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The executive machinery under the treaty had in the mean time been placed in operation, and at the beginning of the year 1838, 2,103 Cherokees had been removed, of whom 1,282 had been permitted to remove themselves.445

Intelligence having reached the President, however, causing apprehension that the mass of the nation did not intend to remove as required by the treaty General Winfield Scott was ordered446 to assume command of the troops already in the nation, and to collect an increased force, comprising a regiment of artillery, a regiment of infantry, and six companies of dragoons. He was further authorized, if deemed necessary, to call upon the governors of Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama for militia and volunteers, not exceeding four thousand in number, and to put the Indians in motion for the West at the earliest moment possible, following the expiration of the two years specified in the treaty.

Proclamation of General Scott.—On reaching the scene of operations General Scott issued447 a proclamation to the Cherokees in which he announced that—

The President of the United States has sent me with a powerful army to cause you, in obedience to the treaty of 1835, to join that part of your people who are already established in prosperity on the other side of the Mississippi. Unhappily the two years * * * allowed for that purpose you have suffered to pass away * * * without making any preparation to follow, and now * * * the emigration must be commenced in haste. * * * The full moon of May is already on the wane, and before another shall have passed away every Cherokee, man, woman, and child * * * must be in motion to join their brethren in the far West. * * * This is no sudden determination on the part of the President. * * * I have come to carry out that determination. My troops already occupy many positions, * * * and thousands and thousands are approaching from every quarter to render resistance and escape alike hopeless. * * * Will you then by resistance compel us to resort to arms? * * * Or will you by flight seek to hide 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.