The Arkansas advocate., 1836-09-02
NO. 22.

mpeluous chorge with the handful ofmen he was witf difficulty allowed get over, saved the retreatinc force ot Ciaeh ifena heieg ea peccs--eafuesfy and re. peatedy sought and sued o be permitted 10 take over at least all his men--whatever General Call migh, think proper to do with his Tallahassee volunteers and with swords drawn, ready io ceaYe them down if they moved, the men were ordered not 10 sfiri We fear will not do 10 say that an attack was expected on that side. The Indians were on this side, fwest of the rlver and were fighting Cnch un io the elbows here, then, he wanted al his force. But was proper 1t has been said to have few the other side of tha river 10 cover if necessary, his retreat across itf apopd mol hare been necessary 10 reea had these 500 men been where they should bave been.
 We beg pardon of all parties, if we arc wrong--but Ne have reason to fear thai we not
 The opening Of the regular campaign under General Scott, delayed fully ore month beyond inc lime that had been appointed for it to take place, owing 10 the immense difficulties experienced in transporting men and supplies 10 the resfecive points To which they were 10 be forwarded. The very clements appeared to be against aud the roads were nearly impossible The weather, for weeks such 10 make prisoners o Us 10 the honse and i t, push forward troops and provisions with the celery that had been anticipated. number of Georgia Draeoons who, animated by the finest spirit, had come on sn spite of thunder9 arriving down at the river oppos-
 e Pcoaa, and finding themselves Up 10 their horses kfees in mud-Wlth the rain diving almost through hemi and with nothing there 10 greet them except the tefnpeStuouS fRef, dnu lew pne sheda that had been erected as temporary shelter-deber- atey turned their backs on the nhospiIable scene and rot'ed home again! General Floyd, of Georgia-the very pink of courtesy, and soul of chivalry -disap- pointed in obtaining the command he desired, also re- turned home. The General, who, by the wav has very much the air and carriage of the Indian---all, erect, of swarthy hue, with hair clustering about his brows in locks like the fayens, and win an eve in which soul radiaies n every sparkle would have been an accession 10 either wing of the army and it matter for regret that bis services were not secur ed He Is one of the most accomplished men in our country; master of every gentlemaniy and ehvarous artbnt with his various and surprising skill in strict abeyence to the dictates of spirit IS just and as generous as il is romancaly gallant. We lost him however, and could not help thinking that win him went slnew of war. Then came the astounding n- tegence that Genedal Guines, with his % r4en had visited Camp King, and there made serious inroads on our supplies. This too, was, we believe, almost tho first intelligence we had of his being in Florida at alL and certainly calculated io apoloese for his presence there. We know it Is said that il lay in his division, but did not orders oyerlake him al Pensacola requiring hm to repair elsewhefe--o repair to tho Mexican foniierl This, we believe, is not denied; yet the orders were no ebeyed and the General pro- secuted his march into Florida. After he got there, would that he had done something to atone for the fault of being there What did he do? Infinitely worse than noihng-and in respects than one Ho embarrassed the operations of the regular campaign at inc very outset. First by he consumption of supplies at Fort King-suppes that were all important 10 Ge- neral Scott who had been charged with the conduct of the war; But the grand evil that of his uttering the bird before the sprnge set with no means of catching 1t himself The plan of the campaign, which, so far any regular plan could be available against such an enemy was, without doubt, good one-was perhaps rendered aborive by this movement on the part of General GaInes--as the enemy, undisturbed upon the river, (where they were known to be in all ! in all E4tc untoward and unmilary movement, have remained where they were, until the three divisions of the regu- lar army, marching from three separate points, could have been brought up 10 surprise and hem them in. This was the pan--a plan that would most probably have succeeded had 1t not been counieracied by Gem era Gaines who get failed give such an account of the enemy under all the circumstances he was tho more especially bound 10 do.
 We desire 10 be distinctly understood, being nei- thcr the partisan apologst Of, indeed, he need apo 1 logy,) of General Sco neither we from any per- sona motive whatsoever the inpugner of General Gaines conduct. We merely exercise the right of ex- pressing opinions upon q matter of public import, founded those opinions upon facts that none may gansay.
 It under auspices, then, not the most fatterng, that the 18th of March the campaign opened under General Scott. On arriving at Picolata, we learned that the General and Staff had gone down the river 10 Black Creek the day before, on their way 10 Fort Drane. We joined detachment, consisting of seven men, two officers, and two pack horses heavily laden -in all ten mer--with 60 miles of road before us, knowh to be not altogether free from danger. Tho rain had been pouring in torents, aud rendered this road almost impassabIe We managed, however, to reach Major Coopefs encanpinent that night, about five miles from tho river, where Suter broke down, and abandoned the expedition hopeless. He met with TO bad market nevertheless, among inc poor fe-
 lows, who had been lingering it out there for three weeksout of grog, out of shoes, ont of spirits. The Suffer- literally besieged, was not allowed lime to rid his face of the mud that Jeff difficult to determine whether he was white black, 10 wiring the water