the curve, where a
concentric fire would soon cut down every one of his men.

The Indians in the fort perceived his danger, and shouted warning to
him. He did not understand their language. They made the most earnest
gestures. He did not comprehend their meaning. Two Indians then leaped
from the fort, and running toward him, seized his horse by the bridle.
They made him understand that more than a thousand warriors, with rifle
in hand and arrows on the string, were hidden, at but a short distance
before him, ready to assail him with a deadly fire. The account which
Crockett gives of the battle, though neither very graphic nor classic,
is worthy of insertion here, as illustrative of the intellectual and
moral traits of that singular man.

"This brought them to a halt; and about this moment the Indians fired
upon them, and came rushing forth like a cloud of Egyptian locusts, and
screaming like all the young devils had been turned loose with the old
devil of all at their head. Russel's company quit their arses and took
into the fort. Their horses ran up to our line, which was then in view.
The warriors then came yelling on, meeting us, and continued till they
were within shot of us, when we fired and killed a considerable number
of them. They broke like a gang of steers, and ran across to the other
line.

"And so we kept them running, from one line to the other, constantly
under a heavy fire, till we had killed upwards of four hundred of them.
They fought with guns and also with bow and arrows. But at length they
made their escape through a part of our line, which was made up of
drafted militia, which broke ranks, and they passed. We lost fifteen of
our men, as brave fellows as ever lived or died. We buried them all in
one grave, and started back to our fort. But before we got there, two
more of our men died of wounds they had received, making our total loss
seventeen good fellows in that battle."

CHAPTER V.

Indian Warfare.

The Army at Fort Strother.--Crockett's Regiment.--Crockett at
Home.--His Reenlistment.--Jackson Surprised.--Military Ability of the
Indians.--Humiliation of the Creeks.--March to Florida.--Affairs at
Pensacola.--Capture of the City.--Characteristics of Crockett.--The
Weary March,--Inglorious Expedition.--Murder of Two
Indians.--Adventures at the Island.--The Continued March.--Severe
Sufferings.--Charge upon the Uninhabited Village.

The army, upon its return to Fort Strother, found