Pickett's History of Alabama -- Chapter 14 -- The French Battles Upon The
Tombigby

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                 Albert James Pickett: HISTORY OF ALABAMA.
                  (Kindly contributed by William C. Bell)
       ______________________________________________________________
     
                               CHAPTER XIV. 
                                      
                   THE FRENCH BATTLES UPON THE TOMBIGBY. 
                                      
   When we suspended our review of the operations of the French upon the
   territory of Alabama and Mississippi, for the purpose of bringing to
   the notice of the reader the early colonization of Georgia by
   Oglethorpe, it will be borne in mind that the horrible maascre at
   Natchez had occurred. The tribe of that name had crossed the
   Mississippi, and fortified on Black river, near the Washita. Governor
   Perrier, attacking them at that point, had captured many of the men,
   women and children, whom he conveyed to New Orleans, and from thence
   shipped to the Island of St. Domingo, where they were sold to work
   upon the plantations. Some of those who escaped the hands of the
   French at Black river, retreated to the vicinity of the fort at
   Natchitoches, upon which they presently made a furious assault. The
   brave St. Denys, the commandant, successfully repulsed them. A remnant
   of this warlike but unfortunate tribe had fled to the Chickasaw
   nation, while another small band sought a home among the Creeks, upon
   the Coosa.
   
   Governor Perrier was guilty of excessive cruelty to many of these poor
   fugitives who fell into his hands. In the streets of New Orleans he
   publicly, and without any hesitation, caused four of the men and two
   of the women to be burned to death. He also cheerfully permitted the
   Tonicas, who brought down a Natchez woman whom they had discovered in
   the woods, to put an end to her existence in the same manner. A
   platform was erected near the levee. The unfortunate woman was led
   forth, placed upon it, and, surrounded by the whole population of New
   Orleans, was slowly consumed by the flames! What a stigma upon the
   character of the early inhabitants of the Crescent City! Gayarre
   says:--"The victim supported, with the most stoical fortitude, all the
   tortures which were inflicted upon her, and did not shed a tear. On
   the contrary, she upbraided her torturers with their want of skill,
   flinging at them every opprobrious epithet she could think of." * 
   
   * Louisiana, its Colonial History and Romance, by Charles Gayarre. New
   York: 1851.
   
   As a nation, the Natchez were thus entirely destroyed. Great sympathy
   was felt for them by all the tribes in Mississippi and Alabama; even
   the Choctaws, who were so wedded to the French, being sad on account
   of their fate, and annoyed at the unparalleled cruelties they
   experienced at the hands of their vindictive conquerors. The noble
   Creeks, upon the Coosa, received some of the refugees with open arms,
   while still nobler Chickasaws not only welcomed others to their doors,
   but swore to shed blood of their pursuers, in a protracted war. These
   things made the condition of the French colony a very critical one.
   The English of Carolina did not fail to fan the fire which, they
   imagined, would soon consume their ancient enemies. An expedition was
   fitted out in Charleston, composed of many traders and adventurers,
   with seventy pack-horses laden chiefly with munitions of war. Whether
   it was at the instance of the British government, or not, it is
   unknown. They took the well-beaten path for the Chickasaw nation, and
   passing by the town of Coosa, then situated in the territory of the
   present county of Talladega, they prevailed upon some of the refugee
   Natchez to accompany them, and to assist in repelling the French
   invasion, which, it was known, was then contemplated. Arriving in the
   Chickasaw nation, they dispersed over the country, and not a few of
   them found their way to the towns of the Choctaws. Soon the whole
   Indian sky was crimsoned with flashing meteors, and then made dark
   with angry clouds.
   
   France, apprised of the precarious situation of her distant children,
   once more resolved to send the veteran Bienville to take care of them.
   The King began to see that his services could not be dispensed with,
   and after he had passed eight years in Paris, he sailed for the
   colony. March 1733: His arrival at Mobile was hailed with joy and
   acclaimations by the inhabitants. Diron D'Artguette, a man of nerve
   and much ability, who had been longer absent from the colony than
   Bienville, accompanied him. He was presently stationed at Mobile as
   the King's commissary. Bienville, at first, occupied much of his time
   visiting Mobile and New Orleans, for the purpose of giving quiet to
   the inhabitants and preparing them for a war of invasion. On one
   occasion, while he was in New Orleans, Diron D'Artaguette aroused all
   the French settlers towards the east by despatches which he sent among
   them in relation to the arrival of the English expedition, to which
   allusion has just been made, and of the determination of the Choctaws
   to act in future against the French. He warned everybody to be upon
   their guard, for it was probable they might be butchered at any hour.
   1735: The people of Mobile were in a state of extreme terror; they
   never went to mass without carying their guns in their hands. Indeed,
   they at one time resolved to retire to New Orleans, but Bienville
   arriving commanded them to remain and fear nothing. He highly
   disapproved of the excitement which D'Artaguette had produced, and
   thought there was no occasion for such officious watchfulness on the
   part of the commissary. This produced unpleasant feelings bewteen
   them, and they indulged in recriminations of each other in official
   reports to the government. Bienville was mortified at the conduct of
   D'Artaguette in rebuking the Chictaw Chiefs, who had recently paid him
   a visit, for permitting the English to come among them. Further, he
   dismissed them without presents, upon which they returned home highly
   offended. Apr. 29 1735: These things were represented to the
   government by Bienville, while D'Artaguette, on the other hand, stated
   in one of his despatches that Bienville's opposition to him arose from
   the fact that he had reported the "misconduct of his proteges or
   favorites, Lesueur, and the Jesuit, Father Beaudoin, who, to the great
   scandal of the Choctaws, seduce their women."*
   
   * Louisiana, its Colonial History and Romance, by Gayarre, p. 469.
   
   It is pleasant to us to be able to state that only a few of the
   missionaries, of the order of Jesuits, thus abused the holy offices
   with which they were entrusted. The great body of them led the most
   pious lives and suffered the greatest privations in their efforts to
   redeem the savages from heathenism.
   
   In the meantime small parties of Natchez, with their generous allies,
   the Chickasaws, sought all occasions to annoy their enemy. From
   ambuscades on the hill tops and banks of the rivers, along the Indian
   paths in the interior, and from dark valleys in the mountains, they
   sprang upon the French trappers, hunters and traders with the
   impetuosity of lions and the agility of tigers, and drank their hot
   blood with the voraciousness of wolves.
   
   But Bienville was straining every nerve to complete his preparations
   for the invasion of the Chickasaw nation. He visited Mobile once more,
   and having assebled at that point a large delegation of Choctaw
   Chiefs, he in a great measure accomplished his object in gaining them
   over to his side. It was important taht he should do so, for Red
   Shoes, a potent Chief of that tribe, had already declared in favor of
   the English. Bienville freely distributed merchandise, and promised a
   much larger amount if they would assist him in the war, to which they
   finally consented. Indeed, ever since his arrival from France, he saw
   the necessity of inspiring the Indian nations with awe and respect, by
   a bold and successful strike at the Chickasaws. Nor had he failed to
   demand the necessary men and military supplies from the mother
   country. 
   
   In the midst of these precarious times, a most unfortunate affir
   occured in the bay of Mobile. A smuggling vessel, from Jamaica, cast
   her anchor twelve miles from the town. Diron D'Artaguette ordered her
   commander to leave the French coast; he refused. The commissary then
   placed Lieutenant DeVelles in a boat, armed with thirty men, and
   ordered him to capture the smuggler. When he approached near her, the
   latter opened an effeective fire; seventeen Frenchmen were immediately
   killed. Before D'Artaguette could reinforce DeVelles, the smuggler had
   made her escape to sea. This affair again enraged Bienville, and the
   war of recrimination was fiercer than ever between him and the
   commissary. What a pity it was, that men of such worth and character
   did nt better appreciate each other. In older times they had been
   great friends.
   
   1735: The commissary had a younger brother, who had behaved with
   distingusihed gallantry in expeditions against the Natchez. He had
   recently been promoted to the command of the French fort in the
   district of Illinois. With him Bienville corresponded, respecting the
   invasion; he was ordered to collect the disposable French forces, and
   all the Indians in that country who would join him, and with them to
   march in a southern direction to the Chickasaw towns, while Bienville
   would march from the south, and meet him in the country of the enemy,
   on the 31st March, 1736. Afterwards the governor informed young
   D'Artaguette that he had been unable to make his arrngements to join
   him at that time, but that he would meet him at another time, which
   was also appointed.
   
   Bienville, nine months before this period, had despatched M. De
   Lusser, with a company of soldiers and artisans, to a place upon the
   Little Tombigby, which is now called Jones' Bluff, with orders to
   erect there a fort and cabins to be used as a depot for the army, and,
   afterwards, to serve as a permanent trading post. That fearless
   officer had reached these wilds in safety, and it was not long before
   the forest resounded with the noise of axes and the heavy falling of
   timber. He was assisted in his labors by many of the Choctaws.
   
   At length the army left New Orleans, and passing through the lakes
   reached Mobile. The vessels containing the supplies having entered the
   Gulf by way of the Balize, werre retarded by winds, and did not arrive
   until six days afterwards; and then it was discovered that a cargo of
   rice was destroyed by the salt water. To replace this loss, Bienville
   set his bakers to work, who made a large supply of biscuits for the
   army. He sent a depatch to De Lusser at Fort "Tombechbe," ordering him
   to build ovens, and to have made an abundant supply of biscuits by the
   time of his arrival at that place. When all things were ready,
   Bienville embarked his troops at Mobile, and turned his boats up the
   river of that name. Never before had such a large and imposing fleet
   of the kind disturbed the deep and smooth waters which now flow by our
   beautiful commercial emporium. Every kind of up-country craft was
   employed, and they bore men nearly of all kinds and colors. The crews
   were composed of genteel merchants, gentlemen of leisure and fortune,
   loafers and convicts, rough but bold mariners, veteran soldiers,
   sturdy and invincible Canadians, monks and priests, Choctaws and
   Mobilians, and a company of negroes commanded by Simon, a free
   mulatto. The fleet comprised more than sixty of the largest pirogues
   and bateaux. Entering the main Tombigby, Bienville made his way up
   that stream to the confluence of the Warrior, and there, passing into
   the Little Tombigby, he at length arrived at the fort. * Heavy rains
   and much high water had retarded his passage.
   
   * Now Jones' Bluff.
   
   The governor found that the fort was unfinished, and only some cabins,
   surrounded by stockades and covered with leaves, could be occupied.
   The bakers had prepared but few biscuits, for a fire cracked the
   prarie soil of which the ovens were made. After various unsuccessful
   efforts to make suitable ovens, they succeeded by mixing sand with the
   earth. Bienville was surprised to see, at the fort, four persons in
   irons -- one Frenchman, two Swiss, and Montfort, a sergeant. They had
   formed the design of assasinating the commandant of the fort, M. De
   Lusser, and also the keeper of the store house, and of carrying off
   Tisnet and Rosalie, who had recently been rescued from the Chickasaws,
   among whom they had been held in slavery. They had intended to convey
   these unfortunate men back to their masters, to order to gain favor
   with the tribe, who would therefore be induced, after a time, to
   faciliatate their escape to the Bristish provinces. But these
   assassins were defeated in their plans; for Lieutenant Grondel, with
   the rapidity of action and the bravery which had ever distinguished
   him, arrested Montfort with his own hands. The prisoners were tried by
   a court martial, and being sentenced to be shot, were "presently
   passed by the arms at the head of all the troops." *
   
   * Dumont's Memoires Historiques sur la Louisiane, p. 216.
   
   When all the allied Choctaws had arrived, Bienville reviewed his
   troops upon the plain in the rear of the fort. He found that his army
   was composed of five hundred and fifty men, exclusive of officers,
   together with six hundred Indians. He now assumed the line of march
   for the country of the enemy. The larger number of the French troops
   embarked in the boats. Some of the Indians proceeded to their own
   canoes, while many hardy Canadians, called couriers de bois, marched
   with other Indians, sometimes along the banks, where the swanps did
   not intervene; and then again a mile or two from the river. It was
   truly an imposing scene to be exhibited in these indomitable wilds.
   May 22: After encountering many difficulties, the redoubtable
   Bienville at length reached the spot where now stands the city of
   Columbus, in Mississippi; and pursuing his tedious voyage, finally
   moored his boats at or near the place now known as Cotton Gin Port.
   Here disembarkiing, he immdeiately began to fell the trees in the
   forest, and soon stockaded a place ample enough to secure his baggage
   and provisions, together with the sick; while the side fronting the
   river was arranged with loopholes for muskets, to protect his boats,
   which were all unladen and drawn up close together. He was
   twenty-seven miles from the towns of the enemy, which lay in a western
   direction. He left twenty men here under Vanderick, besides the keeper
   of the magazine, the patroons of the boats, and some of the soldiers
   who were sick. With some difficulty he hired a sufficinet number of
   Choctaws to transport the sacks of powder and balls, for the negroes
   were already laden with other things. Taking provisions with him to
   last twelve days, the governor began the march in the evening, and
   that night encamped six miles from the depot. The rains which
   incommoded him in his voyage up the river, did not forsake him on his
   march upon the present occasion; for, scarcely had he formed his camp,
   when a violent storm arose. The next day he passed three deep ravines
   -- the soldiers wading up to their waists -- and after gaining the
   opposite banks, slipping and falling constantly upon the slimy soil.
   Great difficulties were surmounted in transporting the effects of the
   army over these angry torrents. The banks on either side were covered
   with large canes, but Bienville took the precaution always to send
   spies in advance, to prevent surprise from ambuscades. Soon, however,
   the French were relieved by the appearance of the most beautiful
   country in the world. The prairies were stretched out wide before
   them, covered with green grass, flowers and strawberries, while
   forests of magnificent trees were to be seen in the distance. A breeze
   gently played over the surface of the lovely plains, and a May day's
   sun warmed all nature of life. The sleek cattle were everywhere
   grazing upon these sweet meadows of nature. The nimble deer bounded
   along, and droves of wild horses, of every variety of color, with
   lofty tails and spreading manes, made the earth resound with their
   rapid tread. Alas! alas! to think that the inhabitants, whom the Great
   Spirit had placed in a country so lovely and so enchanting, were soon
   to be assailed by an army of foreigners, assisted by their own
   neighbors.
   
   Drawing nearer and nearer to the enemy, Bienville finally encamped
   within six miles of their towns. His camp was formed upon the border
   of a delightful prairie, the view across which was not interrupted by
   trees, until it reached far beyond the Indian houses. He had
   previously sent spies in all directions, to look for D'Artaguette and
   his troops, who were to have joined him there. The bands, chiefly
   composed of Indians, returned without having heard anything of that
   unfortunate officer. The governor was sorely disappointed, and could
   no longer hope for aid from that source, and he resolved to rely on
   his own forces. May 24 1736: His intention, at first, waa to march to
   a circuitous direction, around the Chickasaw villages, in order to
   attack the Natchez town which lay behind them, and which had recntly
   been erected. But the Choctaws had become very impatient to assail an
   advanced village of the Chickasaws, which, they insisted, could be
   easily taken, and which, they stated, contained a large amount of
   provisions. Their impotunities were disregarded until strengthened by
   the entreaties of the Chevalier Noyan, the nephew of the governor, and
   many other French officers, whose impetuous disposition made them
   eager for an immediate attack. The house of the enemy stood upon a
   hill, in the prarie, and spread out in the shape of a triangle. After
   some consideration, Bienville resolved to give the French an
   opportunity of gratifying a long sought revenge, especially when it
   was made known to him that his camp was then pitched near the last
   water which his men could procure for miles in a western direction.,
   At two o 'clock in the afternoon, Chevalier Noyan was placed at the
   head of a column consisting of a detachment of fifteen men drawn from
   each of the eight French companies, a company of grenadiers,
   forty-five volunteers and sixty-five Swiss.
   
   The Chickasaws had fortified themselves with much skill, and were
   assisted by Englishmen, who caused them to hoist a flag of ther
   country over one of their defenses. The French trroops, as they
   advanced, were not a little surprised to see the British Lion, against
   which many of them had often fought in Europe, now floating over the
   rude huts of American Indians, and bidding them defiance. The
   Chickasaws had fortified their houses in a most defensive manner, by
   driving large stakes into the ground around them. Many loop-holes were
   cut through the latter, very near the ground. Within the palisades,
   entrenchments were cut, deep enough to protect the persons of the
   Indians as high as their breasts. In these ditches they stood, and
   when the battle began, shot through the loop=holes at the French. The
   tops of these fortified houses were covered in timbers, upon which was
   placed a thick coat of mud plaster, so that neirther ignited arrows
   nor bomb shells could set the houses on fire. What added still more to
   the security of the Chickasaws, was the position of some of their
   houses, which stood in nearly opposite directions, so as to admit of
   destructive cross-firing. Bienville having previously learned that
   there were several of the British in the village, had, with much
   humanity, as it may at that time have seemed, directed the Chevalier
   Noyan to give them time to retire before he brought on the attack. The
   division then marched briskly on. It was protected by movable
   breastworks, called mantelets, which were now carried by the company
   of negroes. As their lives appear not to have been esteemed of as much
   value as those of the French, these negroes were used in the same
   manner as shields are in battle. When the troops advanced within
   carbine shot of the village of Ackia, where waved a British flag, one
   of the negroes was killed, and another wounded. They now threw down
   their mantalets and precipitately fled. The French, with their usual
   impetuosity, rapidly advanced. They entered the village. The
   grenadiers led. And now, no longer protected by the mantalets, they
   received a severe fire from the Chickasaws, which killed and wounded
   many. Among the former was the gallant and accomplished Chevalier de
   Contre Coeur; and when he fell dead it produced an unpleasant feeling
   among those around him, by whom he was greatly esteemed. Upon his
   right and left soldiers lay dead, discoloring the green grass with
   their hot blood. But the troops carried three fortified cabins, and
   reached several larger smaller ones, which they presently wrapped in
   flames. The chief fort and other fortified houses lay some distance in
   the rear of those they had in possession. The Chevalier Noyan was
   eager to advance upon them, but turning around to take a rapid survey
   of his forces he was mortified to perceive that only the officers, a
   dozen of the volunteers and some grenadiers remained with him.
   Dismayed by the fall of Captian de Lusser, * who was now killed, and
   seeing a popular sergeant of grendiers and several soldiers also fall,
   the troops retreated to the cabins which were first taken. In vain did
   the officers who belonged to the rear endeavor to drive them on to the
   scene of action. A panic had seized them, and no exhilaration,
   threats, promises of promotion or hopes of miliatry glory could induce
   them to make the slightest advance from their cowardly position. But
   the officers resolved more than ever to do their duty, and placing
   themselves at the head of a few brave soliers essayed to storm the
   fort. But just at the moment of their contemplated charge the brave
   Chevalier Noyan, Grondel, an invincible lieutenant of the Swiss,
   D'Hauterive, a captain of the grenadiers, Monthrun, De Velles, and
   many other officers and soldiers received severe wounds. The balls of
   the Chickasaws came thick and whizzed over the prarie. The bleeding De
   Noyan stood his ground, and despatched his aid to assist in bringing
   up the soldiers, who still screened themselves behind the cabins, but
   as he left to perform the order a Chickasaw ball put an end to his
   existence. The death of this officer, whose name was De Juzan,
   increased the panic which had unfortunately seized upon the larger
   number of the troops. A party of Indians at this moment rushed up to
   scalp Grondel, the Swiss officer, who had fallen near the walls of the
   fort. The brave sergenat with four fearless soldiers rushed to the
   rescue. Driving off the savages, they were about to bear him off in
   their arms when a fire from the foort killed every one of these noble
   fellows! But the bleeding Grondel still survived, although those who
   came to protect his head from the blows of the hatchet lay dead by his
   side. Another act of heroism is worthy of record. Regnisse now rushed
   out alone, and making his way to the unfortunate Grondel, who still
   lay bleeding from five wounds, dragged him out from among the bodies
   of those who had fallen in his defence, placed him on his back and
   returned to the French lines, without receiving a solitary wound from
   the showers of Chickasaw balls. The almost lifeless Grondel received,
   however, another severe wound as he was borne off by the noble
   Regnisse. ** 
   
   * It will be recollected that De Lusser, who was now killed, was the
   officer whom Bienville sent to construct Fort "Tombecbe," upon the
   site of the present Jones' Bluff.
   ** This Grondel was an officer of indomitable courage. His life was
   full of romantic events. He had fought several duels at Mobile. He
   recovered from the wounds which he received in this battle, and was
   promoted to high military stations.
   
   But where were the six hundred Choctaws, while the French were thus
   expiring in agony upon the prairie? Painted, plumed and dressed in a
   manner the most fantastic and horrible, they kept the plain, on either
   side of the French lines, at a distance where the balls of the enemy
   could not reach them, sending forth yells and shouts, and occasionally
   dancing and shooting their guns in the air. The brave Chickasaws
   maintained their positions in the fortified houses, and, from loop
   holes, riddled the French with their unerring rifles. They, too,
   yelled most awfully. May 26 1736: The scene was one calculated to
   excite deep interest, for, added to all this, the looker-on might have
   viewed the flames rising up from the burning cabins, and sending above
   them volumes of black smoke, which a May breeze wafted to the far off
   forests.
   
   The Chevalier De Noyan now ordered a retreat to the advanced cabins,
   and when he had arrived there, he depatched an officer to Bienville,
   bearing an account of their critical condition. Noyan sent him word
   that, although severely wounded himself, he was determined to keep the
   position which he had just taken. He requested that a detachment
   should be sent to his assistance, to bear off the dead and wounded,
   and assist those who were alive to make a retreat, as, now, no further
   hope remained of storming the fortifications of the Chickasaws.
   Bienville hastened in his determination to send aid, by observing that
   a Chickasaw force on the flank, which had not yet participated in the
   battle, was about to sally from their houses and immolate the French
   officers and the few soldiers who had remained with them. He then
   immediately despatched Beauchamp, with eighty men, to the scene of
   action. Arriving there he found the French officers huddled together,
   keeping their ground at the imminent peril of their lives. Beauchamp,
   in advancing, had already lost several men. The Chickasaws now
   redoubled their exertions, and made the plains resound with their
   exulting shouts. Beauchamp began the retreat, carrying off many of the
   wounded and the dead, but unfortunately was forced to leave some
   behind, who fell into the tiger clutches of the Chickasaws. When the
   French had retreated some distance towards Bienville's headquarters,
   the Choctaws, by way of bravado, rushed up to the Chickasaw
   fortifications, as if they intended to carry them by storm, but
   receiving a general volley from the enemy, they fled in great terror
   over the prarie.
   
   The battle of Ackia had lasted three hours, and resulted in glory to
   the Chickasaws, and disgrace to the French. When the French troops
   arrived at the camp, proper attention was paid to the wounded and the
   dying. It was not long before this brilliant and exciting scene was
   made to give place to one which presented an aspect at once quiet,
   calm and beautiful. The sun, in his retirement for the night, had just
   sunk to the tops of the trees in the far off distance. A cool and
   deliciuos breeze was made sweet with the odor of wild flowers. The
   Chickasaws were as quiet as the boa-constrictor after he has gorged
   upon his prey. The cattle and horses, much disturbed during the fight,
   now began to move up and feed upon their accustomed meadows. What a
   contrast had been produced by the lapse of only two hours!
   
   During this quiet scene, a collection of French officers were on one
   side of the camp, summing up the misfortunes of the day. Among them
   stood Simon, the commander of the negroes who fled from the field.
   Simon was a favorite with the officers, and had resolutely maintained
   his ground during the engagement. Some of them rallied him upon the
   flight of his company, which annoyed him excessively. At that moment,
   a drove of horses came down to the stream to slake their thirst, not
   far from the fortified houses of the Chickasaws. The desperate Simon,
   in reply to those who made sport of his company, seized a rope and ran
   off towards the horses saying, "I will show you that a negro is as
   brave as any one." He passed around the horses in full range of the
   Chickasaw rifles, from which balls were showered upon him, and making
   his way up to a beautiful white mare, threw a rope over her head, and
   thus securing her, passed it around her nose, mounted upon her back
   with the agility of a Comanche Indian, and pressed her with rapid
   speed into the French lines. He did not receive a wound, and he was
   welcomed with shouts by the soldiers, and was no more jeered on
   account of the cowardice of his company.*
   
   * Dumont's Memoires Historique sur la Louisiane. 
   
   Bienville, pleased with the gallantry which Regnisse had displayed in
   bearing off the wounded Grondel, immediately from under the guns of
   the Chickasaws, had him brought to the marquee, complimented him upon
   the generous and heroic act which he had performed, and proposed to
   promote him to the rank of an officer. The brave Regnisse modestly
   replied that he had done nothing more than what could have been
   accomplished by any of his brother grenadiers, and stated that as he
   could not write, he was unfitted for an officer; therefore he declined
   the intended honor.
   
   Night now shrouded the scene with its sable mantle, and the French
   troops reposed behind some trees which had been felled for their
   protection. The Chickasaws remained quiet within their entrenchments.
   At length day dawned, and exhibited to Bienville a painful sight. On
   the ramparts of the Chickasaws were suspended the French soldiers and
   officers, whom Beauchamp was forced to leave upon the field. Their
   limbs had been separated from their bodies, and thus were they made to
   dangle in the air, for the purpose of insulting the defeated invaders.
   Many of the officers wished to rush again upon the viages, but
   Bienville was determined to retreat, as the Choctaws were of no
   assistance to him, and he was without cannon to batter down the
   fortifications. In the afternoon, at two o'clock, he began the
   retrograde march. The soldiers, worn down with fatigue produced by the
   battle and the mortifications arising from its disgraceful
   termintation, were unable to, in addition to their heavy loads of
   baggage, to carry the wounded, who were placed in litters.
   Consequently night set in by the time Bienville had march only four
   miles; here the camp was again made. The Choctaws were highly
   exasperated on account of this slow movement, and Red Shoes, who had
   long endeavored to wean his people from French interest, now
   vociferously threatened to take with him the greater portion of the
   Choctaws, and thus leave the French to the mercy of the Chickasaws in
   this wild and distant region. Bienville was startled when he was
   informed of this determination. He sent for the main Chief of the
   Choctaws, and by his eloquence and the force of that mysterious
   influence which he possessed, he succeeded not only in getting the
   Choctaws to remain with the army, but made them consent to assist in
   the transportation of the wounded. May 28 1736: Red Shoes rebuked the
   head Chief, for consenting to such terms, in a manner so insulting,
   that the latter drew his pistol from his belt, and was in the act of
   shooting him, when Bienville seized his arm, saved the life of Red
   Shoes, and, for a while put an end to an affair which threatened the
   most serious sonsequences. The next morning Bienville put his troops
   upon his march, and he arrived at the depot, upon the Tombigby, on the
   29th May, after he had buried two of his men, on the way, who had died
   of their wounds.
   
   June 2 1736: Bienville was astonished to observe how much the river
   had fallen, and he hurried his effects into the boats, for fear that
   the delay of a day longer would leave him without a stream sufficient
   to convey him to Mobile. When the troops had embarked, the ropes which
   bound the boats to the banks were untied, and then the discomfited
   French party passed down the stream. The channel of the Little
   Tombigby was here so crooked and narrow, that the boats had frequently
   to stop until logs and projecting limbs were cut out of the way. If
   the Chickasaws had followed up the French, they could easily have
   destoyed Bienville's army at this time. At length the army reached
   Fort "Tombechbe," now Jones Bluff. Bienville, sending on a portion of
   the troops, and the sick and wounded to Mobile, disembarked at the
   fort. He remained there, however, but one day, which he consumed in
   planning upon paper, and tracing upon the ground additions which he
   directed to be made to the defenses. June 3 1736: Then, leaving
   Captain De Berthel in command of Fort "Tombecbe," with a garrison of
   thirty Frenchmen and twenty Swiss, provisions to last for the
   remainder of the year, and an abundance of merchandiseintended to be
   used in commerce with the Indians, the governor entered his boats, and
   continued the voyage until they were moored at the town of Mobile.
   
   But where was the brave and unfortunate D'Artaguette? Why did not his
   army join Bienville at the Chickasaw town? The reader will presently
   see. That officer had assembled the tribes of the Illinois at Fort
   Chartres, and had made them acquainted with the plans of Governor
   Bienville. With these Indians, and others which De Vincennes had
   collected upon the Wabash, together with thirty soldiers and one
   hindred volunteers, D'Artaguette floated down the Mississippi river
   until he reached the last of the Chickasaw Bluffs. He had expected to
   have been joined by De Grandpre, who commanded at the Arkansas, and
   that officer had sent twenty-eight warriors of that tribe to ascertain
   whether D'Artaguette was at Ecores a Prudhomme. These scouts were
   instructed to return with the necessary information; but upon arriving
   at that place, and findint that D'Artaguette had set out upon his
   expedition, they hastened to follow him into the enemy's country.
   Disembarking at the Chickasaw Bluffs, D'Artaguette marched across the
   country, at a slow pace, hoping to be overtaken by De Grandpre, and
   also by Montcherval, who had been ordered to bring on his Cahokias and
   Michigamias. Pursuing the march in an eastward direction, D'Artaguette
   advanced among the sources of the Yalobusha and there encamped on the
   9th May. He was but a few miles east of the site of the present town
   of Pontotoc, in Mississippi, near the place where he and Bienville
   were to have met each other, and not more than thirty miles from the
   spot where the latter, afterwards, moored his boats -- near the
   present Cotton Gin Port. D'Artaguette sought, in vain, for
   intelligence of the commader-in-chief. He was assisted by Lieutenant
   Vincennes, the young Voisin, and Senac, a holy father of the order of
   Jesuits, in arranging and conducting the spy companies, who roamed the
   forests in search of Bienville. But nothing could be heard of him
   until a courier brought to D'Artaguette a letter, in which he was
   informed that unexpected delays would prevent Bienville from reaching
   the Chickasaw towns before the last of April. The red allies had
   become impatient, for by this time. D'Artaguette had occupied his camp
   for eleven days. He now resolved to advance upon the Chickasaws, as
   his allies had threatened to abandon him of he did not soon bring on
   the attack. They represented to him that the advance town was
   inhabited by the refugee Natchez, and by taking it they could return
   to their encampment with an abundance of provisions, where they might
   remain entrenched until Bienville's arrival. This plausible
   proposition found advocates in the French officers. The allied forces
   consisted of one hundred and thirty Frenchmen, and three hundred and
   sixty Indians. The French advanced within a mile of the village, on
   Palm Sunday. Frontigny was here left at the camp, with thirty men, in
   charge of the baggage. D'Artaguette advanced rapidly to the attack,
   which he presently brought on with his accustomed gallantry. At that
   moment, thirty Englishmen and five hundred Indians, who were concealed
   behind an adjacent hill, rose up and fell upon the invaders with such
   impetuosity that the Miamis and the Illinois fled from the battle
   field. Indeed, all the Indians took to their heels, except a few
   Iroquois and Arkansas, who behaved in the bravest manner. The guns of
   the enemy brought to the ground Lieutenant St. Ange, Ensigns De
   Coulanges, De La Graviere and De Courigny, with six of the militia
   officers. By this time the French were almost surrounded, but they
   still continued to keepo their position. Presently, Captian Des
   Essarts was seen to fall, and also Lieutenant Langlois and Ensign
   Levieux. So great was the loss of the French, in this short, but
   desparate conflict, that D'Artaguette determined to retreat to the
   camp, for the double purpose of saving his baggage, and of being
   reinforced by the men he had left there; but the retreat could not be
   conducted with the least order, for the Chickasaws were close upon
   their heels, and at length again surrounded. D'Artaguette now fell
   covered with wounds, and was taken prisoner, together with Father
   Senac, Vincennes, Du Tisne, an officer of the regulars, a captain of
   the militia, named Lalande, and some soldiers, making ninetten in all.
   Not one man would have escaped the clutches of the brave Chickasaws if
   a violent storm, which now arose, had not prevented further pursuit.
   May 20 1736: It was a great victory; all the provisions and baggage of
   D'Artaguette fell into the hands of the Chickasaws, besides eleven
   horses, four hundred and fifty pounds of powder and twelve hundred
   bullets. With this powder and these bullets they afterwards shot down
   the troops of Bienville, as we have already seen.
   
   Voisin, a youth of only sixteen years of age, conducted the retreat
   for many miles, without food or water, while his men carried such of
   the wounded as they were able to bear. This noble youth, one of the
   bravest that ever lived, stood by the side of D'Artaguette in all this
   bloody engagement. At length, on the second day of his painful
   retreat, he halted his men at a place where Montcherval, who was
   following D 'Artaguette with one hundred and sixty Indians, had
   encamped. The latter, collecting the fragments of the army, fell back
   to the Mississippi river. 
   
   At first the unfortunate D'Artaguette and his equally unfortunate
   companions in captivity were treated with kindness and attention by
   the Chickasaws, who dressed their wounds. Hopes of a high ransom
   prompted this conduct, so unusual with Indians. They expected not only
   to receive money from Bienville, who was known to be approaching, but
   imagined that by holding these men as prisoners the governor would
   consent to leave their towns unattacked. But at length they received
   intelligence that Bienville had been defeated, and they now resolved
   to sacrifice the prisoners. They led them out to a neighboring field,
   and D'Artaguette, Father Senac, Vincennes, and fifteen others were
   pinioned to stakes and burned to death! One of the soldiers was spared
   to carry the news of the triumph of the Chickasaws and the death of
   these unhappy men to the mortified Bienville. *
   
   * MS. letters obtained from Paris. I have also consulted Gayarre's
   Histoire de la Louisiane, vol. 1, pp. 311-331, which contains the
   despatches of Bienvile to the French Court in relation to these
   battles. Also, Dumont's Memoires Historiques sur la
   Louisisne--Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. 3--The
   Southwest, by Alexander B. Meek, of Mobile--Martin's
   Louisiana--Stodart's Louisiana--Monette's History of the Mississippi
   Valley, vol. 1, pp. 283-288--Louisiana, its Colonial History and
   Romance, by Charles Gayarre: New York, 1851; pp 475-495.
   
   The Chickasaws have never been conquered. They could not be defeated
   by De Soto with his Spanish army in 1541; by Bienville, with his
   French army and Southern Indians, in 1736; by D'Artaguette, with his
   French army and Northern Indians; by the Marquis De Vaudreuil, with
   his French troops and Choctaws, in 1752; nor by the Creeks, Cherokees,
   Kickapoos, Shawnees and Choctaws, who continually waged war against
   them. No! they were "the bravest of the brave;" and even when they had
   emigrated to the territory of the Arkansas, not many years ago, they
   soon subdued some tribes who attacked them in that quarter.
   
   Young Men of Northwestern Alabama and Northeastern Mississippi!
   Remember, that the bravest race that ever lived, once occupied the
   country which you now inhabit--once fished in your streams, and chased
   the elk over your vast plains. Remember, that whenever that soil,
   which you now tread, was pressed by the feet of foes, it was not only
   bravely defended, but drenched with the blood of the invaders. Will
   you ever disgrace that soil, and the memory of its first occupants, by
   submitting to injustice and oppression, and finally to invasion? We
   unhestitating give the answer for you -- "No-- no-- never!"
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