BRITISH ARMED VESSELS IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 609 XLIII. were shut up in the harbor of New London. The harbor CHAP. of New York, the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, the harbors of Charleston and Savannah, the mouth of the 1813. Mississippi, were all blockaded. In the Chesapeake alone there were more than twenty British armed vessels, on board of which were three or four thousand land troops. These frequently landed and pillaged the towns, and in some instances committed outrages upon the inhabitants, especially at Hampton, a small village on James river. The infamy of conducting these marauding expeditions belongs to Vice-Admiral Cockburn, whose conduct was more in accordance with the brutality of a savage, than with the humanity of an officer of a Christian nation. These marauders were well characterized by the term, "Water Winnebagoes." The war was not confined to the northern frontier. The untiring Tecumseh had visited the Creeks the previous year, and inspired them, especially their young warriors, with his views. The Creeks occupied the greater portion of what is now the State of Alabama, and a portion of south-western Georgia. Numbers of the tribe had become partially civilized, living upon the products of their fields and their herds. The nation was divided in opinion. The intelligent and wealthy portion were in favor of peace, while the ignorant and poor were in favor of war. The one party saw in a war with the United States, the utter ruin of their nation; the other a return to their ancient customs, and a perfect independence of the white man. The settlers blindly neglected the repeated warnings given of these hostile intentions. When suddenly Wetherford, a celebrated half-breed chief, surrounded Fort Mimms, on the lower Alabama, and put to death nearly three hundred persons, men, women, and children. The South was speedily roused, and soon about seven thousand volunteers were on their march in four XLIII. CHAP. divisions, to penetrate the enemy's country, from as many points, and to meet in the centre. 1813. Dec. 1814. Mar, 28. General Jackson, with his recent Natchez volunteers, moved from Nashville; from East Tennessee, another division, under General Cocke; one from Georgia, and one from the Mississippi Territory. In addition the lower Creeks took up arms against their brethren; and also Cherokees and Choctaws joined in the expedition. A series of attacks commenced upon the savage enemy. The Creeks were defeated in every conflict; cut down without mercy, their warriors disdaining to ask for their lives. The divisions penetrated the country from different points, and drove them from place to place. In this last struggle for their homes they were overwhelmed, but not conquered. Thus the war continued for some months, when the greater portion of the volunteers returned home. Jackson was compelled to suspend offensive operations till reinforcements should arrive. At length they came, and he went in pursuit of the enemy. On a peninsula formed by a peculiar bend in the Tallapoosa river, known as Emuchfau, or the Horse-shoe, the Indians made their last stand. They fortified the neck of the peninsula, as much as their rude materials would permit. Thither they transferred their wives and children, in whose defence they resolved to die, and there in gloomy silence they awaited the attack. The assault was made on the breastwork, which, after five hours' fighting, was carried. Nearly six hundred of the warriors perished, and the women and children were taken prisoners. Thus, after a campaign of six months, the power of the Creeks was broken, and with it their spirit was crushed. The warriors who were yet living, began to give themselves up to the conquerors. A noble-looking chief suddenly, at the hour of midnight, presented himself to Jackson. "I fought at Fort Mimms; I fought the army of Georgia," said he; "I did you all THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. 611 XLIII. the harm I could. Had I been supported as I was prom- CHAP. ised, I would have done more. But my warriors are killed, and I can fight no longer; I look back with sorrow 1814. that I have brought ruin upon my nation. I am now in your power, do with me as you please; I too am a warrior." Such were the words of Wetherford, the destroyer of Fort Mimms. Jackson could appreciate the man who would fight for his country; though the volunteers murmured, he spared the life of the chief. The General, so stern in the performance of duty, was not devoid of humane sympathy. When walking on the field of battle his attention was arrested by the wail of an Indian babe. He himself was a childless man, yet his heart was touched. Ordering the infant to be brought to the camp, he asked the Indian women to take care of it. "Its mother is dead, let it die too," was their reply. The General took the child himself, carried it to his home, and reared it in his own family. The Essex, Captain Porter, passed round Cape Horn, 1813. expecting to meet the Constitution in the Pacific; but she, as has already been noted, returned home after the capture of the Java. When he arrived at Valparaiso, Porter was gratified to be received as a friend. Chili had thrown off her allegiance to Spain, and was no longer an ally of England. Learning there that the viceroy of Peru had, in expectation of war between Spain and the United States, authorized cruisers against American whalers, he put to sea in order to chastise these cruisers, one of whom he captured and disarmed. He then went in pursuit of the British whalers, who were all armed, and carried commissions from their own government to capture American whaling vessels. In a few months he captured twelve of these whalers. Hearing that the British frigate Phoebe had been sent in pursuit of him, he returned early in the year to Valparaiso, in search of the enemy. Soon the CHAP. Phoebe appeared, accompanied by the sloop-of-war Cherub. XLIII. In guns and men, the Phoebe was a full match for the 1813. Essex. The two hostile vessels took their position off the harbor. Porter determined to avoid the unequal contest by escaping to sea; but, when passing out of the harbor, a sudden squall carried away his main-topmast, and as he could not return to port, he was at the mercy of the Phoebe and Cherub. After an encounter, perhaps the most desperate of any naval engagement during the war, Mar. he was forced to surrender; but he did not strike until 1814. he had lost the unusual number of fifty-eight killed, and sixty-six wounded. In giving an account of the affair to the Secretary of the Navy, he wrote: "We have been unfortunate, but not disgraced." CHAPTER XLIV. MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION-CONTINUED. The Thirteenth Congress; its Members.-Daniel Webster.-Manifesto of the British Government.-Embarrassments.-Commissioners of Peace appointed.-Britain offers to negotiate.-Jacob Brown.-Winfield Scott.-E. W. Ripley.-Wilkinson unsuccessful; his Misfortunes.-Capture of Fort Erie.-Battle of Lundy's Lane.-Its effect. -British repulsed at Fort Erie; their Batteries captured.--Battle on Lake Champlain.-British marauding Expeditions on the Shores of the Chesapeake.-Bladensburg.-Capture of Washington.-The Public Buildings burned.--Defence of Fort McHenry.-Death of General Ross.--Bombardment of Stonington.--Distress in New England.-Debates in Congress.-Embargo and Non-importation Act repealed.— Hartford Convention. XLIV. 1813. May 24. THE thirteenth Congress, in obedience to the call of CHAP. the President, met in special session, some months before the usual time. The last census had increased the number of Representatives in the House to 182. Of the present members a greater proportion than in the last Congress were opposed to the war, and, indeed, its own advocates on that subject were by no means harmonious among themselves. In this Congress, as well as in the last, appeared many new men, whose influence was afterward greatly felt, not only in their respective States, but in moulding the future policy of the nation itself. Among these were John Forsyth of Georgia, William Gaston of North Carolina, John McLean of Ohio, and Daniel Webster of New Hampshire, who now commenced that career so marked in our |