his work among the Creeks. Acting under orders from the
government, he compelled the chiefs there assembled, practically all of
whom had been friendly to the United States during the war, to sign an
"agreement and capitulation" by which they ceded to the United States
all the land which they had claimed to the west of the Coosa. He carried
the matter through with a high hand, but the Creeks themselves admired
him and put into the agreement a cession of land to himself. It was, of
course, not permissible for a negotiator to accept such a gift from the
other party. However, the land was part of the region claimed by the
United States and surrendered by the Creeks, and as a matter of fact,
Jackson never got possession of it. This "treaty," as it was improperly
called, was signed August 9, 1814, and then Jackson was free to take up
his new duties as the defender of the Southwest against the British.

Up to this time, except for the war with the Creeks and the bloodless
capture of Mobile, the Southwest had taken little part in the contest.
On land, the war had been mainly an affair of the North, where the
Americans had been trying to wrest Canada from the mother country, and
of the Northwest, where the British and the Indians had taken the
offensive. The death of Tecumseh at the battle of the Thames, in
November, 1813, had made an end of that combination, and General William
Henry Harrison had won some honor by his management of the campaign. But
the several attempts at invading Canada were neither successful nor
glorious. On the whole, the land campaigns of the Americans had been
utterly disappointing. The little American navy had indeed covered
itself with glory, both on the high seas and on the Great Lakes; but
from the seas, where it was vastly overmatched by Great Britain's
immense naval resources, it had practically disappeared by the autumn of
1814. Only a few privateers still preyed on British commerce. And now,
by the overthrow of Napoleon, Great Britain was left free to employ
against America all those ships with which Nelson had won for her the
empire of the sea, and those superb soldiers who, under Wellington, had
driven the French out of Spain. Regiments of these veterans were sent to
Canada. In August, an expedition under General Ross landed on the coast
of Chesapeake Bay, defeated an American force at Bladensburg, took
Washington, and burned the capitol and the President's mansion. The
enemy was stronger than