.MuuNKY] • HATTLK (>K IIOUSK.SUOK BEND 1814 95 



thiit no part was left unoccupied, and the fow fug'itivos wlio attoniptod 

 to escape from the fort l)y water '•fell an easy prey to their \en- 

 geance." Finally, seeinu" that the cannonade iiad no more effect upon 

 the )>r(>astwork tlian tt> l)ore hoh's in tlie logs, some of tiie ('iieroiv(>e 

 ])iung(Hi into tiie river, and swinnning' over to the town hrouylit l)ack 

 ii num))er of canoes. A part crossed in these, under co\-erot' tlie guns 

 of their conqjanions. and siieltei'cd themsolves under tiie iianic wliile 

 tlie canoes wei'e sent l)aci< foi- reenforceuients. In this way they :dl 

 crossed ovei' and then advanced up the bank, where at once they wcr(> 

 warmly assailed from every side except the rear, which tiiey ke])t (i])en 

 only by hard tiyiitiny.' 



The Creeks had been tighting- the Americans in theii- fi-ont at .~-uch 

 ciost> ([uai'ters tliat their buUets flattened upon the biiyonets thrust 

 tlirough tiie portholes. 'Phis attack from the rear ])y five iuuidred 

 Cherokee divei'ted tiieir attention and gave opportunity to the 'I'emies- 

 seeans, Sam Houston among' tliem, cheering- them on, to swarm over 

 the breastwork. AVitii death from die l>ullet, the bayonet and the 

 hatchet all around them, and the smoke of their blazing homes in tlieii- 

 eyes, not a wai-rior begged for his life. Wlicn more than half their 

 number lay dead upon the ground, the rest turned and i)lunge(i into 

 the river, only to find the lianks on the opposite side UikmI with enemies 

 and escape cut otf in every direction. Sa\'s General Cotiee: 



Attempts to crosis the river at all points of the bend were made by the enemy, but 

 not one ever escaped. Very few ever reached the bank and that few was killed the 

 instant they landed. From the rejjort of my officers, as well as from my own obser- 

 vation, I feel warranted in saying that from two hundred and fifty to three hundred 

 of the enemy was linried under wati'r and was not nundicrcd with the dead that 

 were found. 



Some swam for the island below the bend. Imt here too a detacli- 

 iiKMit had been jiosted and "• not one e\er landed. Thev were sunk b\' 

 Lieut(Miant l?ean"s couuuand ere they reached the bank."" 



(Quoting again from .bickson — 



The enemy, although many of them fought to the last with that kind of bravery 

 which ilesperation insijires, were at last entirely routed and cut to pieces. The battle 

 may be said to have continued with severity for about five hours, but the firing and 

 slaughter continued until it was suspended by the darkness of night. The next 



morning it wa.s resumed and sixteen of the enemy slain who had cdi ulrd tliem- 



selves under the banks.'' 



It was supposed that the Creeks had about a thousand wari'iors, 

 besides their women and children. The men sent out to count the 

 dead found five hundred and fifty-seven warriors lying dead within the 

 indosure, and Coffee estimates that from two hundred and fifty to 



' Colonel Morgan's report to Governor Blount, in Fay and Davison, Sketches of the War, pp. SiS, 

 259 1815. 

 ^ColTce's report to Jackson, iliid.. pp. 2.')7,2.W. 

 ■'.lai'kson's report to Oovenior Bloimt. iliid,. pp. 2.W,2/J6. 



