he others, with their
promise that, when they procured supplies and satisfied their hunger,
they would return to the fort and march upon the foe. The next day the
expected provision-train was met, and the hungry men were well fed. But
home was in their minds, and it took all the general's indomitable will
and fierce energy to induce them to turn back, and they did so then in
sullen discontent. In the end it was necessary to exchange these men for
fresh volunteers.

When the dissatisfied men got home they told such doleful tales of their
hardships and sufferings that the people were filled with dismay,
volunteering came to an end, and even the governor wrote to Jackson,
advising him to give up the expedition as hopeless and return home.

Had not Andrew Jackson been one man in a million he would not have
hesitated to obey. A well man might justly have despaired. But to a
physical wreck, his shoulder still painful, his left arm useless,
suffering from insufficient food, from acute dyspepsia, from chronic
diarrhoea, from cramps of terrible severity--to a man in this
condition, who should have been in bed under a physician's care, to
remain seemed utter madness, and yet he remained. His indomitable spirit
triumphed over his enfeebled body. He had set out to subdue the hostile
Indians and save the settlements from their murderous raids, and, "by
the Eternal," he would.

He wrote a letter to Governor Blount, eloquent, logical, appealing,
resolute, and so convincing in its arguments that the governor changed
his sentiment, the people became enthusiastic, volunteers came forward
freely, and the most earnest exertions were made to collect and forward
supplies. But this was not till the spring of 1814, and the lack of
supplies continued the winter through. Only nine hundred discontented
troops remained, but with these he won two victories over the Indians,
in one of which an utter panic was averted only by his courage and
decision in the hour of peril.

At length fresh troops began to arrive. A regiment of United States
soldiers, six hundred strong, reached him on February 6. By the 1st of
March there were six thousand troops near Fort Strother, and only the
arrival of a good food supply was awaited to make a finishing move. Food
came slowly, despite all exertions. Over the miry roads the wagon-teams
could hardly be moved with light loads. Only absolutely necessary food
was brought,--even whiskey, considered indispensable in t