Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 7.djvu/29

12 doing any material damage. General Jackson then marched with 4,000 men to Pensacola, drove the British from Fort Barrancas, and then proceeded to New Orleans, where, on January 8th, he won his great victory over the British General Pakenham. A month later a fleet of 38 British war vessels and 5,000 soldiers captured Fort Bowyer, but as peace had been declared, they only held it a few weeks. The withdrawal of the British troops enabled the government to make very satisfactory treaties with the Indians.

On March 1, 1817, the present territorial limits of Alabama were defined by Congress, and on December 14, 1819, it became one of the States of the Union. In 1830 the Choctaws ceded their lands to the government. In 1832 the Creeks made their cession, as did the Cherokees in 1835. Many of the Indians were opposed to the sale of their lands and considerable friction followed, making it necessary to assemble a large body of troops to suppress indications of outbreaks by both Creeks and Cherokees, but finally, in 1838, their removal to the West was peaceably accomplished.

From this time until the war of 1861 Alabama enjoyed a condition of peace, but its people held themselves ready to assist their brethren in neighboring States. Several companies of Alabamians volunteered and fought in the Seminole and Florida wars and a still greater number gave their services to assist in Texan independence. Many of these perished, a considerable number being victims of the Goliad massacre, where 330 persons were murdered in the most atrocious manner. Milton Irish and Bennet Butler, from Huntsville, were among the few who escaped, and Captain Shackleford, of Courtland, was spared because he was a physician and the Mexicans needed his services to attend their wounded. When war was declared against Mexico, thousands upon thousands of patriotic citizens of this State tendered their services to the government, but only one regiment composed