attack was not to come that night, however. The next day General Jackson and his men arrived. While they had seen sign, they had not encountered any hostiles. The Red Sticks had fled into the swamps before such a large force as Jackson had. Along with his white American troops, Jackson had several hundred Lower Creek Indians with him to fight against the Upper Creeks, or Red Sticks. Within days, several hundred additional Georgia militia also arrived.
From Fort Scott we moved down the Apalachicola River to the site of Negro Fort, which had been destroyed. Pa and I were asked to accompany the Lower Creeks of Jackson’s army. Sergeant Hunter and the other eight men were assigned to a unit with Jackson. Pa was one of the best trackers anywhere and was also able to speak some Muskogee—a language common to the Indians in the southeastern United States. I think the general wanted assurance that the Lower Creeks gave him correct information. The general need not have worried because the Lower and Upper Creeks were mortal enemies. On more than one occasion I witnessed the Lower Creeks with us flush two or three Upper Creeks from hiding and kill them.
Once at the site of the destroyed Negro Fort, General Jackson ordered his engineer to build a new fort. As more volunteers from Tennessee and Georgia and over a thousand more Lower Creek Indians arrived, Jackson’s army grew to 3,500 men. Fifteen hundred of them were Lower Creek Indians. William McIntosh, half Scot and half Indian, was the leader of the 1,500 Lower Creeks. In addition to being a chief, he was made a brigadier general by the United States government.
While most of General Jackson’s men worked on the fort, and waited at it for food to arrive by boat, McIntosh and our friendly Creeks crossed the Apalachicola and raided Red Stick camps and towns on the west side of the river. The Upper Creeks were called Red Sticks because they carried a red stick for religious purposes. That also made it easy to tell which tribe was which. Pa and I went with them on those raids. We killed or captured almost three hundred Red Sticks. The captives were mostly women and children. Our Creek friends kept most of the women and children. We also took a large supply of corn and other food from the Indian camps and towns. Corn was badly needed as food for man and horse.
Ever since Pa brought my Spanish mare home I had been teaching her tricks that I had seen other horses and riders do on occasion. She also did the normal things that most good saddle horses do. Using only foot and knee pressure, I could have her back up, go forward, turn, stop, or travel at any gait. I had also taught her to lift a hoof for me to look at without me holding it. She would bow on command while I was standing in front of her or while I was in the saddle. It was while I was in the saddle and having her bow that, by accident, I caused her to lie down the first time. While bowing, she would lower her head and lift her right front hoof and tuck it under her. It was while she was in that position one day that a wasp stung me on the left arm. A reflex jerk on the reins in my left hand caused her to tip over to the right and lie down on her right side. Kicking my right foot from the stirrup to keep it from being broken, I also slid forward on her neck and head to avoid possibly getting crushed by her body. There she was, lying on her side with me lying on her neck and head. I don’t know which of us was most surprised or frightened. In a few seconds she quieted down. Even after I got off of her neck, she remained quietly on the ground until I pulled on her reins to get her up. After a few minutes, I got up enough nerve to try it again. Though her fall was more controlled, she responded in the same way. From then on, I would cause her to lie down a couple of times each time we were riding alone. She soon got to where she was under full control as she went down. The mare seemed to like this new trick.
Not knowing what he would say about it, I never showed Pa that trick. It was while we were on one of those raids west of the Apalachicola River that he first saw it. In fact, it was performed in front of thirty of our Lower Creek Indian friends. While scouting, I was three hundred yards in front of, but still in visual contact with, Pa and our band of thirty Indians. I had dismounted and was leading my mare to give her a breather. That’s something we did for ten minutes of every hour to rest the horses. As I was going between two ponds thick with tall gallberry and palmetto bushes, I spotted a band of fifteen Red Stick Creek warriors. Because I was dismounted and because the gallberry and palmetto bushes were pretty tall, they hadn’t spotted me or my horse. They did, however, have an angle on me such that I was cut off from my group. If I ran for it, they could cut me off from my group and might be able to get me. If I tried to go straight back to my group, they would surely kill or capture me. Lifting a hand to Pa, I made a circle with it and pointed toward the Red Sticks. That was our signal we had seen something. I then raised a fist three times, letting Pa know there were fifteen of them. The Red Sticks and the members of our group were not visible to each other because of the thick vegetation around the ponds. Pa acknowledged my signal. My job done, I then moved to take care of myself. Stepping in front of my mare, I signaled her to bow. I then jerked lightly with her left rein across her face to signal her to lie down. Certain that I had not been seen, I dropped across her neck and stroked her head.
Having been warned, and having twice the number of warriors the Red Sticks had, Pa’s group had the advantage. As the fight started, I could tell the location of both parties by the sounds of gunfire and running horses. Pa’s group wasn’t fifty yards from me when I slid off my mare’s neck and pulled on her reins. I then stuck my right foot over her back and was in the saddle as she came to her feet. I was right in the thick of the fight when my mare gained her footing. With a loaded rifle and musket, I was a welcome addition. The surviving Red Sticks were soon at full flight.
After our party was reassembled, Pa said, “What happened? I thought your mare stepped in a hole or something. Her foot seems okay now.”
I said, “She’s fine, Pa. I found out some time back how to make her lie down. We just did it as a stunt when we were alone. I never thought it might have a use. The mare just saved my life by lying still.”
Back at the fort I was asked to demonstrate to those Indians who were with me how I got my horse to lie down. As the word got around about the incident, there were others, Indian and white, who wanted me to show them how to make their horse lie down. There were varying degrees of success by the warriors in teaching their horses the trick. Very few horses learned to lie down on command as quickly as my mare had. My mare became so famous that it would have been impossible for anyone to steal her. She would have been recognized anywhere. I soon started working with Pa’s mare to teach her to lie down.
Going to war isn’t all about fighting. There were lots of boring times between battles when we were looking for something to do. Teaching stunts to horses and showing off on horseback became one of the chief pastimes around the camp. It was amazing how many stunts some of the Indian ponies could do. I soon had my mare and Pa’s doing many of those stunts.
After the fort was completed and food arrived, Jackson ordered his ships to blockade St. Marks and kill or capture any Indians they came across. He then turned his army loose on the towns and villages to the east around Lake Miccosukee. It was estimated that 1,500 Indians—men, women, and children—lived in that area. Accompanied by Pa, a white regiment, and me, General McIntosh and his 1,500 warriors swept through the area. In addition to killing those warriors we could corner, we seized everything we could use. Everything else was destroyed. In village after village we encountered little resistance. Sometimes we would be shot at from heavy cover. The attackers would then run. The size of our force was overpowering. Frequently, only empty villages awaited us. After taking what was useful, we then burned the villages. In most cases the villagers left in such a hurry that they left behind most of their food and other belongings.
One of the villages destroyed was that of a Red Stick chief named Peter McQueen. In that attack, over a hundred prisoners were taken—mostly women and children. As Pa and I rode past one small group of prisoners, I had an uneasy feeling and glanced about. Seeing an Indian boy who was standing and staring at me, I stopped my horse. Pa stopped, too. I said, “Pa, it’s the same boy I let go last June.”
Pa said, “It sure is. He’s over a hundred miles west of where we
