Civil War Articles by Julian WilliamsDavy Crockett Sees Jackson & Coffee As Two Peas In A Pod
This article was compiled by Julian Williams.
When we last saw Davy Crockett and Andrew Jackson, the latter had his arm in a sling because he could not dodge all the bullets of the Benton boys, Thomas Hart and Jesse. Had it not been for Jackson's sidekick, General John Coffee (the one from Tennessee), Old Hickory might have cashed in all his chips that day in 1813 in that famous knife and gun fight.
But "oak-tall" John Coffee strode in firing and when that failed to take effect, advanced toward his enemies with drawn blade. Somehow in the fracas, Jesse Benton received a wound to one of his lower backsides (more delicately referred to as the gluteus maximus). Jesse later received untold taunting which centered around giving him names suggestive of the affected part of his anatomy and the fact that he evidently had been heading in a direction other than that suspected of a valorous opponent. However, when one is on the wrong end of something spewing forth bullets, and seeing the flying glimmer of uncontrolled cutlery, it is thought any direction is suitable if it gives some relief. Jesse evidently was seeking such - regardless of the rear exposure.
Ironically, on down the road, Andrew Jackson and Thomas Hart Benton both made senators and sat next to each other in that venerable chamber. They even became friends. In 1832, a bullet, lodged in the body of Jackson, had been removed, and was offered to Benton as a keepsake. Benton refused the artifact, saying that by "common law" it really belonged to Jackson because he had possessed it for twenty years. Benton was reminded it had been only nineteen years. Benton laughed and said that Jackson had kept it so well and close to himself that he would "waive the odd year."
And now, among contentions with other things, Davy Crockett had to contend with Andrew Jackson and Tennessee John Coffee. When he reached for his long rifle and powder horn he thought he was only going to have opposition from the Indians who had violated life at Fort Mims, Alabama. He also found out that he had to do battle with two hard-headed men, Jackson & Coffee. Jackson & Coffee were like two peas in a pod. They even owned a general store together named Jackson & Coffee. But they ran the Indian war with more success, at least by the existing standard, than they did the store.
As Davy Crockett made his way to join with this conspicuous pair, little did he think that they would view him with some contempt, giving him a station that not too far back had been in their own experience or that of one generation past. In other words, they would see him as a "backwoodsman" of the first degree. Irony again visits our story because we are told it was John Crockett, Davy's own father, a chief magistrate, who administered the session that gave Andrew Jackson his license to practice law.
No matter to David Crockett. He might be culturally backward and allergic to mathematical division but he was a prince among men. To understand that description of Mr. Crockett (not his own) we would have to look at his philosophy of life - rather refreshing but unusual. Davy Crockett viewed no man superior to himself. He himself could do whatever came up. To avoid the feeling (ours) that his ego was getting the best of him, it really wasn't. He also viewed each and every man as his equal. He saw no man so humble that he had to acquiesce to the condescending or patronizing views of any other man. Davy Crockett was an unusual human being.
When Davy Crockett first came to Colonel Coffee with a scouting report on the Indians who were all around and threatening their very existence, Coffee seemed to brush him and his report aside with little attention being given to either. This is how Davy put the experience:
"He didn't seem to mind my report a bit. This raised my dander higher than ever. But I know'd that I had to be on my best behavior, and so I kept it all to myself; though I was so mad that I was burning inside like a tar-kiln, and I wonder that the smoke had not been pouring out of me at all points. The next day, Major Gibson got in. He brought a worse tale than I had, though he stated the same facts as far as I went. This seemed to put our Colonel all in a fidget; and it convinced me clearly of one of the hateful ways of the world. When I made my report I was not believed, because I was no officer. I was no great man, but just a poor soldier. But when the same thing was reported by Major Gibson, why then it was all true as preaching, and the Colonel believed it every word."
But mind you, they had to have Davy. Cut off from supplies and daresome to send out soldier-foragers for fear they wouldn't make it back lest arrows be stuck in them, Davy again went to Colonel Coffee. This time he presented The Colonel with the proposition of allowing him to pull out of the ranks and go hunting - to provide food for the starving troops. After some thought, Colonel Coffee gave his permission but told him to be careful. He probably didn't need to tell Davy that because Davy already knew that one slip would be one too many. In fact, the Indians not only had arrows - they had bullets!
Entering the forest alone, Davy was all eyes and ears for any disaster awaiting him. He then saw a startling thing - a deer had been killed by an arrow and left. He was fearful the Indian might still be around and was using the deer for a trap. He then consoled himself with the notion the Indian could have picked him off his horse had he been equipped with a rifle.
Notwithstanding his dislike for taking the game of another hunter, he lifted the deer across his horse and knew that this would be good news for hungry soldiers:
"I could have sold it for almost any price I would have asked. But this wasn't my rule, neither in peace nor war. Whenever I had anything and saw a fellow-being suffering, I was more anxious to relieve him than to benefit myself. And this is one of the true secrets of my being a poor man to the present day. But it is my way. And while it has often left me with an empty purse, yet it has never left my heart empty of consolations which money couldn't buy; the consolation of having sometimes fed the hungry and covered the naked. I gave all my deer away except a small part, which I kept for myself, and just sufficient to make a good supper for my mess."
As Davy Crockett was dividing his find with the famished soldiers, about that same time, scared too death, also, of the massacre at Fort Mims, the people around Jacksonville, Georgia, including Mark Willcox (later a general) and his father, Captain John, were elated to find that General David Blackshear was building three forts in Telfair County, near Jacksonville. Fort McIntosh was being built at Horse Creek, toward the present town of Lumber City; Fort Clark was being built up around the Clark plantation near Blockhouse Church and Fort Adams was being built at Temperance, above China Hill.
Davy Crockett was contending with Andrew Jackson and Tennessee John Coffee presently. In a few years, in 1818, Captain John and his son, Mark, would get a taste of the twosome.
And as the soldiers ate the deer, Davy Crockett cleaned his long rifle. There was a bear out there somewhere and "you couldn't beat a bear steak if it was fixed right." The men needed something to eat and if they didn't get it, they would starve to death. That bear was good as dead.
Credits:
C.T. (Chris) Trowell for info on General John E. Coffee and General John R. Coffee;
Ed Jackson, Carl Vinson Institute for Government, for his info on John Clark;
John S.C. Abbott for David Crockett: His Life and Adventures;
Ann Carswell for letters of and notes on Gen. Mark Willcox;
Willcox Family History by Martha Albertson;
Telfair History (1807-1987);
info furnished by Gertrude Wilcox Williams and Diane Williams Rogers and others.
