The progress of the expedition, as far as is yet known, corresponds with
the martial zeal with which it was espoused, and the best hopes of a
satisfactory issue are authorized by the complete success with which a
well-planned enterprise was executed against a body of hostile savages
by a detachment of the volunteer militia of Tennessee, under the gallant
command of General Coffee, and by a still more important victory over a
larger body of them, gained under the immediate command of Major General
Jackson, an officer equally distinguished for his patriotism and his
military talents.
The systematic perseverance of the enemy in courting the aid of the
savages in all quarters had the natural effect of kindling their
ordinary propensity to war into a passion, which, even among those
best disposed toward the United States, was ready, if not employed
on our side, to be turned against us. A departure from our protracted
forbearance to accept the services tendered by them has thus been forced
upon us. But in yielding to it the retaliation has been mitigated as
much as possible, both in its extent and in its character, stopping far
short of the example of the enemy, who owe the advantages they have
occasionally gained in battle chiefly to the number of their savage
associates, and who have not controlled them either from their usual
practice of indiscriminate massacre on defenseless inhabitants or from
scenes of carnage without a parallel on prisoners to the British arms,
guarded by all the laws of humanity and of honorable war.
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