David Crockett : $b scout, small boy, pilgrim, mountaineer, soldier, bear-hunter, and Congressman, defender of the AlamoAllen, Charles Fletcher
History
David Crockett : $b scout, small boy, pilgrim, mountaineer, soldier, bear-hunter, and Congressman, defender of the Alamo
Allen, Charles Fletcher
Crockett, Davy, 1786-1836
“I, for one, had often thought about war, and had often heard it
described; and I did verily believe that I couldn’t fight in that
way at all; but my after experience convinced me that this was all a
notion. For, when I heard of the mischief that was done at the Fort,
I instantly felt like going, and I had none of the dread of dying
that I had expected to feel. In a few days a general meeting of the
militia was called, for the purpose of raising volunteers; and when
the day arrived for the meeting, my wife, who had heard me say I meant
to go to the war, began to beg me not to turn out. She said she was a
stranger in the parts where we lived, had no connections living near
her, and that she and our little children would be left in a lonesome
and unhappy situation if I went away. It was mighty hard to go against
arguments like these; but my countrymen had been murdered, and I
knew that the next thing the Indians would be scalping the women and
children all about there, if we didn’t put a stop to it. I reasoned the
case with her as well as I could, and told her that if every man would
wait until his wife was willing for him to go to war, we would all be
killed in our own houses; that I was as able to go as any man in the
world, and that it was a duty I believed I owed to my country. Seeing
that I was bent on it, all she did was to cry a little, and turn about
to her work. The truth is, my dander was up, and nothing but war could
bring it right again.”
When the militia was paraded at Winchester, volunteers were called
for, and Davy was one of the first to step forward. In a short time
a company was raised, officers were chosen, and they arranged to
make a start on the Monday following. The company were all mounted,
and when the day came Davy said farewell to his wife and his little
boys, and rode away to the rendezvous. From there the command went
to Huntsville, Alabama, forty miles south, then on to Beaty’s Spring,
where they were joined by other mounted men, until they mustered
thirteen hundred. Davy’s company was one that stuck together, under the
same leader, Captain Jones, until they returned to Tennessee. Jones was
later sent to Congress.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account