George Eggleston

Red Eagle George Eggleston

In that [Creek] war there was one man more conspicuous than any other-more relentless, more daring . . . and at the same time more brilliant in attack and defence, abler in counsel, and having greater skill in the field than any of his fellow-chiefs-a man who fought Jackson, Claiborne, Flournoy, Floyd, and Coffee, whose troops, coming from different quarters of the country, surrounded him on every side and out-numbered him on every field; fighting them with credit to his own skill and daring, and with no little damage to these skilled enemies-a man of whom Jackson said, He is fit to command armies. This man was Red Eagle, or in his native Muscogee tongue, Lamochattee. William Weatherford, the Red Eagle, was born in Creek country, and born a chieftain. The exact date of his birth is not known, but as he was a man of about thirty or thirty-five years of age when the Creek war broke out in 1813, his birth must have occurred about the year 1780. . . . He was . . . the son of an Indian woman, who belonged to the dominant family of the Wind; that is to say, she was a princess, her rank among the Creeks corresponding as nearly as possible to that of a daughter of the royal house in a civilized monarchy. It was only when a great occasion aroused deep passions that Red Eagle spoke. Then his eloquence was overwhelming. He won his audience completely and bent men easily to his will. . . . He had vices, certainly, but they were the vices of his time and country, and there is no sufficient evidence that he carried them to excess, while his retention of physical and intellectual vigor afford the strongest possible proof of the contrary. -from Chapters I and III