To the
Great and Illustrious Chiefs
of the
Creek and other Indian Nations.

Hear! O Ye Brave Chiefs and Warriors of the Creek and other Indian Nations.

The Great King George, our beloved Father, has long wished to assuage the sorrows of his warlike Indian Children, and to assist them in regaining their Rights and Possessions from their base and perfidious oppressors.

The trouble our Father has had in conquering his Enemies beyond the great waters, he has brought to a glorious conclusion; and Peace is again restored amongst all the Nations of Europe.

The desire therefore which he has long felt of assisting you, and the assurance which he has given you of his powerful protection, he has now chosen us his Chiefs by Sea and Land to carry into effectual execution.

Know then, O Chiefs and Warriors, that in obedience to the Great Spirit which directs the soul of our mighty Father, we come with a power which it were vain for all the People of the United States in attempt to oppose.-Behold the great waters covered with our Ships, from which will go forth an Army of Warriors as numerous as the whole Indian Nations; inured to the toils and hardships of war-accustomed to triumph over all opposition-the constant favorites of Victory.

The same principle of justice which led our Father to wage a war of twenty years in favor of the oppressed Nations of Europe, animates him now in support of his Indian Children. And by the efforts of his Warriors, he hopes to obtain for them the restoration of those lands of which the People of the Bad Spirit have basely robbed them.

We promised you by our Talk of last June, that great Fleets and Armies were coming to attack our foes; and you will have heard of our having triumphantly taken their Capital City of Washington, as well as many other places-beaten their Armies in battle-and spread terror over the heart of their country.

Come forth, then, ye brave Chiefs and Warriors, as one family, and join the British Standard-the signal of union between the powerful and the oppressed,-the symbol of Justice led on by Victory.

If you want covering to protect yourselves, your wives, and your children, against the winter's cold, -come to us and we will clothe you. If you want arms and ammunition to defend yourselves against your oppressors, -come to us and we will provide you. Call around you the whole of our Indian brethren,-and we will show them the same tokens of our brotherly love.

And what think you we ask in return for this bounty of our great Father, which we his chosen Warriors have so much pleasure in offering to you? Nothing more than that you should assist us manfully in regaining your lost lands,-the lands of your fore-fathers,-from the common enemy, the wicked People of the United States; and that you should hand down those lands to your children hereafter, as we hope we shall now be able to deliver them up to you, their lawful owners. And you may rest assured, that whenever we have forced our Enemies to ask for a Peace, our good Father will on no account forget the welfare of his much-loved Indian Children.

Again then, brave Chiefs and Warriors of the Indian Nations, at the mandate of the Great Sprit we call upon you to come forth arrayed in battle, to fight the great fight of Justice, and recover your long-lost freedom. Animate your hearts in this sacred cause, with us as the sons of one common Father, -and a great and glorious victory will shortly crown our exertions.

Given under our Hands and Seals, on board His Britannic Majesty's Ship Tennant, off Appalachicola [sic],
the 5th of December, 1814.
[image of seal] (Signed) Alexander Cochrane,
Vice Admiral and Commander in Chief
of the Fleet on the North American
and Jamaica Stations.
[image of seal] (Signed) John Keane,
Major-General, Commanding the Forces