing short of marching the army immediately back to the settlements could prevent those difficulties and that disgrace which must attend a forcible desertion of the camp by his soldiers." The officers of the militia reported their willingness to wait a few days longer for a supply of provisions, and, if it should be received, proceed with the campaign; otherwise, to be marched back where supplies could be procured. To preserve the volunteers for farther service, if possible, the general determined to gratify their wishes, and ordered General Hall to lead them back to Fort Deposit, there to obtain relief for themselves, and then to return as an escort to the provisions. The second regiment of volunteers, however, ashamed to be found less loyal than the militia, begged permission to remain with their general, and the first regiment marched alone. It is impossible to describe the emotions of General Jackson, when he saw a regiment of brave men, whom he had refused to abandon at Natchez even at the command of his government, for the preservation of whose wellearned fame he would have hazarded his life, deserting him in the wilderness, reckless of honor, of patriotism, of gratitude, and humanity.

Again, on the 16th of November, writing to Colonel Pope,

he says: My men are all starving. More than half of them left me yesterday for Fort Deposit in consequence of the scarcity, and the whole will do so in a few days if plentiful supplies do not arrive. Again and again I must entreat you to spare neither labor nor expense to furnish me, and furnish me without delay. We have already struck the blow which would, if followed up, put an end to Creek hostility. I cannot express the torture of my feelings when I reflect that a campaign so auspiciously begun, and which might be so soon and so gloriously terminated, is likely to be rendered abortive for the want of supplies. For God's sake, prevent so great an evil.”

In his address to the army on the 14th, General Jackson had told them that in case supplies did not reach them within two days, he would lead them back where provisions could be had. Two days had elapsed after the departure of the volunteers, and no supplies had come. The declaration had been made in the confident expectation that provisions, then known to be on the way, would reach them before the expiration of that period; but the general felt bound to comply with his word. He immediately proceeded to make arrangements for the abandonment of Fort Strother; but, contemplating the new courage with which it would inspire the enemy, the calamities it was likely to bring on the frontiers, and the disgrace upon his army, if not on himself, he exclaimed, "If only two men will remain with me, I will never abandon this post." .. You have one, general,” promptly replied Captain Gordon, of the spies; "let us look if we cannot find another." The captain immediately beat up for volunteers, and, with the aid of some of the general staff, soon raised one hundred and nine, who agreed to stand by their general to the last extremity.

Confident that supplies were at hand, the general marched with the militia, announcing that they would be ordered back if provisions should be met at no great distance from the fort. Within ten or twelve miles they met a drove of a hundred and fifty beeves. They halted, butchered, and ate; but the courage inspired by satiety was that of mutineers. Upon receiving an order to return, with the exception of a small party to convey the sick and wounded, they resolved to disobey it. One company resumed its march homeward before General Jackson

was apprized of their design. Informed of this movement, he hastened to a spot about a quarter of a mile ahead, where General Coffee, with a part of the staff and a few soldiers, had halted, and ordered them instantly to form across the road, and fire on the mutineers if they should attempt to pass. Rather than encounter the bold faces before them, the mutinous company thought it expedient to return to the main body, and it was hoped that no farther opposition would be exhibited.

Going alone for the purpose of mixing among his men, and appeasing them by argument and remonstrance, the general found a spirit of mutiny pervading the whole brigade. They had formed, and were on the point of moving off, knowiug that no force was at hand powerful enough to resist them; but they had to deal with a man who was a host in himself. He seized a musket, threw it across his horse's neck, placed himself in front of the brigade drawn up in column, and declared he would shoot the first man who took a step in advance. Struck with awe, the men gazed at him in sullen silence. In this position, General Coffee and some of the members of his staff rode up, and placed themselves at his side. The faithful officers and soldiers, amounting to about two companies, formed in his rear, under orders to fire when he did. For some minutes not a word was uttered. A murmur then arose among the mutineers, and at length they signified their willingness to return. The matter was amicably arranged, and the troops marched back to Fort Strother, though not in the best spirits.

This incident derives additional interest from the facts, that the general's left arm was not so far healed as to enable him to aim a musket, and the one he had was too much out of order to be fired.

CAMP DISCIPLINE.

John Wood, a private in the West Tennessee militia, was one of the men engaged under the order of General Roberts, who, after being mustered into service and approaching near the camp, mutinied and returned home, because the commanding general would not exceed his authority in giving them a