New Yesterdays by Jim L Wright - HTML preview

Chapter 16

Fort Armstrong was located just east of Turkey Town, near Cedar Bluff, at the disputed Alabama - Georgia border. It had been used by Federal troops during the first Creek War and was now garrisoned mostly by Cherokee Indians. This presented an irresistible opportunity for Tooantuh and the Principal Chiefs to obtain more ordnance in preparation for the battles to come.

The fort was commanded by Major Tom Willis, a short soft rotund man who looked more like a shop keeper or a parson than a military man. He resented being posted in this tiny backwater garrison manned by thirty Cherokee Indians and avoided direct contact with them as much as possible. All his communications with the men were done through his executive, Lieutenant Harley Lane. Lane was an affable fellow with an open, smiling face and green eyes that always sparkled as though he were enjoying a private joke. Tall and thin with dark hair and sharp features he resembled a scarecrow more than a soldier and his relationship with the Indian soldiers was warm and friendly. That his father was a Creek Indian contributed to his sympathy with and affinity to the native people. Major Willis exploited his executive's relationship with the Cherokee to his advantage, but he resented it deeply.

Wohali was the sergeant in charge of the Indian contingent. His scowling features and hulking appearance made him appear menacing and dangerous. Nothing could be further from the truth, as his men quickly learned. In time, Lt. Lane learned it as well, but the Major endured constant nightmares of being murdered in his bed by "that bloodthirsty savage".

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Yansa and Gawonii had been dispatched to the fort with instructions to arrange supplies. They arrived at the gate in early afternoon with two sleek, freshly killed deer draped across their horses. The soldiers gave them a noisy welcome and dashed about cleaning and preparing the deer for their evening meal. While the deer was being prepared the two men chatted amiably with Wohali, discussing the news from around the area of Chief Ladiga's trading post. Yansa wanted to know whether Wohali had heard any rumors about new removal activities by the whites.

"There is always talk. It's hard to know how much is true and how much isn't. This much I know, they will never stop until they have all our lands. Wearing this uniform puts me on the wrong side of it and when the order comes to remove my people from their homes, I will take it off. I will never fight against my people. Fighting against the Creeks was different. They are a different tribe and we have fought them many times in the past. Not my own people, though."

"Wearing that uniform may be a good thing for our people, Wohali", Yansa murmured quietly, we have come to ask for your help. After everyone has eaten and settled in for the night we must talk and plan."

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The venison was soft and juicy and everyone enjoyed it immensely. The Major and his Lieutenant watched the festivities from Willis' front room window. Their reactions to the feast couldn't have been more different. As Willis considered them savages, he watched with disdain and disgust and wondered, not for the first time, what it would take to 'civilize' them. Lane, on the other hand, was envious and would have liked nothing more than to join the Cherokee as they enjoyed the food, drink and good company. He strained to hear their words and longed to be in on their jokes and laughter. His easy relationship with the Indians was a source of constant friction between the Lieutenant and his commanding officer.

Gradually, the noise and laughter quieted as the men retired to the bunkhouse to sleep. Only the men on guard duty still moved about. Yansa, Gawonii and Wohali poured mugs of steaming coffee and moved to a quiet corner of the garrison far from any ears that might be eavesdropping. They talked in low tones throughout the night.

As the sun stained the morning skies purple and red the three men felt satisfied and encouraged that the soldiers of Fort Armstrong would ally with the Cherokee and provide much needed weapons and ammunition. The relatively minor difficulty would be in the smuggling of the armaments outside the walls. With only two white officers in attendance, distracting them shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Yansa and Gawonii spent the following day scouting around the fort to determine the best placement of their warriors when the time came for the attack. As they scouted, they managed to bring down another young buck deer. The festivities in the evening were similar to the previous night. Major Willis was furious and told Lane that the two Indians were to be “invited to leave” at first light the following morning. After the men had bedded down for the night Gawonii, Yansa and Wohali stretched out around the fire and murmured softly about their plans and shared the occasional joke.

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By 1.30 am even the two sleepy guards on sentry duty had given in to sleep. The garrison was completely quiet except for the occasional grunt or snore from the sleeping soldiers. The three men were wide awake and putting their plan into action.

The magazine was fully stocked with additional rifles, ammunition and gunpowder. Gawonii had slipped out the gate and moved swiftly through the forest to retrieve the six horses they had left there earlier in the day. He approached each one and stroked their necks, speaking softly to them in his native language. When he was certain they were completely calm and comfortable with his presence he began to lead them slowly and quietly back toward the fort. He tethered them again at the edge of the clearing to avoid waking the sleepy sentries. This meant the three men would have to carry the heavy munitions nearly fifty yards before lashing them onto the animals. Still, it was better than the risk of arousing the soldiers. Very likely, the men would have happily given their help on this mission, but the risk of even one man feeling loyalty to Major Willis was too great. It was better to keep this one quiet.

The crescent moon was just beginning her descent at 4 am, and the horses were fully laden with their deadly cargo. Wohali cautioned them to mind their way and wished them luck. Just before parting, Yansa said, "When the battle begins, we will send a messenger to you. You will kill the Major and Lieutenant, empty the magazine, burn the fort and join us." Wohali nodded his assent and the two men were on their way back to their village, heartened by the success of the mission. They had enough additional rifles and ammunition to arm 100 more warriors. When Wohali arrived with his men, they would have an additional 300 rifles and a cannon. These arms, coupled with the rifles they already possessed would make them a formidable enemy on the battlefield.

The Cherokee, along with remnants of the Creek and Choctaw nations who had escaped removal formed war parties and began the attacks on Georgia's forts. The element of surprise was a great assistance in the winning of the battles. In one great surprise for the settlers, warriors from the Seminole nation joined the Cherokee. The forts were generally overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the Indians. The Seminoles continued to augment the numbers of the Cherokee as the battles moved from fort to fort. The whites were caught completely off guard and soundly thrashed. Initially, they moved in two fronts. One small contingent went west to attack the forts in Alabama while the larger contingent finished up in Georgia. Afterwards they rejoined and moved as one large unit through South Carolina. The original plan had them moving into North Carolina and finally into Virginia.

Small bands of poorly armed white settlers, quite unused to battle, harassed them occasionally from the rear as they moved northward, but the superior numbers of the Indians easily dealt with them.

In fact, Tooantuh had envisioned that the settlers might try to band together and attack them from the rear. For this reason, he and the Seminole Chiefs kept a war party of around 300 behind the main force. As white settlers grouped themselves to attack the Indians from the rear, they were themselves attacked from the rear in a surprise action. The settlers were loosely allied, mostly untrained and found they had less an appetite for actual battle than they had imagined. The general attitude of the white settlers was that they had every right to take lands and homes from the indigenous people by virtue of their supposed superiority. They much preferred though, to have paid soldiers to do the actual fighting for them as they sat back and reaped the benefits.

The unexpected coordination between the various tribes in retaliation for the crimes against the native populations would eventually cause many Americans to rethink their policy towards the native population.

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