“Head Quarters of the Army of the United States,}Fort King, Florida, May 18, 1839. }“The Major General, commanding in chief, has the satisfaction of announcing to the army in Florida, to the authorities of the Territory, and to the citizens generally, that he has this day terminated the war with the Seminole Indians by an agreement entered into with Chitto-Tustenuggee, principal chief of the Seminoles and successor to Arpeika, commonly called Sam. Jones, brought to this post by Lieutenant Colonel Harney, 2d Dragoons, from the southern part of the peninsula. The terms of the agreement are—that hostilities immediately cease between the parties; that the troops of the United States and the Seminole and Mickasukie chiefs and warriors, now at a distance, be made acquainted with the fact, that peace exists, and that all hostilities are forthwith to cease on both sides—the Seminoles and Mickasukies agreeing to retire into a district of country in Florida, below Pease Creek, the boundaries of which are as follows: viz, beginning at the most southern point of land between Charlotte Harbor and the Sanybel or Cooloosahatchee River, opposite to Sanybel Island; thence into Charlotte Harbor by the southern pass between Pine Island and that point along the eastern shore of said harbor to Toalkchopko or Pease Creek; thence up said creek to its source; thence easterly to the northern point of Lake Istokopoga; thence along the eastern outlet of said lake, called Istokopoga Creek, to the Kissimee River; thence southerly down the Kissimee to Lake Okeechobee; thence south through said lake to Ecahlahatohee or Shark River; thence down said river westwardly to its mouth; thence along the seashore northwardly to the place of beginning; that sixty days be allowed the Indians, north and east of that boundary, to remove their familiesand effects into said district, where they are to remain until further arrangements are made under the protection of the troops of the United States, who are to see that they are not molested by intruders, citizens or foreigners; and that said Indians do not pass the limits assigned them, except to visit the posts, which will be hereafter indicated to them. All persons are, therefore, forbidden to enter the district assigned to the Indians without written permission of some commanding officer of a military post.”“By command of the General: ALEXANDER McCOMB,Major General Commanding.EDMONDSHRIVER,Captain and A. A. General.”
“Head Quarters of the Army of the United States,}Fort King, Florida, May 18, 1839. }
“The Major General, commanding in chief, has the satisfaction of announcing to the army in Florida, to the authorities of the Territory, and to the citizens generally, that he has this day terminated the war with the Seminole Indians by an agreement entered into with Chitto-Tustenuggee, principal chief of the Seminoles and successor to Arpeika, commonly called Sam. Jones, brought to this post by Lieutenant Colonel Harney, 2d Dragoons, from the southern part of the peninsula. The terms of the agreement are—that hostilities immediately cease between the parties; that the troops of the United States and the Seminole and Mickasukie chiefs and warriors, now at a distance, be made acquainted with the fact, that peace exists, and that all hostilities are forthwith to cease on both sides—the Seminoles and Mickasukies agreeing to retire into a district of country in Florida, below Pease Creek, the boundaries of which are as follows: viz, beginning at the most southern point of land between Charlotte Harbor and the Sanybel or Cooloosahatchee River, opposite to Sanybel Island; thence into Charlotte Harbor by the southern pass between Pine Island and that point along the eastern shore of said harbor to Toalkchopko or Pease Creek; thence up said creek to its source; thence easterly to the northern point of Lake Istokopoga; thence along the eastern outlet of said lake, called Istokopoga Creek, to the Kissimee River; thence southerly down the Kissimee to Lake Okeechobee; thence south through said lake to Ecahlahatohee or Shark River; thence down said river westwardly to its mouth; thence along the seashore northwardly to the place of beginning; that sixty days be allowed the Indians, north and east of that boundary, to remove their familiesand effects into said district, where they are to remain until further arrangements are made under the protection of the troops of the United States, who are to see that they are not molested by intruders, citizens or foreigners; and that said Indians do not pass the limits assigned them, except to visit the posts, which will be hereafter indicated to them. All persons are, therefore, forbidden to enter the district assigned to the Indians without written permission of some commanding officer of a military post.”
“By command of the General: ALEXANDER McCOMB,Major General Commanding.
EDMONDSHRIVER,Captain and A. A. General.”
The country now again rejoiced at what the people regarded as the restoration of peace. By the terms agreed upon, the Indians retained as large a territory in proportion to the number left in Florida as was held by them at the commencement of the war.
The people of Florida had originally petitioned General Jackson for the forcible removal of the Indians, because they would not seize and bring in their fugitive slaves. They had protested against peace upon any terms that should leave the negroes, whom they claimed, in the Indian Country. These citizens of Florida had long since been driven from their homes and firesides by the enemy whom they so much despised; and they now desired peace. The Indians and Exiles were also anxious to cultivate corn and potatoes for the coming winter, and were glad to be able to do so in peace.
Thus, the people of Florida, as they supposed, in perfect safety, returned to their plantations, and resumed their former habits of life. And the political party in possession of the Government, congratulated themselves and the country upon the fortunate conclusion of a war which had involved them in difficulties that were inexplicable.
But this quiet continued for a short time only. Early in July, travelers and express-riders were killed by small parties of Indians; plantations were attacked and the occupants murdered; buildingsburned and crops destroyed; families fled from their homes, leaving all their property, in order to assemble in villages in such numbers as to insure safety to their persons; and the Florida War again raged with accumulated horrors. As an illustration of the manner in which it was carried on, we quote the following:
“Assistant Adjutant General’s Office, Army of the South,}Fort Brooke, East Florida, July 29, 1839. }“SIR: It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the assassination of the greater part of Lieutenant Colonel Harney’s detachment, by the Indians, on the morning of the 23d instant, on the Coloosahatchee River, where they had gone, in accordance with the treaty at Fort King, to establish a trading-house. The party consisted of about twenty-eight men, armed with Colt’s rifles; they were encamped on the river,but unprotected by defenses of any kind, and, it is said, without sentinels. The Indians, in large force, made the attack before the dawn of day, and before reveillé; and it is supposed that thirteen of the men were killed, among whom were Major Dalham and Mr. Morgan, sutlers. The remainder, with Colonel Harney, escaped, several of them severely wounded. It was a complete surprise. The Commanding General, therefore, directs that you instantly take measures to place the defenses at Fort Mellon in the most complete state of repair, and be ready at all times to repel attack, should one be made. No portion of your command will, in future, be suffered to leave the garrison except under a strong escort. The detachment will be immediately withdrawn. Should Fort Mellon prove unhealthy, and the surgeon recommend its abandonment, you are authorized to transfer the garrison, and reinforce some of the neighboring posts.“I am, Sir,GEO. H. GRIFFIN,Assistant Adjutant General.Lieutenant W. K. HANSON,Commanding at Fort Mellon.”
“Assistant Adjutant General’s Office, Army of the South,}Fort Brooke, East Florida, July 29, 1839. }
“SIR: It becomes my painful duty to inform you of the assassination of the greater part of Lieutenant Colonel Harney’s detachment, by the Indians, on the morning of the 23d instant, on the Coloosahatchee River, where they had gone, in accordance with the treaty at Fort King, to establish a trading-house. The party consisted of about twenty-eight men, armed with Colt’s rifles; they were encamped on the river,but unprotected by defenses of any kind, and, it is said, without sentinels. The Indians, in large force, made the attack before the dawn of day, and before reveillé; and it is supposed that thirteen of the men were killed, among whom were Major Dalham and Mr. Morgan, sutlers. The remainder, with Colonel Harney, escaped, several of them severely wounded. It was a complete surprise. The Commanding General, therefore, directs that you instantly take measures to place the defenses at Fort Mellon in the most complete state of repair, and be ready at all times to repel attack, should one be made. No portion of your command will, in future, be suffered to leave the garrison except under a strong escort. The detachment will be immediately withdrawn. Should Fort Mellon prove unhealthy, and the surgeon recommend its abandonment, you are authorized to transfer the garrison, and reinforce some of the neighboring posts.
“I am, Sir,GEO. H. GRIFFIN,Assistant Adjutant General.
Lieutenant W. K. HANSON,Commanding at Fort Mellon.”
The Indians killed ten men belonging to the military service, and eight citizens, employed by the sutlers; while Colonel Harneyand fourteen others escaped. The Indians obtained fourteen rifles, six carbines, some three or four kegs of powder, and about three thousand dollars worth of goods.
Lieutenant Hanson, commanding at Fort Mellon, on receiving the order which we have quoted, seized some thirty Indians at that time visiting Fort Mellon, and sent them immediately to Charleston, South Carolina; whence they were embarked for the Indian Country, west of Arkansas, where they joined their brethren, who still resided upon the Cherokee Territory.
In these transactions, the Exiles who remained in Florida appear to have taken no part, at least so far as we are informed. They labored to obtain the treaty of peace; but such was the treachery with which they had been treated, that they would not subject themselves to the power of the white people, and were not of course present at the treaty; nor were they recognized by General McComb as a party to the treaty, or in any way interested in its provisions. Indeed, we are led to believe that General McComb adopted the policy on which General Taylor usually practiced, of recognizing no distinctions among prisoners or enemies.
The Administration appeared to be paralyzed under this new demonstration of the power and madness of the Seminoles. At the commencement of the war, some officers had estimated the whole number of Seminoles at fifteen hundred, and the negroes as low as four hundred. They had now sent some two thousand Indians and negroes to the Western Country; and yet those left in Florida, renewed the war with all the savage barbarity which had characterized the Seminoles in the days of their greatest power. Indeed, they exhibited no signs of humiliation.
The Secretary of War, Mr. Poinsett, a South Carolinian, probably exerted more influence with the President in regard to this war than any other officer of Government. His predecessor, General Cass, had treated the Exiles as mere chattels, having “no rights.” He had advised the employment of Creek Indians, giving them such negroes as they might capture; he had officially approved thecontract made with them by General Jessup. After he left the office, his successor, Mr. Poinsett, approved the order purchasing some ninety of them on account of Government. He had advised Watson to purchase them; had done all in his power to consign them to slavery in Georgia. He was, however, constrained to make an official report upon the state of this war, at the opening of the first session of the Twenty-sixth Congress, which assembled on the first Monday of December, 1839.
That report, when considered in connection with the events which gave character to the Florida War, constitutes a most extraordinary paper. Notwithstanding all the difficulties which he had encountered in his efforts to enslave the Exiles, to prevent at least ninety of them from going West, and the complaints of the Seminoles who had emigrated to the Western Country, at finding themselves destitute of homes and of territory on which to settle, he made no allusion to their troubles; nor did he give any intimation of the difficulties arising on account of the Exiles; nor did he even intimate that such a class of people existed in Florida.
1840.
He declared the result of General McComb’s negotiation had been the loss of many valuable lives. “Our people (said he) fell a sacrifice to their confidence in the good faith and promises of the Indians, and were entrapped and murdered with all the circumstances of cruelty and treachery which distinguish Indian warfare. * * * The experience of the last summer brings with it the painful conviction, that the war must be prosecuted until Florida is freed from these ruthless savages. Their late, cruel and treacherous conduct is too well known to require a repetition of the revolting recital; it has been such as is calculated to deprive them of the sympathy of the humane, and convince ‘the most peaceable of the necessity ofsubduing them by force.”
It appeared necessary to raise the cry of treachery and cruelty against the Indians and Exiles. They had no friend who was acquainted with the facts, that could call attention of the nation to the treachery which had been practiced on them by the order,and with the approval, of the Secretary of War. No man was able to say how many fathers and mothers and children were, by the influence of that officer, consigned to a fate far more cruel than that which awaited the men, under Colonel Harney, at Coloosahatchee.
In his report the Secretary most truly remarked: “If the Indians of Florida had a country to retire to, they would have been driven out of the Territory long ago; but they are hemmed in by the sea, and must defend themselves to the uttermost, or surrender to be transported beyond it.” And he might well have added:When they shall be thus transported, they will have no country—no home. Indeed, the whole report shows that he relied on physical force to effect an extermination of the Indians and their allies; he looked not to justice, nor to the power of truth, for carrying out the designs of the Executive.
Men in power appear to forget that justice sits enthroned above all human greatness; that it is omnipotent, and will execute its appropriate work upon mankind. Thus, while the people of Florida and Georgia had provoked the war, by kidnapping and enslaving colored men and women, to whom they had no more claim than they had to the people of England; while they had sent their petition to General Jackson, asking him to compel the Indians to seize and bring in their negroes, and had protested against the peace negotiated by General Jessup, in 1837;—Mr. Reid, Governor of Florida, in an official Message to the Territorial Legislature, in December, 1839, used language so characteristic of those who supported the Florida War, that we feel it just to him and his coadjutors to give the following extract:
“The efforts of the General and Territorial Governments to quell the Indian disturbances which have prevailed through four long years, have been unavailing, and it would seem that the prophecy of the most sagacious leader of the Indians will be more than fulfilled; the close of the fifth year will still find us struggling in a contest remarkable for magnanimity, forbearance and credulity on the one side, and ferocity and bad faith on the other. Weare waging a war with beasts of prey; the tactics that belong to civilized nations are but shackles and fetters in its prosecution; we must fight ‘fire with fire;’ the white man must, in a great measure, adopt the mode of warfare pursued by the red man, and we can only hope for success by continually harrassing and pursuing the enemy. If we drive him from hommock to hommock, from swamp to swamp, and penetrate the recesses where his women and children are; if, in self-defense, we show as little mercy to him as he has shown to us, the anxiety and surprise produced by such operations will not fail, it is believed, to produce prosperous results. It is high time that sickly sentimentality should cease. ‘Lo, the poor Indian!’ is the exclamation of the fanatic, pseudo-philanthropist; ‘Lo, the poor white man!’ is the ejaculation which all will utter who have witnessed the inhuman butchery of women and children, and the massacres that have drenched the Territory in blood.
“In the future prosecution of the war, it is important that a generous confidence should be reposed in the General Government. It may be that mistakes and errors have been committed on all hands; but the peculiar adaptation of the country to the cowardly system of the foe, and its inaptitude to the operations of a regular army; the varying and often contradictory views and opinions of the best informed of our citizens, and the embarrassments which these cases must have produced to the authorities at Washington, furnish to the impartial mind some excuse, at least, for the failures which have hitherto occurred. It is our duty to be less mindful of the past than the future. Convinced that the present incumbent of the Presidential Chair regards with sincere and intense interest the afflictions we endure; relying upon the patriotism, talent and sound judgment of the distinguished Carolinian who presides over the Department of War, and confident in the wisdom of Congress, let us prepare to second, with every nerve, the measures which may be devised for our relief. Feeling as we do the immediate pressure of circumstances, let us exert,to the extremest point, all our powers to rid us of the evil by which we are oppressed. Let us, by a conciliatory course, endeavor to allay any unkindnesses of feeling which may exist between the United States army and the militia of Florida, and by union of sentiment among ourselves, advance the happy period when the Territory shall enjoy what she so much needs—a long season of peace and tranquillity.”
Perhaps no vice is more general among mankind than a desire to represent ourselves, and our country and government, to mankind and to posterity as just and wise, whatever real truth may dictate. Surely, if General Jessup’s official reports be regarded as correct, the people of Florida should have been the last of all who were concerned in that war, to claim the virtue of magnanimity or forbearance, or to charge the Seminoles or Exiles with ferocity or bad faith. The expression that “it is high time that sickly sentimentality should cease,” manifests the ideas which he entertained of strict, equal and impartial justice to all men.
This message was an appropriate introduction to the legislative action which immediately succeeded its publication. It was that legislative body which first gave official sanction to the policy of obtaining blood-hounds from Cuba to aid our troops in the prosecution of this war. Of this atrocious and barbarous policy much has been said and written, and its authorship charged upon various men and officers of Government. At the time of the transaction, it was represented that the blood-hounds were obtained for the purpose of trailing the Indians, and historians have so stated;[123]but for various reasons, we are constrained to believe they were obtained for the purpose of trailingnegroes. It was well known that these animals were trained to pursuenegroes, andonlynegroes. They would no more follow the track of a white man than they would that of a horse or an ox. It was the peculiar scent of the negro that they had been trained and accustomed to follow. No man concerned in obtaining these animals, could have been ignorant that they had, inall probability, never seen an Indian, or smelt the track of any son of the forest.
Every slaveholder well understood the habits of those ferocious dogs, and the manner of training them, and could not have supposed them capable of being rendered useful in capturing Indians. The people of Florida appear to have been stimulated in the commencement and continuance of this war solely by a desire toobtain slaves, rather than tofight Indians; and while acting as militia or as individuals, they were far more efficient in capturing negroes and claiming those captured by other troops than in facing them on the field of battle. Nor can we resist the conviction, that catchingnegroesconstituted, in the mind of General Jessup, the object for which those animals were to be obtained. Such was evidently his purpose when he wrote Colonel Harney, as quoted in a former chapter, “If you see Powell (Osceola), 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 and takeall the negroes who belong to white people, and he mustnot allow the Indians or Indian negroes to mix with them. Tell him I am sending to Cuba for blood-hounds to trail them, and I intend to hang every one of them who does not come in.”
We cannot close our eyes to the fact, that General Jessup intended the blood-hounds to be used in catching “the negroes belonging to the white people,” as he said. Those white people were mostly slaveholders of Florida; those who proposed in the legislative assembly of that territory the obtaining of the animals, and adopted a resolution authorizing their purchase. They did not wait for the President to act, nor for the “Secretary of War,” whom the Governor of Florida characterized as “that distinguishedCarolinian” on whose judgment and patriotism the people of Florida so much relied.[124]
By resolution, Colonel Fitzpatrick was “authorized to proceedto Havana, and procure a kennel of blood-hounds, noted for tracking and pursuing negroes.” He was fortunate in his mission. He not only obtained the animals, but he accomplished the journey, and reached St. Augustine as early as the sixth of January, 1840, with a reinforcement for the army of the United States of thirty-three blood-hounds well trained to the work of catching negroes. They cost precisely one hundred and fifty-one dollars seventy-two cents, each, when landed in Florida. He also procured five Spaniards who were accustomed to using the animals in capturing negroes; and as the dogs had been trained to the Spanish language, they would have been useless under the control of persons who could only speak the dialect of our own country.
The very general error that existed throughout the country, at the time of this transaction, arose from a misapprehension of the facts. There had been much said in regard to these blood-hounds before they were actually obtained. When the report of the War Department, under the resolution of the House of Representatives of the twenty-eighth of January, 1839, was published, containing the letter of General Jessup addressed to Colonel Harney, which we have quoted, many members of Congress appeared indignant at what they regarded as a stain upon our national honor in obtaining and employing blood-hounds to act in concert with our troops and our Indian allies in this war. Party feelings ran high, and southern members of Congress, who were acting with the Whig party, were willing to seize upon any circumstance that would reflect discreditably upon the then existing Administration.
On the twenty-seventh day of December, 1839, the Hon. Henry A. Wise, a member of the House of Representatives from Virginia, addressed a letter to the Secretary of War, inquiring as to facts relating to the employment of blood-hounds in aid of our troops.[125]
To this letter Mr. Poinsett, the Secretary of War, replied on the thirtieth of December, as follows:
“WARDEPARTMENT, December 20, 1839.“SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the twenty-seventh instant, inquiring into the truth of the assertion made by the public papers, that the Government had determined to use blood-hounds in the war against the Florida Indians; and beg to assure you it will give me great pleasure to give you all the information on this subject in possession of the Department.“From the time I first entered upon the duties of the War Department, I continued to receive letters from officers commanding in Florida, as well as from the most enlightened citizens in that Territory, urging the employment of blood-hounds as the most efficient means of terminating the atrocities daily perpetrated by the Indians on the settlers in that Territory. To these proposals no answer was given, until in the month of August, 1838, while at the Virginia Springs, there was referred to me, from the Department, a letter, addressed to the Adjutant General by the officer commanding the forces in Florida (General Taylor), to the following effect:“Head Quarters Army of the South,}Fort Brooke, July 28, 1838. }“SIR: I have the honor to inclose you a communication this moment received, on the subject of procuring blood-hounds from the Island of Cuba to aid the army in its operations against the hostiles in Florida. I am decidedly in favor of the measure, and beg leave to urge it as the only means of ridding the country of the Indians, who are now broken up into small parties that take shelter in swamps and hommocks, making it impossible for us to follow or overtake them without the aid of such auxiliaries. Should this measure meet the approbation of the Department, and the necessary authority be granted, I will open a correspondence with Mr. Evertson on the subject, through Major Hunt, Assistant Quarter Master at Savannah, and will authorize him, if it can be done on reasonable terms, to employ a few dogs with persons who understand their management.“I wish it distinctly understood, that my object in employing dogs is only to ascertain where the Indians can be found, not to worry them.“I have the honor to be, sir,Your obedient servant,Z. TAYLOR,Brev. Brig. Gen. U. S. A. Commanding.General R. JONES,Washington, D. C.”“On this letter I indorsed the following decision, which was communicated to General Taylor: ‘I have always been of opinion that dogsoughtto be employed in this warfare to protect the army from surprises and ambuscades, and to track the Indian to his lurking place; but supposed if the General believed them to be necessary, he would not hesitate to take measures to secure them. The cold-blooded and inhuman murders lately perpetrated upon helpless women and children by these ruthless savages, render it expedient that every possible means should be resorted to, in order to protect the people of Florida, and to enable the United States forces to follow and capture or destroy the savage and unrelenting foe. General Taylor is therefore authorized to procure such number of dogs as he may judge necessary: it being expressly understood that they are to be employed to track and discover the Indians, not to worry or destroy them.’“This is the only action or correspondence, on the part of the Department, that has ever taken place in relation to the matter. The General took no measures to carry into effect his own recommendation, and this Department has never since renewed the subject. I continue, however, to entertain the opinion expressed in the above decision. I do not believe that description of dog, called the blood-hound, necessary to prevent surprise or track the Indian murderer; but still I think that every cabin, every military post, and every detachment, should be attended by dogs. That precaution might have saved Dade’s command from massacre, and by giving timely warning have prevented many of the cruel murders which have been committed by the Indians in middle Florida. The only successful pursuit of Indian murderers that I know of, was, on a late occasion, when the pursuers were aided by the sagacity of their dogs. These savages had approached a cabin of peaceful and industrious settlers so stealthily, that the first notice of their presence was given by a volley from their rifles, thrust between the logs of the house; and the work of death was finished by tomahawking the women, after tearing fromthem their infant children, and dashing their brains out against the door posts.“Are these ruthless savages to escape and repeat such scenes of blood, because they can elude our fellow citizens in Florida, and our regular soldiers, and baffle their unaided efforts to overtake or discover them? On a late occasion, three of our estimable citizens were killed in the immediate neighborhood of St. Augustine, and one officer of distinguished merit mortally wounded. It is in evidence, that these murders were committed by two Indians, who, after shooting down the father and beating out the son’s brains with the butts of their rifles, upon hearing the approach of the volunteers, retired a few yards into the woods and secreted themselves, until the troops returned to town with the dead bodies of those who had been thus inhumanly and wantonly butchered.“It is to be regretted that this corps had not been accompanied with one or two hunters, who, with their dogs, might have tracked the blood-stained footsteps of those Indians; have restored to liberty the captives they were dragging away with them, and have prevented them from ever again repeating such atrocities; nor could the severest casuist object to our fellow citizens in Florida resorting to such measures, in order to protect the lives of their women and children.”“Very respectfully,Your most obedient servant,J. R. POINSETT.Hon. HENRYA. WISE,House of Representatives.”
“WARDEPARTMENT, December 20, 1839.
“SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the twenty-seventh instant, inquiring into the truth of the assertion made by the public papers, that the Government had determined to use blood-hounds in the war against the Florida Indians; and beg to assure you it will give me great pleasure to give you all the information on this subject in possession of the Department.
“From the time I first entered upon the duties of the War Department, I continued to receive letters from officers commanding in Florida, as well as from the most enlightened citizens in that Territory, urging the employment of blood-hounds as the most efficient means of terminating the atrocities daily perpetrated by the Indians on the settlers in that Territory. To these proposals no answer was given, until in the month of August, 1838, while at the Virginia Springs, there was referred to me, from the Department, a letter, addressed to the Adjutant General by the officer commanding the forces in Florida (General Taylor), to the following effect:
“Head Quarters Army of the South,}Fort Brooke, July 28, 1838. }“SIR: I have the honor to inclose you a communication this moment received, on the subject of procuring blood-hounds from the Island of Cuba to aid the army in its operations against the hostiles in Florida. I am decidedly in favor of the measure, and beg leave to urge it as the only means of ridding the country of the Indians, who are now broken up into small parties that take shelter in swamps and hommocks, making it impossible for us to follow or overtake them without the aid of such auxiliaries. Should this measure meet the approbation of the Department, and the necessary authority be granted, I will open a correspondence with Mr. Evertson on the subject, through Major Hunt, Assistant Quarter Master at Savannah, and will authorize him, if it can be done on reasonable terms, to employ a few dogs with persons who understand their management.“I wish it distinctly understood, that my object in employing dogs is only to ascertain where the Indians can be found, not to worry them.“I have the honor to be, sir,Your obedient servant,Z. TAYLOR,Brev. Brig. Gen. U. S. A. Commanding.General R. JONES,Washington, D. C.”
“Head Quarters Army of the South,}Fort Brooke, July 28, 1838. }
“SIR: I have the honor to inclose you a communication this moment received, on the subject of procuring blood-hounds from the Island of Cuba to aid the army in its operations against the hostiles in Florida. I am decidedly in favor of the measure, and beg leave to urge it as the only means of ridding the country of the Indians, who are now broken up into small parties that take shelter in swamps and hommocks, making it impossible for us to follow or overtake them without the aid of such auxiliaries. Should this measure meet the approbation of the Department, and the necessary authority be granted, I will open a correspondence with Mr. Evertson on the subject, through Major Hunt, Assistant Quarter Master at Savannah, and will authorize him, if it can be done on reasonable terms, to employ a few dogs with persons who understand their management.
“I wish it distinctly understood, that my object in employing dogs is only to ascertain where the Indians can be found, not to worry them.
“I have the honor to be, sir,Your obedient servant,Z. TAYLOR,Brev. Brig. Gen. U. S. A. Commanding.
General R. JONES,Washington, D. C.”
“On this letter I indorsed the following decision, which was communicated to General Taylor: ‘I have always been of opinion that dogsoughtto be employed in this warfare to protect the army from surprises and ambuscades, and to track the Indian to his lurking place; but supposed if the General believed them to be necessary, he would not hesitate to take measures to secure them. The cold-blooded and inhuman murders lately perpetrated upon helpless women and children by these ruthless savages, render it expedient that every possible means should be resorted to, in order to protect the people of Florida, and to enable the United States forces to follow and capture or destroy the savage and unrelenting foe. General Taylor is therefore authorized to procure such number of dogs as he may judge necessary: it being expressly understood that they are to be employed to track and discover the Indians, not to worry or destroy them.’
“This is the only action or correspondence, on the part of the Department, that has ever taken place in relation to the matter. The General took no measures to carry into effect his own recommendation, and this Department has never since renewed the subject. I continue, however, to entertain the opinion expressed in the above decision. I do not believe that description of dog, called the blood-hound, necessary to prevent surprise or track the Indian murderer; but still I think that every cabin, every military post, and every detachment, should be attended by dogs. That precaution might have saved Dade’s command from massacre, and by giving timely warning have prevented many of the cruel murders which have been committed by the Indians in middle Florida. The only successful pursuit of Indian murderers that I know of, was, on a late occasion, when the pursuers were aided by the sagacity of their dogs. These savages had approached a cabin of peaceful and industrious settlers so stealthily, that the first notice of their presence was given by a volley from their rifles, thrust between the logs of the house; and the work of death was finished by tomahawking the women, after tearing fromthem their infant children, and dashing their brains out against the door posts.
“Are these ruthless savages to escape and repeat such scenes of blood, because they can elude our fellow citizens in Florida, and our regular soldiers, and baffle their unaided efforts to overtake or discover them? On a late occasion, three of our estimable citizens were killed in the immediate neighborhood of St. Augustine, and one officer of distinguished merit mortally wounded. It is in evidence, that these murders were committed by two Indians, who, after shooting down the father and beating out the son’s brains with the butts of their rifles, upon hearing the approach of the volunteers, retired a few yards into the woods and secreted themselves, until the troops returned to town with the dead bodies of those who had been thus inhumanly and wantonly butchered.
“It is to be regretted that this corps had not been accompanied with one or two hunters, who, with their dogs, might have tracked the blood-stained footsteps of those Indians; have restored to liberty the captives they were dragging away with them, and have prevented them from ever again repeating such atrocities; nor could the severest casuist object to our fellow citizens in Florida resorting to such measures, in order to protect the lives of their women and children.”
“Very respectfully,Your most obedient servant,J. R. POINSETT.
Hon. HENRYA. WISE,House of Representatives.”
It is no part of our present duties to comment on the code of morals which the Secretary of War had adopted. He undoubtedly felt, that neither the Indians nor negroes “possessed any rights which white men were bound to respect.” He was not, he could not, have been ignorant of the cold-blooded massacre of nearly three hundred Exiles and Indians at Blount’s Fort, in 1816; nor of the manner in which the present war had been brought on; nor of theobjects for which it was prosecuted; nor does it appear possible that he, a large slaveholder of South Carolina, could have expected these blood-hounds would follow the trail of Indians. But we must bear in mind that he had been exceedingly vexed with the indomitable resistance of the Exiles. They appeared perfectly determined not to be enslaved, and that determination had given him much trouble; and he must have foreseen the defeat of his party in the next Presidential contest, should all these facts become known to the public. With these feelings, he was prepared to apply almost any epithets to the Indians, as the friends and allies of a people to whose real character he dared not publicly allude, although they were occasioning the Administration so much trouble.
Having shown that no blood-hounds had been previously employed, he proceeded to argue the propriety of employing them in future, by adopting the policy proposed by the Legislature of Florida, who, as we have already seen, had taken measures to obtain them some twenty days prior to the date of this communication.
The Secretary of War thus exonerated himself and the Federal Executive from the responsibility of employing blood-hounds, on the thirtieth of December; and the animals arrived in Florida, under charge of Colonel Fitzpatrick, just one weeksubsequentlyto that date.
One feature was most obvious, in the commencement and prosecution of this war: we allude to the very respectful, almost obsequious obedience of the Executive to the popular feeling in favor of slavery, in every part of the country where that institution existed. This war had been commenced at the instance of the people of Florida. General Jessup attempted to change the articles of capitulation which he had signed, when the people of Florida protested against peace, unless attended by a restoration of slaves; and now, when the popular voice of the nation had paralyzed the Executive arm in regard to obtaining blood-hounds, the people of Florida, in their Legislature, took up the subject and carried thepolicy into practice, so far as to obtain the animals; but that would be of no use unless they could be employed by the army of the United States. Preparatory to this adoption of the purchase made by the Legislature of Florida, Mr. Poinsett had argued the propriety of their employment, in his letter to Mr. Wise; and twenty-six days afterwards, he wrote General Taylor as follows:
“WARDEPARTMENT, Jan’y 26, 1840.“SIR: It is understood by the Department, although not officially informed of the fact, that the authorities of the Territory have imported a pack of blood-hounds from the Island of Cuba. And I think it proper to direct, in the event of those dogs being employed by any officer or officers under your command, that their use be confined altogether to tracking the Indians; and in order to insure this, and to prevent the possibility of their injuring any person whatever, that they be muzzled and held with a leash while following the track of the enemy.“Very respectfully,Your most obedient servant,J. R. POINSETT.Brig. Gen’l Z. TAYLOR,Com’d’g Army of the South, Florida.”
“WARDEPARTMENT, Jan’y 26, 1840.
“SIR: It is understood by the Department, although not officially informed of the fact, that the authorities of the Territory have imported a pack of blood-hounds from the Island of Cuba. And I think it proper to direct, in the event of those dogs being employed by any officer or officers under your command, that their use be confined altogether to tracking the Indians; and in order to insure this, and to prevent the possibility of their injuring any person whatever, that they be muzzled and held with a leash while following the track of the enemy.
“Very respectfully,Your most obedient servant,J. R. POINSETT.
Brig. Gen’l Z. TAYLOR,Com’d’g Army of the South, Florida.”
From the commencement of this war, the officers of our army had found it necessary to employ persons who could communicate with the Indians in their own tongue. This was usually done through negroes, who could safely approach both Exiles and Indians; they were, in fact, the only class of persons who could safely go from our posts to those of the enemy. No Indians could do it unless by arrangement made through those negroes; inasmuch as Creeks, Chickasaws and Choctaws were employed to act with our troops in hunting down the Seminoles, who shot those Creeks, Choctaws and Chickasaws, when opportunity permitted, with just as little ceremony as they did white men.
When those negroes visited the Seminoles, they were supposed to convey to them as accurate intelligence in regard to our troops,as they brought back respecting the enemy’s forces; they were, therefore, supposed to have put their brethren, the Exiles, upon their guard in respect to the blood-hounds. Understanding perfectly the nature andeducationof those animals, it does not appear very extraordinary to us that the Exiles remained for a time in the interior, where neither blood-hounds nor civilized troops were accustomed to penetrate. This policy of the Exiles rendered useless the whole expenditure of money and honor, made in the purchase of blood-hounds and Spaniards, with a view to their capture.
But the animals had been obtained, and authority given to our officers to employ them. The Spaniards attended them. The dogs were attached to different regiments, and fed liberally on bloody meat; young calves were provided, and driven with each scouting party, to supply food for them. The Spaniards were supplied with a sufficient number of assistants to keep the dogs in their leashes. Thus provided, several parties, composed of regular troops, militia, Indians, Spaniards, dogs and calves, started for the interior. Their marches continued in some instances for days before they found even the track of an enemy; but when they found foot-prints of Indians, and the dogs were looked to with confidence to lead on the warlike host, while some more humble officer, following the canine leaders, Spaniards and Indians, was expected to bear aloft the glorious stars and stripes, as they engaged in deadly conflict with the wily foe;—lo! just at that moment, when all hearts were palpitating; while hope was at its height; when the stern resolve clothed each brow with the dark scowl of battle, the dogs were blithe and frolicsome, but paid no more attention to the tracks of the Indians than to those of the ponies on which they sometimes rode.
This grand experiment for closing the Florida War was now pronounced adead failure; and the use of dogs, and calves, and Spaniards, was discarded; and the whole affair served no other purpose than to bring odium upon the Administration, and ridiculeupon the officers who proposed the employment of blood-hounds to act as allies of the American army.
General Taylor, having had command of the army in Florida nearly two years, and the sickly season having commenced, requested to be relieved from that responsible station. His request was granted, and he left Florida for his plantation in Louisiana. Brevet Brigadier General Armistead, by order of the War Department, assumed the position from which General Taylor retired.
Presidential Election of 1840—The War discussed as one of the issues—Effect on the Election—Publication of Jay’s View—Action of the Executive paralyzed—Spanish Indians—Destruction of Indian Key—Troops inactive—Allies commit new depredations—New Expedient—Its failure—Chiefs invited to Fort King—Exiles refuse to treat—Massacre of Lieutenant Sherwood and party—Melancholy fate of Mrs. Montgomery—White men disguised as Indians—Murder of Cora Tustenuggee—Order of Secretary of War—Letter to General Armistead—Bribery of Indians—Mr. Thompson’s Bill—Discussion of the causes of the War in Congress—Enemy find protection in large swamps—Their renewed depredations—General distress—People of Florida again driven from their homes—Employed in public service—Their Slaves employed—They become interested in continuing the War.
Presidential Election of 1840—The War discussed as one of the issues—Effect on the Election—Publication of Jay’s View—Action of the Executive paralyzed—Spanish Indians—Destruction of Indian Key—Troops inactive—Allies commit new depredations—New Expedient—Its failure—Chiefs invited to Fort King—Exiles refuse to treat—Massacre of Lieutenant Sherwood and party—Melancholy fate of Mrs. Montgomery—White men disguised as Indians—Murder of Cora Tustenuggee—Order of Secretary of War—Letter to General Armistead—Bribery of Indians—Mr. Thompson’s Bill—Discussion of the causes of the War in Congress—Enemy find protection in large swamps—Their renewed depredations—General distress—People of Florida again driven from their homes—Employed in public service—Their Slaves employed—They become interested in continuing the War.
1840.
The Presidential election of this year was conducted differently from any that had preceded it. The opponents of Mr. Van Buren arraigned him before the people for his extravagance in the expenditure of the public treasure, and the immense losses which the nation sustained by the default and irresponsibility of officers appointed by him. It constitutes an era in our political history, from which we date the practice of calling directly upon the people to pass judgment of condemnation upon the action of our National Executive. Every honorable means was resorted to for the purpose of exposing the errors of the Administration during the previous four years.
Among the subjects made prominent before the country, was that of the extravagant expenditures in prosecuting the “Florida War.” Speeches were made in Congress exposing the various practicesby which the people’s money was squandered in that unfortunate conflict; the policy of attempting to compel the Indians to emigrate, and the cruelty practiced towards them, were commented on with severity. These speeches were printed in pamphlet form, and sent to the people in vast numbers: but the real cause of the war, the deep depravity of that policy which sought the enslavement of the Exiles, was not mentioned; nor does it appear that any member of Congress was conscious, even, that such a people as the Exiles was living in Florida.[126]But, nevertheless, it is quite certain that this war proved one of the principal causes of Mr. Van Buren’s defeat; and, during the pendency of the election, these complaints paralyzed the action of the Executive.
Another cause operated to call public attention to the war. Hon. William Jay, of New York, published a small book upon the action of our Government in regard to slavery. It was a work of much merit, and, coming from the pen of one so intimately associated with the best interests of the country, it exerted an influence upon the public mind. It had been published some two or three years; but at the time of which we are writing, it attracted attention in most of the free States, and gave public men to understand that their official acts were to be made known to coming generations.
The intimate relation which this war bore to slavery, rendered every movement in regard to it dangerous to the Executive character, and caused our army to be almost inactive for several months; but the allies, driven to desperation, prepared to wreak their vengeance on every white person who should venture within their reach. A small band, composed of Spanish negroes and Indians, among whom were said to be some maroons from Cuba, resided far down in the Peninsula of Florida. They were called Spanish Indians,and had remained neutral up to the period of which we are speaking; but finding their brethren driven from their own possessions, and compelled to encroach upon the territory so long occupied by themselves, they took up arms against the United States. Every vessel that happened to be wrecked upon their coast was plundered, and the crews massacred.
On the morning of the seventh of August, a number of these people, said to have been led on by Spanish maroons, crossed over to a small island called “Indian Key,” situated at some twenty miles distant from the main land, and attacked the dwellings, burned the storehouses, and destroyed most of the property belonging to the inhabitants. There were but four or five families resident on the island. Of these, Dr. Perrine, a man of some distinction, was murdered in his own house; but, by his valor, he enabled the other members of his family to escape, amid the darkness of night. The allies obtained much plunder, but found no powder, which was said to have been the principal object of the foray.
During the summer and autumn, our troops in Florida were inactive. The season was sickly, and the officers and men lay supinely in their encampments. The enemy felt secure in their strong-holds—sallying forth in occasional forays, murdering the people, and plundering the settlements with impunity. The Administration appeared astonished at the audacity with which a few Indians and negroes hurled defiance at our army and the nation. The expedient of employing savages to assist in the war had failed; the more questionable policy of employing blood-hounds, had not only failed, but was supposed by many to reflect discredit upon the army and nation. Nearly five thousand troops were kept in Florida, maintained at vast expense; but they could neither conquer the Indians, nor even protect the white people. Under these circumstances, the Executive saw but one resource; of that he availed himself. By his direction, twelve Seminole and Mickasukie Indians, who had emigrated West, were induced by sufficient pecuniary considerations to leave their families in the Western Country and return toFlorida, for the purpose of persuading the Indians and Exiles to emigrate. Thus, after four years of war and constant expenditure of blood and treasure, the President discovered that moral power is greater and stronger than physical violence.
But this discovery came too late. He could no longer do justice to those fathers and mothers and children who had been slain, nor to those who had been enslaved; who had been taken far into the interior, sold and transferred from hand to hand like brutes. They had passed from Executive control. The crime now stained our national escutcheon, and no effort could wash it out. The very means which he adopted to close the war, operated to prolong it. These Seminoles and Mickasukies informed their brethren of their own condition, of the manner in which they were treated, and the violations of faith on the part of our Government in not giving them a territory for their separate use, as stipulated in the treaty, and constantly represented to them by our officers; that they were without a home and without a country, residing on Cherokee lands, under Cherokee protection, to prevent the Creeks from enslaving their friends, the Exiles. Many officers at the time doubted their desire to induce the emigration of their brethren.[127]
They, however, obtained an interview between the Commanding General and two Seminole chiefs at Fort King. The chiefs were attended by some forty warriors, who remained in that vicinity four or five days, receiving food and articles of clothing from the United States; but they suddenly disappeared, and it was believed they originally came with hostile, rather than pacific, intentions. When it was found they had left clandestinely, the troops attempted to follow them, but were unable to find any traces of their flight.
While these things were transpiring, the army lay idle in their quarters; neither the Executive, nor the Secretary of War, nor the Commanding General, knowing what to do.
The Exiles learned from the Seminoles and Mickasukies, who visited them from the West, that many of their brethren who surrendered under the articles of capitulation, had been reënslaved, in violation of our plighted faith; and they refused to hold further intercourse with the agents of our Government. To them there appeared but one alternative—victory or death; and they greatly preferred the latter to slavery. Taking their families far into the interior, they hastened to renew the war with vigor and energy.
A party of some thirty Indians and Exiles were lurking about Micanopy, when, on the twenty-eighth of December, Lieutenant Sherwood, Lieutenant Hopson, Sergeant Major Carrol, and ten privates of the 7th Infantry, left Micanopy for the purpose of escorting Mrs. Montgomery, wife of a Lieutenant of that regiment, through the forest to Watkahoota, eight miles distant. The lady was on horseback, while others of the party rode in a wagon drawn by mules, and some marched on foot. The enemy having observed their movements, preceded them to a hommock, about four miles from Micanopy, where they secreted themselves, and awaited the approach of Mrs. Montgomery and party. When they were fairly within the hommock, through which the road passed, they were fired upon, and two privates fell dead. The war-whoop was raised, and the little party found themselves confronted by savages. Lieutenant Sherwood is said to have rallied his escort with promptness. Mrs. Montgomery, attempting to get into the wagon, was shot dead. Sherwood very discreetly retreated to the open forest, and dispatched Lieutenant Hopson to Micanopy for a reinforcement. Knowing the impossibility of retreating from Indians, and conscious that they gave no quarter, he bravely determined to defend himself or die on the field. But his assailants numbered three times as many warriors as he had. They out-flanked and surrounded his ill-fatedparty, all of whom with himself fell victims to that policy which had brought this war, with all its crimes, upon our nation.
We cannot withhold our sympathy from those patriotic men who enter the public service expecting to act in an honorable sphere in favor of just measures; but who are often made the instruments of injustice, and their lives sacrificed to the spirit and policy of oppression. Our officers and soldiers, serving in this Florida War, were duly conscious of the dishonorable employment in which they were engaged; that they were daily subjected to dangers and death for the purpose of enabling the people of Florida to seize men and women, and sell them into interminable bondage. Officers and men who would cheerfully meet danger and death upon the field of honorable warfare in defense of freedom, were compelled to meet death in all its various and revolting forms in Florida to uphold oppression, to sustain an institution which they abhorred; nor can we wonder that the consciousness of these facts should have created a feeling of hostility between our regular troops and the slaveholders of Florida, who were constantly charging them with inefficiency and want of energy in the capture of negroes. This feeling ran so high that the white men of Florida were charged with disguising themselves as Indians, and actually committing murders and robberies upon mail carriers and express riders, in order to continue hostilities and keep up the war.[128]This feeling greatly increased the embarrassment of the Executive.
A chief named “Cora Tustenuggee,” after due consultation with the interpreters sent to induce him to emigrate, concluded to surrender, and go West. He collected his band, numbering about one hundred in all. Among them were some half breeds, descendants of the pioneer Exiles. They had intermarried with Indians of this band, and were treated as Indians. While on their way to one of our posts, near Palaklikaha Lake, they were fired upon by a partyat dragoons who were said to have been conscious of the intentions of the Indians. This supposed violation of faith was greatly aggravated by the subsequent wanton murder of the chief, after he and his band had quietly submitted as prisoners. These people were immediately sent to Tampa Bay, and then embarked for the Western Country, where they joined their brethren, still resident on the Cherokee lands, and under Cherokee protection.
The Presidential election being past, the Executive felt more untrammeled; and Mr. Poinsett, Secretary of War, resisting the instruction which he might have drawn from four years of unfortunate experience, appears to have determined to leave this Florida War in as unpromising condition as he found it. He sent instructions to the Commanding General to renew the war with whatever force he could bring into the field.
It is a somewhat singular fact, that when the Secretary understood, and the country was fully informed, that he would leave the Department on the fourth of March, he wrote the commanding officer on the eighteenth of February, thirteen days prior to his own political dissolution, saying, “The Department entertains the well-grounded hope that you will be able to bring the war to a close upon the terms required by the treaty of Payne’s Landing, and by theinterests and feelings of the people of Florida.”
The reader must be aware that thefeelings and interestsof the people of Floridarequiredthe capture and enslavement of the Exiles; for which the Secretary of War had so long labored, and which appeared to be his ruling passion—“strong in the hour of his political death.”
To effect this object, recourse was had to the bribery of certain chiefs. Money was now offered certain influential men of the Seminoles and Exiles to induce them to exert their influence with their friends to emigrate. It was reported that slaves who had but a few years since left their masters, and intermarried with the Seminoles, dare not surrender, knowing that slavery awaited such act. Without them, their relatives and connexions would not remove. Itwas therefore proposed that Congress should make an appropriation for the purpose of purchasing such Exiles; yet the bill making it was general in its provisions, granting a hundred thousand dollars to be expended by the Secretary of War for the subsistence andbenefitof certain chiefs and warriors of the Seminole Indians who wished to emigrate. The subsistence of such emigrants was provided for in other bills; but thebenefitsfor which this money was to be expended was to purchase the pretended interest of certain white men to individual Exiles whom they claimed as property.
By thus disguising the real intention and object of the bill, it was evidently expected it would pass without scrutiny, under the rules which prohibited the discussion of all questions involving the subject of slavery. The better to carry out this design, Hon. Waddy Thompson of South Carolina, a Whig member of the House of Representatives, but fully sympathizing with the Executive in his policy of conducting the war in the manner “required by the interests and feelings of the people of Florida,” was regarded as the proper agent to introduce the bill and superintend its passage.