The Soldier Life.
War with the Creeks.--Patriotism of Crockett.--Remonstrances of his Wife.--Enlistment.--The Rendezvous.--Adventure of the Scouts.--Friendlier Indians.--A March through the Forest.-- Picturesque Scene.--The Midnight Alarm.--March by Moon-light.-- Chagrin of Crockett.--Advance into Alabama.--War's Desolations.-- Indian Stoicism.--Anecdotes of Andrew Jackson.--Battles, Carnage, and Woe.





The awful massacre at Fort Mimms, by the Creek Indians, summoned, as with a trumpet peal, the whole region to war. David Crockett had listened eagerly to stories of Indian warfare in former years, and as he listened to the tales of midnight conflagration and slaughter, his naturally peaceful spirit had no yearnings for the renewal of such sanguinary scenes. Crockett was not a quarrelsome man. He was not fond of brawls and fighting. Nothing in his life had thus far occurred to test his courage. Though there was great excitement to be found in hunting, there was but little if any danger. The deer and all smaller game were harmless. And even the grizzly bear had but few terrors for a marksman who, with unerring aim, could strike him with the deadly bullet at the distance of many rods.