Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsGeneral Mark Willcox Had Some "Excited Feelings"
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
It is little wonder that General Mark Willcox, on occasion, would say that he had "excited feelings." There was enough going on to excite him and a few more around him. In fact, these things had been going on a long time. As the mists of that fateful day at Breakfast Branch in 1818 returned to the channels of his memory, he saw again the fast approaching Indians, his own body unable to move because a rifle ball from the enemy had found its mark (no pun intended). But Mark had received hope from another enemy, Nat Statham, who lifted the teenager to his back and carried him to the Ocmulgee River and safety. They liked the same girl and had not been friendly toward each other. But after that, it is said, Mark had a close bond with the brave Nat Statham because Nat had given him a chance to grow to manhood.
Now, manhood found him at the year 1836. It seemed at times that the Indians would leave. Treaty after treaty seemed to push them farther away but the brooding red men would not really leave the honorable and sacred haunts of their forefathers. It was at these times that it seemed the red men would never leave. Mark kept thinking -- it will never work because bad ones on both sides of the river will never let well enough alone.
Mark had seen the Indians on occasion as they gave their speeches - good speeches, really, if you were looking at the situation from the Indians' point of view. The Indian was here first. He had been moved by the settlers from along the coast to the Ogeechee, then to the Oconee, then to the Ocmulgee. And now, he was being pushed beyond the Ocmulgee, to the realms of Alabama and Florida and beyond. Mark knew that out there in the grass and the swamps lay an enemy who had his pride not only hurt, but practically destroyed. Not only had the red man lost his pride; he had lost his land. Mark Willcox knew what land meant. He had seen the white man drift in from other areas to claim the wiregrass of middle and southern Georgia. His own family had done this. There was something about land that drove men crazy. Mark Willcox knew this. The Indians knew this. The Indians had even given Governor John Clark a nickname -"E-cun-naw-au-po-po-hau" - "always asking for more land!" Their land.
Mark thought about John Clark sometimes. He was known as "the man who knew no fear." But, why in the world did he want to come to Telfair County to wrestle with all that tough new ground near old Fort Clark (Blockhouse Church site) and tougher Indians on the Ocmulgee when he had plantations scattered all over Georgia? Not only John, but Gibson, his brother, came too. But now both were long gone. John had become Governor of Georgia and Gibson, with his legal mind, had gone back to the greener pastures of a more settled civilization. He really didn't blame them because down here was just Indian troubles and more Indian troubles. Not to mention other troubles.
Mark thought about strategy. He was always thinking about strategy because he was a military man. You had to have a strategy to deal with the Indians. He thought of the strategy of the Indian agent, Benjamin Hawkins and how, though well-meaning in intent, was harmful for the effects it had. Ben Hawkins had a good idea, but it turned deadly. Ben Hawkins was teaching the Indians to farm gardens and small acreage with the tools and implements of the white man. He was training them how to cultivate crops for their livelihood instead of roaming through all creation hunting wild animals. He thought that if he could get them on reduced acreage and "domesticate" them, this would make a more peaceable Indian and would open up all the vast lands to the incoming settlers. He couldn't have been further from right. About the Indians, that is.
The Indians who tried to adopt and adapt to the ways of the white man were held in disfavor by the Indians who wanted to live "the old way." Change is not easy. Some of the Indians and whites, especially, Scottish Highlanders, married. It is interesting to note that some of their games were similar. Anyway, they must have had something in common. But their children often had it tough being a product of two factions who would soon be at each other's throats. Chief William McIntosh was a good example. His father was a Scotsman and his mother was a Creek Indian. His first cousin was George Troup who became Governor of Georgia after John Clark. But Troup was one of the most determined men in Georgia to want to drive out the Indians. And by the power of his office, even defying the United States, he saw to it that they left the state in 1838. Most of them, anyway.
But it wasn't 1838 by a long shot and Mark Willcox had to deal with the here and now. It was 1836.
Mark's memory was inflamed with a recent tragedy which happened on the opposite side of the river. The Williamses had come down from North Carolina as had his own family. James Williams, from Duplin County, had settled near Jacksonville, Georgia.
He, like many others, had an agreement with the Indians which allowed him to forage his cattle on the Indians' land on the other side of the Ocmulgee. James and the men and boys with him, built a "hut" or "shack" to stay in overnight when they needed to tend the cattle. This worked fine until, for some unknown reason, some of the Indians got upset and attacked the parties in the hut, and killed James Williams. The description of the incident as recorded by Folks Huxford says that the tragedy was probably witnessed by the man's young son, Steven Williams. Ann Williams, now without her husband, took her young family back to Effingham County. On November 13, 1842, the heirs of James Williams gave power of attorney to the son, Frederick Samuel Williams, to sell the 202.5 acre tract of land in Telfair County.
It was a painful grin for Mark Willcox as he thought how similar this tragedy was to the one in 1818 when the Burch father had been killed and the Burch son scalped and left for dead. And how all that led to the Battle of Breakfast Branch where he, himself, had been brought near to death's door by the bullets of the Indians.
And here Mark Willcox was in 1836, up to his hips in more than curious alligators, cottonmouth moccasins, and crafty Indians - chasing the remaining warriors of the Chickasawachee Battle into the swamps of south Georgia and on to Florida. To add to the misery, the regular army colonels and generals just didn't seem to appreciate the efforts of The General. And when he left there to try to intercept more Indians down around the Suwanee headwaters, the governor criticized him for not being at Chickasawachee. Now, The General had plenty of horse sense and some pretty good horses, when he could get feed for them, but one man just couldn't be everywhere at the same time. The Indians were pests and it looked like everyone else was trying to be one. And it just didn't seem to be getting any better. And the blasted mosquitoes weren't on vacation either.
Credits:
Ann Carswell for letters of and notes on Gen. Mark Willcox;
Willcox Family History by Martha Albertson;
Pioneer Days Along the Ocmulgee by Fussell Chalker;
History of Telfair County (1807-1987);
Telfair Newspaper Clippings (1810-1892) by Tad Evans;
Hawkinsville Dispatch articles, local acts of Telfair County and other info furnished by Chris Trowell;
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others.
