1836.
General Cass, a statesman with whose character the present generation is familiar, was Secretary of War. On him devolved the duty of controlling the movements of the army. Unfortunately for him and for mankind, he appears to have regarded moral and politicalduties as separate and distinct in their character. He evidently believed that no moral turpitude was attached to movements of the army, and the outrages committed upon the Indians and Exiles, in order to compel them to emigrate to the western country. He ordered Major General Scott to the field, as Commanding General of the army in Florida (Jan. 20), with authority to call on the Governors of South Carolina, Georgia and Alabama for such troops as he should deem necessary. General Eustis, commanding at Charleston, South Carolina, was directed to repair at once to Florida with such forces as were stationed in that city and Savannah, and to accept the services of such number of volunteers as he might deem necessary under the circumstances.
Major General Gaines, commanding the western military department, holding his head quarters at New Orleans, hearing of the sad fate of Major Dade and his regiment, embarked at once with a brigade of eleven hundred men, and reached “Fort Brooke” on the tenth of January. On the thirteenth, he took up his line of march for “Fort King,” and on the nineteenth, encamped upon the same ground which Major Dade had occupied on the night of the twenty-seventh of December. The next day they took possession of the field of massacre, and buried the bodies of those who had fallen in that unfortunate conflict. He then proceeded to Fort King, where he arrived on the twenty-second. Leaving Fort King on the twenty-fifth, he took a more westerly route back toward Fort Brooke.
On the twenty-seventh, as he was seeking a place at which to cross the Withlacoochee, the allied forces opened a fire upon his advanced guard from the opposite bank. The firing increased as other forces were brought into action, and continued for more than two hours, ceasing with the nightfall.
There were resident at different points upon the Withlacoochee many families of Exiles. Their commander was named “Ino” of whom General Jessup speaks in respectful terms. He is said to have been their principal counselor, and one of the most importantchiefs among the Exiles. He, and such of his men as could be collected, hastily joined the allied forces already in the field, and shared in the dangers of that and of several following days. Both parties bivouacked upon the field, on the different sides of the river, and at daylight the next morning every man had his arms in readiness for renewing the conflict.
At sunrise, General Gaines moved down the river three miles, where he expected to find a suitable ford; but on reaching it, the Indians and Exiles opened a brisk fire upon his men. Lieutenant Izard of the dragoons, endeavoring to rally his men to ascertain the possibility of fording the stream, fell by a shot from the opposite bank.
Finding it impossible to ford the river, attempts were made to construct rafts; but the fire upon the men employed was so galling that they were ordered back out of the range of the enemies’ shot. During these movements, the Exiles, understanding the English language, kept up a conversation with the whites on the opposite side of the river, and tauntingly defied them. General Gaines was too well acquainted with the Indian mode of warfare to attempt a retreat, under the circumstances with which he was surrounded. He at once dispatched an express to General Clinch, who was at Fort Drane, directing that officer to repair as soon as possible to his relief with such troops as he could at the moment bring with him. General Gaines soon after retired with his forces into a pine barren, half a mile from the river, threw up a breastwork of logs for the protection of his men, and awaited reinforcements.
The allied forces were estimated by General Gaines at fifteen hundred, though subsequent reports show they did not exceed five hundred Indians and two hundred negroes. He was immediately invested in his fortified camp, but he coolly awaited the arrival of General Clinch. As the enemy crossed the river in large forces, and became more bold in their advances toward the breastwork, their fire became more annoying. In a few days his provisionswere nearly exhausted, and his men appeared to feel unsafe, and expressed solicitude for the arrival of General Clinch.
On the first of February, the allied forces made a vigorous attack upon the fortified camp, but they were repulsed after an hour of steady firing. On this day, General Gaines directed all the corn in the camp to be collected and dealt out to the men in equal quantities. It gave to eachone pint. On the third, they commenced killing horses, and appropriating the flesh to sustain the lives of the men. The fire of the allied forces was kept up on the fourth and fifth, while the troops had nothing but horse flesh for food, and no tidings had yet arrived from General Clinch. At this time great enthusiasm prevailed among the allies. Their women were at the camp, a mile distant, casting balls, cooking food for the men, and doing what they could to cheer them on to victory, which they began to regard as almost certain. In the meantime, the situation of General Gaines and his army was constantly becoming more critical. His troops were depressed with a sense of their situation; while the allies were becoming hourly more enthusiastic. They had destroyed Dade’s regiment; had maintained a severe battle with General Clinch in the open forest. They knew their power, and that any attempt to retreat from them would be fatal; while it would be impossible for our troops to remain much longer in camp, as their stock of horses must soon fail.
Twenty-one years had passed since General Gaines transmitted a letter to the War Department, giving the first official notice that the Exiles were collecting at “Blount’s Fort.” He then despised the friendless people who were seeking liberty. He had himself detailed Colonel Clinch and the regiment under his command, attended by Creek Indians, with General Jackson’s orders “to destroy the fort, and return the slaves to their rightful owners.” He then called the Exiles “outlaws,” supposed them incapable of taking care of themselves, even if in full possession of their liberty. But he and his gallant army were now surrounded by them and their friends, who were killing his men whenever theyexposed themselves to view. On the fifth of March, he had lost four men killed and thirty wounded.
A circumstance occurred on the night of the fifth of February, which has never been fully explained. About ten o’clock in the evening, John Cæsar, one of the Exiles residing at Micanopy, an old man and somewhat of a privileged character among both Indians and Exiles, advanced in the darkness near the camp of General Gaines, and hailed the nearest sentinel on duty. Speaking in good English, the sentinel supposed him a messenger from General Clinch; but, on learning his true character, he was inquired of as to his object. He declared that the allies were tired of fighting, and wished to come in and shake hands with General Gaines and his men. He was told to come in the morning with a white flag.
Cæsar returned to the allied camp and reported his conversation. He had spoken to our troops as if authorized, while all the chiefs and head-men denied his authority, and many were for inflicting upon him the penalty of immediate death for this unauthorized act. Osceola, now raised to the dignity of a chief, interposed to save him. He had headed the party who put to death Charley E. Mathler, a brother chief, for consenting to go West, and with his own hands had scattered the gold found on his person, declaring it to be “the price of the red man’s blood:” While now a black man, one of their “allies,” had committed a far greater impropriety, he interposed to save him. All agreed that their honor had been pledged, although Cæsar had no authority for his conduct.[85]
The next day some of their warriors left in disgust, after it had been determined to send in a flag of truce, according to Cæsar’s agreement. But those who remained to carry out the arrangement, formed at twelve o’clock into line, some forty rods in the rear of General Gaines’s camp. Three of their number, gaily dressed,advanced with a white flag. Adjutant Barrow of the Louisiana Volunteers, met them. Osceola told him that he desired a talk with General Gaines.
While these arrangements were going forward, General Clinch arrived in sight of the Indians, on his way to relieve General Gaines. Seeing the enemy thus drawn up, facing the camp, he at once deployed his column, and opened a fire upon them. The allies supposing themselves to have been betrayed fled precipitately, and the forces under General Clinch united with those under General Gaines.
It is said that up to the time the allies received the fire of General Clinch, they had not lost a man. That fire killed two Indians and one negro, and wounded five others.
One of the Exiles, residing upon the Withlacoochee, who, after the compact with General Jessup in 1838, surrendered, with others, and emigrated West, stated that he assisted Osceola in counting the sticks handed in by each warrior engaged in this affair, and there were seven hundred present; and another bunch of sticks numbering one hundred had been sent by a party who expected to reach the scene of action the next day, when a general and determined attack was to have been made. But their forces disbanded upon the arrival of General Clinch, and they separated to their different homes.
The officers under General Gaines charged the allies with bad faith, intending to massacre them under pretense of treating with them; while the allies charged our troops with a treacherous effort to shoot them while their flag of truce was floating over them, and they engaged in peaceful negotiation.
General Gaines proceeded to Fort Brooke, and thence returned to New Orleans; while General Clinch conducted his troops back to Fort Drane.
General disappointment in regard to the continuance of the War—Its Difficulties—Feelings of the People of Florida—Letter of their Delegate in Congress—Letter of General Jessup to F. P. Blair—President Jackson’s order in regard to it—Secretary of War orders General Scott to Washington, and General Jessup to take command—General Call in temporary command of the Army—Court of Inquiry—Osceola attacks Micanopy—Major Heilman’s gallant Defense—General Jessup meets General Call at Tallahasse—Refuses to assume Command—Major Pearce’s Expedition to Fort Drane—Meets Osceola with an equal force—Severe Contest—Major Pearce retires to Micanopy—General Jessup’s contract with Creeks—Its Character—Resumes barbarous practice of Enslaving Prisoners—General Call’s Expedition to Withlacoochee—Its Failure—Further attempts to destroy Stores on that River—Armstrong’s Battle—Another severe Battle—Another Expedition to Withlacoochee—Its Failure—Skill and Valor of the Exiles and Indians—Loss of Creeks—They become Disheartened.
General disappointment in regard to the continuance of the War—Its Difficulties—Feelings of the People of Florida—Letter of their Delegate in Congress—Letter of General Jessup to F. P. Blair—President Jackson’s order in regard to it—Secretary of War orders General Scott to Washington, and General Jessup to take command—General Call in temporary command of the Army—Court of Inquiry—Osceola attacks Micanopy—Major Heilman’s gallant Defense—General Jessup meets General Call at Tallahasse—Refuses to assume Command—Major Pearce’s Expedition to Fort Drane—Meets Osceola with an equal force—Severe Contest—Major Pearce retires to Micanopy—General Jessup’s contract with Creeks—Its Character—Resumes barbarous practice of Enslaving Prisoners—General Call’s Expedition to Withlacoochee—Its Failure—Further attempts to destroy Stores on that River—Armstrong’s Battle—Another severe Battle—Another Expedition to Withlacoochee—Its Failure—Skill and Valor of the Exiles and Indians—Loss of Creeks—They become Disheartened.
When General Scott took command of the army in Florida, the Administration and the country confidently expected that he would bring the war to an immediate close. There was but little known of the combined strength, or the determined purpose, of the Seminoles and Exiles. They were regarded as few in number, and were supposed to be fighting without any very definite purpose. The difficulties of collecting an army in that territory, procuring supplies and arranging a campaign, were great; and the most effective mode for penetrating the strongholds of the allied forces could only be ascertained by experience.
The inhabitants of Florida had urged on the war. They heldtheir enemy in great contempt. They were slaveholders, accustomed to look upon the negro as an inferior being, possessed of very limited reasoning powers, and devoid of the nobler sentiments which adorn the human character. They do not appear to have supposed the African capable of noble aspirations, or of manly effort. They were also accustomed to look upon the Indians with about the same degree of contempt. Regarding the war as commenced and prosecuted for their own benefit, they felt authorized in some degree to dictate the manner in which it should be conducted.
General Scott, bred to the profession of arms, and conscious of that self-respect which was due to an officer of his rank, paid but little attention to their attempts at interference with his official duties. This was regarded as offensive, and the delegate in Congress from that Territory demanded his withdrawal from the command.
General Jessup, at that time in command of the army in Georgia, operating against the Creek Indians, in order to compel them to emigrate West, also wrote a letter (June 20), addressed to a private citizen of Washington City,[86]criticising General Scott’s policy. This letter was placed in the hands of President Jackson, who, after reading it, indorsed upon it as follows:
“Referred to the Secretary of War, that he forthwith order General Scott to this place, in order that an inquiry may be had into the unaccountable delays in prosecuting the Creek war, and the failure of the campaign in Florida. Let General Jessup assume the command.[87]A. J.”
“Referred to the Secretary of War, that he forthwith order General Scott to this place, in order that an inquiry may be had into the unaccountable delays in prosecuting the Creek war, and the failure of the campaign in Florida. Let General Jessup assume the command.[87]
A. J.”
It is very evident that General Jackson, when speaking of the “unaccountable delays” of a few months, had little expectation that under the direction of his most favorite officer the war would continue during his life, and that he would leave another generation involved in hostilities, for the purpose of enslaving persons whom he had ordered to be “returned to their masters” twenty years previously.But it is also apparent that neither the President, nor Congress, nor the officers of the army, had any just conceptions of that love of liberty which nerved the Exiles to effort, and stimulated them to encounter every hardship and privation, and suffering and danger, rather than be delivered over to degrading bondage.
Congress, participating in the general astonishment at the failure of our arms to conquer a handful of Indians and negroes, adopted a resolution, calling on the President for information touching that subject. In answer to this resolution, General Cass, Secretary of War, transmitted voluminous papers to Congress, which may be found in the Executive Documents of the second session, Twenty-fourth Congress, from which much of our information is derived.
The Secretary of War issued the order for General Scott to retire, and another for General Jessup to assume the command.
A court of inquiry was duly convened for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of delay under General Scott.[88]
Several months now passed without any important incident to mark the progress of hostilities. As the summer approached and the sickly season commenced, General Scott left Florida, and the command of the army, for the time, devolved on General C. K. Call. The allied forces seemed to have retired to the interior, and were supposed to be engaged in raising corn and other provisions, for their support during the coming winter, and all appeared quiet.
Osceola, after the death of Thompson at Fort King, had become a master-spirit among the Seminoles. He had conducted bravely during the battle with General Clinch, and equally so in the several conflicts with General Gaines, and had been raised to the dignity of a chief. He now conceived, and executed, one of the boldest movements ever made by savages against a fortified post manned by regular troops.
On the ninth of June, with three hundred warriors, some sixtyof whom were negroes, he attacked the stockade at Micanopy, garrisoned by an equal force of disciplined troops, under the command of Major Heilman. The assault was maintained with determined obstinacy for an hour and a half, the assailants boldly facing the artillery, which was brought to bear upon them; and when they left the scene of action, they carried away their dead and wounded.
Although this attack proved unsuccessful, it gave the country to understand, in some degree, the character of the enemy with whom our Government was contending.
Major Heilman, in his report, regrets the severe wound of Capt. Lee; but says nothing of his other loss, or that of the allies, either in killed or wounded. He himself died soon after, from excessive fatigue during the action.
Soon after this attack the allies became again active, making their appearance at various points on the frontier, again spreading devastation wherever they went.
Major General Jessup continued in Georgia, engaged in constraining the Creeks to emigrate. In this he was very successful, and for that reason was ordered to take command of the army in Florida. With this view he repaired to Tallahasse, where he met General Call, who laid before him a plan, which he had conceived, for an expedition to Withlacoochee. General Jessup, not having received his instructions for prosecuting the campaign, refused to assume the command at that time, leaving General Call to carry out his contemplated movement.
General Clinch owned a plantation some twenty miles northwesterly of Fort King. During the early part of the season he had encamped there with his troops, and planted sugar-cane, and other crops; and, being occupied as a military post, he gave it the name of “Fort Drane.”
In consequence of the constant depredations committed by the enemy, he was directed to fall back to an Indian town called “Micanopy,” which thereby became an outpost. He left Fort Drane in July, when his crops were growing luxuriantly; andOsceola, being in the vicinity with about a hundred followers, consisting of Indians and Exiles, took possession of this plantation, and occupied it with apparent pride, at having driven its veteran owner back farther towards the settlements.
On the twelfth of August, Major Pearce, being in command at Micanopy, left that station, with one piece of artillery and one hundred and ten regular troops, for the purpose of attacking the allies at Fort Drane. He reached the plantation, situated eight miles from Micanopy, at sunrise, and commenced the attack. Osceola and his followers fell back to a hommock, where they made a stand. The number of men engaged were about equal; Major Pearce and Osceola were known as gallant warriors; of course, the battle was warm and well contested.
After an engagement of an hour and a quarter, Major Pearce fell back; and the allied forces showing no disposition to follow him into the open fields, he retreated to Micanopy, leaving them in possession of the field of battle. Major Pearce’s loss was reported to be one killed and sixteen wounded.
Before leaving Alabama, John A. Campbell, aid to General Jessup, acting under direction of that officer, entered into a written contract with certain Creek chiefs and warriors. Being somewhat extraordinary in its character, and rendered still more so by the construction given to it by the Administration and the Indians, it is deemed worthy of being inserted. The following is the language of the instrument:
“The State of Alabama, Tallapoosa County.This contract, entered into between the United States of America on the first part, and the Creek tribe of Indians on the other part, Witnesseth: That upon the consideration hereafter mentioned, the party of the first part agrees to advance to the party of the second part the sum of thirty-one thousand nine hundred dollars, to be applied to the payment of the debts due by the Creek Nation of Indians. And the party of the second parthereby covenants, and agrees to furnish from their tribe, the number of from six hundred to one thousand men, for service against the Seminoles, to be continued in service until the same shall be conquered; they to receive the pay and emoluments, and equipments, of soldiers in the army of the United States, and suchplunder as they may take from the Seminoles.”“And the party of the second part releases, transfers and assigns to the party of the first part, all their right, title, claim, interest and demand in and to the annuity granted by the party of the first part to the party of the second part, for the year 1837. In witness whereof, I, John A. Campbell, on the part of the United States, do hereby set my hand and affix my seal, the 28th of August, 1836.”“JOHN A. CAMPBELL, [L.S.]”“In witness whereof, we, the Chiefs and Head-men of said tribe, on the behalf of said Nation, do hereby set our hands and affix our seals, the 28th of August, 1836.”“HYPOTHLE YOHOLA, his X mark, [L.S.]LITTLE DOCTOR, his X mark, [L.S.]TUCKABATCHEE MICO, his X mark, [L.S.]YELCO HAYO, his X mark,[L.S.]”“Attest: EDWARDHAWICK,BARENTDUBOIS.”
“The State of Alabama, Tallapoosa County.
This contract, entered into between the United States of America on the first part, and the Creek tribe of Indians on the other part, Witnesseth: That upon the consideration hereafter mentioned, the party of the first part agrees to advance to the party of the second part the sum of thirty-one thousand nine hundred dollars, to be applied to the payment of the debts due by the Creek Nation of Indians. And the party of the second parthereby covenants, and agrees to furnish from their tribe, the number of from six hundred to one thousand men, for service against the Seminoles, to be continued in service until the same shall be conquered; they to receive the pay and emoluments, and equipments, of soldiers in the army of the United States, and suchplunder as they may take from the Seminoles.”
“And the party of the second part releases, transfers and assigns to the party of the first part, all their right, title, claim, interest and demand in and to the annuity granted by the party of the first part to the party of the second part, for the year 1837. In witness whereof, I, John A. Campbell, on the part of the United States, do hereby set my hand and affix my seal, the 28th of August, 1836.”
“JOHN A. CAMPBELL, [L.S.]”
“In witness whereof, we, the Chiefs and Head-men of said tribe, on the behalf of said Nation, do hereby set our hands and affix our seals, the 28th of August, 1836.”
“HYPOTHLE YOHOLA, his X mark, [L.S.]LITTLE DOCTOR, his X mark, [L.S.]TUCKABATCHEE MICO, his X mark, [L.S.]YELCO HAYO, his X mark,[L.S.]”
“Attest: EDWARDHAWICK,BARENTDUBOIS.”
The real character of this contract will at once be seen when the reader shall be reminded, that the laws of the United States had, in the most specific manner, prescribed the amount to be paid each man who should enter the military service of the Government, and the manner and time of payment; nor had there been any act passed enabling General Jessup, or the Secretary of War, or the President, to employ any other persons in the army except those enlisted in the ordinary mode; yet this contract was duly approved by the War Department, at that time under the direction of General Cass. That provision which gives to the Creek warriors suchplunder as they might capture, has been denounced as “piratical;” and we are constrained to admit there is some degree of proprietyin this denunciation, when we find that General Jessup, by whose orders it was framed, and General Cass, Secretary of War, who approved it, and the Creek Warriors who signed it, all understood that the Creeks were tohold as slaves all the negroes they might capture, while engaged in the service of the United States. It was this construction which subsequently involved the War Department in difficulties, from which it has never been able to extricate itself.
The barbarous practice of enslaving prisoners captured in war, had been repudiated by all Christian nations for more than two hundred years. The civilization of the sixteenth century had brought that atrocious practice into disrepute, which was now resorted to and renewed in the nineteenth, by this American Republic, so boastful of its refinement and Christianity. While the laws of the United States provided for an ignominious punishment of those who seize the stupid heathen of Africa and enslave them, our nation was taxing its resources, employing our army and paying out its funds, to employ heathen allies to capture and enslave a people who for generations had been free.
On the nineteenth of September, General Armstrong, with a brigade of twelve hundred Tennessee militia, was ordered to Suwanee “Old Town.” Here he was met by a detachment of two hundred Creek warriors, under Major Brown, and a battalion of Florida militia, under Colonel Warren; and with this formidable army, Governor Call moved upon Withlacoochee. On coming near the stream he encamped.
During the darkness of night the allies fired upon his troops, and kept them in a state of alarm. In the morning it was found that theriver had suddenly risen, which rendered it difficult for the troops to cross; and this gallant army returned to Fort Drane for supplies without firing a gun or seeing an enemy, leaving the allies in peaceful possession of the country.
But the Indians and Exiles now found themselves almost daily threatened in their own fastnesses. Along the Withlacoochee weremany small villages and plantations occupied almost exclusively by Exiles. Large crops of corn and other vegetables had been raised there during the season, and it was known that stores of provisions were located upon various islands surrounded by the swamps lying along that river, and in the great morass called the “Wahoo Swamp;” while it was equally known that many families of the Exiles were residing in that vicinity. It was therefore deemed important to destroy those villages and obtain the supplies which they contained.
General Armstrong, with five hundred mounted men, while marching toward these villages on the fourteenth of November, encountered a strong force consisting of Indians and Exiles. The conflict was spirited. In forty minutes, eleven of Armstrong’s men fell before the deadly aim of the allies. He, however, drove them from the field, but they took with them their dead and wounded. This fact with savages is regarded the only test of success in battle: they never acknowledge defeat while they hold possession of their dead and wounded.
But the time drew near when they were constrained to acknowledge adefeat. On the eighteenth of November, a regiment of Tennesseeans, consisting of about five hundred, encountered a body of the enemy whose numbers are not given by any officer or historian whom we have consulted. They were posted in a hommock. The Tennesseeans were the assailing party. The battle continued more than two hours, when the allies fled, leaving upon the field twenty-five Indians and Africans slain in battle; while the loss of the assailants was still larger. This was the best contested battle which occurred during the campaign of 1836, and the first in which the allies left their dead in possession of our troops.
This defeat appears to have taught the allies to be cautious, and stimulated a desire to wipe out the impression which their defeat was calculated to make upon the public mind.
General Call having formed a junction with Major Pearce of the regular service, with nearly three hundred regular troops under hiscommand, making in all more than one thousand men, entered the great Wahoo Swamp on the twenty-first of November. Their intention was to obtain the provisions supposed to be deposited in the villages situated upon the islands in that extensive morass. But they were attacked soon after entering the swamp. The fire at first was principally concentrated upon the Creek Indians, the mercenary troops employed by General Jessup. Major Pearce hastened to their relief. The fire then became general. The men were in a swamp which was nearly covered with water, and much of it with a thick underbrush. After maintaining the battle for a time, the Indians fell back, crossed the river, and formed upon its bank, each man protected by a log or tree. The river was turbid and appeared difficult to pass. As our troops approached it, the fire upon them was severe. Captain Moniac, of the Creek warriors, was killed while examining the stream to ascertain if it could be forded. Others were wounded. The allied force appeared determined to make their final stand upon this stream. Behind them were their wives and children, their provisions, their homes and firesides.
General Call and his troops now obtained an opportunity of fighting the enemy; a privilege which he had long sought, though he embraced it under disadvantageous circumstances. Our troops had great inducements to advance, but the dangers corresponded with the advantages to be gained.[89]General Call, however, concluded to withdraw; and after sustaining a heavy loss he retreated and left the allies in possession of the field. They very correctly, feeling that their success depended greatly upon the position they had taken, did not pursue General Call, who, with his whole force, retired to Volusi to recruit. His loss was fifteen killed and thirty wounded.
It is certain the allies manifested great skill in selecting their placeof attack, and the position for their final stand. Their success greatly encouraged them, and the gallantry displayed by the Exiles served to increase their influence with the Indians.
The Creek warriors had shown themselves very efficient in this expedition, but they suffered severely; and at no subsequent period did they maintain their former character as warriors. They had been greatly stimulated in this conflict with the expectation of capturing women and children, whom they expected to seize and sell as slaves. But so far as that object was concerned, their warriors who fell in this battle died ingloriously, and the result discouraged the survivors.
General Jessup assumes command of the Army—Number of Troops in the Field—His Advantages—His energetic Policy—Orders Crawford to the Withlacoochee—Capture of fifty two Women and Children—They are held asplunderby the Creeks—Wild Cat and Louis attack Fort Mellon—Severe Battle—Allies retire with their dead and wounded—Death of Captain Mellon—Our loss in killed and wounded—Caulfield’s Expedition to A-ha-popka Lake—Capture of nine Women and Children—Expedition to Big Cypress Swamp—Capture of twenty-five Women and Children—General Jessup seeks Negotiation—Abram and Alligator meet him preparatory to a more general Council—Several Chiefs agree upon terms of Capitulation—Difficulty in regard to Exiles—Jessup yields—Express Stipulation for their Safety—Indians and Exile come into Tampa Bay—Are Registered for Emigration—General Jessup discharges Militia and Volunteers—Transports prepared—He declares the War at an end, and asks to be relieved from active duty.
General Jessup assumes command of the Army—Number of Troops in the Field—His Advantages—His energetic Policy—Orders Crawford to the Withlacoochee—Capture of fifty two Women and Children—They are held asplunderby the Creeks—Wild Cat and Louis attack Fort Mellon—Severe Battle—Allies retire with their dead and wounded—Death of Captain Mellon—Our loss in killed and wounded—Caulfield’s Expedition to A-ha-popka Lake—Capture of nine Women and Children—Expedition to Big Cypress Swamp—Capture of twenty-five Women and Children—General Jessup seeks Negotiation—Abram and Alligator meet him preparatory to a more general Council—Several Chiefs agree upon terms of Capitulation—Difficulty in regard to Exiles—Jessup yields—Express Stipulation for their Safety—Indians and Exile come into Tampa Bay—Are Registered for Emigration—General Jessup discharges Militia and Volunteers—Transports prepared—He declares the War at an end, and asks to be relieved from active duty.
On the eighth of December, 1836, Major General Jessup joined General Call at Volusi, and relieved that officer from the further command of the army in Florida. He had now eight thousand troops in the field well provided in all the material of war. They were in fine spirits, and he was in all respects prepared to push the campaign with energy. He had all the advantages which experience of the previous campaign had furnished, and endeavored to profit by it. He was careful to order no large body of troops, nor any artillery, into the uninhabited portions of the country. He employed only light troops for such purposes. His first attention was directed to the settlements of Exiles on the Withlacoochee who had up to that time defied our army. They had been theobject of frequent attacks, and the scene of as frequent defeats. He directed a battalion of mounted men under Major Crawford, accompanied by two battalions of Creek Indians, to make a sudden descent upon those villages. But the allies had removed their provisions, and most of the people had abandoned the settlements. A few only were left. The warriors fled to the swamps; and the troops seized and secured fifty-two women and children. These were the first prisoners captured during the war; and General Jessup made a formal report of this important victory. It was a victory over defenseless women and helpless children, obtained by the aid of Creek Indians, who claimed both women and children asplunderunder their contract. But this victory stimulated the allies to strike in retaliation for the injury thus inflicted upon non-combatants.
1837.
Fort Mellon, on the south side of a small body of water called Lake Monroe, some thirty miles west of the Atlantic, was supposed by the allies to be in a weak condition, and they determined to surprise it. Preparatory to this, however, they sent spies to examine and report the condition of the troops at that station. Their report being favorable, “Wild Cat,” acting in conjunction with Louis, the slave of Pacheco, who, it will be recollected, concerted the massacre of Major Dade, made their arrangements for an assault. With a force of two hundred and fifty warriors the allies invested this fort, which they supposed to be garrisoned by not more than one hundred men. Unfortunately for the assailants, however, other troops arrived after the Indian spies had left the vicinity of the fort, and the allied forces unexpectedly met superior numbers protected by defenses which are always regarded as safe against savage foes. The attack was made with great determination, and continued for three hours, when the assailants retired without leaving either dead or wounded upon the field.
Lieutenant Colonel Faning commanded our troops, numbering some three hundred men. A steamboat was lying in the lake, near the fort, having a field-piece on board. This was also brought tobear upon the left wing of the allied forces, so as to completely drive them from that part of the field.
Captain Mellon, who had entered the military service of the United States in 1812, fell early in the action. Midshipman McLaughlin and seventeen others were wounded; some of them mortally.
It may well be doubted, whether history furnishes an instance in which savage troops have beset a superior number of disciplined forces in a fortified position with such daring and obstinacy as that which was manifested at Fort Mellon.
There was a small settlement of Exiles and Indians upon the south side of A-ha-popka Lake, situated about the twenty-eighth degree of north latitude, and nearly equi-distant between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. On the twenty-second of January, Lieutenant Colonel Caulfield with his regiment was ordered to visit that settlement, attended by the Creek Indians. A sub-chief of the Seminoles, named Osuchee, with his band of warriors, hastened to the defense of their friends, as soon as they ascertained the object of our troops; but they were unable to resist the large force under Caulfield. Osuchee and three warriors were killed; and nine Exiles, all of them women and children, were taken prisoners.
All the disposable forces under General Jessup were now put into active employ. With the main body of the army he penetrated far into the Indian territory. His report, dated at Fort Armstrong, February seventh, after stating the commencement of his march, says, “On approaching the Thla-pac-hatchee, on the morning of the twenty-seventh ultimo, the numerous herds of cattle feeding on the prairies, and the numerous recent trails in various directions, indicated the presence of the enemy.” He goes on to say: “On the twenty-eighth, the army moved forward, and occupied a strong position on ‘Ta-hop-ka-liga’ Lake,where several hundred head of cattle were obtained.” These immense herds of cattle show to some extent the means of subsistence which the allies possessed. The commander of our army, however, proceeds to state that “the enemy was found on the Hatchee-lustee, in andnear the great Cypress Swamp, and gallantly attacked. Lieutenant Chambers of the Alabama Volunteers, by a rapid charge, succeeded in capturing the horses and baggage of the enemy, with twenty-five Indians and negroes, principally women and children.” This language was novel in the military reports of our officers. A charge made by a body of armed troops upon horses, women and children, is termed by the commanding General “gallant.”
The next day one of the prisoners was directed to return to the two principal chiefs, Abraham, with whom the reader is already acquainted, and Alligator, who commanded the Indians, with a message of peace, desiring them to meet the commanding General in council.
Abraham was, perhaps, the most experienced and best informed chief in the allied forces. He had lived at Micanopy; and his familiar acquaintance with the treaty of Payne’s Landing, and the supplemental treaty entered into at the West, qualified him to exert a powerful influence with the Exiles.[90]The Indians, also, appear to have held him in the highest respect.
Alligator was an active warrior and chief. He was a bold leader; but was supposed to be much under the influence of Micanopy, a chief somewhat advanced in years, said to be very corpulent, and too indolent to be otherwise than pacific in his desires. It is related of him, that he was actually carried, by the younger and more enthusiastic warriors, into battle on one occasion, in the early part of the war. It is not unlikely that both Abraham and Alligator were influenced in some degree by Micanopy to visit General Jessup, and make arrangements to hold a conference with him, at Fort Dade, on the eighteenth of February.
Lieut. Colonel Henderson, of the United States Marines, serving on land, also made a very successful excursion into the IndianCountry, with a pretty large force of mounted men and friendly Indians. In his report, he states the capture “of twenty-three negroes, young and old; over a hundred ponies, with packs on about fifty of them; together with all their clothes, blankets, and other baggage.” In this expedition, his loss was two men killed and five wounded.
On the first of March, the troops under the command of Major General Jessup had captured one hundred and nine women and children of the Exiles, and some fifteen belonging to the Indians. The fortunes of war now bore hard upon those friendless and persecuted people; but not a warrior had fallen into the hands of our troops. It is a remarkable fact, that in all the conflicts which had occurred, no Seminole Indian nor negro warrior had surrendered, even to superior numbers. They had fought gallantly, they had died freely; but they preferred death to that slavery which they knew would follow a surrender.
General Jessup now ordered the cessation of hostilities, in the hope of getting the Indian and negro chiefs to assemble in council, in order to negotiate for their emigration West. After his interview with Abraham and Alligator, he appears to have felt confident of success. The Exiles and Indians also began to feel that it would soon be necessary for them to plant corn, potatoes and pumpkins, for their support during the coming season. Every effort was made by General Jessup to acquaint the different chiefs with this arrangement, and to induce them to come in, or send by some sub-chief or warrior an expression of their willingness to emigrate to the western country.
Agreeably to these arrangements, a few of their principal men met General Jessup at Fort Dade, near the Withlacoochee, on the sixth of March. Only five chiefs were present, either in person or by proxy. The principal chiefs in attendance were Halatoochie and Jumper.
But the former difficulty was again encountered, at the very commencement of the negotiation. The Indians would enter uponno arrangement that did not guarantee to the Exiles equal protection and safety as it did to the Indians. Such stipulation would constitute an abandonment of the objects for which the war had been commenced and prosecuted; but, after sixteen months occupied in hostilities, and the expenditure of much blood and treasure, this question lay directly across the path of peace. But the Indians were firm. Not one of the Exiles, except Abraham, now dared trust himself within the power of our troops; yet Abraham’s influence was powerful with the Indians.
General Jessup yielded. The articles of capitulation were drawn up and considered. The fifth reads as follows:—“Major General Jessup, in behalf of the United States, agrees that the Seminoles andtheir allies, who come in and emigrate West, shall be secure in their lives and property; that their negroes, their bona fide property, shall also accompany them West;[91]and that their cattle and ponies shall be paid for by the United States.”
The language of this article could not be misunderstood. The black men then residing with the Indians, in the Indian Country, who were acting with them, and fighting our troops by the side of the Seminoles, were their “allies:” and to show that the capitulation was not a surrender of property, they were careful to have the compact expressly state, that their own “negroes, their bona fideproperty” (for many Seminoles owned slaves), should accompany them; and that their cattle and ponies, which would become thepropertyof the captors by virtue of an ordinary surrender, under their ideas of warfare, were to be paid for by the United States. There was no room left for cavil or dispute on these points;[92]nor could it be supposed that Abraham, with his experience and shrewdness, would leave such an important point doubtful.
Under these articles, the Exiles were to enjoy that security forwhich they had contended during a century and a half. It was for this that their ancestors left South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Florida; to attain it, they were willing to leave the graves of their fathers—the country in which they had lived during many generations. Abraham now entered upon the work of inducing all his brethren, both Indians and negroes, to go to the Western Country, where they could be free from persecutions.
Those willing to emigrate, were to assemble within a district of ten miles square, marked out for that purpose, near Tampa Bay. Many of the Indian chiefs visited that station; spoke encouragingly of the prospect; that the whole Nation would emigrate at no distant day. Even Osceola, the most inveterate of all the Seminole chiefs, visited Fort Mellon, avowing his intention to emigrate; while Abraham made report of a like feeling among the Exiles. Twenty-six vessels, employed to transport the emigrants to New Orleans, were anchored in Tampa Bay. Hundreds of Indians and negroes had reached the camp assigned to the emigrants, near “Fort Brooke.” Their names were duly registered; they drew their rations, and made every preparation to go West.
General Jessup announced the war at an end, dismissed the militia and volunteers, and asked of the Department leave to retire from active duty.
Mr. Van Buren’s advent to the office of President—Follows the policy of his predecessor—General Jessup’s stipulation in favor of the Exiles—Sustained by precedent, and by National Law—Not contrary to General Jackson’s object in commencing the War—Citizens of Florida protest—Compact ratified by War Department—General Jessup for a time endeavors to carry out Articles of Capitulation—Begins to yield—Promises to make arrangements with Chiefs to deliver up Slaves who had left their Masters during the War—Then declared he had done so—No such Compact found by the Author—Subsequent history shows that he had made such arrangement, by parol, with Co-Hadjo only—He also uses army to seize and return Exiles claimed by citizens of Florida—Revokes Order No. 79—Indians and Exiles take alarm—Flee to their fastnesses—General Jessup acknowledgesall is lost—The War renewed.
Mr. Van Buren’s advent to the office of President—Follows the policy of his predecessor—General Jessup’s stipulation in favor of the Exiles—Sustained by precedent, and by National Law—Not contrary to General Jackson’s object in commencing the War—Citizens of Florida protest—Compact ratified by War Department—General Jessup for a time endeavors to carry out Articles of Capitulation—Begins to yield—Promises to make arrangements with Chiefs to deliver up Slaves who had left their Masters during the War—Then declared he had done so—No such Compact found by the Author—Subsequent history shows that he had made such arrangement, by parol, with Co-Hadjo only—He also uses army to seize and return Exiles claimed by citizens of Florida—Revokes Order No. 79—Indians and Exiles take alarm—Flee to their fastnesses—General Jessup acknowledgesall is lost—The War renewed.
On the fourth of March, Mr. Van Buren assumed the duties of President of the United States, and General Jackson retired to private life. Belonging to the same political party to which General Jackson had attached himself, Mr. Van Buren was not expected to make any particular change in the administration of the Government. Indeed so popular had General Jackson been, that it would have required great boldness in his successor to attempt any very obvious change in our national policy; and so far as the Florida war was concerned, there was none whatever.
It was therefore fortunate that, under the administration of General Jackson, the existence of the Exiles, as a distinct people, had been acknowledged. In the articles of capitulation, they were again recognized as the “allies” of the Indians. In entering into this stipulation, General Jessup went no farther than his legitimatepowers extended. The peace of the country in that region was entrusted to his judgment, under the direction of the President. If necessary to secure peace, he had the undoubted right to send every slave, of whatever description, from the Territory of Florida; and it would appear, that no doubt whatever could arise as to his authority to transport to the Western Country, all who were engaged in actual hostilities against our nation, and that too without stopping to inquire whether one portion of the people were, or were not, claimed as property by the people of Florida. General Jackson had set a noble example on this subject which was well worthy of imitation. When New Orleans was threatened by the British, in 1814, he proclaimed martial law—ordered men into service without inquiring whether they were slaves or freemen. Many of them were slaves, and on the day of battle were emancipated by being captured or killed by the enemy. The same powers had been exercised by our officers almost constantly during the Revolution. It is a principle understood by all intelligent men, that when war exists, peace may be obtained by the emancipation of all the slaves held by individuals, if necessary.[93]
These articles of capitulation were duly transmitted to the War Department, and were regularly approved by the Executive. It would appear impossible that General Jessup, or any other person, could either misapprehend or fail to understand this stipulation, which was in no respect modified by other covenants.
But this solemn covenant was in direct conflict with the views and feelings of the slaveholders in Florida and the adjoining States. They understood the war to have been commenced for the purpose of reënslaving the Exiles. These articles of capitulation constitutednot only an abandonment of that policy, but actually operated as an emancipation of all the slaves who, having fled from service in Florida, Georgia and Alabama, had joined the Seminoles and taken up arms against their oppressors. The slaveholders were indignant at this stipulation, nor did they fail to express their indignation.
A few gentlemen of distinction, who, with their families, had been driven from the Territory, were residing at Charleston, South Carolina. Having learned the character of the capitulation from private sources, without waiting for its publication, they at once addressed the Secretary of War, stating they had casually learned from a gentleman who was present, that a treaty of peace had been concluded with the Seminole Indians which contained “no stipulation forindemnity, on the part of the Indians, for such property of the inhabitants as had been captured by said Indians, and destroyed. Nor (say they) is it, we are told, exacted from them that they should evenmake restitution of such stolen and other property, to wit,NEGROES,etc.,as they now have in possession, or as has been invited into their country and allowed refuge from its owners. We respectfully conceive, that the termination of the war on such terms, anxiously as we desire peace, would be a sacrifice of the national dignity, and an absolute and clear triumph on the part of the Indians, who cannot fail to view the proposition made to them, to close hostilities, followed up by a treaty permitting to them such extraordinary terms, as a virtual suing for peace on the part of the United States, and evidencing a want of confidence in their ability to conclude the war through the means of their belligerent and physical strength.”[94]
But the most singular portion of this memorial is the reference to the treaty of Camp Moultrie, by which the Indians agreed to arrest and return fugitives; and the memorialists insisted that unless the Indians be compelled to perform this stipulation the owners “may never regain their slaves.”
The gentlemen who thus attempted to control the action of our National Government appear to have forgotten that the treaty of Camp Moultrie had been abrogated by that of Payne’s Landing, which our Government was now professing to enforce. By this latter treaty, the Indians agreed to pay seven thousand dollars as an indemnity for all slaves then in their territory. This was accepted as a full indemnity, and the slaves then resident with the Indians became free in law.
This memorial, though written at Charleston, South Carolina, bears date only twelve days later than the articles of capitulation, entered into at “Fort Dade in Florida.” Of this movement of the slaveholders, General Jessup appears not to have been informed at the time; nor is there any doubt that he then intended to carry out this solemn compact in good faith. On the nineteenth of March, we find his aid-de-camp Colonel Chambers, by order of General Jessup, writing Lieutenant Colonel Harney, stationed at Fort Mellon, directing him not to permit the friendly Indians (the Creeks) to pass into the country occupied by the Seminoles, and to distinctly inform the Creeks they “must make no more captures of property;” and if they had made any since the signing of the treaty, (meaning the capitulation,) Harney was directed to take a list of such captures.
But the first serious difficulty suggested to General Jessup, in carrying out his stipulations with the “allies,” appears to have been a letter from Major Thomas Child, commanding at Fort Armstrong, informing him that a “Colonel Dill,” a citizen of Florida, was at that post, wishing to pass into the Indian country for the purpose of reclaiming certain negroes which he professed to have owned, but who were then supposed to have fled to the Seminoles.
In reply to this note Colonel Chambers said: “I aminstructed by the commanding Generalto say, that ‘Colonel Dill,’ the person whom you report having detained at Fort Armstrong, must not be permitted to pass,but be required to return from whence he came with all convenient dispatch. Hereafter, no person, not inthe employment of the Government, or express rider, must be allowed to pass your post. The necessity of this order, and the strict enforcement of it, arise from the necessity, that, if persons come forward to urge their claims to negroes, it will evidently prevent the negroes from coming in; and if they do not come in, the commanding General is decidedly of opinion, that the Indians themselves will be greatly delayed, if not entirely prevented, from compliance with the terms of capitulation.”
The termination of the war had been regarded as certain by the commanding officer, and by him so reported. The first article in the capitulation, provided for the cessation of hostilities. But they were renewed soon after, and the Indians and Exiles charged with a breach of faith, both by General Jessup and by the Executive. And it becomes important to the truth of history, that facts should be stated. The articles of capitulation pledged the faith of the nation for the safety of both persons and property of the “Seminolesand their allies.” Those “allies” could have been no other people than the black men who were with them contending against a common foe. It is also evident that Abraham and the Exiles who came in for the purpose of emigrating so understood it. It is equally certain that the people of Florida who memorialized the Secretary of War so understood it; and we need only read the letters and orders of General Jessup to learn that he surely so understood it: and the whole conduct of the Indians shows that they put the same construction upon it. While, therefore, justice should be done to General Jessup, we should be careful to do no injustice to either the Seminoles or the Exiles. As further evidence of General Jessup’s good faith at the time, we quote an extract from a letter, bearing date six days later than the one last referred to. It was addressed to Lieutenant Colonel Miller, commanding at Tampa Bay, and is dated March twenty-seventh, 1837. It is signed by General Jessup himself, who says: “I have also been informed that Mr. Cooley’s business at Tampa Bay is tolook after negroes. If that be so, he must be sent away; a trifling circumstancewouldlight up the war again. Any interference with the negroes which would produce alarm on their part would inevitably deprive us of all the advantages we have gained.I sympathize with Mr. Cooley in his afflictions and losses; but responsible as I am for the peace of the country,I cannot and will not permit that peace to be jeopardized by his imprudence.”
But these demands for slaves increased. The slaveholders were indignant at the loss of slaves, and it soon became apparent that the stipulation of safety to the “allies” of the Seminoles wasunpopularin Florida.
On the twenty-ninth of March, General Jessup wrote Colonel Warner, of the Florida Militia, saying, “There is no disposition on the part of the great body of the Indians to renew hostilities; and they will, I am sure, faithfully fulfill their engagements, if the inhabitants of Florida be prudent: but any attempt to seize their negroes, or other property, would be followed by an instant resort to arms.I have some hopes of inducing both Indians and Indian negroesto unite in bringing in thenegroes taken from the citizens during the war.”
In this letter, General Jessup begins to modify his former position. He still entertains no fear of the Indians, iftheirnegroes or other property be not interfered with, and suggests the hope that he may effect an arrangement with the Indians and Indian negroes to bring in (that is, to surrender up,) the negroestaken during the war. This letter gives the first evidence, which we find on record, of General Jessup’s intention to modify or disregard the solemn compact he had made, or to make another with the Indians and Indian negroes by which they should betray those who had fled to them during the war.
But that he did make some arrangement of that character with the chiefs, we are led to infer from a letter bearing date May fifth, 1837, addressed to General Jessup by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, informing him that his articles of capitulation with the Seminoles had been submitted to the Secretary of War, “together withhis letters of the first and fifteenth of April, and had been approved;” and the writer then adds: “In relation to the negroes captured by the Seminoles and to besurrendered, I am directed to say, that your arrangement for having them delivered to officers of posts on the St. John’s River,is approved.”[95]
This letter also directs General Jessup to keep a registry of all negroes delivered to citizens, showing their names, age, sex, etc.
A general order, dated Tampa Bay, April fifth, and numbered seventy-nine, announces first, “The commanding General has reason to believe that the interference of unprincipled white men with thenegro property of the Seminole Indianswill prevent their emigration, and lead to a renewal of the war. Responsible as he is for the peace and security of the country, he will not permit such interference under any pretense whatsoever. And he therefore orders that no white man, not in the service of the United States, be allowed to enter any part of the territory, between the St. John’s and the Gulf of Mexico, south of Fort Drane.”
On the eighth of April, General Jessup wrote Colonel Harney, saying, “I have made an arrangement with the chiefsto-dayto surrender the negroes of white men, particularly those taken during the war.”
With what particular chiefs this arrangement was made, or what were the terms of the arrangement, the Author has not learned; yet, as we shall see hereafter, he represented it to have been made at “Fort King” withCo-Hadjo, an unimportant chief, and then attempted to hold the Seminole Nation responsible for Co-Hadjo’s promise. But under these circumstances, the reader will ask what consideration was paid Co-Hadjo to bribe him to enter into such a contract? That chief and General Jessup and General Cass, Secretary of War, must have known he possessed no power to bindthe Seminole Nation, nor to surrender those persons to slavery. It will long remain a subject of inquiry. Why did the War Department sanction this violation of the solemn articles of capitulation, which these officers termed atreaty, and which certainly possessed all the solemnity and binding force of a treaty?
There is also an inexplicable obscurity attending this subject. General Jessup wrote Colonel Harney, on the eighth of April, that he hadthat daymade the arrangement, etc.; while the Secretary of War states that he had learned of this arrangement by General Jessup’stwoletters, dated the first and fifteenth of April. One of these letters appears to bear date seven days before, and the other seven days after, the day on which he declares the arrangement was made. The withholding of such fact seven days from the War Department would be as incompatible with military duty as the giving it seven days before its existence, is irreconcilable with the common perceptions of mankind.
In several instances, General Jessup had foretold that a renewal of the war would follow any attempt to deliver up negroes to the claimants in Florida, and it would appear that he must have expected that result; but he communicated to the commandants of nearly all the different posts, that he had made arrangementswith the chiefsfor returning slavescaptured during the war. But, up to the twenty-sixth of April, he steadily insisted that no obligation rested upon the Indians to bring in runaway negroes who had fled to them before the war.
On the twenty-sixth, he wrote Colonel Brown, of St. Augustine, saying:—“I have made arrangements with the Indians for the delivery of the negroescaptured during the war. They are to be delivered, if they can be taken without delaying the Indians in their movements, at the posts on the St. John’s. The Indians are not bound to surrender runaway negroes.They must, and shall, give up those taken during the war: at all events, they shall not take them out of the country. Further than that, I shall not interfere.”
But while relating facts on this subject, we should be unfaithful to the truth of history were we to omit the letter which this officer wrote, on the following day, to Hon. J. L. Smith, a citizen of Florida. This letter, bearing date at Tampa Bay on the twenty-seventh of April, 1837, says:
“I received, yesterday, your letter of the eighteenth, with a list of the slaves which you claim. Ansel is the only one of the three who has been taken. I have him employed, at one of the interior posts, as an interpreter.The negroes generally have taken the alarm, and but few of them come in; and those who remain out, prevent the Indians from coming. But for the premature attempts of some citizens of Florida to obtain possession of their slaves, a majority of those taken by the Indians during the war, as well as those who absconded previous to it, would have been secured before this time. More than thirty negro men were in and near my camp, when some of the citizens, who had lost negroes, came to demand them. The Indian-negroes immediately disappeared, and have not been heard of since.”
It is believed that, in the conducting of this second Seminole war, no act of any public officer will hereafter appear more inexplicable than the conduct of General Jessup, in regard to this stipulation in favor of the Exiles. No person can suppose there was any doubt in regard to the original design of this stipulation. He at first appears determined to carry it out in good faith; this was before he learned the complaint of the slaveholders of Florida, made to the Secretary of War. He next expressed his intention to make an arrangement with the chiefs to surrender negroes captured during the war—as though the chiefs were authorized to consign “their allies” to slavery. He next says he had made such an arrangement, but fails to say with whom. At length it comes out, in the future history, that he alleges it to have been made with Co-Hadjo, an obscure chief, in no way a party to the capitulation, or connected with it. And finally, in this letter to Judge Smith, heintimates that he would havebetrayedmany of those allies to slavery, if the people of the Territory had been quiet.
Our present duty, however, is to record facts, without asking attention to the intended treachery or fraud of individuals; but this avowed intention of entrapping the negroes by inducing them to come in under the expectation of emigrating West with their Seminole friends, and then consign them to bondage, must attract the attention and excite the wonder of Christian men. This wonder is increased by the fact, that language is constantly used by slaveholders apparently intended to mislead the Northern reader. For instance, General Jessup speaks of slaves “captured during the war,” as though the Indians made prisoners of slaves. This is believed to be entirely without foundation. Slaves being regarded by Southern men asproperty, incapable of thought, whenever they fled from their masters and sought an asylum with the Indians, the masters spoke of them ascaptured.
Soon us it was known that slaves were to be seized and returned, claims were preferred from all quarters. The correspondence on this subject, now in the Department of War, would of itself form a volume, if quoted at length. Spaniards sent in claims for slaves lost while the Territory was in possession of Spain, in 1802 and 1803. Claims from South Carolina, from Georgia, Alabama and Florida, and from Creek Indians, were presented to the commandants of different posts. Slaveholders evidently felt that they were to be permitted to seize such colored prisoners as they could lay their hands upon, and enslave them. They no longer waited for black prisoners to be brought to the St. John’s, or other posts, but like wolves greedy for their prey, they hurried into the Indian Country, and risked their lives in order to secure victims for the slave-markets.
The Legislative Council of Florida became affected with this general mania, and in the most formal manner declared the right of masters to regain possession of their slaves, without regard to the Federal Government or its officers.
Finding General Jessup incapable of resisting the popular clamor, the claimants for slaves openly demanded a revocation of the General Order, by which they were prohibited from entering the Indian territory for the purpose of seizing slaves. A public meeting of the citizens of various parts of Florida, was held at San Augustine, and a committee appointed to remonstrate with General Jessup, and procure a rescission of his order, No. 79, prohibiting them from entering the Territory, between the St. John’s River and the Gulf of Mexico, south of Fort Drane. The committee addressed him in a long, written protest, in which they declare, “the regaining of their slaves constitutes an object of scarcely less moment than that of peace to the country.”[96]
General Jessup now began to modify his order, No. 79, so as to admit citizens to enter the Territory as far south as the road leading from Withlacoochee to Volusi; and, on the first of May, so informed Major McClintock, commanding at Fort Drane. On the day following, he addressed a letter to Brig. General Armistead, directing that officer to “consider Order No. 79 so far modified, that citizens will be permitted to visit any of the posts on the St. John’s, and to traverse or remain in any part of the country south of Withlacoochee. There are large herds of cattle in that part of the country which no doubtbelong to the citizens, and by allowing them to go into the country, they may perhaps secure a large portion of them.”
It will be recollected, that General Scott would not permit the people of Florida to interfere in the discharge of his official duties, and that they, through their representative in Congress, had demanded his removal from command of the army. They now applied directly to the Secretary of War, remonstrating against the action of General Jessup; and it is possible that officer deemed it prudent to yield to their dictation. Be that as it may, it is certain that he now lent the power of the army to carry out the wishes of the citizens. Officers and men were detailed to take black prisoners—who had come in and surrendered with the expectation of emigrating West—from their places of rendezvous to certain points where it would be most convenient for claimants to receive them.
On the seventeenth of April, Major Churchill, aid to General Jessup, wrote Colonel Harney, saying, “I am instructed by the commanding General to acknowledge the receipt to-day of your letter of the seventh instant, and to inform you that the negro prisoners captured from the Indians, and supposed to belong to the white people, were sent from this place, on the eleventh instant, to Lieutenant D. H. Vinton, at St. Marks, for the purpose of being returned to their owners. The Indians have agreed to send all slaves,taken from white people during the war, to Fort Mellon and Volusi; and runners are now employed in the interior on that service.” On the same day, information was given to William De Payster, that seven of the number sent to Volusi probably belonged to him. On the same day also, “A. Forrester” was informed of the fact, that those slaves “had been sent to St. Marks, and that six of the number probably belonged to him.”
Other plans were devised for securing slaves, as we are informed by a letter from General Jessup to E. K. Call, Governor of Florida, dated eighteenth of April, 1837, in which he says: “If the citizens of the territory be prudent, the war may be considered at an end; but any attempt to interfere with theIndian negroes, or toarrestany of the chiefs or warriors asdebtorsorcriminals, would cause an immediate resort to arms. The negroes control their masters; and have heard of the act of your legislative council. Thirty or more of the Indian negro men were near my camp on the Withlacoochee in March last; but the arrival of two or three citizens of Florida, said to be in search of negroes, caused them to disperse, and I doubt whether they will come in again; at all events the emigration will be delayed a month I apprehend in consequence of this alarm among the negroes.”
The emigration of those Indians who had come in to Fort Brooke, and registered themselves as ready for emigration, was delayed inconsequence of the difficulty of collecting those who were expected; and General Jessup began to see the effects which his violation of the articles of capitulation had wrought on the minds of both Indians and negroes. Indeed, he had in plain and distinct language repeatedly affirmed that the negroescontrolled the Indians; that any interference with the negroes would cause a resort to arms; yet he himself subsequently ordered negroes to be sought out, separated from their friends, and delivered over to slavery.
The ships were yet lying in the harbor. About seven hundred Indians were encamped ready for emigration, and had been waiting for others to join them. Impatient at delay and disappointment, on the twenty fifth of May, he wrote Colonel Harney, as follows:
“If you see Powell (Osceola) again, I wish you to tell him that I intend to send exploring and surveying parties into every part of the country during the summer, and that I shall send out andtake all the negroes who belong to the white people, and he must not allow the Indians or Indian negroes to mix with them. Tell him I am sending to Cuba for bloodhounds to trail them, andI intend to hang every one of them who does not come in.”
This intention to reënslave the Exiles who had recently taken up their residence with the Seminoles became known, and created general alarm. Many of the blacks, who had come in for the purpose of emigrating, became alarmed and fled; and General Jessup, doubtful whether more could be obtained by peaceful means, seized about ninety Exiles who were confined within the pickets at Tampa Bay, on the second of June, and at once ordered them to New Orleans, under the charge of Lieutenant G. H. Trevitt, of the United States Marines.
This struck the Indians and Exiles with astonishment. The chiefs, warriors and families, numbering some seven hundred, who had collected at Tampa Bay for the purpose of emigrating to the western country, thinking themselves betrayed, now fled to their former fastnesses, far in the interior, and once more determined to defend their liberties or die in the attempt. A few, however, weresecured at other posts, and sent to New Orleans, where they were delivered over to Quarter-Master Clark, and confined at “Fort Pike.”
On the fourteenth of June, General Jessup, writing General Gadsden of South Carolina, says: “All is lost, and principally, I fear,by the influence of the negroes—the people who were the subject of our correspondence. * * * Iseized, and sent off to New Orleans, about ninety Indian negroes, and I have about seventeen here. I have captured ninety, the property of citizens; all of whom have been sent to St. Marks and St. Augustine, except four at this place, twelve at Fort Mellon, and six who died.”
General Jessup now saw that both Seminole Indians and negroes had clear conceptions of justice and honor. That his efforts to deliver over negroes to slavery had defeated the entire object of the articles of capitulation of the eighteenth of March. The Indians had fled. The negroes, except those who were imprisoned, had fled. The twenty-six vessels, collected at Tampa Bay to transport them to New Orleans, were yet idle; and, to use his own words, “all was lost!”
Abraham, acting for his brethren while West, in 1833, had caused the article to be inserted in the supplemental treaty, giving the Seminoles a separate country for their settlement.
In forming the articles of capitulation with general Jessup, he again exhibited his capacity for negotiation; obtaining the insertion of an article which, if carried out, would have proved a triumphant vindication of their cause. But from this second manifestation of his powers for negotiation, the Government of the United States found it necessary to recede, in order to maintain its designs of enslaving the Exiles.