Gen. Winfield Scott's
Address to the Cherokee Nation
(May 10, 1838)
From the Cherokee Agency, Maj.
Gen. Winfield Scott delivered an ultimatum to the Cherokees remaining in
northern
"Cherokees! The President of the United
States has sent me with a powerful army, to cause you, in obedience to the
treaty of 1835 [the Treaty of New Echota], to join that part of your people who
have already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi.
Unhappily, the two years which were allowed for the purpose, you have suffered
to pass away without following, and without making any preparation to follow;
and now, or by the time that this solemn address shall reach your distant
settlements, the emigration must be commenced in haste, but I hope without
disorder. I have no power, by granting a farther delay, to correct the error
that you have committed. The full moon of May is already on the wane; and
before another shall have passed away, every Cherokee man, woman and child in
those states must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West.
My friends! This is no sudden determination
on the part of the President, whom you and I must now obey. By the treaty, the
emigration was to have been completed on or before the 23rd of this month; and
the President has constantly kept you warned, during the two years allowed,
through all his officers and agents in this country, that the treaty would be
enforced.
I am come to carry out that determination. My
troops already occupy many positions in the country that you are to abandon,
and thousands and thousands are approaching from every quarter, to render
resistance and escape alike hopeless. All those troops, regular and militia,
are your friends. Receive them and confide in them as such. Obey them when they
tell you that your can remain no longer in this country. Soldiers are as
kind-hearted as brave, and the desire of every one of us is to execute our
painful duty in mercy. We are commanded by the President to act towards you in
that spirit, and much is also the wish of the whole people of
Chiefs, head-men and warriors! Will you then,
by resistance, compel us to resort to arms? God forbid! Or will you, by flight,
seek to hid yourselves in mountains and forests, and thus oblige us to hunt you
down? Remember that, in pursuit, it may be impossible to avoid conflicts. The
blood of the white man or the blood of the red man may be spilt, and, if spilt,
however accidentally, it may be impossible for the discreet and humane among
you, or among us, to prevent a general war and carnage. Think of this, my
Cherokee brethren! I am an old warrior, and have been present at many a scene
of slaughter, but spare me, I beseech you, the horror of witnessing the
destruction of the Cherokees.
Do not, I invite you, even wait for the close
approach of the troops; but make such preparations for emigration as you can
and hasten to this place, to Ross's Landing or to Gunter's Landing, where you
all will be received in kindness by officers selected for the purpose. You will
find food for all and clothing for the destitute at either of those places, and
thence at your ease and in comfort be transported to your new homes, according
to the terms of the treaty.
This is the address of a warrior to warriors.
May his entreaties by kindly received and may the God of both prosper the
Americans and Cherokees and preserve them long in peace and friendship with
each other!
Source:
Edward J. Cashin (ed.), A Wilderness Still The Cradle of Nature: Frontier