text: UFDC Home | Help | RSS TABLE OF CONTENTS HIDE Front Cover Frontispiece Title Page Front Matter Florida's quadricentennial Editorial preface Introduction Notes The Florida War Title Page Dedication Preface Table of Contents List of Illustrations From July 17, 1821, to March 21,... From March 21, 1830, to December... From January 1, 1836, to December... From June 1840, to May 1841 June, 1841 July and August, 1841 September and October, 1841 Extracts translated from the manuscript... November and December, 1841 Correspondence between the executive... January and February, 1842 March, April, and May, 1842 June, July, and to the 17th August,... From August 17, to October 31,... From November 1, 1842, to December... Quartermaster's department, Commissary... Appendix Advertising Index Group Title: Floridiana Facsimile and Reprint Series ( of the 1848 edition ) Title: The origin, progress, and conclusion of the Florida War CITATION THUMBNAILS PAGE IMAGE ZOOMABLE Full Citation STANDARD VIEW MARC VIEW Permanent Link: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/UF00026717/00001 Material Information Title: The origin, progress, and conclusion of the Florida War Series Title: Quadricentennial edition of the Floridiana facsimile and reprint series Physical Description: xxx, 557, 40 p. : illus., col. coat of arms. fold, map, ports. ; 24 cm. Language: English Creator: Sprague, J. T ( John Titcomb ), 1810-1878 Publisher: University of Florida Press Place of Publication: Gainesville, Fla. Publication Date: 1964 Copyright Date: 1964 Subjects Subject: Seminole War, 2nd, 1835-1842 ( lcsh )Indians of North America -- Florida ( lcsh )Seminole Indians ( lcsh )Seminole Indians -- Florida ( lcsh )History -- Florida -- 1821-1865 ( lcsh ) Notes Bibliography: Bibliographical references included in "Notes" (p. xxix-xxx) Statement of Responsibility: A facsim. reproduction of the 1848 ed., with introd. by John K. Mahon. Record Information Bibliographic ID: UF00026717 Volume ID: VID00001 Source Institution: University of Florida Holding Location: University of Florida Rights Management: All rights reserved by the source institution and holding location. Resource Identifier: ltqf - AAB7881notis - AAN9199alephbibnum - 000123259oclc - 01533882lccn - 64019162 Table of Contents Front Cover Front Cover 1 Front Cover 2 Frontispiece Frontispiece Title Page Page i Page ii Front Matter Page iii Page iv Page v Page vi Florida's quadricentennial Page vii Page viii Page ix Page x Editorial preface Page xi Page xii Introduction Page xiii Page xiv Page xv Page xvi Page xvii Page xviii Page xix Page xx Page xxi Page xxii Page xxiii Page xxiv Page xxv Page xxvi Page xxvii Page xxviii Notes Page xxix Page xxx The Florida War Page 1 Page 1a Title Page Page 2 Page 3 Dedication Page 4 Preface Page 5 Page 6 Table of Contents Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 List of Illustrations Page 16a Page 16b From July 17, 1821, to March 21, 1830 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 From March 21, 1830, to December 31, 1835 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 From January 1, 1836, to December 31, 1840 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 98a Page 98b Page 99 Page 100 Page 100a Page 100b Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112 Page 113 Page 114 Page 115 Page 116 Page 117 Page 118 Page 119 Page 120 Page 121 Page 122 Page 123 Page 124 Page 125 Page 126 Page 127 Page 128 Page 129 Page 130 Page 131 Page 132 Page 133 Page 134 Page 135 Page 136 Page 137 Page 138 Page 139 Page 140 Page 141 Page 142 Page 143 Page 144 Page 145 Page 146 Page 147 Page 148 Page 149 Page 150 Page 151 Page 152 Page 153 Page 154 Page 155 Page 156 Page 157 Page 158 Page 159 Page 160 Page 161 Page 162 Page 163 Page 164 Page 165 Page 166 Page 167 Page 168 Page 169 Page 170 Page 171 Page 172 Page 173 Page 174 Page 175 Page 176 Page 177 Page 178 Page 179 Page 180 Page 181 Page 182 Page 183 Page 184 Page 185 Page 186 Page 187 Page 188 Page 189 Page 190 Page 191 Page 192 Page 193 Page 194 Page 195 Page 196 Page 197 Page 198 Page 199 Page 200 Page 201 Page 202 Page 203 Page 204 Page 205 Page 206 Page 207 Page 208 Page 209 Page 210 Page 211 Page 212 Page 213 Page 214 Page 215 Page 216 Page 217 Page 218 Page 219 Page 220 Page 221 Page 222 Page 223 Page 224 Page 225 Page 226 Page 227 Page 228 Page 229 Page 230 Page 231 Page 232 Page 233 Page 234 Page 235 Page 236 Page 237 Page 238 Page 239 Page 240 Page 241 Page 242 Page 243 Page 244 Page 245 Page 246 From June 1840, to May 1841 Page 247 Page 248 Page 249 Page 250 Page 251 Page 252 Page 253 Page 254 Page 254a Page 255 Page 256 Page 257 Page 258 Page 259 Page 260 Page 261 Page 262 Page 263 Page 264 Page 265 June, 1841 Page 266 Page 267 Page 268 Page 269 Page 270 Page 271 Page 272 Page 273 Page 274 Page 275 Page 276 Page 277 Page 278 Page 279 Page 280 Page 281 Page 282 Page 283 Page 284 Page 285 July and August, 1841 Page 286 Page 286a Page 287 Page 288 Page 289 Page 290 Page 291 Page 292 Page 293 Page 294 Page 295 Page 296 Page 297 Page 298 Page 299 Page 300 Page 301 Page 302 Page 303 Page 304 Page 305 Page 306 Page 307 Page 308 Page 309 Page 310 September and October, 1841 Page 311 Page 312 Page 313 Page 314 Page 315 Page 316 Page 317 Page 318 Page 319 Page 320 Page 321 Page 322 Page 323 Page 324 Page 325 Page 326 Page 327 Page 328 Page 329 Page 330 Page 331 Page 332 Page 333 Page 334 Page 335 Page 336 Page 336a Extracts translated from the manuscript of the Commandant of St. Augustine, East Florida, Manuel de Montiano Page 337 Page 338 Page 339 Page 340 Page 341 Page 342 Page 343 Page 344 Page 345 Page 346 November and December, 1841 Page 347 Page 348 Page 349 Page 350 Page 351 Page 352 Page 353 Page 354 Page 355 Page 356 Page 357 Page 358 Page 359 Page 360 Page 361 Page 362 Page 363 Page 364 Page 365 Page 366 Page 367 Page 368 Page 369 Page 370 Page 371 Page 372 Page 373 Page 374 Page 375 Page 376 Page 377 Page 378 Page 379 Page 380 Page 381 Page 382 Page 383 Page 384 Page 385 Page 386 Page 387 Page 388 Page 389 Page 390 Page 391 Page 392 Page 393 Page 394 Page 395 Page 396 Page 397 Page 398 Page 399 Page 400 Page 401 Page 402 Correspondence between the executive of the territory of Florida, and of the state of Georgia Page 403 Page 404 Page 405 Page 406 Page 407 Page 408 Page 409 Page 410 Page 411 Page 412 Page 413 Page 414 Page 415 Page 416 Page 417 Page 418 Page 419 Page 420 Page 421 Page 422 Page 423 Page 424 Page 425 Page 426 Page 427 January and February, 1842 Page 428 Page 428a Page 429 Page 430 Page 431 Page 432 Page 433 Page 434 Page 435 Page 436 Page 437 Page 438 Page 439 Page 440 Page 441 Page 442 Page 443 Page 444 Page 445 Page 446 Page 447 Page 448 March, April, and May, 1842 Page 449 Page 450 Page 451 Page 452 Page 453 Page 454 Page 455 Page 456 Page 457 Page 458 Page 458a Page 459 Page 460 Page 461 Page 462 Page 463 Page 464 Page 465 Page 466 Page 467 Page 468 Page 469 Page 470 Page 471 Page 472 Page 473 Page 474 June, July, and to the 17th August, 1842 Page 475 Page 476 Page 477 Page 478 Page 479 Page 480 Page 481 Page 482 Page 483 Page 484 Page 485 Page 486 Page 487 Page 488 Page 489 Page 490 Page 491 Page 492 Page 493 From August 17, to October 31, 1842 Page 494 Page 495 Page 496 Page 497 From November 1, 1842, to December 31, 1845 Page 498 Page 499 Page 500 Page 501 Page 502 Page 503 Page 504 Page 505 Page 506 Page 507 Page 508 Page 509 Page 510 Page 511 Page 512 Page 513 Quartermaster's department, Commissary department, settlement of the territory Page 514 Page 515 Page 516 Page 517 Page 518 Page 519 Page 520 Appendix Page 521 Page 522 Page 523 Page 524 Page 525 Page 526 Page 527 Page 528 Page 529 Page 530 Page 531 Page 532 Page 533 Page 534 Page 535 Page 536 Page 537 Page 538 Page 539 Page 540 Page 541 Page 542 Page 543 Page 544 Page 545 Page 546 Page 547 Page 548 Page 549 Page 550 Page 551 Page 552 Page 553 Page 554 Page 555 Page 556 Page 557 Page 558 Advertising Advertising 1 Advertising 2 Advertising 3 Advertising 4 Advertising 5 Advertising 6 Advertising 7 Advertising 8 Advertising 9 Advertising 10 Advertising 11 Advertising 12 Advertising 13 Advertising 14 Advertising 15 Advertising 16 Advertising 17 Advertising 18 Advertising 19 Advertising 20 Advertising 21 Advertising 22 Advertising 23 Advertising 24 Advertising 25 Advertising 26 Advertising 27 Advertising 28 Advertising 29 Advertising 30 Advertising 31 Advertising 32 Index Index 1 Index 2 Index 3 Index 4 Index 5 Index 6 Index 7 Index 8 Index 9 Index 10 Index 11 Index 12 Index 13 Index 14 Index 15 Index 16 Index 17 Index 18 Index 19 Index 20 Index 21 Index 22 Index 23 Index 24 Index 25 Index 26 Index 27 Index 28 Index 29 Index 30 Index 31 Index 32 Index 33 Index 34 Index 35 Index 36 Index 37 Index 38 Index 39 Index 40 Full Text Hr U *^i* fag"!94 9 *~i THE FLORIDA WAR. FARRIS BRYANT Governor of the State of Florida 1961- 1965 Carl Sandburg has said: "Books say Yes to life. Or they say No." The twelve volumes commemorating the Quadricentennial of Florida say Yes. They unfold a story so adventurous and thrilling, so colorful and dramatic, that it would pass for fiction were the events not solidly rooted in historical fact. Five varying cultures have shaped the character of Florida and endowed her with the pride and wisdom that come from full knowledge and abiding understanding. Let us enjoy with deepening gratitude Florida's magnetic natural endowments of sun and surf and sky. Let us also recognize in her unique cultural heritage the pattern of energy and dedication that will spur us to face the challenges of today and tomorrow with confidence. I am grateful for the privilege of sharing these volumes with you. THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND CONCLUSION OF THE FLORIDA WAR BY JOHN T. SPRAGUE, BREVET CAPTAIN, EIGHTH REGIMENT U. S. INFANTRY. A FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION of the 1848 EDITION with INTRODUCTION by JOHN K. MAHON QUADRICENTENNIAL EDITION of the FLORIDIANA FACSIMILE REPRINT SERIES University of Florida Press GAINESVILLE, 1964 QUADRICENTENNIAL EDITION of the FLORIDIANA FACSIMILE &v' REPRINT SERIES FACSIMILE REPRODUCTION of the 1848 EDITION WITH PREFATORY MATERIAL, INTRODUCTION &- INDEX ADDED NEW MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1964 BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF STATE INSTITUTIONS OF FLORIDA Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 64-19162 LITHOPRINTED BY DOUGLAS PRINTING COMPANY, INC. BOUND BY UNIVERSAL-DIXIE BINDERY, INC. JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA THE CABINET FARRIS BRYANT Governor TOM ADAMS JAMES W. KYNES Secretary of State Attorney General RAY E. GREEN J. EDWIN LARSON State Comptroller State Treasurer DOYLE E. CONNER THOMAS D. BAILEY Commissioner of Agriculture Superintendent of Public Instruction THE BOARD OF CONTROL BAYA M. HARRISON, JR. GERT H. W. SCHMIDT Chairman Vice Chairman St. Petersburg Jacksonville CHARLES R. FORMAN, D.V.M. JOHN C. PACE Ft. Lauderdale Pensacola WAYNE C. MCCALL, D.D.S. CHESTER E. WHITTLE Ocala Orlando JAMES LAWRENCE KING J. B. CULPEPPER Miami Executive Director, Tallahassee THE QUADRICENTENNIAL EDITION of the FLORIDIANA FACSIMILE & REPRINT SERIES CARPETBAG RULE IN FLORIDA by John Wallace. 1888. Edited by Allan Nevins. THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION IN FLORIDA by Wil- liam Watson Davis. 1913. Edited by Fletcher M. Green. THE EXILES OF FLORIDA by Joshua R. Giddings. 1858. Edited by Arthur W. Thompson. FLORIDA FOR TOURISTS, INVALIDS, AND SETTLERS by George M. Barbour. 1882. Edited by Emmett B. Peter, Jr. HISTORICAL MEMOIR OF THE WAR IN WEST FLORIDA AND LOUISIANA IN 1814-15 by A. L. Latour. 1816. Edited by Jane Lucas de Grummond. HISTORY OF JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA, AND VICINITY, 1513 to 1924 by T. Frederick Davis. 1925. Edited by Richard A. Martin. NOTICES OF FLORIDA AND THE CAMPAIGNS by M. M. Cohen. 1836. Edited by O. Z. Tyler, Jr. THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND CONCLUSION OF THE FLORIDA WAR by John T. Sprague. 1848. Edited by John K. Mahon. PEDRO MENENDEZ de AVILES by Gonzalo Soil's de Meras. 1567. (The Florida State Historical Society edition, edited and translated by Jeannette Thurber Connor.) Edited by Lyle N. McAlister. THE PURCHASE OF FLORIDA by Hubert Bruce Fuller. 1906. Edited by Weymouth T. Jordan. SKETCHES, HISTORICAL AND TOPOGRAPHICAL, OF THE FLOR- IDAS by James Grant Forbes. 1821. Edited by James W. Covington. THE WHOLE TRUE DISCOUERYE OF TERRA FLORIDA by Jean Ribaut. 1563. (The Florida State Historical Society edition, includ- ing a biography of Ribaut by Jeannette Thurber Connor.) Edited by David L. Dowd. The Quadricentennial Coat-of-Arms Surmounted by the Crest symbolizing our National Emblem and underlined by the Scroll, the Shield with the Tower of Spain in the Heraldic quarter of honor, followed by the Fleur- de-lis of France, the Lion Rampant of Britain, and the Mullets and Saltier of the Confederacy--depicts the four-hundred- year cultural heritage of our Florida of today. The Florida Quadricentennial Commission acknowledges its deepest gratitude to Chase D. Sheddan, distinguished scholar, and A. Vernon Coale, noted Heraldic Artist, for their conception and portrayal of the official Florida Quadricentennial Coat- of-Arms. *" ,.'''~ .*.r . . . . *. .-` FLORIDA'S QUADRICENTENNIAL LORIDA enjoys a unique position among the fifty states of the Union. Her city of St. Augustine antedates Jamestown, the second oldest Euro- Spean settlem ent w within the present boundaries of the United States, by forty-two years. But it was not until 1950 that Florida entered the select circle of the ten most populous states of the nation. Since 1950 she has passed Massachusetts in population and is challenging New Jersey for eighth place. Within the South only Texas with more than four and one-half times the area of Florida has a larger population. Neither number nor age is necessarily a distinction, but most Americans are impressed by the former and revere the latter. Floridians view the recent and rapid increase in their state's population as an indication of youthful vigor. In 1860 eleven states of the Union had a million or more inhabitants, a status symbol not at- tained by Florida until the mid-1920's. At the turn of the century Florida ranked thirty-third in a nation of forty- six commonwealths; today she is ninth in population among the fifty states. In contrast to the national increase of less than 20 per cent from 1950 to 1960, Florida's population increased by more than 78 per cent. The number of people living in the state in 1964 is more than twice that of 1950. While boasting of their state's recent surge, Floridians are also proud of their four-hundred-year-old origin. In 1957 the Florida Quadricentennial Commission was established. With the approval of its members local or- viii Florida's Quadricentennial ganizations have celebrated the quadricentennials of several historic events. The attempt of Tristin de Luna to found a colony on the western tip of Santa Rosa Island in 1559 was observed in Pensacola by reconstructing the Spanish village settlement. In 1962 Jacksonville noted the Quadricentennial of Jean Ribault's explorations with a colorful drama. Even before this tribute to the French explorer, a museum was built near the spot where in 1564 another Frenchman, Rene de Laudonnibre, brought the first Protestant colonists to an area within the present- day United States. These and other quadricentennial celebrations will culminate in 1965 with state, national, and international observance of the founding of St. Augustine. There are many ways to celebrate quadricentennials- parades, speeches, pageants, the re-creation of villages and forts, and the restoration of buildings. Some of these are spectacular but fleeting; others, including the restoration of buildings, will remain for our descendants to see and feel. More enduring than any of these are ideas. For this reason the Governor, the Cabinet, and the Florida Quad- ricentennial Commission gave priority to the reprinting of rare and valuable books relating to Florida. These re- productions will endure. They will enable many Ameri- cans to share in the state's past, and will provide source material for the historian. Until recently few authors or publishers were inter- ested in Florida. Englishmen brought the first printing press to Florida in 1783 and from it came a newspaper and two books. But for a century and a half the books on Florida were rare and the number of copies printed was small. In cooperation with the University of Florida Press the Quadricentennial Commission is reprinting Florida's Quadricentennial ix twelve rare or semi-rare books. The subject matter in these volumes covers a period of more than three hun- dred years of Florida's history-the French and Spanish settlements, the War of 1812, the purchase by the United States, the Seminole War, the Civil War and Reconstruc- tion, and the modern period. In addition to textual re- productions, these facsimile editions contain introduc- tions by businessmen, journalists, and professors. The Quadricentennial Commission hopes these twelve books will stimulate the production of other reprints and en- courage students to write original manuscripts which describe and interpret Florida's past. The Florida Quadricentennial Commission THE COMMISSION FRED H. KENT, Chairman-Jacksonville DOYLE E. CARLTON, SR.-Tampa WILSON CARRAWAY-Tallahassee JEAN ANN CONE-Tampa CLARENCE M. GAY-Orlando HAROLD W. GOFORTH-Ocala HERBERT GRAY-Tampa JOHN MARSHALL GREEN-Ocala KATHRYN ABBEY HANNA-Winter Park MALLORY HORNE-Tallahassee CHARLES H. OVERMAN-Pensacola JOHN D. PENNEKAMP-Miami JOHN FITE ROBERTSON-Sarasota GERT H. W. SCHMIDT-Jacksonville H. E. WOLFE-St. Augustine EDITORIAL PREFACE. By the middle of the eighteenth century some native Americans, thrust from their ancestral lands by the move-or-die policy of British colonists, found homes in Spanish Florida. Unlike most of their displaced brothers, the Seminole Indians bought Negroes and gave haven to escaped slaves. But the Seminole was an easy master. After the War of 1812 Seminole and Negro were more nearly partners than master and slave. In the First Seminole War the United States Army invaded the Spanish colony to chastise both Negro and Indian in a conflict that did much to persuade Spain to cede the Floridas to the United States. The federal government first attempted to confine the Seminoles and Negroes to a specified area in Florida, and then tried to move them to a reservation located west of the Mississippi River. The second effort and the aggressiveness of white men, who made false as well as legitimate claims to ownership of the Seminoles' Negroes, brought on the Second Seminole War. This longest and most costly of all American Indian wars was a seven-year cam- paign of United States regulars and state militia against mobile forces of Seminole and Negro warriors. In 1842 most of the Semi- nole chiefs signed treaties which allowed 300 or more of their people to live unmolested in the Everglades and on the fringes of white settlements in southwestern Florida. A decade later in a third war the Indians again resisted the aggression of white men. Despite casualties and removal, some Indians remained in Florida, where today they enjoy the respect of their white neighbors. Commissioned and non-commissioned officers penned memoirs of the second, the real Seminole-Negro war. The most comprehen- sive of these accounts, one which combined personal experiences- xii EDITORIAL PREFACE. and research, was written by John Titcomb Sprague. Despite the limitations of inadequate source material and personal bias, Spra- gue's Florida War has for almost a century and a quarter been the standard history of the Seminole War. John K. Mahon, associate professor of history at the University of Florida, is well qualified to evaluate the work of Sprague. Dr. Mahon's own study of the Seminole War will soon be published by the University of Florida Press. In making the Index to Sprague's Florida War, Dr. Mahon used and revised the typewritten index produced by the WPA Writers Project in the 1930's. Stanley L. West, Director of Li- braries at the University of Florida, allowed the University Press to use the copy of Sprague in the P. K. Yonge Memorial Library to produce this facsimile. REMBERT W. PATRICK University of Florida General Editor of the April, 1964 FLORIDIANA SERIES INTRODUCTORY. LAWRENCE SPRAGUE joined the army as an assistant surgeon in 1825.1 This action made him the progenitor of a military family of several generations. His son, John Titcomb Sprague, the sub- ject of this Introduction, was born at Newburyport, Massachusetts, on July 3, 1810. What happened to John in his early years is not known, except that in the late 1820's and early 1830's he was with his father at Detroit. Duty soon drew the surgeon away to another post, leaving the boy on his own. Fortunately no less a person than Lewis Cass, veteran governor of Michigan Territory, took an interest in him; and when President Jackson summoned the governor to be Secretary of War in 1831, Cass took young Sprague along and installed him in a minor job in the War Office.2 One way or another, Sprague received a commission as second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on October 17, 1834. Straightway he went off to fight against the Seminoles in Florida, in the regi- ment of Marines led by Colonel Archibald Henderson himself, the Commandant of the Corps. This regiment operated in Florida from about June, 1836, to May, 1837. Presumably Sprague was with the regiment the entire time; in fact he may have remained longer to assist in the forcible transfer of a band of Indians to a reserva- tion beyond the Mississippi River. At some stage of his tour in the Southeast he came into contact with, and impressed, Major General Thomas S. Jesup, Quartermaster General of the United States Army, who was temporarily on leave from his supply duties in order to campaign against the Creeks and Seminoles. It is likely that Jesup encouraged him to resign from the Marines and enter the army. In any case, Sprague did so and received a commission as second lieutenant in the Fifth Infantry Regiment on July 3, xiv INTRODUCTORY. 1837. Thus commenced his thirty-three years of service as a soldier.3 The Second Seminole War caused an increase in the army and, on July 5, 1838, a new regiment, the Eighth Infantry, was con- stituted. Lieutenant Sprague transferred to it two days later. In this manner the man who was to write the history 'of the war in Florida was made part of a regiment which came into being be- cause of the war. Both the Eighth Infantry Regiment and the Territory of Flor- ida were important in Sprague's life. He was in and out of Florida during the following decade-and subsequent times as well-and was a member of the Eighth for twenty-three years. His first army service in Florida came during April and May, 1839, when he acted as temporary aide-de-camp to Alexander Macomb, Com- manding General of the army. The General went to the Territory to try to negotiate peace with the Seminoles. Sprague kept a journal of the expedition, which has great historical value.4 This duty ended when Macomb left Florida, having secured what he believed was a lasting peace with the Indians, but in reality hav- ing failed. For Sprague, however, the mission was a success in that he was promoted to first lieutenant on May 1, 1839. His short tour with the Commanding General being over in July, 1839, Sprague rejoined the Eighth Regiment in New York. In May, 1840, it moved to Forts Winnebago and Crawford, Wis- consin Territory; in July to Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; and thence to Florida Territory. In all these changes of station Lieuten- ant Sprague was present.5 The regiment reached Florida in November, 1840, and was at once swept into rigorous military operations. Lieutenant Sprague shared in these operations until March, 1841, when he was put in charge of a body of Indians who were being moved westward. Upon his return he resumed his duties as adjutant of the regi- ment (a post he had held since December 12, 1839) and, in ad- dition, became aide-de-camp to the new commanding officer in Florida, William Jenkins Worth, the colonel of Sprague's own unit. The next four years were relatively prosperous times for John T. Sprague. First, on March 15, 1842, he earned a brevet6 cap- taincy, "for meritorious and successful conduct in the war against the Florida Indians." Then, on September 1, 1842, he was tem- INTRODUCTORY. xv porarily relieved of the position of regimental adjutant. At St. Augustine, on June 15, 1843,7 he married Mary Worth, the oldest daughter of his commander (who incidentally had recently be- come a brigadier general as a reward for his conduct in the war against the Seminoles). After five months' leave Sprague reported once more for duty on October 31, 1843. At that time Sprague resumed his assignment as regimental adjutant, and kept it until September 1, 1845. One might suppose that a family connection with such a fast rising officer as William J. Worth would have assured Sprague rapid advancement. This was not the case. When the Eighth Regi- ment marched off to take part in the War with Mexico in 1846, Sprague was left behind to police up after the Second Seminole War. The title he received for the purpose was Officer in Charge of Indian Affairs and Disbursing Agent, Florida, a duty which could hardly be expected to generate very much glory!s However, the grade of captain in the Eighth Infantry Regiment did come to him on September 21, 1846, and the book for which he is still known, The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War, did evolve from his leisure time in 1846. Unfortunately for him, the writing of books was not a route to the top in the army. Rather, promotions were being given in Mexico where the Eighth Infantry was earning eight battle streamers to attach to its colors, and where his brother officers won at least brevets in active com- bat.9 Nonetheless, Sprague eventually became a brevet major on May 30, 1848. Toward the end of the Mexican War, General Worth fell out with the commander of the expeditionary force to Mexico, Gen- eral Winfield Scott, who had been his mentor since the War of 1812. The bitterness which brewed between them continued until Worth's death in 1849; indeed it may have continued to operate afterwards through his relatives, for to run afoul of Winfield Scott was a tragic event in any military career. Scott dominated the army as Commanding General from 1841 to 1861 and may have been one reason why Brevet Major Sprague had to wait thirteen years, until May 14, 1861, to become major and to draw the pay and emoluments of that grade. On the other hand, it is only fair to state that promotions came slowly to almost all officers in the interval between the close of the Mexican War and the out- break of the Civil War. xvi INTRODUCTORY. The union of J. T. Sprague with Mary Worth truly established the military family founded by Lawrence Sprague. Three daugh- ters issued from it, all of whom married army officers, and there was one son who became a doctor with military service in World War I. Each succeeding generation has supplied additional officers to the military services, even to the sixth generation, which is now on duty.10 At last, on April 10, 1848, Sprague was given permission to quit Florida and to take leave until the end of July. The remain- ing five months of 1848 were spent in the recruiting service. Then, in 1849, he was off to the branch of the Subsistence Depart- ment in San Antonio, Texas. Completing this detached service the same year, he rejoined his regiment in Texas, which was doing its best to cope with the Indians. As of May 18, 1852, he was ordered to serve two and one-quarter years of recruiting duty in New York State. This duty passed swiftly, and on August 15, 1854, he once more rejoined the Eighth Infantry in Texas. It now became his charge to lead expeditions through the heart of Indian country, once to El Paso and once to Santa Fe. This, the last of his duty in the West, ended in August, 1858. So satisfactory was his performance in New Mexico Territory that the legislature voted him thanks.1 The next two and three-quarters years of his career are obscure. It is possible that he was on extended leave beginning in August, 1858, but the surviving record is not explicit. The coming of the Civil War upset Sprague's plans, whatever they were, along with those of millions of other Americans. When war threatened, he forfeited the unused balance of his leave in order to report for duty. By chance, he found himself traveling to Washington in the company of Abraham Lincoln, President- elect.12 As the orders in his pocket were most disturbing to him, he protested them to the Adjutant General,13 and also solicited Lin- coln's aid to get them changed, but without success. Those orders read that he was to report to the headquarters of his regiment at San Antonio. As he pointed out to the Adjutant General, this would require him to pass through the very heartland of the Con- federacy where he was almost certain to be taken prisoner. How- ever, because he could secure no modification of his orders, there was no choice but to obey. The result was what he had expected: harassment along the way culminating in arrest and imprison- INTRODUCTORY. xvii ment. Without any show of resistance, General David E. Twiggs, who had Confederate leanings, surrendered his command to South- ern officers on February 18, 1861. Sprague, en route to report for duty, was included in the capitulation.14 He was understandably bitter over orders which at the very start ended his chances for service and distinction in the conflict lying ahead. Fortunately, it was not his fate to remain in prison. Offered a general's grade if he would join the Confederate Army, he indig- nantly turned down the tempting star, a refusal which cost him the confiscation of his property in Texas, which happened to be all he owned.15 However, parole was allowed him in April, 1861, and he started back northward. At last, in the middle of May, came the promotion for which he had waited so long. His new grade was major and his regiment the First Infantry. Although he was never to do any actual duty with the First, this new assign- ment marked the end of his association with the Eighth Infantry, which had been his home in the army for twenty-three years. Parole meant that he could return to Union territory, but it also meant that he had given his word not to fight against the Confederacy. Yet an assignment on January 1, 1862, to be fed- eral recruiting and disbursing officer in New York State, did not seem to violate his parole, and he settled into that duty at Albany. In April he was officially exchanged and freed of his promise not to war against the South; but being already established in a non- combat position, he continued in it. After exchange, his name appeared on a list of 200 officers nominated by President Lincoln to be brigadiers. Congress was not willing to promote so many, and he was passed over.16 The end of 1862 brought a new set of circumstances, but not in the area of promotion. It happened that New York elected a Democrat for governor, Horatio Seymour, whose opponents charged him with Copperhead leanings. As a result, Seymour felt an especial need for someone to serve as adjutant general of the state who could maintain good relations in Washington. Accord- ingly, on December 18, 1862, he offered the position to Sprague.17 Sprague accepted at once and thus became a key figure in New York State's military establishment. Ten weeks later, March 13, 1863, the United States Army elevated him to the grade of lieuten- ant colonel in the newly constituted Eleventh Infantry Regiment. As adjutant general of the state of New York, Sprague plunged xviii INTRODUCTORY. diligently into the heavy duties of raising and supplying New York troops for United States service. All in all, New York deliv- ered about 448,000 soldiers and sailors-the largest number of any state-and Adjutant General Sprague was involved with proc- essing at least half of them. Sprague's luck on promotions was no better now than it had been. Rather early he incurred Governor Seymour's displeasure in the following way. Riots broke out in New York City during the summer of 1863 over the enforcement of the federal draft law. This was the sort of situation in which Seymour had intended to use Sprague, and he sent him off to Washington to plead with Lincoln and Secretary of War Stanton to suspend operation of the draft in New York. Once at the capital city, Sprague reported first to Provost Marshal James B. Fry, who was in charge of en- forcing conscription. Fry gave him a positive order not to carry the matter to Lincoln and Stanton. Conditioned by nearly thirty years of military discipline, Sprague obeyed; he returned to Al- bany without ever having seen Lincoln or Stanton. Nearly a week passed before the governor found this out, but when he did his anger flared up. Thereafter, all his communications with the adjutant general of the state passed through a third party. Never- theless, Sprague remained in office as long as Seymour continued as governor, and left the office only on New Year's Day, 1865, when the man who had defeated Seymour took over.18 Miscellaneous assignments filled Sprague's time during the next nine months. For him the important events in that period were his promotion at long last to colonel in May, 1865, and his desig- nation as commander of the Seventh Infantry Regiment. At the head of his unit he entered Florida in October, 1865, for his fourth tour of duty there. At first his assignment was as commanding officer of the District of East Florida, during which time he pleaded with his superiors for a brevet as brigadier general. The war had advanced his colleagues rapidly, and he knew of many a general who had been his junior in rank for several decades. Besides, as he wrote to General W. T. Sherman in 1866, "A colonel is commonplace, his opinion is not much, but the opinion of a General, though ass he may be, is calculated to give wisdom to his acts in this part of rebeldom."19 Although state senators wrote to help him, his promotion never came through; he re- mained a colonel to the end of his days.20 INTRODUCTORY. xix Like most of his previous time in Florida, the fourth assign- ment brought him few dull moments. On December 5, 1866, he was made Assistant Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for Florida, which meant that he was in charge of the Bureau in that state. Then after the passage of the Reconstruction Act of March 2, 1867, his duties were expanded to take in the military com- mand of the District of Florida, including west as well as east Florida. His immediate superior in the Freedmen's Bureau was General Oliver Otis Howard, in the military command General John Pope and, later, General George Gordon Meade.21 Wearing his two hats, Colonel Sprague was the keystone of reconstruction in Florida during the touchy period of military domination dic- tated by the radical Republicans. This was delicate duty, and it is to the colonel's credit that he seems to have done it well. Although no devoted friend to the freedmen, he recognized that colored chil- dren showed quick ability to learn, and he supported education for them. His method, in his own words, was "to dot the state .. with cheap log cabins in the vicinity of large plantations and per- mit parents to send their children to nearby schools with little expense."22 He also favored the vote for ex-slaves. The crucial test of his regime came early in 1868 when con- servatives and radicals reached an impasse over the preparation of a constitution with which Florida could resume her place in the Union. Two sets of delegates fought for seats in the constitu- tional convention. The threat of violence brought General Meade to Tallahassee, and he directed Sprague to favor the conservatives. Such support forced the radicals out, and Colonel Sprague himself served at the start as presiding officer when the convention of con- servatives met. The result was the constitution which endured from 1868 to 1885. Soon Meade directed that the army and the Freed- men's Bureau transfer many of their functions to elected civil officials. Sprague, on whom the implementation of this order fell, chose the Fourth of July, 1868, to make the transfer. He continued his duty in Florida until April 1, 1869, and was thereafter virtually unassigned while his long career as an officer slowly closed out. On July 15, 1870, Congress enacted a law which provided retirement for military officers under decent terms, and on August 9, Sprague made application to take advantage of it. His request was granted, effective December 15, 1870. Retirement by no means opened up a life of ease and leisure XX INTRODUCTORY. for Colonel Sprague. He still had to support a family. The sur- viving record does not show just how he did it. Florida, however, claimed him once again in 1874. On New Year's Day he wrote the Adjutant General that his health was restored and that he was ready to accept any assignment the government might make.23 As none was forthcoming, he wrote the Secretary of War in April in a different vein. Might he accept the presidency of a railroad line which had been offered him, and was he permitted to become a major general in the Florida militia? The reply was favorable to both.24 Little railroad lines, most of them as short-lived as they were short in distance, abounded at this time in Florida. If Spra- gue assumed the presidency of one of these, only this can be said about it for certain: the road and the position did not last very long. As for the militia command, he became major general of the Second Division and held that post at least until December 31, 1876, and probably longer. As of the latter date, there were 18,316 white men and 14,459 colored men enrolled in the Florida militia.25 Ill health, it is likely, forced Sprague to leave Florida in 1877 or 1878. At any rate, he was admitted to a hospital in New York on September 3, 1878, and died there three days later of edema of the lungs and chronic softening of the brain.26 One cannot know why John T. Sprague decided to write The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War. If he had literary aspirations, they never found expression beyond this one book. But it has been a fine monument, standing on library shelves ever since as the only history of the Second Seminole War to be printed. In an analysis of this book, we ought first to notice a few typo- graphical errors and minor errors of fact. Page 19: Payne and Bowlegs were not Secoffee's sons. Author- ity descended among the Seminoles through women, not men; thus it is likely that the two men were brothers, or perhaps neph- ews, of the head chief. And that chief was probably not named Secoffee at all, but was called "The Cowkeeper."27 Except for this brief excursion into early Seminole history, Sprague wisely brushed past it, a sensible thing to do since even now there is a dearth of accurate information concerning it. INTRODUCTORY. XXi Page 20: The Treaty of Moultrie Creek is referred to as the Treaty of Fort Moultrie. There was no fort at the council site after which to name a treaty. The place was selected because it was a crossing over Moultrie Creek familiar to both Indians and white men.28 Page 29: The year given for Gad Humphreys' letter here ought to be 1825, not 1835. Page 36: This Humphreys letter ought to be dated 1827, not 1825. Pages 79, 80, 97: On pages 79 and 80 Sprague referred to Micanopy as an old man; on page 97 he assumed him to have been about fifty. But other observers consider Micanopy to have been closer to forty.29 Page 92: R. K. .(Richard Keith), not C. K. Call. Page 95: The Treaty of Moultrie Creek was signed in 1823, not 1821. Pages 221, 227: Zachary Taylor is here referred to as colonel of the Sixth Infantry, but was in fact colonel of the First.30 Such errors as the above are obviously minor and are men- tioned only because the reader would wish to know of them. In contrast, by far the most serious shortcoming of Sprague's good book is its lack of proportion. The author compressed five crucial years of the war, 1836-1840, into one chapter (Chapter III) of 150 pages. Then he devoted ten chapters, comprising 250 pages, to the remaining year and one-half. Yet, in those five slighted years large-scale Indian resistance was broken and two-thirds of all Seminoles killed or shipped out were accounted for. Did the author purposely tamper with time-proportion? Not at all. The fact is, he knew the last year and one-half of the war far better than the rest. Prior to his arrival with the Eighth Infantry Regi- ment for his third tour in Florida in November, 1840, his ac- quaintance with the conflict had been very perfunctory. But after that date he was personally implicated in many of the principal events. The difference between the first three chapters and the rest of the book is pronounced. Much of the narrative in the first three chapters is carried by reprinted documents, most of which are also printed in the United States Congress Serial Set. But in the latter chapters the prose is his own and is more vivid. After all, as aide-de-camp to the commanding officer, Sprague had a ring- xiiX INTRODU CTORY. side seat, and when he became the general's son-in-law, his access to inside information was more complete than before. Despite his personal involvement, Sprague displayed no tend- ency to distort the record in General Worth's favor. On the other hand, neither did he offer criticism of that officer's methods. In- deed, criticism of his superiors in the regular service is wholly absent from this book. Insofar as he knew the details of the mili- tary actions, he presented them with no criticism whatsoever. This is not true of R. K. Call's campaign. Here is Sprague's only foray into critical analysis. In dealing with Call, Sprague allowed him- self some cautious criticism, but Call was not a regular; he was governor of Florida Territory temporarily commanding a military force fielded by the United States (166). Toward the professionals it must be said that he was uniformly charitable. His treatment of General D. L. Clinch's campaign in the winter of 1835 (92-93), of General E. P. Gaines' excursion into Florida early in 1836 (107-13), and of General Scott's ex- cessively formal converging movement demonstrates this fact. To present the Gaines and Scott campaigns-which produced a vitri- olic controversy between the two generals-he contented himself with reprinting verbatim forty-four pages of testimony drawn from the record of the court of inquiry held to determine what had gone wrong (114-58). Face to face with the most controversial issue of all-General Jesup's order on October 22, 1837, to seize Osceola when the latter had been induced to come to a council and had done so carrying a white flag-Sprague gave the General a clean bill: "The sacred obligations of a white flag were not tendered to him [Osceola]; he came in bearing one, and was re- ceived, as he had been promised, with kindness" (215). Though this explanation seemed to satisfy the author, it does not amount to enough to exonerate General Jesup from the charge of a breach of honorable conduct. But since it did not lie in Sprague's power to gather together all the evidence which has since had a chance to accumulate, he was doubtless very sensible in being noncom- mittal. Still, it is not being hypercritical to display the limitations under which he worked, for they resulted in the slight shortcom- ings in his book. Chapter VIII, ten pages long, is a digression into the history of the Castillo de San Marcos at St. Augustine. For the sake of narra- tive flow it could well have been omitted. No other portion of the INTRODUCTORY. xxii text deserves such a criticism, but it can certainly be applied also to the illustrations throughout the book. As art and as portraits these fail, for the Indians all look alike. Sprague's book is a repository of valuable documents. While some of them are printed elsewhere (usually all but buried in the United States Congress Serial Set), many are available only here. Notable among the latter are letters to and from Gad Humphreys, United States Indian Agent to the Seminoles from 1822 to 1830 (26-71). By means of these the author presents a brief for Hum- phreys which shows him as a conscientious friend of the Indians. Little is known about Humphreys, and in that little there is a preponderance of criticism based on flimsy evidence; Sprague here did justice to a man whom history may have generally wronged. Other documents which the author preserved from oblivion are statements by Indian leaders and by Negroes. There is, for ex- ample, Alligator's account of Dade's Massacre, December 28, 1835 (90-91); accounts by Indian participants of the battle of Okee- chobee, December 25, 1837 (214); addresses made by Coacoochee when he was a prisoner in 1841 (290-91); and the Negro Samp- son's narrative of Harney's Massacre, July 22, 1839 (316-19). Be- cause the Indians left no written records, such glimpses as these into their side of military events, otherwise told almost exclusively from white sources, are rare and valuable. In all, about half the book, approximately 250 of 520 pages of text, is made up of documents of one sort or another. Indeed, from one point of view everything from Chapter IV to the end may be classified as one long contemporary document. After all, Sprague was there, seeing and hearing what the principals did and said. Sprague's writing is clear and forceful. It carries conviction, especially from Chapter IV onward, for the reasons already stated. Certain passages approach eloquence, for example that one which states the military problem confronting the white forces: "Forty- seven thousand square miles in the territory of Florida, was occupied by an enemy by nature vindictive and revengeful, treach- erous and subtle, striving for their rights, and for the soil made sacred by those superstitious influences which become a part of an Indian's nature, by his duty to the Great Spirit, and the in- junctions of parents and prophets. Every hammock and swamp was to them a citadel, to which and from which they could retreat with wonderful facility. Regardless of food or the climate, time or xiv INTRODUCTORY. distance, they moved from one part of the country to the other, in parties of five and ten; while the soldier, dependent upon sup- plies, and sinking under a tropical sun, could only hear of his foe by depredations committed in the section of country over which he had scouted the day before" (273). Other good examples center around the imprisonment of Coacoochee (287-93) and the final departure of his band from Florida (321-24). Of course, Sprague wrote under the influence of the Romantic mood which permeated the culture of his era. Part of this mood was a romantic image of war. Out of war arose heroes! The author and other officers endured overwhelming hardships in this particular conflict, partly because they believed their sufferings were heroic. If so nasty a way of fighting finally erased the romantic image of war from the minds of some officers, it never succeeded in Sprague's case. The following extract attests to his viewpoint: "Of those who have fallen, regulars, volunteers, and militia, their memories remain, and are cherished by their coun- trymen. They are beyond censure or praise. They fell in the excitement of battle, leaving a brilliant example. Others wasted away, by lingering disease, without a voice to soothe and recall the wanderings of the feverish mind, or a gentle hand to smooth the rugged pillow of a soldier's couch. 'Sleep on! Never shall the polluted breath of slander blow upon your ashes; we will watch with pious care the laurels that shall shade your urn, and wear your names engraven upon our hearts' (6). The last sentence would seem to be a promise not to write any- thing likely to injure the reputations of those who had given their lives, whether deserved or not. But comparison with other sources proves that Sprague did not leave out any essentials to protect reputations. It is true, however, that he did leave out the muck and stench of war; but being a Romantic he perhaps never saw and smelled them. He made only a slight effort to set the war in the wider con- text of United States history. Missing, for example, is any refer- ence to the policy of Indian removal upon which the determina- tion to remove the Seminoles from Florida rested in part. Missing also is a vigorous attempt to highlight the close relationship be- tween slavery and the coming of the Second Seminole War, though Sprague saw the connection clearly enough. Slavery was, he said, "an institution upon which hangs the destiny of our country," and INTRODUCTORY. XXV prophetically added, "the question must be met by Americans whether from north or south, in the forum or in the field" (310). Through the years, Negro fugitives had made their way from white plantations to Seminole settlements. Sometimes they became free allies, sometimes slaves, to the Indians, but if they were slaves the bondage was much lighter than that enforced by white men. Besides the fugitives, there were Negro slaves whom the Seminoles had formally purchased, white style, from white owners. What- ever the status of the Seminole Negroes, bond or free, they lived in their own villages, carried arms, hunted, took part in the war, and otherwise conducted themselves as if unbonded.31 However, it was difficult for the Seminoles to establish ownership in the legal way common to white society. They neither understood nor kept legal records. Here was a splendid opportunity for white men, greedy to acquire able-bodied slaves, to make extravagant claims. Such claims were numerous, as were attempts to carry off Negroes bodily, and the repetition of these efforts year after year finally helped to bring on the Second Seminole War. John Sprague knew this story full well, indeed stated it; but he did not underline it as a major theme of his book. He did, how- ever, make very clear the fact that the Negroes had much to lose and little to gain if the Seminoles were expelled from Florida. His narrative shows how they joined with the Indians, especially at the start, to resist the forcible emigration. The narrative shows, too, that the Negroes exerted decisive influence upon the Indians. Not until the Negroes came around to the idea, or deserted to the white side, would the Seminoles entertain the thought of leaving Florida. His story also includes the fact that some Negroes aided the white men, and did so for their own advantage. Numbers of them drew high pay as scouts and interpreters. However, Sprague did not point up as much as the facts merit how crucial was the role of the Negro interpreters. Since few white men could speak the Seminole tongues, Negroes were the principal interpreters. Thus all communication had to flow through them, and could be subtly directed if so desired. Some of them sought to prolong the war in order to retain their favored position. That they did so, and that interested white men did the same, is duly recorded by Sprague in his volume (268-69). First-hand knowledge of many of the Indian leaders would be lost to us except for this book. It contains a brief sketch of the XXvi INTRODUCTORY. appearance and characteristics of every one of the Indian princi- pals. Sympathetic to the Seminoles in the main, the author here represented the feelings of regular officers in general. It is true he called the Seminoles "degraded," "by nature vindictive and revengeful, treacherous and subtle." Moreover, he branded their depredations which began the war-Dade's Massacre and the am- bush of the Indian Agent, General Wiley Thompson-as "coward- ly, revengeful and atrocious." To these derogations he added that the Seminoles were "utterly regardless of integrity and honor" (18, 88, 180). On the other hand, he recognized that those quali- ties which he deplored in them sprang from their culture. His understanding that the Indians were imbedded in that culture, as he was in his, is advanced for his time. Influenced by this recogni- tion of the power of culture, he wrote, "Their mode of warfare is rational. The scalps of the white man are to them banners of vic- tory and glory. Treachery and cunning take the place of organized and disciplined troops." Osceola, he recognized, pushed out of the bonds of tribal mores when he persistently insisted that white women and children must be spared (101, 264). Sprague laid the blame for the war largely upon white men. But it was the temporary inhabitants, he took pains to point out, not the citizens of Florida, whose greed and denial of rights to the Semiroles finally incited the natives to war. The policy of the federal government was lenient, but the "waywardness and de- pravity of a border population in a new country" frustrated it (5, 25). In other words, Sprague recognized that the relationship of the Indians and frontiersmen on the Florida borderland was similar to that on every other outer rim of our expanding nation. Still, he spoke with bitterness of those harpies who lured the In- dians off their reservations with the promise of liquor and then complained to the government that they had jumped their bounds. The immediate causes of the war were the three critical trea- ties made by the United States with the Seminoles: Moultrie Creek, September 18, 1823; Payne's Landing, May 9, 1832; and Fort Gibson, March 28, 1833. These, Sprague insisted, were a result of the aggressive selfishness of the Florida frontiersmen.32 Obviously the author believed that the Seminoles were fighting for what was theirs by right. "Who can but admire the stern dictates of human nature--the love of home? And though generated in the Indian bosom, and marked by cruelty and blood, in clinging to INTRODUCTORY. XXvii and defending the associations clustering around the wigwam and council fire, the candid and unprejudiced cannot but be charitable for those traits of character, which among the enlightened are eulogized and distinguished by the enchanting name of patriot- ism" (264). This viewpoint runs throughout the book. Indeed, some of the most effective writing describes the final separation of certain of the Indian leaders from their land for the last time. Of Coacoochee, Sprague wrote, "he defended [the land] with un- wavering fidelity. He claimed no inheritance or rights but those he was prepared to defend" (264). Even for Halleck-Tustenuggee, presented as a barbarian with none but savage instincts, the fol- lowing encomium appears: "Whatever sins may be laid to the charge of this Indian chieftain or however diabolical the instinct of his nature, his land was dearer to him than life. For it he had fought boldly and unceasingly; and had adopted the alternative of the feeble, treachery, against the strong, to maintain his in- heritance. . If this trait in the savage be patriotism, Halleck- Tustenuggee's name should stand eternally side by side with the most distinguished of mankind" (468-69). John Sprague's own fight against the Seminoles was tinged with melancholy, and his viewpoint was that of most of the regular officers. Obliged to do his duty, he yet regretted the fate of his foes. That the fate was inevitable did not take away the melan- choly. "Ignorance must give way to the restless, ungovernable, and onward rush of civilization; yet a nation cannot, disguise it as we may, shake off the responsibility and remorse which will, in all future time, be identified with the fate of the red man" (264- 65). Just as Sprague reflected the sadness of the professional soldier over the fate of a doomed people, so he represented the profes- sionals in evaluating government policies. The soldier must obey, but his duty does not require him to approve. The book contains the reiterated assertion that a much larger force than the United States was willing to maintain would have been necessary to pre- vent the outbreak of the war in the first place. There was a time when moral force could have been successfully applied, "but re- peated aggressions, false promises, neglect, and abuse, had made [the Seminoles] reckless. . The contest was inevitable."33 In other words, the moment for peaceful settlement had come and gone without being seized. Xxviii INTRODUCTORY. Concerning the professional soldiers, who endured in this war about as much hardship as man can bear, Sprague's attitude is unequivocal. They did their duty regardless of deficiencies in pol- icy at the highest levels, and regardless of the brutal conditions of climate and terrain. Indeed, the soldier's standing to his duty is one of the most conspicuous themes in this book. A fine example of it, not copied here, may be read in the facsimile on page 285, the last paragraph. Related to this theme is an acute awareness, which the author seeks to pass on to the reader, that the soldier's standing to duty was not appreciated by the nation. His country- men treated him as if he could be used up and then thrown away. "Broken down by disease in performing his duty, or having grown too old in his country's cause for further profitable use, he is dis- charged, and thrown upon an uncharitable world, with no capital but his repeated stories of hardfought battles and Indian scenes, whereby to obtain his daily bread" (447). Considering that when he wrote, the pay was five dollars per month for enlisted men, and that there was no system for retirement with income, this point seems to deserve all the weight the author gave it. In 1848 John T. Sprague published Origin, Progress, and Con- clusion of the Florida War, which, 115 years later, still stands as the only book-length account of the Second Seminole War. Sprague participated in the last four years of the conflict, and his book is more truly a historical document than a history. Its documentary quality is the primary reason why the book needs to be reprinted. Scholars of Indian affairs have always had to use it, but have found this use increasingly difficult because it has been out of print for a century, and has become hard to find and expensive to buy at second hand. Collectors of Floridiana will welcome the reprint eagerly, and so will students of Indian wars and of our military history. If the question is raised whether or not there is any need to study the remote Seminole War in the midst of the thermonuclear twentieth century, the answer is that this was an important episode in United States and Indian relations. It is an integral part of the whole fabric of our history. Students need now, and will always need, information concerning it. JOHN K. MAHON NOTES. 1. Francis B. Heitman, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army (Washington, 1903), Vol. I. 2. "History of American Officers," printed item in A.C.P. File for John T. Sprague, National Archives (hereafter cited as A.C.P. File) ; see also Appleton's Annual Cyclopedia (New York, 1862-), IV, 221. 3. Adjutant General's Office Pension Form 3932, dated Aug. 16, 1888, A.C.P. File; Appleton's, IV, 221. 4. Frank F. White, Jr., "Macomb's Mission to the Seminoles: John T. Sprague's Journal Kept During April and May, 1839," Florida Historical Quarterly, XXXV (Oct., 1956), 130-93; hereafter cited as FHQ. 5. AGO Pension Form 3932, A.C.P. File (hereafter changes of station will be drawn from this source unless otherwise noted). 6. Brevet rank was a cheap system the government used to reward officers without having to pay them more. A brevet was honorary only; it did not bring with it the pay or station of the rank. 7. Marriage License Book, Clerk of Circuit Court, St. Johns County, St. Augustine, Fla., p. 27; for data on General Worth's career see Edward S. Wallace, General William Jenkins Worth: Monterey's Forgotten Hero (Dallas, Texas, 1953). 8. John T. Sprague, The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida War (New York, 1848), 508-12 (hereafter citations to the facsimile will be made in the text by page numbers within parentheses). 9. The Army Lineage Book, Vol. II: Infantry (Washington, 1953), 85- 87. 10. Mrs. James A. Woodruff to John K. Mahon, May 23, 1963; Mrs. Woodruff is J. T. Sprague's granddaughter, the daughter of Sarah Sprague who was married the year before her father died. 11. "History of American Officers," A.C.P. File. 12. Sprague to Senator E. D. Morgan, May 16, 1864, A.C.P. File. 13. Sprague to Adjutant General, Feb. 12, 1861, A.C.P. File. 14. A.C.P. File; The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Of- ficial Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Washington, 1880- 1901), Series II, Vol. I, pp. 43-48. 15. War of the Rebellion, Series II, Vol. I, pp. 43, 53; Sprague to a Board of Officers, March 16, 1866; Sprague to Senator E. D. Morgan, May 16, 1864, A.C.P. File. 16. Sprague to a Board of Officers, March 16, 1866, A.C.P. File. 17. Horatio Seymour to Sprague, Dec. 18, 1862, A.C.P. File. 18. Stewart Mitchell, Horatio Seymour of New York (Cambridge, Mass., 1938), 257, 275, 329. 19. Sprague to W. T. Sherman, March 16, 1866, A.C.P. File. 20. Twenty-four New York State Senators to Secretary of War, Jan. 13, 1865, A.C.P. File. 21. Information on Sprague's fourth tour of duty in Florida was drawn mainly from Joe M. Richardson, "The Freedmen's Bureau in Florida" (Thesis, Florida State University, 1959); Richardson, "An Evaluation of the Freedmen's Bureau in Florida," FHQ, XLI (Jan., 1963), 223-28; Jer- rell H. Shofner, "The Constitution of 1868," FHQ, XLI (April, 1963), 356-74; William W. Davis, Civil War and Reconstruction in Florida (New York, 1913). xxix XXX NOTES. 22. Richardson, "Evaluation," 236. 23. Sprague to Adjutant General, Jan. 1, 1874, A.C.P. File. 24. Sprague to Secretary of War, April 18, 1874, A.C.P. File. 25. State Adjutant General Reports, Dec. 31, 1874, Dec. 31, 1876, in Journals of the Proceedings of the Senate and Assembly of the State of Florida (Tallahassee, 1875, 1877), 77-85, 121-27. 26. General W. S. Hancock to Adjutant General, Oct. 5, 1878, A.C.P. File. 27. Kenneth W. Porter, "The Founder of the Seminole Nation, Secoffee or Cowkeeper," FHQ, XXVII (April, 1949), 362-84; Porter, "The Cow- keeper Dynasty of the Seminole Nation," FHQ, XXX (April, 1952), 341-49. 28. St. Augustine East Florida Herald, Sept. 6, 1823. 29. "General Childs, U.S.A.: Extracts from His Correspondence with His Family," Historical Magazine, 3d Series, III (1874), 280. 30. Heitman, Historical Register, Vol. I. 31. Kenneth W. Porter, "Negroes and the Seminole War, 1817, 1818," Journal of Negro History, XXXVI (July, 1951), 249-80; George A. Mc- Call, Letters from the Frontiers (Philadelphia, 1868), 160; William C. Sturtevant, "Accomplishments and Opportunities in Florida Indian Eth- nology," Florida Anthropology, Florida Anthropological Society, Pub. no. 4 (Tallahassee, 1958), 30. 32. John K. Mahon, "The Treaty of Moultrie Creek, 1823," FHQ, XL (April, 1962), 350-72; Mahon, "Two Seminole Treaties: Payne's Landing, 1832; Ft. Gibson, 1833," FHQ, XLI (July, 1962), 1-21. 33. Military and Naval Magazine, I (1833), 98, 99. THE FLORIDA WAR. -7.---Z_- _Z. _- :T. - --_I ------ 7-7 :7 -7.- : ... : -- - --:. .- 7-- .7 -7 -_ -7 7 7:. .7 ~~TO .- : .. _ .r--y..~~~~~~~~~~ -- .,''."""" "i ... "." .- n t s r , Mmmnta S.Frnis aroks t.Agutlle THE ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND CONCLUSION OF THE FLORIDA WAR; TO WHICH IS APPENDED A RECORD OF OFFICERS, NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS, MUSICIANS, AND PRIVATES OF THE U. S. ARMY, NAVY, AND MARINE CORPS, WHO WERE KILLED IN BATTLE OR DIED OF DISEASE. AS ALSO THE NAMES OF OFFICERS WHO WERE DISTINGUISHED BY BREVETS, AND THE NAMES OF OTHERS RECOMMENDED. TOGETHER WITH THE ORDERS FOR COLLECTING THE REMAINS OF THE DEAD IN FLORIDA, AND THE CEREMONY OF INTERMENT AT ST. AUGUSTINE, EAST FLORIDA, ON THE FOURTEENTH DAY OF AUGUST, 1842. BY JOHN T. SPRAGUE, BREVET CAPTAIN, EIGHTH REGIMENT U. S. INFANTRY. NEW-YORK: D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 200 BROADWAY. PHILADELPHIA: GEO. S. APPLETON, 148 CHESNUT-STREET. M DCCC XLVIII. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, By D. APPLETON & COMPANY, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New-York. RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED TO THE ARMY, NAVY, AND MARINE CORPS OF THE UNITED STATES, BY J. T. S. PREFACE. IN presenting this volume to my comrades, and to the public, I am aware that I have much to answer for, but I have the satisfaction of feel- ing that my sins are those of omission, rather than commission. Frequent interruptions in the preparation of the work have compelled me to pass over incidents and events in too cursory a manner, involving much that is due to a faithful history of the Florida War, as well as to individual reputation and character. The voluminous correspondence illustrative of the origin of the war, appears at first sight to be a defence of the Seminole Agent, Colonel Gad Humphreys. This is not designed, nor is it necessary. The letters to and from the various parties connected with the General and Territorial Government, as well as the Talks of the Indian chiefs, speak for them- selves. They are official papers, records of the times, a part of a nation's history, and if they exhibit a state of affairs discreditable and pernicious, it is but right the facts should be known, that the remedy may be applied to the borders of our country, where the evil is liable to exist, thereby obviating bloodshed, sorrow and poverty. The causes of the difficulties in Florida must be apparent to the minds of careful and intelligent readers; causes not springing up in a day, but nourished for years, aggravated as opportunities offered to enrich adventurers, who had the temerity to hazard the scalping-knife and rifle, and were regardless of individual rights or of law. It must be remembered that Florida, at the period referred to, was an Indian border, the resort of a large number of persons, more properly temporary inhabitants of the Territory than citi- zens, who sought the outskirts of civilization to perpetrate deeds which would have been promptly and severely punished if committed within the limits of a well regulated community. This is the case on all fron- tiers. It is unavoidable until well disposed citizens become so numerous as to exert the supremacy of law, when the innocent but too often suffer with the guilty. These temporary inhabitants of Florida, rather than its citizens, have had an active participation in the events that have trans- pired within her limits for twenty years past. They provoked the Indians to aggressions, and upon the breaking out of the war ignominiously fled, or sought employment in the service of the General Government, and clandestinely contributed to its continuance. The Federal Government, without a regular force to intimidate the savage, and meet with vigor the 6 PREFACE. emergency, was compelled to see her citizens basely plundered at noon- day, and cruelly murdered upon their very thresholds. Official reports and other papers illustrating the progress of the war are given. The incidents connected therewith, have been obtained from chiefs and sub-chiefs, who were among the principal actors. In the reports of different commanders, some officers have been favorably no- ticed. These do not comprise all, deserving the meed of praise. Those who diligently and intelligently performed their duty, merit as high enco- miums as others who were more fortunate in encountering the enemy. Courage was a secondary consideration, as illustrated by the maxim of Napoleon:-" That the first quality of a soldier is constancy in enduring fatigue and hardship: courage is the second. Poverty, privation and want, are the teachers and school of the good soldier." To examine the details of this seven years' war, and to weigh justly the merits and successes of various commanders, as well as the numerous plans proposed and executed, would require a critical examination into records not within my reach, and a maturity of judgment surpassing my own, in order to discuss questions involving the characters of men long in their country's service, and well tried in many a hard fought field." On the concluding scenes of the contest, I have been more minute. Inquiry, participation, and access to private and public papers, have enabled me to attach some interest to the incidents that occurred between the officers, the soldiers, and the Indians, not otherwise to be obtained. I am well aware that the names of officers deserving well of their coun- try, are not mentioned. So many having claims, it was impossible to do justice to all. It is enough for both officers and privates to say-" I served and did my duty in Florida." Of those who have fallen, regulars, volunteers, and militia, their memories remain, and are cherished by their countrymen. They are beyond censure or praise. They fell in the excitement of battle, leaving a brilliant example. Others wasted away by lingering disease, without a voice to soothe and recall the wanderings of the feverish mind, or a gentle hand to smooth the rugged pillow of a soldier's couch. Sleep on! Never shall the polluted breath of slander blow upon your ashes; we will watch with pious care the laurels that shall shade your urn, and wear your names engraven upon our hearts." J. T. S. September, 1846. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I.-FROM JULY 17, 1821, TO MARCH 21, 1830. Cession of the Floridas to the United States.-Relation towards the Indians.-The country occupied by them.-The Seminole nation.-Emigration of the Seminoles from Georgia to Florida, in 1750, under the chief Secoffee.-His character and last words to his sons, Payne and Bowlegs.-A second emigration of Seminoles, in 1808, under Micco Hadjo.-The Mickasukie tribe.-The appointment of Colonel Gad Humphreys as agent of the Seminole Indians.-Governor William P. Duval, superintendent.-The number of Indians occupying the country in 1821: number of negroes.-'the villages and location.-Treaty of Fort Moultrie.-Colonel James Gadsden, William P. Duval, and Bernardo Segui, commissioners.-Opposition of the Indians to a treaty.-Difficulties in accomplishing the object.-The policy 'of the federal government towards the Indians.-Embarrassments in carrying out the designs and securing justice.-The superintendent and agent enter into the execu- tion of the treaty.-The Indians remove within the limits assigned.-Apprehended distress for the want of food.-Serious difficulties in keeping the whites and Indians within their limits.-The first blood shed between the whites and Indians: its effect and consequences.-Letter of the agent to the Hon. J. L. Smith, judge U. S. Dis- trict Court, upon the subject.-Agent's letter to the Acting Governor Walton in re- gard to the intrusion of the whites, and sale of liquor.-Claims of whites upon the Indians. for slaves.-Letter of Governor William P. Duval in reference to the ad- justment of claims.-Letter of the agent to the commissioner of Indian affairs respecting the acts of the territorial legislature in regard to Indians found without the boundary.-Agent's letter to Governor Dhival, detailing the state of Indian affairs.-The application of the territorial legislature to remove the Indians from the country.-Instructions of the commissioner of Indian affairs in relation to the disposition of negroes in possession of Indians and claimed by whites.-Letter of William P. Duval upon the same subject.-Critical state of affairs.-Agent's letter to the U. S. district attorney.-Acting-Governor McCarty informs the agent that the whites had killed an Indian near Tallahassee.-The agent's letter to the com- missioner of Indian affairs.-The Indians complain of the non-payment of their annuity granted under the treaty of Fort Moultrie.-The assistance of the military force asked to arrest negroes in possession of the Indians, and refused by the war- department.-The Indians murder a white man; steps taken by the chiefs to arrest the offenders.-The talk of Micanopy and Jumper in regard to the demands made by the war department for negroes in their possession.-Letters from Colonel G. M. Brooke, U. S. army, commanding at Tampa Bay, and from the Hon. J. L. Smith.- Instructions from the commissioner of Indian affairs--The talk of the chief John Hicks in reference to the demand for slaves.-Letters from Governor Duval and Colonel Gad Humphreys.-Hostilities seem inevitable.-The Indians consent to send a de- putation to Arkansas to examine the country.-The talk of the Seminole nation through the chiefs to the president of the United States.-Embarrassing relations between the whites and Indians.-Colonel Gad Humphreys informed by the con- 8 CONTENTS. missioner of Indian affairs, that his services as agent to the Seminoles would be dispensed with.-Colonel Humphreys, the manner in which he discharged his duties. -Strong prejudices of the whites against him, and friendship of the Indians. 17 CHAPTER II.-FROM MARCH 21, 1830, TO DECEMBER 31, 1835. Major John Phagan appointed agent to the Seminoles.-He accompanies the delega- tion of Seminoles to Arkansas.-Charges preferred against him.-Treaty of Payne's Landing.-The Indians sent to Arkansas to explore the country.-Commissioner appointed to meet them there: they sign the additional treaty putting in force the treaty of Payne's Landing.-Dissatisfaction of the tribe on their return to Florida.- Conduct and language of the chiefs and Indians in reference to a fulfillment.-First appearance of Oseola or Powell.-The Indians positively refuse to emigrate.- General Wiley Thompson, of Georgia, appointed agent in the place of Phagan.- The general feeling and state of affairs within the nation.-Correspondence of J. H. Eaton, governor of Florida.-Lewis Cass secretary of war.-B. F. Butler attorney- general.-General Clinch.-Colonel Gadsden.-General Thompson agent.-Lieu- tenant Harris, Captains Graham, and Russell, U. S. A.-The Indians assemble in council at Fort King.-The conduct of Micanopy, Jumper, Alligator, and Oseola.- The commanding influence of the negroes over the Indians.-The duplicity and cunning of Oseola.-He placed in irons and under guard in the fort.-Murder of the chief Charley-E-Mathla for favoring emigration.-The Indians prepared for the conflict.-The massacre of General Thompson and Lieutenant Smith by Oseola and party.-Massacre of Major Dade's command: Alligator's account of it.- General Clinch attacked on the Withlacoochee by Oseola.-A fight: he retreats.- Florida War commenced.-The character of the contest. 72 CHAPTER III.-FRoM JANUARY 1, 1836, TO DECEMBER 31, 1840. The number of Indian warriors in Florida, and tribes to which they belonged.-Num- ber of negro warriors.-Names of the various Indian chiefs, and their importance and characters, viz., Micanopy, Jumper, Little Cloud, Alligator, Holartooche, King Philip, Coacoochee, Sam Jones, Tiger-Tail, Nethlockemathlar, Chekika, Hospe- tarke, Octiarche.-The negro Abraham, his importance.-Oseola or Powell, his birth, rank, character, and age.-Measures taken to subdue the Indians.-Cost of the Florida war.-Relative cost of troops between regulars, volunteers, and militia. -General Towson's letter on the subject.-The regular troops, and militia serving in Florida in 1836, 37, 38, 39, 40, and 41.-Generals Clinch, Scott, Call, Jesup, Taylor, Armistead, and Colonel Worth, commanding.-Depredations of the In- dians.--Geeral Clinch authorized to call for militia.-General Eustis ordered to Florida.-The movements of General Gaines.-The burial of the dead of Major Dade's command.-Arrival at Fort King of General Gaines.-Returns to Fort Brooke via the Withlacoochee river.-His arrival, and encounter with the enemy.- Death of Lieutenant Izard.-The troops in a pen.-General Gaines's designs.- The attack upon the pen.-The arrival of a messenger from the Indians.-Interview of Adjutant Barrow of the Louisiana volunteers, and Captain Hitchcock, U. S. A., *with Oseola and others.-The conduct of Casar disapproved of by the Indians.- The day when the troops in the pen were to be attacked.-The number of warriors on the ground.-Final result.-General Gaines relinquishes the command to Gen- eral Clinch.-General Scott ordered to take command in Florida.-His steps taken to prosecute the war.-General Scott takes the field.-Success of his campaign.- Ordered to conduct the war against the Creeks in Georgia.-Complaints of General Scott's conduct in prosecuting the Florida war.-Difficulties in effecting his object. -General Scott's defence before the court of inquiry, convened at Frederick, Mary- land.-His acquittal.-General C. K. Call takes command of the Florida army.- Attack upon Micanopy by Oseola or Powell.-Major Hieleman's official report.- Colonel Pierce's expedition to Fort Drane.-His official report of the affair.-Gen- eral Call's campaigns.-The Tennessee brigade and General Armstrong.-The U. S. marine corps under Colonel Henderson.-Officers of the Creek volunteer regi- CONTENTS. 9 ment.-General Call's second campaign.-Tennesseans attack the Indians.-The result.-Colonel Pierce with the regulars joins General Call.-Battle of the Wahoo Swamp.-Official report of Colonel Pierce of the affair.-The object gained.- General Jesup's operations 12th January, 1837.-Battle of Fort Mellon.-Official report of Colonel Fanning.-Battle of Hatch-Luste Creek.-General Jesup's report. -Colonel Henderson's report.-Disposition of the Indians.-They ask for peace.- The capitulation at Fort Dade.-The Indians agree to emigrate.-Large numbers assemble at Tampa Bay.-Vessels in readiness to take them to New-Orleans.-The surrender of Oseola with his family at Fort Mellon.-He desires peace.-The Florida war supposed to be ended.-Volunteers and militia discharged.-The marines tinder Colonel Henderson sent north.-Letter of Mr. Poinsett on the sub- ject.-Citizens return to their homes.-The Indians break up their camp near Fort Brooke, and take to the woods under the direction of Oseola and Coacoochee.- The country alarmed.-General Jesup desires to be relieved from the command of the army of Florida.-His letter to the adjutant-general on the subject, July 25th, 1837.-Another campaign in preparation.-Creek regiment of Indians discharged. -The feeling of citizens towards the Indians.-Volunteers called for from Ken- tucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.-The address of General Jesup to the army, October 24th, 1837, at the commencement of the cam- paign.-General Jesup's report of his campaign, July 6th, 1838.-General Jesup's proposition to effect an arrangement with the enemy.-Mr. Poinsett's answer.- Report of the fight on Jupiter river.-General Jesup's letters.-General Taylor's report of the battle of Okechobee.-Indians commanding in the battle.-Their arrangements for the battle.-Death of Colonel Thompson, Colonel Gentry, Captain Van Suerengen, Lieutenants Center and Brooke.-Capture and death of Oseola.-The manner of capture, and his conduct, &c.-General Jesup relinquishes the command of the Florida army to General Z. Taylor.-General Taylor's report of operations. -He districts the country.-Not carried out.-General Macomb arrives in the territory.-His arrangement for peace.-His orders to citizens, and report to the secretary of war.-Citizens again return to their plantations.-Confidence partially restored.-The Indians murder express-men, and attack the settlements.-General consternation throughout the interior.-Lieutenant-Colonel Harney's command massacred on the Carloosahatchee river.-The report of the assistant adjutant- general.-Lieutenant Hanson captures at Fort Mellon a band of Indians.-Prepa- rations for another campaign.-Extract from the report of Mr. Poinsett in regard to the war.-Governor Reid's message to the territorial legislature.-Blood-hounds sent for to pursue the Indians.-Thirty-two obtained.-Their arrival, and cost.- Manner of tracking the Indians.-The result.-Complaints of memorialists to con- gress.-Correspondence of the Hon. H. A. Wise, secretary of war, and General Taylor upon the subject.-Troops withdrawn from the field.-General Taylor re- lieved from the command of the Florida army, by his own request.-Brevet Briga- dier-General Armistead succeeds him.-The Spanish Indians participate in the war.-Indian Key attacked by a band of Indians under the Spanish Indian chief, Chekika.-The murder of Dr. Perrine, and the particulars of the escape of his family .. 96 CHAPTER IV.-FROM JUNE 1840, TO MAY 1841. State of affairs in Florida.-General Z. Taylor relinquishes the command of the army to General Armistead.-Strength of the army, regulars and militia.-Appropriations. -Attack of the Indians upon a detachment of the 7th infantry between Fort Mi- canopy and Watkahoota.-Murder of Mrs. Montgomery.-Death of Lieutenant W. M. Sherwood, commanding the party, and Sergeant-Major Carroll.-Affair with Halleck-Tustenuggee and band at Orange Creek.-Resolute conduct of Lieutenant Alburtis, 2d infantry, and his men.-Troops take the field.-Colonel Worth's inter- view with Coacoochee or Wild Cat, at Camp Cummings.-Consents to assemble his band, and cease hostilities.-His appearance and that of his followers, in coming into camp.-His talk.-He goes out again and returns.-Proceeds to Fort Brooke to see General Armistead.-Entire failure of negotiations through friendly Indians. -Coacoochee promises to assemble his band at Fort Pierce.-His supposed infi- 10 CONTENTS. delity there.--Orders transmitted for his seizure.-General Armistead, in com- pliance with orders from Washington, relinquishes the command of the army to Colonel W. J. Worth, 8th regiment infantry. 247 CHAPTER V.-JUNE, 1841. Instructions to Colonel Worth on taking command of the army of. Florida.-Embar- rassments in prosecuting the war.-Strength of the army.-Sick Report.-Monthly expenses of the army.-Civil employ6s.-Character of guides, interpreters, and Spaniards.-Number and location of the enemy.-Their desperate character.-The Creeks west of the Suwainee river.-A summer campaign determined upon.- Night attack upon the camp of Halleek-Tustenuggee, and disappointment of the troops.-Seizure of Coacoochee or Wild Cat, with fifteen warriors and three ne- groes.-Sent to New-Orleans.-L. G. Capers, Esq., Indian agent, dispatched with orders from Colonel Worth to intercept and bring them back to Florida.-Im- portance of the step.-Much dissatisfaction expressed by the public.-Coacoochee and warriors in irons.-Combined movements of the army to root out the enemy.- Their dispersed condition.-General devastation of crops, camps, and wigwams.- Character of the country through which operations were conducted.-Number of fields, &c., destroyed.-Sick report, and sufferings of the troops from disease.- Duties of officers.-Governor Call urges the necessity of a militia force to co- operate with the army.-Major D. L. Wilcox, U. S. A., engaged in inducing settlers to return to their homes, as authorzed by the president of the United States. ........ .... 266 CHAPTER VI.-JuLY AND AUGUST, 1841. Coacoochee and warriors arrived at Tampa Bay in irons.-Interview between the com- mander of the army and these warriors, on the 4th of July, on board the .transport in the harbor.-Coacoochee's talk.-He directed to bring in his band or suffer'death.- Five messengers appointed to proceed to the interior of the country, to communicate with his band.-His last words to his followers.-Anxiety of Coacoochee for the return of the messengers.-Forty days allowed them.-Arrival of the band, with old Micco.-Irons taken off Coacoochee, and he permitted to go on shore to receive his' warriors.--His reception.-His dress and conduct.-His speech to them.-A messenger sent to Holatter Micco and Sam Jones.-Coacooche's last words to his brother Otulka.-Departure of the messenger at midnight from the prison-ship.- General operations of the army.-Embarkation of the 1st infantry for New-Orleans. -The service of the regiment, its loss from disease, &c.-Death of Second-Lieu- tenant Lancaster, 1st infantry.-Arrival of Otulka.-Coacoochee proceeds to Pease Creek.-Colonel Worth at Camp Ogden.-Coacoochee proceeds to Hospetarke's camp.-Returns with him and eighteen warriors.-Capture of Hospetarke and warriors.-Taken to Fort Brooke, and confined to the prison-ship.-Their designs when visiting the cimp.-Coacoochee's tact and sagacity.-The warriors of Coa- coochee in irons.-Liberated and put onr shore.-Reports of scouts made by officers of the army, during the months of July and August.-Sent to Washington.- Strength of the army.-Sick, &c.-Retrenchment, &c., &c.-Negroes permitted to accompany Indians to Arkansas.-The policy.-Florida, its position and impor- tance. 286 CHAPTER VII.-SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1841. The state of affairs.-The contest drawing to a close.-The arrival at Fort Brooke of an emissary from Tiger-Tail and Nethlhckemathlar, desiring peace and friendship. -Capture of Indians belonging to the band of Halleck-Tustbnuggee.-The 'murder of his sister who desired to surrender.,-He crosses the river St. John's.-Negotia- tions opened with Pascoffer, a Creek chief, on the Ocklockonne river, through two white men.-Lieutenant. Anderson, 2d infantry, surprises an, Indian camp and captures the women and children.-Communication had with Arpeika or Sam Jones in the Big Cypress Swamp.-Efforts made to obtain an interview with Halleck-Tustenuggee through friendly Indians.-Partial suspension of military CONTENTS. 11 operations.-Negotiations in progress through Coacoochce and the old chief from Arkansas, Holartooche.-Coacoochec with six warriors, proceeds to the Annuttiliga Hammock.-Interview on the margin of the hammock between Tiger-Tail with his band and Coacoochee, at night.-Promise of Tiger-Tail to assemble his band.- Wishes to see Alligator before surrendering.-Arrival of the remainder of Hospe- tarke's band, and release from the prison-ship.-Escape of Sampson, a negro in- terpreter, from the Big Cypress Swamp.-His narrative.-Harney's massacre on the Carlosahatchee.-The government and councils of the Indians within the swamp.-Authority of the Prophet, Sam Jones, and Billy Bowlegs.-Murder of Messrs. Daniels, Harroll, and Jennings, by the Indians at Martin's Point.-Indians in camp at Fort Brooke alarmed.-Critical state of affairs.-Coacoochee, with nine warriors, proceeds again to obtain an interview with Tiger-Tail.-Friendly Indians dispatched to all quarters, giving notice that negotiations would end in a few days. -The chiefs attribute the murders to young warriors.-The return of Coacooche. -Brings favorable reports from Tiger-Tail.-Coacoochee expresses his anxiety that his band should embark for Arkansas.-Hospetarke concurs.-Preparations at Fort Brooke to prevent the escape of Indians.-The day of embarkation determined upon.-Captain W. Seawell, 7th infantry, ordered to conduct the Indians to Ar- kahsas.-The feeling manifested by the women on their departure from Florida.- The Mickasukie tribe, character, and feelings.-Coacoochee's farewell to Colonel Worth and his staff.-His conduct and appearance on the occasion, and his last talk to the officers present and to his band.-The birth, life, and character of Coa- cooche, and the vicissitudes he had encountered.-His peculiarities, and participa- tion in the attack upon Fort Mellon, and in the battle of Okechobee.-His capture, imprisonment at St. Augustine, Florida, and escape.-His dreams and religious opinions.-The origin of the white men; the first ever seen in Florida.-The prevalent feeling in Arkansas among the Indians, demanding precaution and,vigil- ance on the part of the federal government.-Arrival of Alligator from Arkansas.- He proceeds to the camp of Tiger-Tail and Nethlockemathlar, and returns with the latter chief-Arrival of Tiger-Tail and his band at Fort Brooke.-Arrival of six companies of the 4th infantry, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. Garland, U. S. A.-Lieutenant-Colonel Garland dispatched on special duty to subdue the Creeks west of the Suwannee river.-Five companies 2d dragoons ordered out of Florida.-3d artillery retained.-Contemplated movements in the Big Cypress Swamp and Everglades.-Depots established at Punta Rossa.-Violent gale on the coast and its disastrous effects.-It alarms the Indians and deters them from sur- rendering.-Troops in readiness to take the field.-Report of Lieutenant J. T. McLaughlin, U. S. N., commanding the Florida squadron, and the report of Cap- tain Burke, 3d artillery, of their expeditions in the Everglades.-General character and results of the operations during the months of September and October.-Sick report of the army. 311 CHAPTER VIII. Extracts translated from the ltanuscript of the Commandant of St. Augustine, East Florida, Manuel de Montiano, deposited in the public archives of St. Augustine, describing the bombardment of the fort in 1740, by General Oglethorpe, 337 CHAPTER IX.-NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1841. Lieutenant-Colonel Garland, 4th infantry, on special duty to expel the enemy east of Tallahassee, to the Suwannee river.-Preparations for a combined movement in the Big Cypress Swamp.-Major Belknap, 3d infantry, proceeds to the Carlosa- hatchee river to take command.-Death of Midshipman Niles, U. S. N.-Yellow fever in camp.-Depot and Camps established.-Instructions to the different com- manders: plan of co-operation.-Troops take the field under Major Belknap.- Major Childs and Lieutenant McLaughlin in canoes.-Colonel Worth meets the different commanders at Waxe Hadjo's.-Landing on the edge of the Everglades. -Operations of the troops in the Big Cypress Swamp and Everglades.-Major Belknap's report.-Lieutenant McLaughlin's report.-Extracts from the journal of an officer of the army, kept from day to day in the swamp.-Lieutenant McLaugh. 12 CONTENTS. lin reports his passage up the Carlosahatchee river through Fish-eating Creek to Lake Okechobee.-Captain M. Burke's, 3d artillery, expedition in the Everglades. -Letters from Captain McClellan, topographical engineer, in reference to the Carlosahatchee river, and its head-waters.-Lieutenant Marchand's report of an expedition in the Everglades.-Head-quarters re-established at Fort Brooke.- Success of Major Wade, 3d artillery.-Capture of sixty-three Indians.-His report. -The Florida squadron commanded by Lieutenant McLaughlin.-Its depot.- Strength and efficiency of officers and men.-Murder of two friendly messengers by the Creeks near Fort Fanning.-Cowardly spirit of Tiger-Tail.-Declines acting himself, and deters others.-Lieutenant-Colonel Garland's correspondence.-Meet- ing of Nethlockemathlar and the Creek chief, Octiarche, at the mouth of the With- lacoochee river.-The latter chief refuses to visit the steamboat.-He is unable to assemble his band: appoints the 12th of January for another meeting.-Embarrass- ing state of affairs.-Attack made upon the settlement of Mandarin, by Halleck- Tustenuggee.-His haunts found.-The breaking up of the confederacy in the Big Cypress Swamp.-Surrender of the sub-chief Waxe Hadjo.-Reports that Bowlegs, Sam Jones, and the Prophet, had fled for safety.-State of the army: number taken sick, died, and discharged, during the months of November and December.- Successful establishment of settlers at exposed points.--Citzens armed and pro- visioned. 347 CHAPTER X. Correspondence between the executive of the territory of Florida, and of the state of Georgia, with the federal government, and with Colonel W. J. Worth, command- ing the army of Florida, in regard to the mustering of militia to co-operate with the army for the protection of the frontier.-Character of the applications made by citizens for employment.-Remarks upon the expediency of calling out militia to expel the Indians, or to prevent incursions.-Letters from officers of the army, showing the state of the frontiers of Florida and Georgia ; the necessity of troops, and the disposition among the border-settlers.-The firmness of tlhe Hon. J. C. Spencer and Major-General Scott added much to the successful progress of the war, and to its termination. 403 CHAPTER XI.-JANUARY AND FEBRUARY, 1842. The hiding-place of Halleck-Tustenuggee found ; strength and character of his band; his own character.-Precautionary measures taken to prevent his surprising the settlements.-Major Plympton ordered to take the field with three companies of the 2d infantry.-Fight with Halleck-Tustenuggee.-Band retreats.-Two Indians taken prisoners.-Pursuit of Ialleck by Captain Casey, 2d infantry, with one hun- dred men.-Lieutenant Wessels ascends the Ocklawaha river to intercept him.- He eludes them successfully.--Capture of Powis Fixico or Short-Grass.-Nethlock- emathlar repairs to the mouth of the Withlacoochee to meet the Creeks.-The Creeks plotting to take his life, and rescue the Indians encamped at Fort Brooke.- Indignation of the chief.-He organizes an armed party; takes the field to punish the Creeks.-Thirty Indians, armed completely, proceed to Fort Clinch.-Conduct of Tiger-Tail or Thlocklo-Tustenuggee in council.-Escape of Tiger-Tail from Fort Brooke.-His schemes frustrated.--His wife and child recaptured.-His re- peated interviews with Octiarche to concert means of releasing the Indians in camp.-The Indian war-party supposed to be privy to his escape.-Orders sent to Fort Clinch to disarm the party at once.-They sent to Cedar Key, thence to Fort Brooke.-Indignation of the chief Nethlockemathlar.-Active measures of the army.-Troops recalled from the south.-Campaign in the Big Cypress ended, resulted as anticipated.-Major Belknap secures a sub-chief and sixty-seven fol- lowers.-Supposed hiding-place of Bowlegs, the Prophet, and Sam Jones.-Much praise due the troops, if the service was understood.-Ponce de Leon landing in 1522 on the margin of the Everglades.--Memorandum of reports of officers.- Scouts.-Explorations sent to the adjutant-general.-Orders issued for the relief of the 3d artillery.-Movements of the regiment, and their service in Florida.-Dispo- CONTENTS. 13 sition of the troops from the south.-2d dragoons; 4th, 6th, and 8th infantry.- Embarkation of two hundred and thirty Indians.-Creeks, Seminoles, Uches, and Mickasukies, their character and feelings vicious and abandoned.-Detachment 8th infantry fired upon in the Wahoo Swamp.-Movement of troops to find the Creeks.-Indians under Octiarche attack the settlement with arrows, killing women and children.-They pursued.-Night attack upon their camp in the Swamp.-Capture of the women.-Men escape.-Humanity of officers and soldiers. -Embarrassments in closing the contest.-Colonel Worth's letter of February 14th, urging upon the government certain measures to finish it.-Major Cooper, assistant adjutant-general, dispatched to Washington.-The contents submitted by the secretary of war to a council of officers.-Not acceded to.-General Jesup dissents from the opinion expressed.-The measures prosecuted, though uninstructed by the commander in Florida.-Orders issued for retrenchment.--6th infantry relieved, and ordered to Jefferson Barracks; its service; its loss by disease and battle.-Sick and deaths in the army in January, February, and March.-The total number in the army taken sick, during nine months' active service.-An asylum for old soldiers and invalids.-Condition of those discharged the service for disability. 428 CHAPTER XII.-MARCIt, APRIL, AND MAY, 1842. A crisis in the affairs of Florida -The army discouraged by the rejection of the pro- posed means to end the war.-The course pursued: Retrenchment, reduction of force, discharge of employes from the service.-The Prophet's and Sam Jones's in- fluence destroyed.-Holatter Micco, or Billy Bowlegs, proclaimed chief.-The scattered condition of the enemy.-The influence and conduct of Tiger-Tail among the Creeks.-The Indians assemble in the Wahoo Swamp to concert means of safe- ty.-Tracks seen.-Negotiation at an end; capture or death.-Embarkation of Indians for New-Orleans in charge of L. G. Capers, Esq., of the Indian depart- ment.-Departure of the chief Nethlockemathlar; his character and influence ; his life.-Indians at New-Orleans.-The army in the field, in pursuit of Halleck- Tustenuggee; Peter, an Indian, sent to him; he never returned.-Combined movement of the army on the Wahoo Swamp and surrounding country.-Detach- ments of the 2d, 4th, and 8th infantry enter the swamp; disappointment.-Farther preparations for pursuit.-The chief Holartooche baffled by the enemy ; he rides around the country and discovers a single Indian track, leading to the Palackla- kaha Hammock, supposed to be a spy upon the troops.-The troops take up the line of march, and encamp at Abraham's old town.-Preparations made to attack the enemy.-Holartooche visits the commander's tent at midnight, and pleads for the life of women and children in the approaching conflict.-The troops on the march for the hammock; conduct of guides and negro interpreters.-Sagacity of Holartooche; a foot-print discovered and followed three miles to the hammock.- Spirited attack upon the Indians in their camp, protected by logs and palmetto, led on by Colonel Garland, 4th infantry.-Assailed by Colonel Worth, with a company of dragoons, cutting off the enemy's retreat.-The Indians separate into small parties, giving battle in all quarters.-Total defeat; troops in their camp.-Burial of Private Wandell, 2d dragoons; killed and wounded.--Detachments follow up trails leading from the hammock.-Capture of O-son-e-Micco (the Old Man of the Lakes), son-in-law of Halleck-Tustenuggee, who desires to take a talk to the chief. -He to return in five days and meet the command at Warm Spring.-The num- ber of Indians engaged in the affair.--Embarrassments of the troops in advancing. -The appearance of Halleck-Tustenuggee in the fight.-Indians painted red; in a state of nudity.-Their last battle-ground.-Their fire concentrated upon the Indian guides and interpreters.-Interpreters Gopher John and Morris in the fray.-The appearance and valor of the chief Holartooche.-Indians' first discharge effectual; manner of loading in battle.-The spirit, gallantry, and forbearance of officers and men in the affair.-Colonel Worth's report.-The return of O-son-e-Micco to the camp at Warm Spring.-He reports Halleck-Tustenuggee, with his band, six miles off.-Halleck-Tustenuggee comes into camp with his two wives and children.-His appearance and reception.-Officers assemble to meet him.-Colonel Worth's pri- vate conversation with him.-He not inclined to leave the country.-His good 14 CONTENTS. feelings secured.-Sends five messengers to Octiarche, the Creek chief-Large demands for provisions.-Insolent conduct and language of Halleck-Tustenuggee and followers.-His fidelity much doubted.-Major Graham, Captain McCall, and Lieutenant Sprague, visit his camp, to reconnoitre, to surprise and capture.-From its position, deemed impracticable.-Other means resorted to.-The Indians be- come shy and suspicious.-The chief and his wives accompany Colonel Worth to Fort King; his object in going there to purchase powder and lead.-Orders left with Colonel Garland to seize the entire band in the absence of Halleck-Tustenug- gee.-Colonel Garland effects the object, ties the Indians, and sends them to Tampa Bay.-The measures adopted to accomplish it, and the conduct of the Indians.- Colonel Worth announces to Halleck-Tustenuggee, at Fort King, the capture of his band, and that he now was a prisoner.-His anger and appearance on the occa- sion.-Proceeds under guard to Fort Wacassassa.-Arrival there of the five mes- sengers sent to Octiarche.-They taken prisoners.-A midnight scene between Halleck-Tustenuggee and these five men, who upbraided the chief for selling his followers and land.-His patriotism.-Meeting at Horse Key of both parties; their haggard appearance arising from intemperance.-A sub-chief attempts suicide.- East Florida relieved from apprehension.-Indians guarded by one hundred and fifty men on Horse Key.-Halleck-Tustenuggee harmless.-The activity of the army, 7th and 3d infantry, in pursuit of the Creeks in Middle Florida.-Two months in the field ; results.-A party of eight Indians attack the settlements under Halpatter-Tustenuggee ; commit murders, and defeat six soldiers.-Closely pursued, overtaken, abandoning their plunder, and whipped.-They join Octiarche, who disap- proves of their conduct, as peace was restored.-Citizens abandon their homes, and flee for safety.-The army discouraged; no end to the war.-The approach of the summer; prospects of another summer campaign.-Movements of troops unavailing; calculated to exasperate the enemy, without capturing or defeating.-Usefulness of Halleck-Tustenuggee, who takes the terms of peace to the Creeks.-His reception and their promises.-The terms of peace.-The Creek Indians on the Ocklockonnee river obtain an interview with Colonel Vose, through two white men.-The terms of peace accepted.-Assembling for emigration.-Departure of the 2d regiment of infantry for the north; its length of service in Florida, and efficiency.-Deaths of officers.-N. C. officers and soldiers.-Death of Captain Samuel Russell by the enemy.-Orders issued for the departure of the five remaining companies of the 2d dragoons; character and length of their service in Florida.-Death of officers.- N. C. officers and privates.-The sick report for March, April, and May.-The Florida war approaching a close.-State of the army and prevailing feeling. 449 CHAPTER XIII.-JUNE, JULY, AND TO THE 17TH AUGUST, 1842. Instructions received by Colonel Worth to bring the war to a close.-Message of the President of the United States to Congress upon the subject.-Letter of instructions from the secretary of war to Major-General Scott.-His views upon the subject.- The measures for a time postponed.-Treachery of Halleck-Tustenuggee and dis- satisfaction of Octiarche.-Their designs.-Holartooche proceeds to Octiarche's camp with twenty armed Indians.-Their meeting, and the promises of the chief to surrender.-Halleck-Tustenuggee, finding his plans unsuccessful, prepares for emigration.-Wounded Indians brought in.-Runners dispatched to bring in the plunder of the band.-A messenger sent to the southern Indians.-Holatter-Micco or Billy Bowlegs made chief, who sends an emissary to the whites to obtain peace. -The embarkation of Halleck-Tustenuggee and band for Arkansas.-Their ap- pearance and feeling, and the anger of the chief.-Departure of Holartooche and the Arkansas delegation for their homes.-Halleck-Tustenuggee; his age, charac- ter, and qualities.-His first appearance in council.-The 7th infantry relieved from duty in Florida.-Its service and loss.-Death of Lieutenant Sanderson.- Lieutenant Sherwood's death.-His gallantry, and the conduct of Private L. Bur- lington, in protecting the remains of Mrs. Montgomery.-Arrival of Bowlegs and others at Fort Brooke, to make peace.-The influence and authority of Sam Jones and the Prophet disregarded.-They accompany the commander of the army to Cedar Key, and proceed to the camp of Octiarche.-Octiarche and Tiger-Tail CONTENTS. 15 return with them.-Peace determined upon.-The appearance of Tiger-Tail.- Orders promulgated announcing that hostilities with the Indians in Florida had ceased.-Troops remaining in Florida concentrated.-Retrenchment and reduction in all departments.-Stations and strength of the 3d infantry, of the 8th infantry, and six companies of the 4th.-The loss and service of these regiments in officers and men.-Death of Lieutenant J. H. Harvie, and Lieutenant J. A. Reill, 8th in- fantry.-Colonel Worth ordered to proceed to Washington City.-He relinquishes the command of the ninth military department to Colonel Vose, 4th infantry.- Correspondence between Colonel Worth and Lieutenant J. T. McLaughlin, in closing up the contest.-Lieutenant McLaughlin's instructions to Lieutenant Henry, who succeeded in command of the Florida squadron. 475 CHAPTER XIV.-FROM AUGUST 17, TO OCTOBER 31, 1842. Colonel Vose in command of the 9th military department.-The Indians annoyed by encroachments and aggressions of the whites.-Southern Indians within the boundary: none but Creeks without.-Apprehensions of Tiger-Tail and Octiarche realized.-Attack upon settlements.-Citizens killed.-Pursued by Colonel Bailey, and citizens.-Indians overtaken and punished.-Complaints among citizens.- Facts not known or understood.-Arrival of Tiger-Tail and Octiarche.-Excite- ment in the country.-Complaints of citizens to the governor of the territory, and to the authorities at Washington City.-Orders received by Colonel Vose to take the field.-Colonel Vose postpones the execution.-His reasons.-The Indians' camps plundered.-Officers of the army sent to the camps.-The Indians doubt the sincerity of the commander and his officers.-Delay and debauchery of the Indians. -Large demands for liquor.-Embarkation of the six companies 4th infantry.-The effect upon the Indians.-The gale at Cedar Key.-Indians refuse again to visit the island.-Agree upon Fort Brooke as the future place of meeting.-Effects and con- tinuance of the gale at Cedar Key.-Loss of public and private property.-A council of Indians to be held at Fort Brooke, on the 1st of November. . 494 CHAPTER XV.-FROM NOVEMBER 1, 1842, TO DECEMBER 31, 1845. Brevet Brigadier-General Worth resumes the command of the 9th military department. -Colonel Vose, at Fort Brooke, to meet Octiarche and band.-Objects attained during his temporary command.-Fears of Octiarche, and the threats of the Semi- noles.-Major Seawell, 7th infantry, ordered to seize the band of Octiarche, at Fort Brooke.-His success.-The reasons for such a step.-Tiger-Tail at Cedar Key.- His conduct and infidelity.-:Officers sent to reconnoitre his camp.-Position of his camp, and his condition.-Instructions to Captain J. M. Hill, to secure Tiger-Tail. -His success.-Lieutenant Jordan, 3d infantry, dispatched to surprise the camp.- Brings Tiger-Tail into Cedar Key on a litter.-He confined to Horse Key.-In- structions to Lieutenant-Colonel Hitchcock, commanding 3d infantry, to take the field.-His operations.-Surrender of Pascoffer and band.-The doubts and fears of the Indians, and quiet of the country.-Embarkation of Octiarche and Tiger-Tail with their followers, for New-Orleans, in charge of Lieutenant Britton, 7th infantry. -Departure of Pascoffer and band, in command of Lieutenant W. S. Henry, 3d in- fantry.-Creeks, Seminoles, Mickasukies, and Uchees, leave Fort Brooke for New- Orleans.-The character, feeling, and condition of the Indians assembled at the New-Orleans Barracks.-Death of Tiger-Tail at the Barracks, New Orleans -His last words.-His birth, character, and intercourse with Colonel Gamble's family, in Florida.-His intelligence, influence, and infidelity.-Octiarche.-His birth, and character in battle and in council.-General Worth's report, in regard to the number of Indians in Florida, of November 17th, 1843.-Captain Sprague's letter to the citizens of Florida, in reference to the relation of the Indians towards the whites.- The number of Indians in Florida, December 31st, 1845: their condition and feel- ings.-The character of the chief and sub-chief, and future prospect of emigration to Arkansas. 498 16 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVI.-QUARTERMIASTER'S DEPARTMENT-COIMMISSARY DEPART- DIENT-SETTLEMENT OF THE TERRITORY. The quartermaster's department of the army.-The efficiency of its officers, and their importance in the discharge of duties in the-field.-The concurrence given by Gene- ral Jesup in carrying out retrenchment in Florida.-Officers on duty there.-The manner in which duty was discharged.-Report of retrenchment made by Lieu- tenant-Colonel T. F. Hunt, deputy quartermaster-general of the army of Florida.- The subsistence department.-The importance and good effect of the log-hut in de- feating the Indians, and deterring them from aggressions.-Exertions made to in- duce settlers to occupy the interior of the country.-The efforts for a time successful. -The act of congress of February 1st, 1836, for the relief of distressed inhabitants. -Instructions from the president of the United States under its provisions.-Major D. S. Wilcox, 5th infantry, intrusted with the duty of settlements and issuing of rations.--His instructions from the commander of the army.-Death of Major Wil- cox.-Lieutenant Patrick, 2d infantry, ordered to assume the duty.-His instruc- tions in reference to the discontinuance of government supplies.-The total failure of establishing permanent settlements.-The conduct of those who professed to occupy the country and draw rations.-Lieutenant Patrick's final report of settle- ments, the number of persons, ages, &c.-Steps taken to cause citizens drawing rations to re-occupy their plantations.-Success.-Abuse of the act of congress in issuing supplies. 514 APPENDIX. Circular, Orders, &c., connected with the erection of a Monument in Florida, to the memory of those who have fallen in the contest. 521 Statement, exhibiting, by Regiments, the names of the officers non-commissioned Officers, Musicians, Artificers, and Privates, of the United States Army, who were killed in action, or (lied of wounds received, or diseases contracted, during the late hostilities with the Florida Indians, commencing August 11, 1835, (the day when Private Dalton, the express-rider, was murdered by the Indians,) and ending in 1842. 526 List of Officers belonging to the Medical Staff of the United States Army, who died from disease and other causes, from service in Florida . 548 Table, exhibiting the names of Officers, Seamen and Marines, belonging to the United States Navy, who died whilst employed in the Florida Squadron, operating against the Indians of Florida. 549 A statement, exhibiting the names of Officers, non-commissioned Officers, Musicians, and Privates of the United States Marine Corps, who were killed in action, or died of wounds received, or disease contracted, during the Florida War. 550 Table, showing the number and names of Marines on Sea Service, who died in Florida between 1836 and 1842. 550 List of Officers, of the United States Army and Marine Corps, upon whom have been conferred Brevets for services in Florida .. 551 Names of Officers, of the United States Army recommended for Brevets by Brigadier- General W. J. Worth, commanding the forces in Florida, April 25, 1842. Upon some of the number, the distinction has been conferred. 554 LIST OF ENGRAVINGS. MONUMENT AT ST. FRANCIS' BARRACKS, ST. AUGUSTINE Frontispiece. COACOOCHEE (Wild Cat) . page 98 THLOCKLO TUSTENUGGEE (Tiger-Tail) . 99 NEGRO ABRAHAM 100 OSEOLA, OR POWELL 101 DEATH OF WAXEHADJO 254 SCENE AT TAMPA BAY, FLORIDA 286 CASTLE OF ST. MARK, now called Fcrt Marion, St. Augustine 337 HALLECK TUSTENUGGEE ON THE ST. JOHN'S 429 GOPHER JOHN, SEMINOLE INTERPRETER ...... 459 -- X _ A-,. Car. .AA oom au a- .- , An c Cm Ol ' vt4\+ a 4 +/ -- --- -..'- ---- --'-- t "* e, of e ou -r .art of .LOR At -- A,, N... N_' + "t -- . -1. 1 ---? -:\ .- fr* A' IL t V.- .. "' w I-, ,' Or 41- -. --- r s o 1 -a- pe. nein eed A CypresI t/ l l*1i tA- -t !.a - A, ,. IL# ,' th e 5 ei -ho-_:-_ C.. &h Mr n..s Z. o 40' 30 to THE FLORIDA WAR. CHAPTER I. FROM JULY 17, 1821, TO MARCH 21, 1830. CESSION of the Floridas to the United States.-Relation towards the Indians.-The country occupied by them.-The Seminole Nation.-Emigration of the Seminoles from Georgia to Florida, in1750, under the Chief Secoffee.-His character and last words to his sons, Payne and Bowlegs.-A second emi. gration of Seminoles, in 1808, under Micco Hadjo.-The Mickasukie tribe.-The appointment of Colonel Gad Humphreys as agent of the Seminole Indians.-Governor William-P. Duval, super- intendent.-The number of Indians occupying the country in 1821: number of negroes.-The villages and location.-Treaty of Fort Moultrie.-Colonel James Gadsden, William P. Duval, and Bernardo Segui, commissioners.-Opposition of the Indians to a treaty.-Difficulties in accomplishing the object, -The policy of the federal government towards the Indians.-Embarrassments in carrying out the designs and securing justice.-The superintendent and agent enter into the execution of the treaty.- The Indians remove within the limits assigned.-Apprehended distress for the want of food.-Senous difficulties in keeping the whites and Indians within their limits.-The first blood shed between the whites a.:d Indians: its effect and copsequenbes.-Letter of the agent to Hon. J. S. Smith, Judge of the U. S. District Court, upon the subject.-Agent's letter to the Acting Governor Walton in regard to the intrusion of the whites, and sale of liquor.-Claims of whites upon the Indians for slaves.-Letter of Governor William P. Duval in reference to the adjustment of claims.-Letter of the agent to the commit; ner of Indian affairs respecting the acts of the Territorial Legislature in regard to Indians found without the boundary.-Agent's letter to Governor Duval, detailing the state of Indian affairs.- The application of the Territorial Legislature to remove the Indians from the country.-Instructions ot the commissioner of Indian affairs in relation to the disposition of negroes in possession of Indiana and claimed by whites.-Le'ter of William P. Duval upon the same subject.-Critical state of affairs. -Agent's letter to the U. S. district attorney.-Acting Governor McCarty informs the agent that the whites had killed an Indian near Tallahassee.-The agent's letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs.-The Indians complain of the non-payment of their annuity granted under the treaty of Fort Moultrie.-The assistance of the military force asked to arrest negroes in possession of the Indians, and refused by the war-department.-The Indians murder a white man; steps taken by the chiefs to arrest the offenders.-The talk of Micanopy and Jumper in regard to the demands made by the war- department for negroes in their possession.-Letters from Colonel G. M. Brooke, U. S. army, com- manding at Tampa Bay, and from the Hon. J. L. Smith.-Instructions from the commissioner of Indian affairs.-The talk of the chief John Hicks in reference to the demand for slaves.-Letters from Governor Duval and Colonel Gad Humphreys.-Hostilities seem inevitable.-The Indians consent to send a deputation to Arkansas to examine the country.-The talk of the Seminole nation through the chiefs to the President of the United States.-Embarrassing relations between the whites and Indians.- Colonel Gad Humphreys informed by the commissioner of Indian affairs, that his services as agent to the Seminoles would be dispensed with.-Colonel Humphreys; the manner in which he discharged his duties.-Strong prejudices of the whites against him, and friendship of the Indians. To determine satisfactorily the cause of the Florida War, requires a critical review of the events which transpired between the citizens and Indians, for a period of fourteen years, as well as an examination of the course pursued towards all parties by the I federal government. This must necessarily commence on the 17th day of July, 1821, when Spain ceded the Floridas to the United States. The Indians, inhabiting the country, had roamed unmolested throughout the peninsula, enjoying the confidence and association of the inhabitants, mostly Spaniards, who participated in a lucra- tive trade, while the authorities of Spain insured them protection, and treated them with kindness and distinction. The United 2 18 THE FLORIDA WAR. States government, upon establishing its functions here, found the Indians in possession of the most desirable portions of the country, upon which were located villages, surrounded by cultivation, pro- ducing enough to supply their wants. The acquisition of a new country, so interesting from its. historical events, induced emi- grants from adjoining states to explore, securing at the same time good portions of land, which was guarantied under certain pro- visions of law to the first discoverer. It was found, however, much to their disappointment and embarrassment, that the most eligible points were preoccupied by a race degraded, and for which they entertained but little sympathy or charity. To re- move this difficulty, and to give to the enterprise of the white man full scope, the preliminary step was to hold a treaty with the Seminoles, and by rewards induce them voluntarily to relin- quish the soil, and thus commence the great work of civilization. The liberty allowed them was to be circumscribed, and they brought to know, and to feel too, that they were temporary occu- pants of the soil; and while indulgently allowed to remain in any part of the territory, law, good order, sobriety, and subserviency to the whites must prevail. The Seminole Nation, or those generally denominated the Florida Indians, were originally Creeks. Their villages were situated on the Chattahooche river, about ten. or fifteen miles north and west of Columbus, Georgia. From continued mis- understanding among the head-men, which extended through families, and in some instances resulted in bloodshed, a separa- tion of the tribe took place. In the year 1750, a noted Creek chief by the name of Se- coffee, broke out from the nation, and with many followers settled in the section of country called Alachua, about the centre of the peninsula, and by far the most fertile part. He was a man of noted courage, violent passions, and possessed a most active and vindictive mind. Combined with an indomitable will, his seductive oratory and subtle cunning secured him in- fluence, and insured success to all his measures. To the Spa- niards he was an inveterate foe. To the English, up to 1784, he was a most valuable ally. Upon the recession of Florida to Spain, he repaired to St. Augustine to ascertain the truth. Not being received and treated with that distinction to which he had been accustomed, he returned to his village, meditating revenge. He embodied a large force and took the field; but the exposure. and exertion incident to active operations in the summer season, was too much for an enfeebled constitution. He died in the year 1785, at the advanced age of seventy, and was buried near the present site of Fort King. He was, in fact, the founder of the Seminole nation. Finding himself fast approaching his end, THE FLORIDA WAR. 19 he called his two sons to his side, Payne and Bowlegs, and in a most fervent and pathetic manner detailed his plans, enjoining upon the former, who was to succeed him, the prosecution of the expedition. He required him to put to death fourteen Spa- niards, which number, added to eighty-six slain by his own hand, aided by kindred, would make one hundred, which had been revealed to him by the Great Spirit as requisite to secure the peace and happiness of his soul in a future state. Payne was of a different character, and not to be led astray and blinded by absurd revelations and traditions. Though a bold and intrepid warrior, he cared more for the happiness of his people than the indulgence of vicious passions, or the influences of superstitious feelings. By his example and counsels, he secured the confidence of the Spanish government, and died at an. ad- vanced age, honored and respected. In the year 1808, another band came into Florida under Micco Hadjo, and settled near the present site of the town of Tallahassee. Ever after, that portion of the Creek nation settled in Florida were called Seminoles, or runaways. Here both these parties of emigrants encountered the Mickasukie tribe of Indians, the legitimate owners of the soil. Much dissatisfaction was manifested at this intrusion; but too weak to resist, they soon became amalgamated, and joined in efforts to resist the com- mon foe-the white man. The privileges granted the Indians of Florida, alternately by the English and Spanish governments, had caused them to over- rate their own importance. The most violent passions were excited when advised, or in any way or manner interfered with by a white man, who, in other words, was only an American. This could not be tamely submitted to, and the federal govern- ment immediately commenced a system of supervision, or what was termed "patronage and protection." On the 20th of May, 1822, Colonel Gad Humphreys was appointed agent to the Florida Indians. William P. Duval, Esq., governor of the territory, was ex-oficio superintendent of Indian affairs. The number of In- dians occupying the country at this period, was fifteen hundred and ninety-four men, thirteen hundred and fifty-seven women, and nine hundred and ninety-three children-total, three thou- sand eight hundred and ninety-nine; and one hundred and fifty negro men (slaves), with six hundred and fifty women and chil- dren. Their villages extended, dotting the country, from the neighborhood of St. Augustine to the Appalachicola river. Most of them consisted of log and palmetto huts, surrounded by cleared fields of from two to twenty acres of land. The loud and un- ceasing complaints of citizens, who were seeking homes in a newly acquired country, made it imperative upon the general 20 THE FLORIDA WAR. government speedily to adopt measures to dispossess the Indians, and confine them to certain limits, in the hope of avoiding blood- shed, which seemed inevitable from the virulence of feeling to- wards the Indians, who were considered as undeserving of liberty, or kindness. Accordingly, James Gadsden, William P. Duval, and Bernardo Segui, of Florida, were appointed commissioners to negotiate a treaty, having for its object the removal of the Indians to such parts of the territory as would meet the wishes of citizens, and thus open a wide field for speculation, at the same time satisfy the public mind. The Indians were surprised at the proposition thus early to make a treaty. They were in possession of their homes; and though at times annoyed by whites, they looked with confidence to their great father at Washington, to protect and vindicate their rights. As they resisted the efforts to assemble for the purpose of making a treaty, innumerable difficulties accumulated from day to day, which pressed heavily upon them; and surrounded as they were by influences enforced by the arguments of those pro- fessing to be friends, a majority of the nation reluctantly con- sented to meet the commissioners at such a time as might be most expedient. This was with the hope, that ever after they would be permitted to remain unmolested. Fort Moultrie, five miles south of St. Augustine, on the coast, was agreed upon as a desirable position. A number assembled on the day appointed; but the absence of the most influential chiefs, who looked suspi- ciously upon all such steps, caused much delay. With the larger portion, this council was considered but a prelude to farther de- mands and encroachments. On the 18th of September, 1823, the following treaty was signed. TREATY OF FORT MOULTRIE. Treaty of peace and friendship, made and concluded between William P. Dural, James Gadsden, and Bernard Segui, commissioners on the part of the United States, and certain chiefs and warriors of the Florida tribes of Indians. ARTICLE 1. The undersigned chiefs and warriors, for themselves and their tribes, have appealed to the humanity, and thrown themselves on, and have pro- mised to continue under, the protection of the United States, and of no other nation, power, or sovereignty; and in consideration of the promises, and stipu- lations hereinafter made, do cede and relinquish all claim or title which they have to the whole territory of Florida, with the exception of such district of country as shall herein be allotted to them. ARTICLE 2. The Florida tribes of Indians will hereafter be concentrated and confined to the following metes and boundaries: commencing five miles north of Okehumkee, running in a direct line to a point five miles west of Setarky's settle- ment on the waters of Amazura (or Withlahuche river), leaving said settlement two miles south of the line; from thence, in a direct line, to the south end of the THE FLORIDA WAR. 21 Big Hammock, to include Chickuchate; continuing, in the same direction, for five miles beyond the said hammock: provided said point does not approach nearer than fifteen miles the sea coast of the Gulf of Mexico; if it does, the said line will terminate at that distance from the sea coast; thence south twelve miles; thence in a south thirty degrees east direction, until the same strike within five miles of the main branch of Charlotte river; thence in a due east direction, to within twenty miles of the Atlantic coast; thence north, fifteen west, for fifty miles, and from this last to the beginning point. ARTICLE 3. The United States will take the Florida Indians under their care and patronage, and will afford them protection against all persons whatsoever; provided they conform to the laws of the United States, and refrain from making war, or giving any insult to any foreign nation, without having first obtained the permission and consent of the United States: And in consideration of the appeal and cession made in the first article of this treaty, by the aforesaid chiefs and war- riors, the United States promise to distribute among the tribes, as soon as concen- trated, under the direction of their agent, implements of husbandry, and stock of cattle and hogs, to the amount of six thousand dollars, and an annual sum of five thousand dollars a year for twenty successive years, to be distributed as the pre- sident of the United States shall direct through the secretary of war, or his super- intendents and agents of Indian affairs. ARTICLE 4. The United States promise to guaranty to the said tribes the peaceable possession of the district of country herein assigned them, reserving the right of opening through it such roads, as may, from time to time, be deemed necessary; and to restrain and prevent all white persons from hunting, settling, or otherwise intruding upon it. But any citizen of the United States, being law- fully authorized for that purpose, shall be permitted to pass and re-pass through the said district and to navigate the waters thereof without any hindrance, toll, or exactions from said tribes. ARTICLE 5. For tie purpose of facilitating the removal of the said tribes to the district of country allotted them, and as a compensation for the losses sustained, or the inconvenience to which they may be exposed by said removal, the United States will furnish them with rations of corn, meat, and salt, for twelve months, commencing on the first of February next; and they further agree to compensate those individuals who have been compelled to abandon improvements on lands not embraced within the limits allotted, to the amount of four thousand five hun- dred dollars, to be distributed among the sufferers, in a ratio to each, proportional to the value of the improvements abandoned. The United States further agree to furnish a sum, not exceeding two thousand dollars, to be expended by their agent, to facilitate the transportation of the different tribes to the point of concentration designated. ARTICLE 6. An agent, sub-agent, and interpreter shall be appointed, to reside within the Indian boundary aforesaid, to watch over the interests of said tribes; and the United States further stipulate, as an evidence of their humane policy to- wards said tribes, who have appealed to their liberality, to allow for the establish- ment of a school at the agency, one thousand dollars a yeai for twenty successive years; and one thousand dollars a year for the same period, for the support of a gun and blacksmith, with the expense incidental to his shop. ARTICLE 7. The chiefs and warriors aforesaid, for themselves and tribes, stipulate to be active and vigilant in the preventing the retreating to, or passing through, the district of country assigned them, of any absconding slaves, or fugi- tives from justice; and further agree, to use all necessary exertions to apprehend and deliver the same to the agent, who shall receive orders to compensate them agreeably to the trouble and expense incurred. ARTICLE 8. A commissioner, or commissioners, with a surveyor, shall be ap- pointed by the president of the United States, to run and mark (blazing fore and aft the trees) the line as defined in the second article of this treaty, who shall be 22 THE FLORIDA WAR. attended by a chief or warrior, to be designated by a council of their own tribes, and who shall receive, while so employed, a daily compensation of three dollars. ARTICLE 9. The undersigned chiefs and warriors, for themselves and tribes, having objected to their concentration within the limits described in the second article of this treaty, under the impression that the said limits did not contain a sufficient quantity of good land to subsist, and for no other reason, it is, therefore, expressly understood, between the United States and the aforesaid chiefs and warriors, that should the country embraced in said limits, upon examination by the agent and the commissioner, or commissioners, to be appointed under the eighth article of this treaty, be by them considered insufficient for the support of the said Indian tribes, then the north line, as defined in the second article of this treaty, shall be removed so far north as to embrace a sufficient quantity of good tillable land. ARTICLE 10. The undersigned chiefs and warriors, for themselves and tribes, have expressed to the commissioners their unlimited confidence in their agent, Colonel Gad Humphreys, and their interpreter, Stephen Richards, and as an evi- dence of their gratitude and humane treatment, and brotherly attention to their wants, request that one mile square, embracing the improvements of Enehe Mathla, at Tallahassee (said improvements to be considered as the centre), be con- veyed, in fee simple, as a present to Colonel Gad Humphreys. And they further request, that one mile square, at the Ochesee Bluffs, embracing Stephen Richards's field on said bluffs, be conveyed, in fee simple, to said Stephen Richards. The commissioners accord in sentiment with the undersigned chiefs and war- riors, and recommend a compliance with their wishes to the president and senate of the United States ; but the disapproval on the part of the said authorities of this article, shall, in no wise, affect the other articles and stipulations concluded in this treaty. In testimony whereof the commissioners, William P. Duval, James Gadsden, and Bernard Segui, and the undersigned chiefs and warriors, have hereunto sub- scribed their names, and affixed their seals. Done at camp, on Moultrie Creek, in the Territory of Florida, this eighteenth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three; and of the independence of the United States the forty-eighth. WILLIAM P. DUVAL, L.S. WOKSE HOLATA, his X mark, L.S. JAMES GADSDEN, L.S. AMATIHLA HAJO, his X mark, L.S. BERNARD SEGUI, L.S. HOLATEFISCICO, his X mark, L.S. NEA MATHLA, his X mark, L.S. CItEFISCICO HAJO, his X mark, L.S. TOKOSE MATHLA, his X mark, L.S. LATIILOA MATHLA, his X mark, L.S. NINNEE HOMATATUSTENUKY, his X m'k, L.S. SENUFRY, his X mark, L.S. MICONOPE, his X mark, L.S. ALAx HA"lo, his X mark, L.S. NocosEE AHOLA, his X mark, L.S. FAHELUSTED HAJO, his X mark, L.S. JOHN BLUNT, his X mark, L.S. OCTAHAMICO, his X mark, L.S. OTLEMATA, his X mark, L.S. TUSTENECK HAJO, his X mark, L.S. TUSKANEHA, his X mark, L.S. OKOSKEE AMATHA, his X mark, L.S. TUSKI HAJO, his X mark, L S. OCHEENY TUSTENUKY, his X mark, L.S. ECONCHATIMICO, his X mark, L.S. PHILIP, his X mark, L.S. EMOTELEY, his X mark, L.S. CHARLEY AMATHLA, his X mark, L.S. MULATTO KING, his X mark, L.S. JOHN HOPONEY, his X mark, L.S. C HOCHOLOHANS, his X mark, L.S. RAT HEAD, his X mark, L.S. EMATHOLOCHEE, his X mark, L.S. HOLATA AMATHLA, his X mark, L.S. FOSIIATCHIMICO, is X mark, L.S. Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of GEORGE MURRAY, Sec. to the Comm'r. HARVEY BROWN, Lieut. 4th Artillery. G. HUMPHREYS, Indian Agerit. C. D'ESPINVILLE, Lieut. 4th Artillery. STEPHEN RICHARDS, Interpreter. WILLIAM TRAVERS. ISAAC N. Cox. HORATIO S. DEXTER. J. EWING, Capt. 4th Artillery. THE FLORIDA WAR. 23 Nea Mathla, John Blunt, Tuski Hajo, Mulatto King, Emath- lochee, and Econchatimico, six of the -principal chiefs, for a long time obstinately and stubbornly refused to negotiate in any man- ner. It was feared the attempt to effect a treaty would be an entire failure. To subdue these feelings, large concessions were made to these head men. The more humble were required to remove within a stipulated boundary; while their chiefs, and a few friends, were permitted to remain in their old towns, and participate alike in the annuities and other benefits accruing under the treaty. To effect the great object, the subjoined "ADDITIONAL ARTICLE" was agreed upon, and with the treaty was ratified by the senate of the United States on the 2d of January, 1824: ADDITIONAL ARTICLE. Whereas, Nea Mathla, John Blunt, Tuski Hajo, Mulatto King, Emathlo- chee, and Econchatimico, six of the principal chiefs of the Florida Indians, and parties to the treaty to which this article has been annexed, have warmly appealed to the commissioners for permission to remain in the district of country now in- habited by them; and, in consideration of their friendly disposition, and past ser- vices to the United States and the aforesaid chiefs, that the following reservation shall be surveyed and marked by the commissioner or commissioners to be appointed under the eighth article of this treaty. For the use of Nea Mathla and his connex- ions, two miles square, embracing the Tuphulga village, on the waters of Rocky Comfort Creek. For Blunt and Tuski Hajo, a reservation commencing on the Apalachicola, one mile below Tuski Hajo's improvements, running up said river four miles; thence west two miles; thence southerly to a point two miles due west of the beginning; thence east to the beginning point. For Mulatto King and Emathlochee, a reservation commencing on the Apalachicola, at a point to include Yellow Hair's improvements; thence up said river for four miles; thence west one mile; thence southerly to a point one mile west of the beginning; and thence east to the beginning. For Econchatimico, a reservation, commencing on the Chatahoochie, one mile below Econchatimico's house; thence up said river for four miles; thence one mile west; thence southerly toa point one mile west of the beginning; thence east to the beginning point. The United States promise to guaranty the peaceable possession of the said reservations, as defined, to the aforesaid chiefs and their descendants only, so long as they shall continue to occupy, improve, or cultivate the same; but in the event of the abandonment of all or either of the reservations, by the chief or chiefs, to whom they have been allotted, the reservation or reservations so abandoned shall revert to the United States, as included in the cession made in the first article of this treaty. It is further understood that the names of the individuals remaining on the reservations aforesaid, shall be furnished by the chiefs in whose favor the reservations have been made, to the superintendent or agent of Indian affairs, in the territory of Florida; and that no other individual shall be received or permitted to remain within said reservations, without the previous consent of the superintendent or agent aforesaid. And, as the aforesaid chiefs are authorized to select the indi- viduals remaining with them, so-they shall be separately held responsible for the peaceable conduct of their towns, or the individuals residing on the reservations allotted them. It is further understood between the parties, that this agreement is not intended to prohibit the voluntary removal, at any future period, of all or either of the aforesaid chiefs and their connexions to the district of country south, allotted to the Florida Indians by the second article of this treaty, whenever either 24 THE FLORIDA WAR. or all may think proper to make such an election; the United States reserving the right of ordering for any outrage or misconduct, the aforesaid chiefs, or either bf them, with their connexions, within the district of country south, aforesaid. It is further stipulated by the United States, that of the six thousand dollars appropri- ated for implements of husbandry, stock, &c., in the third article of this treaty, eight hundred shall be distributed in the same manner, among the aforesaid chiefs and their towns; and it is understood that, of the annual sum of five thousand dollars, to be distributed by the president of the United States, they will receive their proportion. It is further stipulated, that of the four thousand, five hundred dollars and two thousand dollars, provided for by the fifth article of this treaty, for the payment for improvements and transportation, five hundred dollars shall be awarded to Nea Mathla, as a compensation for the improvements abandoned by him, as well as to meet the expenses he will unavoidably be exposed to by his own removal, and that of his connexions. In testimony whereof, the commissioners, William P. Duval, James Gadsden, and Bernard Segui, and the undersigned, chiefs and warriors, have hereunto sub- scribed their names and affixed their seals. Done at camp on Moultrie Creek in the Territory of Florida, this eighteenth day of September, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States, the forty-eighth. WILLIAM P. Duval, L.S. TUSKI HAJO, his X mark. L.S. JAMES GADSDEN, L.S. MULATTO KING, his X mark. L.S. BERNARD SEQUI, L.S. EMATHLOCHEE, his X mark. L.S. NEA MATHLA, his X mark. L.S. EcoNHATIMICO, his X mark. L.S. JoHN BLUNT, his X mark. L.S. Signed, sealed, and delivered in the presence of GEORGE MURRAY, Secretary to the Commission. JA. W. RIPLEY. G. HUMPHREYS, Indian Agent. STEPHEN RICHARDS, Interpreter. The following statement shows the number of men retained by the chiefs who have reservations made them, at their respec- tive villages. Number of Men. Number of Men. Blount, 34 Econchatimico, 38 Cochran, 45 Nea Mathla, 30 Mulatto King, 30 Emathlochee, 28 Total, 214 The foregoing treaty was ratified on the 2d day of Jan- uary, 1824. This treaty threw around the Florida Indians a net from which there was no escape. Their destiny, their happiness, and pros- perity were now in the hands of the people. Upon the cession of Florida they claimed the entire country, and so far as Spain interfered, they possessed it. Now, they were within limits, and the United States could, under a fair pretext, control them, by de- manding their prompt compliance with the stipulations of the treaty, and if they persisted in disobeying, there was an instru- ment in existence justifying their expulsion or destruction. They could, ast circumstances required, be considered as rebellious chil- THE FLORIDA WAR. 25 dren, or if other objects were to be attained, they assumed the rights and prerogatives of a sovereign people, possessing the un- doubted authority to negotiate treaties, so far as to dispose of their lands. But wishing this privilege for self-government, or other purposes, was considered a usurpation demanding punish- ment. In this light they, as a nation, have ever been considered, which has subjected them to a vacillating policy, causing the utmost confusion and dissatisfaction. The federal government is considerate and liberal in the execution of treaty stipulations with this unfortunate race; but in opposition to this are arrayed the prejudices of a multitude actuated by selfish motives, together with the waywardness and depravity of a border population in a new country. These present serious obstacles to the administra- tion of justice, and defeat, in a great measure, all exertions to ameliorate the condition of the savages, and causes an apparent indifference to their repeated demands for protection. The agent who is brought immediately in contact with the Indians, must be possessed of resolution, tact, and intelligence, to maintain his position in the midst of so many complicated difficulties. The executive of the state or territory will listen to the complaints of the citizens, and by repeated representations to the Indian agent, endeavor to allay the excited feelings incident to real or imaginary .wrongs. The agent, if faithful in the performance of his duties, is obliged from his position to resist the encroachments of the whites; if otherwise, he would soon be accountable for the lives and property of all within the range of an Indian rifle. His activity and resolution in maintaining their rights, deters them from violent acts to gain them, in the hope that through him justice may be awarded by the general government. But the demands of the executive, through the representatives in con- gress, are too potent to be disregarded, and the government is compelled to acquiesce, and, through its agents, give instructions actuated more by the disposition to gratify the populace than to vindicate the rights of the savages. These conflicting influences are constantly in operation, until the agent, if conscientious in his duties, is discharged, when a more pliant instrument succeeds, who in the hands of designing men soon perfects the object so eagerly sought. The Indian, discouraged in his endeavors to add to the happi- ness of his people, revolts-desolates the frontier, murders the unprotected-when the president of the United States is called upon again by the state authorities, to quell the outbreak by regular troops, and enforce treaty stipulations, which results, after years of rapine and murder, in the expulsion of the Indians. The agents of the general government, as well as the Indians, entered at once into the execution of the treaty of Fort Moultrie. 26 THE FLORIDA WAR. Colonel Humphreys, the agent, established himself at Camp King, in the centre of the nation. The governor of the territory and superintendent of Indian affairs, William P. Duval, resided at Tallahassee. These duties were commenced with commendable zeal, and, in the execution, a disposition was manifested to vindi- cate, and if possible, to maintain the rights of the Indians. The agent, living in their very midst, realized his peculiar and respon- sible position. Though fully persuaded that in defence of those whose guardian he was, he would be subjected to obloquy, yet, he was determined to carry out the intentions and disposition of his government in opposition to the selfish demands and interests of those who were settling the country, and who were in large numbers crowding around him. The correspondence of Colonel Humphreys and that of others, which is here given, together with the talks upon several occasions of the important chiefs, go much farther to give a correct understanding of the cause of the Florida war than the expression of an opinion, which at this late period is too apt to be influenced by popular prejudice and misrepresentation. The year 1824 was occupied in locating the Indians within the pre- scribed boundaries, which upon examination were.found to be too limited for the convenience of those who were required to remove. Accordingly, upon the representation of Col. Gadsden and Governor Duval, twenty additional miles were granted, so as to include a desirable section of country, called the BigSwamp. In order to stimulate the Indians to agricultural pursuits, and thus supply their own wants by cultivating the soil, the rations allowed them under the fifth article of the treaty were ordered to be reduced; which at this early period, and in their present con- dition, was calculated to cause starvation and much discontent. The agent was enabled to judge correctly of their condition. He at once addressed the acting governor upon the subject, which had the effect to postpone the order, and thus calm the excited feelings of the chiefs who had been instrumental in bringing upon those around them the prospects of immediate want, as shown by the following letters: Tampa Bay, June 14th, 1825. "SIR-I reached this place on the 12th instant, after a four- teen days' passage. It is with extreme regret I learn that since my arrival the drought in this section of country, and indeed through to the 'Big Swamp,' has been so severe that the crops of the Indians are, in some instances, wholly destroyed. The emigrants particularly, it is to be feared, will make little or no- thing, owing to their having had to open new fields, and the consequent lateness of their planting. THE FLORIDA WAR. 27 I am greatly apprehensive, that this failure of crops will pro- duce much distress among these people, unless arrangements are adopted to continue to them issues of rations beyond the period stipulated in the treaty. It may not, perhaps, and will not, I trust, be necessary to make extensive and regular periodical issues; but humanity seems to require, that some provision should be made to meet the cases of actual want. Respectfully, your obedient servant, Superintendent of Indian G. HUMPHREYS, affairs, Tallahassee. Agent Seminole Indians." "Tallahassee, 25th May, 1825. "SiR-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your several letters of the 19th, 20th, and 22d instant, and deem it an imperative duty to state, in reply to that of the 19th, which directs a limitation of the number of rations hereafter to be issued to the Indians to 1000 daily, that the effect of such an abridg- ment of the stipulated supply of provisions, will be, at the least, loud murmuring and discontent; and that suffering among the Indians from hunger, which has hitherto scarcely existed except in imagination, will shortly become a distressing reality. That those people can have but scanty and indeed no certain means of existence, independent of the sustenance provided by the United States, until the opening of fields and growing of crops at their new location, will be.readily supposed; and the entire inadequacy of one thousand rations, to the support of something more than 1600 people, is too obvious to require comment: and I feel con- strained to add my belief that the emigrant Indians, conceiving themselves entitled by the treaty of the 18th of September, 1823, to a punctual allowance of provisions for the specified time, at the rate of one ration per day to each individual, will not quietly submit to a non-performance (on the part of the government) of the stipulations of the compact. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEORGE WALTON, Esq., Att'y Gen'l, % G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." &c., of Florida, Tallahassee. From their unsettled condition, a result of their removal from old habitations to new ones within an imaginary line, the Indians roamed throughout the country, causing dissatisfaction among settlers, who were inclined to doubt their friendship, and im- proved opportunities to seize their rifles, and threatened and mal- treated them, to compel them to remain permanently within the boundaries as defined by the treaty. The agent, on the 20th of May, thus writes to the commissioner of Indian affairs: 28 THE FLORIDA WAR. "Florida Agency, 20th May, 1825. "SIR-I have the honor to suggest that the running and making of the northern boundary of the Indian territory, is highly desirable, in order to enable me to show a line of demarcation to the white settlers, who are already thronging to the vicinity of the Indian settlements; and some, as I apprehend, have taken positions near to, if not south of, where the line will necessarily run; and will, I fear, if not expelled, become troublesome, and create disturbance among the Indians,-they are squatters upon the public lands, and, of course, liable to be removed at the in- stance of the government, whenever it shall direct. I should be glad of instructions upon this subject. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. THos. L. MCKINNEY, G. HUMPHREYS, Indian Bureau. Agent Florida Indians." The difficulties anticipated were soon realized. A planter, a Mr. Salano, residing on the St. John's river, arrived at St. Au- gustine, and reported to the commander of the United States troops there, that six Indians had been at his house in pursuit of three others, who, from long absence, they supposed were mur- dered by the whites. Accompanied by threats and insolent con- duct, they declared their determination to be revenged upon the whites, if unsuccessful in finding their friends. On the 21st of June, Lieut. Canfield, U. S. A., was, dispatched with a detach- ment of twenty men to see this party, and to ascertain the facts. The detachment, when emerging from Cabbage Swamp, on the ensuing morning, about twenty-eight miles from St. Augustine, discovered the Indian camp. Lieut. Canfield, Mr. Salano, and a Mr. Dumnit, together with the interpreter, approached the camp, in, advance; and as they proceeded, Mr. Salano directed the interpreter not to explain their object to the Indians, as they stood in the distance looking with astonishment. Upon discover- ing the soldiers in the rear, they attempted to seize their rifles and flee. In violation of the officer's orders, Mr. Salano dis- charged a pistol, which drew from the detachment a volley, sup- posing a fight had commenced. Two Indians were secured, one slightly wounded, together with four rifles, and a large quantity of skins. One of the prisoners was sent immediately into the swamp, to inform his companions that the discharge upon them was accidental. What aggravated this occurrence, and made it still more unfortunate, was, that written passes from the agent were found in the camp. These men, thus outraged, returned to their tribes, causing a general sympathy, and exciting the most bitter feelings of revenge. The agent was in a critical position. Entirely within their power, they demanded redress in the most THE FLORIDA WAR. 29 imperative manner, and commenced organizing war parties, to retaliate upon the settlements from one extent of the country to the other. Though the encounter with the troops was acci- dental, and attributable to the imprudence of Mr. Salano, too many wrongs and abuses had been inflicted, yet unatoned, and for which they had received nothing in return but excuses and regret. The country was in arms-an Indian war was pro- claimed, and the citizens fled to the towns, and gathered in numbers for safety. The regular troops at St. Augustine were ordered into the field, and two companies of infantry under Capt. Dade marched from Fort Brooke to Camp King, with such dis- patch as to deter the Indians from acts of open hostility. Fortu- nately, the three young Indians supposed to be murdered returned, which, together with promises of pay to the outraged party at Cabbage Swamp, induced the Indians once more to resume a friendly intercourse. "I am fully sensible," says Col. Gadsden to Col. Humphreys, in a communication, of August 15th, "of the delicacy of your situation." "Charleston, S. C., 15 August, 18 5. "MY DEAR SIR,-Your letter of the 25th ultimo was for- warded to me to this place, and I am gratified at the happy ad- justment of the Cabbage Swamp affair. I feel sensible of the delicacy of your situation, and of the complicated difficulties you must necessarily encounter in bringing the Florida Indians into a state of subordination and discipline. They must be con- trolled, but treated at the same time with due consideration and great humanity. You know that you can command any aid I can give in facilitating these desirable objects; and in volunteer- ing an opinion which I hope will be well received, I cannot urge too strongly upon you the great necessity of establishing the agency, and of remaining for a time stationary at it. You may make yourself comfortable; and your example in cultivating the earth, attending to the increase of your stock, &c., will have the happiest effect in improving the habits of the savages. The sooner they abandon, to a certain extent, the chase, and are converted from hunters to herdsmen and agriculturists, the sooner will they be reconciled to their change of location, &c. They cannot live as hunters; the game is nearly destroyed, and unless some efforts are made to impress strongly upon them the great necessity of depending upon the soil for their subsist- ence, I apprehend much distress and want the ensuing year. I remain yours, &c., Col. G. HUMPHREYS, Agent of the JAMES GADSDEN." Seminoles, Fort King, Florida. 80 THE FLORIDA WAR. The agent's letter to the Hon. J. L. Smith, enters fully into the character of the difficulties surrounding him: Florida Agency, 8th July, 1825. "SIR-Ere you are in possession of this, you will be advised by my communication of yesterday, per return express, that the difficulties which have for a short time existed between some of the red and white people of the territory, are in progress to a favorable and speedy termination. The seasonable restoration to their friends of the lost young men, has had great influence in producing this happy state of things. The news of their safety, immediately followed by the appearance of one of them, who arrived to-day, seems to have almost entirely subdued every feeling of animosity; and I enter- tain a confidence, that after I have visited the wounded man, which I shall dodn the course of the day, and fixed (under a pro- position which Col. Gadsden in behalf of some of the citizens of Augustine has authorized me to make) upon the compensation he is .to receive, the most perfect harmony will be restored, and a renewal take place of the friendly feelings which have hereto- fore prevailed. It is due, however, to candor and truth, and I must be allowed to say it, that greatly as I desire the return of order and tranquillity, and much as I have already exerted myself to recall such a state of things, I should not deem it a duty to urge the aggrieved individual to the acceptance of pecuniary compensation for an injury like that in question, could I perceive any other way in which the matter could be adjusted without prejudicing the interest of the territory by delay. As it is, acquiescence in the proposition from your city will be suitably recommended. Another consideration influences me: the great disadvantage under which the almost proscribed children of the forest labor for want of credibility as witnesses in our courts of law, destroys every thing like equality of rights; forbids the idea of. their success in legal controversy, in opposition to their white neighbors, and thus virtually excludes them from our halls of justice. To this must be mainly attributed their proneness to take punishment into their own hands, despairing as they do of obtaining redress for injuries by recourse to the laws of the whites, which have in but few cases, when they have been ap- pealed to by the Indians, afforded any remedy for evils com- plained of. In the case before us, Mr. Salano, who is the author of it, being permitted to depose, has enjoyed and exercised the power to fix upon the Indians an imputation they could not merit, and which for lack of admissible testimony, or the want of a hearing, they could not repel. These remarks are drawn from me, in a settled belief which I entertain, that the Indians do not THE FLORIDA WAR. 31 deserve that censure in regard to the Cabbage Swamp affair, which is attempted to be heaped upon them; and that, could a full and fair investigation of their previous conduct, which is cited as the leading cause to that affair, be had, it would be found in a great degree, if not wholly, free from the impropriety which is charged. Is it probable, let me ask, if they had meditated the violence Mr. S. accuses them of threatening, that they would thus publicly have declared their intentions? I answer no! Reason and common sense forbid the idea, as being wholly irre- concilable with the known character of the Indian, whose pro- ceedings of a hostile kind are always covert and unadvertised. The language then, here ascribed to them on this occasion, is impro- bable and incredible. That Mr. Salano had any sinister or im- proper motive in the representation he made at St. Augustine, which produced the disaster under consideration, I do not wish to say; or if he had dishonest views, I am unable to determine precisely what they were. I cannot believe his whole object was plunder; yet I am informed by the interpreter, who accom- panied the party, that he, S., went loaded to his own house with skins, meat, &c., taken from the pillaged camp of the unfortunate fugitives. If this be true, it is clear that whatever motives led him to move the assault, he did not omit to enrich himself with the-spoils of the assailed. "Why (it is right to inquire), if he were actuated by fair and harmless intentions in visiting the camp of the Indians, did he refuse explanation, though it was earnestly solicited by them as they saw troops approaching, leaving them to form the worst conjecture? A few words, making known the object of the visit, would have satisfied the Indians, and prevented their flight and the outrage which followed it. "1 For reasons best known to himself, Mr. S. positively refused the satisfaction sought, and even forbade the interpreter to speak to the Indians. Was it to be expected that conduct so little indi- cating an amicable purpose, would be well received by those peo- ple, and that they would, without an effort, yield to a doom they knew not how terrible ? Unquestionably not; nothing else ought, under the circumstances, to have been anticipated than precipitate retreat; and how that retreat could be construed, as I am in- formed it was, into an evidence of guilt, and justification of assault, I am, I confess, wholly unable to comprehend. They were not even charged with, much less convicted of, any overt act, and I am not acquainted with any law (owing probably to my limited knowledge of the books upon that subject) which could warrant or,authorize the proceeding to a forcible detention and imprisonment (which appear to have been the object) of the 32 THE FLORIDA WAR. persons of the inhabitants of our free country, either red or white, in manner like that attempted in the case in question. On a full review of the transaction, I cannot resist the opinion that it is strongly characterized by illegality, to say the least; and 1 regret most truly that the troops of the United States should have been drawn into it, as I am satisfied that it neither consists with their will, or advances their reputation, however unexceptionable their intentions on the occasion may have been; and I rejoice sincerely on their account, and the welfare of the territory, as well as the interest of the unhappy red skins, who are too weak to enforce their rights against their white and more powerful neigh- bors, that a fortunate issue of the affair is likely to be effected. "Before closing, I am constrained to say, that an examination of the part Salano has acted in the affair, forces upon me the conclusion, that he has throughout been influenced by feelings of hostility to the Indians; there is not, I believe, the shadow of a doubt that he inflicted the wound given in the Cabbage Swamp attack. He was heard, I understand, to boast of the accuracy with which he sighted upon his victim, when he levelled his rifle, and to express his astonishment that the Indian did not fall. He was probably prompted to the act, to revenge some fancied personal injury to himself. He has for a long time (if I am cor- rectly informed) been on terms with them far from peaceful; indeed, I am told that his animosity to them is almost proverbial; and that he often, in a light manner, speaks of shooting them, and has been heard to say that he would dispatch one with as little scruple as he would a 'wolf;' thus estimating their lives to be of as little value as those of the vilest beasts of the forest. If sen- timents like these are extensively cherished by our inhabitants, there is little hope of long preserving a good understanding be- tween them and their red neighbors; but such cannot be the case; and this, I trust, is a solitary instance of an entire disregard of the established obligations of citizenship, and a total abandonment of the common principles of humanity. Such a man should be watched as being. (in disposition) dangerous to the peace and in- terests of the territory-and his conduct in the late affair, how- ever favorably that affair may terminate, ought, I must insist, to be closely investigated and scrutinized; and if any ground pre- sents itself justifying punishment, it should be promptly inflicted, to prevent a like offence in future; and it is but proper to suggest, of the. Indians, that notwithstanding the strength of their desire to live in friendship with the whites generally, has induced them to accept of the terms of adjustment offered, it would be difficult for them to reconcile the entire escape of Salano, whom they look upon as the sole causeof their recent trouble, from punishment, THE FLORIDA WAR. 33 with the boasted justice of Americans. Something is therefore necessary to be done in the matter, for the preservation of our national character, even should the claims of justice be denied. "To you, sir, as a conservator of the public peace, and an impartial administrator of the laws, I submit the case, with a perfect confidence that it will receive all the attention to which its importance entitles it. I am, with the highest respect, Your obedient servant, Hon. Jos. L. SMITH, Judge Sup. Court, G. HUMPHREYS." E. Florida, St. Augustine. Also that of August 4th, to Secretary and acting Governor Walton: "Seminole Agency, Aug. 4th, 1829. SIR-I am compelled by a sense of duty, to address you upon a subject, in which the welfare of this nation is deeply involved. I am aware that the statement I have to make and the views I shall present, will interfere, if entertained, with the projects of certain white inhabitants of Florida, who, since the emigration of the western tribes, have located upon the public lands in the im- mediate vicinity of the Indian territorial boundary, for purposes by no means equivocal or even undeclared. "It is known to all, who are acquainted with the Indian char- acter, that it has in its composition one besetting and fatal weak- ness, a proneness for intoxicating drinks; and that spirituous liquors (which are not allowed to be vended in the nation) will command from these people almost any price that the exorbitance of the vender may prompt him to ask. This fact furnishes en- couragement, and the unsettled condition of the country affords an inviting field, for the operations of those whose defectiveness in morals or thirst for gain will lead them to seek the acquire- ment of it without a suitable regard for the means to be employed. The condition of the tribes hereabouts during the last two weeks, and at the present moment, gives abundant evidence that such is the general character of the individuals who have established themselves upon the adjoining public lands, and creates the most grievous and discouraging anticipations for the future well-being of the nation. "Drunkenness and riot have reigned triumphant. To detect those who practice the nefarious traffic which produces such de- plorable consequences is morally impossible ; they are sufficiently shrewd, and on the alert to avoid committing themselves before admissible witnesses, and may therefore, as long as they are suf- fered to remain where they are, prosecute their illicit business in comparative security. Some effective remedy should be applied 3 34 THE FLORIDA WAR. without loss of time; and the only thing which suggests itself to me as likely to succeed, is that of a rigid enforcement of the laws against the unauthorized occupancy of the unsold government lands. I earnestly invite your early attention to this subject; and shall with great anxiety wait your instructions. With much respect, your obedient servant, GEo. WALTON, Esq., Sec'y and Dep'y G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Gov. of Fla, Tallahassee. Together with the application of the agent to the district attorney. Sem. Agency, 1st July, 1825. "DEAR SIR-A case of outrage (wholly unprovoked as is stated here) committed upon a party of Indians, who were in search of missing friends, on the east side of the St. John's river, by a party of whites headed, the Indians say, by a Mr. Philip Salano, has produced great excitement among the Indians in this quarter, and unless speedy redress is obtained, serious consequences are to be apprehended. "I solicit your official attention to the subject, and refer you for further information, to the bearer, Mr. Tingle. In haste, respectfully yours, EDGAR MACON, Esq., U. S. Dist. G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Att'y, St. Augustine. Another difficulty, quite as embarrassing, increased from day to day, and which ultimately led to an open rupture. The Indians had in their possession a number of slaves, many who were born among them, and others purchased from the whites. The Indians possessing no rights in a court of justice or in law, and the ne- groes having been purchased and paid for, efforts were made to take possession by force. The Indian, conscious of his rights, and knowing that he paid the money, though incapable of showing the papers executed under the forms of law, as he had received none, and relying upon the honesty of the white man, protested most earnestly against these demands, and resolutely expressed a determination to resist all attempts thus to wrest from him his rightfully ac- quired property. The superintendent, Governor Duval, writes to Col. Hum- phreys on the 15th of January, as follows: Tallahassee, January 5th, 1825. "SIR-On the subject of the runaway slaves among the Indians, within the control of your agency, it will be proper in all cases, where you believe the owners can identify the slaves, to have THE FLORIDA WAR. 35 them taken and delivered over to the marshal of East Florida, at St. Augustine, so that the federal judge may inquire into the claim of the party and determine the right of property. But in all cases when the same slave is claimed by a white person and an Indian, if you believe that the Indian has an equitable right to the slave claimed, you are directed not to surrender the said slave, unless by an order from the Honorable Jos. L. Smith, fed- eral judge, residing in St. Augustine, and in that case you will attend before him or at his court, and defend the right of the Indian, if you believe he has right on his side. You will in your discretion remove out of the Indian boundary, all free negroes, or other persons, who may attempt to reside in the nation, without permission from the Supt. or yourself. You will keep an exact account of the number of days you shall be actually engaged in attending to the business of the nation, and also your daily ex- pense while so employed. Where any white person holds forci- ble, or fraudulent possession of any slave or other property, be- longing to an Indian, under your agency, it is your duty to have justice rendered to the Indian, and you are directed to employ counsel when it may be necessary, and take all legal measures to obtain justice for the Indian. The licenses which have been granted to Capt. Thornton and Capt. Pelham to trade with the Indians at Tampa Bay, you will notify them or their agents, will be withdrawn, from and after the 9th day of March next, and that in future, no license will be granted, except where the indi- vidual shall reside with the goods in the nation, and under the control of the agent. All spirituous liquors must be kept out of the nation, and if any individual shall sell or otherwise trade to the Indians any intoxicating liquors, it is your duty to have him prosecuted in the federal court. If any trader without license should come into the nation for the purpose of traffic, the law directs you to seize upon his goods. White men are not to visit the Indian towns, or to quit the high road established by con- gress, to examine the Indian lands, without your special permis- sion. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYS, Agent for WM. P. DUVAL." the Florida Indians. It was evident, from the causes of complaint both among the Indians and citizens, increasing as the country settled, that mis- understandings and collisions would ensue, and as neither party could effect their design, bloodshed would follow. The agent of the government resolutely vindicated the native, and as promptly lent his aid to adjust all demands made by the citizens. But he was alone, and while he stood firmly breasting 36 THE FLORIDA WAR. the popular current, and endeavoring to soothe the Indian chiefs, the voice of the people became more potent at Tallahassee- through the legislature, whence, in exaggerated and'exciting lan- guage, it was transmitted to Washington City. The agent repre- sented and protested, but his exertions availed but little; and on the 9th of February, he addressed the subjoined letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs, Thomas S. McKenney: "St. Augustine, Feb. 9th, 1825. "SIR-Although I have not as yet had opportunity to investi- gate sufficiently to make a full report, as promised in my letter from Charleston, touching our Indian relations, I have learnt enough since my arrival here to make me feel it to be an imper- ative duty to address you without delay, for the information of the department, in the hope that the interpositions of the compe- tent power may be exercised in time to prevent the disastrous consequences which must inevitably flow from a prosecution of the system of severity recently adopted towards the Indians. I allude particularly to a law of the last legislative council, which is in the following words: An Act to prevent the Indians from roaming at large, throughout the Territory. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Council of the Territory of Florida, that from and after the passing of this act, if any Indian of the years of discretion venture to roam or ramble beyond the boun- dary lines of the reservations which have been assigned to the tribe or nation to which said Indian belongs, it shall and may be lawful for any person or persons, to apprehend, seize and take said Indian and carry him before some justice of the peace, who is hereby authorized, empowered and required, to direct [if said Indian have not a written permission from the agent, to do some specific act] that there shall be inflicted not exceeding thirty- nine stripes, at the discretion of the justice, on the bare back of said Indian, and moreover to cause the gun of said Indian, if he have any, to be taken away from him, and deposited with the colonel of the county, or captain of the district in which said Indian may be taken, subject to the order of the superintendent of In- dian affairs.' The want of good policy of this law, to say nothing of its inhumanity and injustice, it appears to me (with all due deference to the legislative council I say it) must be obvi- ous to every reflecting mind, and I do not hesitate to predict, that an enforcement of its provisions will produce an excitement on the part of the Indians which must unavoidably lead to blood- shed and distress in our frontier settlements. It is not to be ex- pected, that this people, who though greatly and cruelly oppressed, are by nature and every principle of right, if not of human law, free, will tamely submit to the ignominy of stripes, and that for THE FLORIDA WAR. 37 no other offence, than the mere exercise of a privilege common to all who are not slaves. No, sir! carry this law into effect and war in reality may be expected sooner or later to follow as a consequence: indeed, if I may take the word of a member of the council, such consequence was calculated upon by that body, when the bill was under consideration. 'For,' said he, in a cen- versation I held with him in relation to this law,' it is found im- possible to bring them to negotiate for a removal from the terri- tory, and the only course, therefore, which remains for us to rid ourselves of them, is to adopt such a mode of treatment towards them, as will induce them to acts that will justify their expulsion by force.' This, sir, is the benevolent language of an enlightened American legislator. "However reasonable or rather natural the wish on the part of the white inhabitants, as a matter of convenience to themselves, that the unfortunate children of the forests should be removed from Florida, justice and honor forbid that means so inhuman as those proposed should be resorted to to effect that object; and the character of our government and country demand that the abomination should be prevented, and the foul blot of the law in view wiped from the records of our legislation. "From all I can learn here, there is little doubt that the dis- turbances near Tallahassee, which have of late occasioned so much clamor, were brought about by a course of unjustifiable conduct on the part of the whites, similar to that which it appears to be the object of the territorial legislature to legalize. In fact, it is stated that one Indian had been so severely whipped by the head of the family which was destroyed, in those disturbances, as to cause his death; if such be the fact, the subsequent act of the Indians, however lamentable, must be considered as one of retali- ation, and I cannot but think it is to be deplored that they were afterwards 'hunted' with so unrelenting a spirit of revenge. As the agent of the United States, as a citizen of Florida desirous to preserve harmony and prevent a further needless effusion of blood, Make this communication, and am Respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. THOMAs L. MCKENNY, Office of G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Indian Affairs, Washington. This was followed by another on the 6th of March, 1827: Seminole Agency, March 6th, 1827. "( SIR-I am sorry to be obliged to report to you that the con- dition of the Indians of this nation is one of great suffering from hunger. There is not at this moment, I will venture to say, in the whole nation a bushel of corn, or any adequate substitute for 38 THE FLORIDA WAR. it. The coutee and brier root, which have hitherto been to them a tolerable dernier dependence, are almost entirely consumed. For nearly a year past they have been compelled t6 rely mainly upon these, and the cabbage-tree, for sustenance, of the vegetable kind. What they are to do another year I dare not imagine. They have not corn for this year's seed, nor can I procure it for them; I have sent to the St. John's, and inquired for it through the Alachua settlements without the smallest success. The situ- ation of some of these people is wretched, almost beyond descrip- tion; those particularly who during the late alarm were robbed of their guns, have been absolutely famishing. Their appearance is sufficient to excite the commiseration of the hardest heart. Towards a people like the Indians, whose chief dependence for a subsistence is upon the chase, a greater cruelty could not be practiced, than to deprive them of the implements so important and indispensable in their mode of life. That offences have been committed which deserved chastisement, whatever may have been the causes on the part of the whites that led to them, is quite probable, but I do not conceive that any thing, of which I have as yet been informed, in relation to the recent disturbances, can justify the indiscriminate and extreme severity which has been inflicted; and in this I am certain you will agree with me, when you are acquainted with all that has been done, and the extent to which humanity has been outraged. There are facts connected with the operations of this campaign (as I suppose it will be called) at the recital of which every heart, not callous, must shrink with horror. "Tottering age, feeble childhood, and females, whose peculi- arity and delicacy of condition awakens, even in the bosom of the contemned savage, emotions of tenderness, were huddled together and hurried forward with as little of compassion as is extended to the brute when driven forth to meet the slaughterer's knife. There is one attending incident which I would fain withhold, but truth and candor demand that as naught should be set down in malice, so should nothing be extenuated. The circumstance I am required to record is this: On an occasion when a party was sent to collect *stragglers, it gathered a number, among whom was a female far advanced in pregnancy. When a return march to head-quarters took place, this helpless and unpitied woman was forced onward with such precipitancy as to produce a premature delivery, which was near terminating her life. Truly, this is a most extraordinary lesson in humanity for a civilized nation to place before a people whose barbarism we so loudly and freely condemn. It was well enough, I admit, to employ, if it became necessary, force, to apprehend for trial those who perpetrated the acts of violence near the Oscilla; but the necessity for the general THE FLORIDA WAR. 39 alarm which was created, and parading of military detachments through the country in warlike fashion, in a time of peace, I am not able to perceive; but the evils almost unavoidably consequent upon the procedure, I can too plainly see. And any man who reads the history of this inglorious war and its effects, will learn and see much which, as an American, a member of a nation calling itself Christian, he must blush at; and I find it a duty to say to you, that upon the subject of this treatment of the Indians, the chiefs exhibit great feeling. 'We cannot understand,' say they, 'why unoffending men, and helpless women and children, should be made to suffer for the faults of a few turbulent spirits, whose bad deeds the nation does not justify, though done in retaliation of injuries inflicted upon themselves, and as was the case in the Oscilla murder, by the white man whose family fell victims. We have been told by the whites, that those who com- mit offences are the only ones who should be punished for them; and although it was the custom among us for a man to take satis- faction into his own hands, and if he could not find the individual who had committed a murder in his family, punish the nearest blood of his he could find, such is not our way now. Shortly after our agent came among us, he convinced us that this was wrong, and we altered our laws, which now stand like those of the whites; though some of our hard-headed men, who have no sense, will not as yet, we are sorry to say, listen to the new law, but follow the old one, and when injured take revenge the shortest way they can get it; they were such men that did the murder on the Oscilla, because they had not patience to wait and let the white people's laws give them satisfaction; and because, perhaps, they did not believe those laws would do them justice.' "Assuredly, there is something decidedly wrong-our system of management in regard to those people is essentially faulty; and until it is amended, and less characterized by overbearing and severity, it will be difficult, nay, impossible, to convince them that we mean to deal with them kindly or even justly. Gov. WM. P. DUVAL, G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Tallahassee. S The agent was so unfortunate, during a brief absence at Washington City, on duty, to be presented by the grand jury convened at St. Augustine. In a letter to Governor Duval, he alludes to this in a proper spirit of indignation: St. Augustine, Fa., February 8th, 1827. "The grand jury of this district, through the influence of some of my enemies, took occasion to notice my recent absence, in the way of condemnation, in their general presentment, not knowing 40 THE FLORIDA WAR. that I had for my absence such authority as would scarce feel itself bound, either by duty or courtesy, to ask even that august, high-minded, and enlightened body's sanction for its acts. I scorn and have a sovereign contempt for the breeders of such impotent malice. I shall, as I have ever made it a point to do, act honestly but independently, regardless of the interested murmurings and cal- umnies of the malevolent and discontented spirits of the land. I am well aware, that in this country, filled, as it is at present, with reckless adventurers from all quarters of the globe, such a course is calculated to make me an object of vituperative assault; but for these I care not, so long as I am sustained by a consciousness of my own rectitude of purpose. When I entered upon the duties of my present office, I chose for myself a line of conduct from which I have never wittingly deviated-one, to be sure, that has given me much difficulty, and subjected me to severe and illiberal animadversions, but one which will nevertheless, I feel a comfort- ing certainty, eventually bear me triumphantly through the trying ordeal of public opinion. I am your obedient servant, Gov. WM. P. DUVAL, G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Tallahassee. The territorial legislature had memorialized congress, in the mean time, in regard to the Indians, as will be seen by the follow- ing extract from the paper transmitted: "The tract of country assigned to the Florida Indians by the treaty of 1823, has always been complained of by them as incom- petent to their support, and the additional grant subsequently made them, has been the occasion of much dissatisfaction among many of our citizens, and probably not without cause. In addi- tion to this, the present location is in the pathway of our settlers, and has already seriously impeded the settlement of the fairest part of Florida, and will now cloud all its prospects. The land in this vicinity is excellent, and but for the obstruction by this unfortunate though not less obnoxious tribe of beings, would, be- fbre this, have borne on the current of the St. John's all the rich and luxurious products of a tropical clime. Besides, they have never gone within their boundary, but have scattered themselves in different parts of the territory, to the great annoyance of our citizens. They have stripped the corn from our fields be- fore our eyes; they have burned our houses, and murdered our citizens. All this they did, and have been doing for the last sea- son, within twenty miles of the walls of St. Augustine, and with impunity. But more recent outrages have been committed, THE FLORIDA WAR. 41 which have thrown a damper on the spirit of our agriculturists, and present our country under a gloomy aspect. The most inhuman butcheries have been committed by them; a whole family has fallen a sacrifice to their vengeance, and individuals have been murdered while on the highway, and engaged in that industry which constitutes the soul and energy of our country. Our corn- houses have been broken and plundered, our cattle killed, and our settlers driven from their homes, and threatened with all the hor. rors of Indian cruelty, within the space of the last two months, and within forty miles of our capital. The vigilance of our gov- ernor and the promptness of our militia have, for the present, checked their outrages, and in some degree quieted the fears of our citizens; but at what time and in what place the bent bow will let slip its arrow, the blood of our citizens, we fear, will soon proclaim. In this gloomy situation of affairs, your memorialists beg the speedy removal of those people out of the territory. If they are dissatisfied with their present situation, as appears; if they have never complied with the stipulations of their treaty, as is manifest; if they have been guilty of the most glaring and unprovoked outrages, certainly they have forfeited their claim to humanity, and are the subjects of our policy. We must earnestly recommend, that they be forthwith called to their boundary, and commissioners appointed to hold a new treaty with them, stipu- lating their immediate removal from the territory to the new country west of the Mississippi, and the commissioners be vested with full power to carry the same into execution." The demands for negroes said to be among the Indians, con- tinued to agitate the country, threatening the most serious re- sults. These applications were now made upon the president of the United States, who, through the secretary of war and com- missioner of Indian affairs, required them to be surrendered by the Indian agent. I now, by direction of the secretary of war," says the commissioner, on the 8th of February, 1827, "call your attention, &c." Department of War, Office Indian Affairs, Feb. 8th, 1827." "SIR-Frequent complaints have been made to the depart- ment, respecting slaves claimed by citizens of Florida, which are in possession of the Indians; all of which have been acted on here, in issuing such orders to you as it was expected would be promptly obeyed, and lead to such investigations as should issue in fixing the right of the claimants or establishing the contrary; and that these proceedings would be followed by the proper reports to the department-nothing satisfactory has been received of you. 42 THE FLORIDA WAR. "I now, by direction of the secretary of war, call your atten- tion to this subject, in a general way, and particularly in regard to the claim of Margaret Cooke, and require it of you forthwith to cause the negroes claimed by her to be surrendered to her, upon her entering into a bond with sufficient security, of which you will judge, to abide by the decision of such tribunal as it may be esteemed proper by the secretary of war to establish, to decide upon the claim. You will, at the same time, satisfy the Indians of the pro- priety and justice of this course. Tell them the claim is set up, and that this act is merely to secure the property until the right is decided, when, if it be in them, it will be restored, and if in the claimant, they ought not to expect to hold them. It is expected of you to report generally upon such other like claims as may exist in regard to slaves. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. GAD HUMPHREYS, THOSE. L. McKENNEY." Agent to the Florida Indians. Further instructions were received by the agent upon the subject, from the superintendent. On the 20th of March he thus writes: Tallahassee, March 20th, 1827. SIR-The superintendent or agent is not vested with judi- cial power to decide on the right of property, who may and have surrendered slaves to our citizens which were runaways; we will, as heretofore, advise the Indians to surrender a slave where in justice they ought not to retain the slave, but in any litigated case the chiefs must decide the matter, the facts to be reported as herein directed. Many of the slaves belonging to the Indians are now in the possession of the white people; these slaves can- not be obtained for their Indian owners without a law-suit, and I see no reason why the Indians shall be compelled to surrender all slaves claimed by our citizens when this surrender is not mu- tual. By the treaty they were bound to deliver up all the slaves that were at that time in the nation, who had absconded from their owners, and to return such as might in future flee to the nation; but where a citizen and an Indian set up title to the same slave, and that slave is in the nation, the matter must be decided by the chiefs, and from the decision no other step can be taken on your part, but to refer the whole to the secretary of war. The negroes, claimed by the Indian woman Nelly, may be given up to her; or if you believe it just and proper, the same can be retained under your orders until the case shall be deter- mined. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, To Col. G. HUMPHREYS, Agent, ) WILLIAM P. DUVAL." Fort King, Florida. 5 THE FLORIDA WAR. 43 The agent, with such powers enjoined, was in an awkward dilemma, as well as one of great responsibility. To adjust rights in this vexed and complicated matter, which was to involve the United States in an open rupture with a people whom they had voluntarily bound themselves to protect, was a situation far from being desirable. In the first instance, their claims were to be submitted to the judge of the federal court-next, the agent was to decide; but he, feeling the delicacy of his situation, submits them to the superintendent, who avoids the responsibility, and says, The superintendent or his agent is not vested with judicial powers to decide on the right of property. The chiefs must de- termine." The chiefs were determined not to surrender their property into the hands of any one for investigation. But they were ready to give bonds to deliver the slave, when proved before a proper tribunal to belong to the claimant. Deprived as they were of a voice in the halls of justice, the surrender of the negro at once dispossessed them, without the least prospect of ever getting him returned. Discontent and the spirit of retaliation pervaded the entire country. The settler had no confidence in the Indian, which was most heartily reciprocated. When favorable opportunities offered, the Indian suffered from personal abuse, and when made beastly intoxicated was robbed of his ornaments and rifle. In most instances, upon recovering he would find that he had, as told, sold his horse for a drink, and thrown away his money. This to him was incredible, but what he had lost was far beyond the hope of recovery. In retaliation, and to obtain that which he conceived, very justly too, had been stolen from him when intoxicated, he improved the first opportu- nity to secure cattle and hogs, by driving them within the Indian boundary, and claiming and defending them as his own. Trav- ellers complained of being intercepted on the highway, maltreated and robbed. Houses were said to have been forcibly opened, in the absence of the occupants, and provisions stolen. To put a stop to these proceedings, a company of mounted militia was ordered out on the 2d of April, to scour the country, and bring the depredators to justice. The chiefs appealed to the agent for protection, denying unequivocally that their warriors had been guilty of overt acts. Those attributed to them they believed, as many respectable persons did, had been committed by vagrant whites, who under the cry of hostilities shielded themselves from punishment. In the progress of this quasi war, two whites were killed. The Indians had good cause to believe this to have been the act of their own people. Nehemathlar, the chief, promptly assembled his warriors, and after a pursuit of two months secured the fugitives, and delivered them to the agent for'trial. Such 44 THE FLORIDA WAR. alacrity was an evidence on their part of a desire to act justly and decisively when complaints were made upon sufficient ground. On the 9th of September, the agent writes to the district attorney in reference to the Indian prisoners, who, after a fair trial, were acquitted. Seminole Agency, 9th September, 1827. DEAR SIR-In consequence of a letter of disapproval received from Gov. Duval, I, some weeks since, directed the two Indians who were released from confinement at the time you were at the agency, to be arrested and sent to Tallahassee for examina- tion, &c.; which order, I am informed, has been obeyed. It has this day been suggested to me, by a gentleman from Alachua county, that there is a plan on foot, to have them sent into Georgia for trial, in the belief that their chance for escape from punishment and death will be weakened by such procedure, it being easy, as the friends of the measure say, to show that the crime, if committed by them, was perpetrated within the limits of that state. The suggestion of corrupt trial is a calumny upon the character of that commonwealth, and the measure indicated, no man, not an ignoramus, can think of carrying out. That the most unscrupulous efforts will be made to convict, need not be questioned. Knowing your character, I am aware that there is no necessity of making an appeal to your benevolence of feeling, in behalf of those unfortunate men. I am satisfied that, in the discharge of your duties of public prosecutor, you will not lose sight of the principles of justice, or forget what is due to hu- manity. I most confidently believe in the entire innocence of "the accused of the blood, the spilling of which is attempted to be fastened upon them; and that, though they may have committed depredations upon the property of the whites, their guilt wears no deeper hue. Should the incipient judicial examination result in further confinement and a trial, in season to enable me to reach Tallahassee to attend it, it is my own wish, and that of the chiefs, that I should be present. His excellency appeared by his letter to be highly displeased, that I consulted you in relation to the release; and says, that I ought not to have suffered myself to be influenced by your opinion, as you are not authorized to decide for the judge or jury. Respectfully, your friend and obedient servant, U. S. District Attorney, G. HUMPHREYS, Tallahassee, Fla. Agent Seminole Indians." In spite of the exertions ot the citizens and well-wishers of the country, the disposition to trample upon the Indians, mani- fested itself in all quarters. The secretary and acting governor THE FLORIDA WAR. 45 McCarty, informed Col. Humphreys, on the 26th of November, of a murder committed in the neighborhood of Tallahassee : Indian Office, Tallahassee, Nov. 26th, 1827. SR--It gives me pain, to apprise you of a distressing event which occurred in this vicinity on the 20th ult. An Indian (who accompanied Billy and his wife, who had a pass from you to visit their relations in the Creek nation) was shot, as appears from the verdict of the jury of inquest. Two persons have been ap- prehended, and I have issued a proclamation for a third, who is also suspected of participating in this shocking outrage. You will explain this circumstance to the nation, with such remarks as may occur to you to be proper on the occasion. The Indian, who was shot, had no pass; but he no doubt considered himself as under the protection of that which you had granted to Billy and wife. This melancholy occasion is much deplored by the people in this neighborhood, who have manifested much zeal for the apprehension of the offenders; and of this the nation should be fully apprised. They should, moreover, be instructed to ad- monish their people not to pass the boundary without permission in writing from yourself. I am, most respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYS, Agent, ( WILLIAM M. McCARTY, Fort King, Fla. S Sec. and Act. Gov. and Act. Sup't. Ind. Aff. in Fla." The agent assembled the chiefs as directed, and thus answers the acting governor: "Seminole Agency, 19th Dec. 1827. SIR-On my return yesterday from an excursion into the Indian nation, I was put in possession of your letter of the 26th ultimo, communicating the unpleasant news of the murder of an Indian, near Tallahassee. It fortunately so happened, that I was visited on the day of my return by Hicks, and several other chiefs, to whom I made known the subject of your letter, adding such remarks of my own as the occasion seemed to call for. The chiefs were, as was to be expected, much annoyed by the intelligence; but they nevertheless deported themselves with perfect temperance and propriety, and assured me, that, believing exact justice would be done in the matter, they would quietly await the result of the in- vestigation, which I have informed them is to take place. I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, WILLIAM MCCARTY, Esq., G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Sec. and Act. Gov. of Florida. These men, relying upon the sense of justice which had actuated them in the arrest of fugitive Indians accused of a like 46 THE FLORIDA WAR. offence, awaited calmly the action of the white man's laws to punish the offenders. In the midst of these difficulties, the claims fof negroes in possession of the Indians were pushed upon the war department, through the delegate of the territory, Col. J. M. White, who per- emptorily demanded redress for the grievances complained of by his constituents. Col. Humphreys was ordered to deliver forth- with the negroes claimed by Mrs. Margaret Cook. The refusal of the Indian chief to comply caused some delay, when the order was reiterated on the 6th of February, and further required that the agent "should see that it was done." The agent wrote the following letter to the commissioner of Indian affairs, showing that the neglect was not attributable to himself, but to the spirit of opposition manifested by the Indians: Seminole Agency, March 1st, 1828. SIR-Your letter of the 7th instant, communicating the order of the secretary of war, in relation to the delivery of Mrs. Cooke's negro Jack or John, was received here last mail, and in reply thereto I have to request, that you will say to the secretary, that at the time the order came to hand, the fourth party which had been sent by me in pursuit of the negro in question, within the last six months, was out. It has returned without success, and the Indian men declare their inability to take the fugitive. Under these circumstances, I have to ask of the Department, what is to be done? and whether in this particular case I am authorized to put in requisition the military force stationed near the agency? and if so, to request that I may be placed in such relation with regard to it, as will insure a compliance with such calls as I may find it necessary to make. From one portion of your letter under consideration, it is to be inferred that the de- partment has been imposed upon, or at least, that it is in error in relation to the situation of the property in question. You say that the negro Jack or John must be delivered up to Mrs. Cook, on the same condition as she received the other negro claimed by her, viz., on her giving bonds, &c. Such conditions are not at all required, so far as the interests of the Indians are concerned, inasmuch as they do not pretend to dispute the title with Mrs. C., whom they admit and believe to be the legitimate owner of the slave, and to whom they are willing (as their efforts in her behalf in this case fully prove, however she may assert the contrary) to give such aid as they can, and more than she has a right to ask, towards the recovery of her property. But they will not, I appre- hend, consent further to risk their lives in a service, which has always been a thankless one; and has lately proved so to one of THE FLORIDA WAR. 47 the most respected and valuable chiefs in the nation, who was killed in an attempt to arrest a runaway slave. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, THOSE. L. MCKENNEY, Esq., G. HUMPHREYS, Agent." Com'r of Indian Affairs. Connected with these causes of dissatisfaction, the Indians complained that the annuity granted under the treaty was withheld. This had been done in the belief that a suspension of payment would impel the Indians to surrender the negroes, so long and unwisely contended for. A letter from the agent to Governor Duval, of March 8, 1828, makes known the dissatisfaction of the chiefs: "Seminole Agency, March 6, 1828. "SIR-Under the impression, from what has been stated to me, that there remains a considerable unexpended balance of the ap- propriation of $20,000 made by congress to furnish provisions for the relief of the Florida Indians, I feel it a duty to state, that if such balance exists, it might at this time afford great benefit to the nation, if judiciously applied to the purchase of corn, &c. The last year's crop of the Indians, which was scanty, is entirely exhausted, and they are beginning to feel the pressure of want, from which they receive only such precarious relief as is to be found in the woods. They do not, however, even under these circumstances, make any new calls upon the munificence of the government; but if there is any portion of its former bounty, that has not reached them, it would be exceedingly acceptable, and an act of humanity to impart it to them, in this their time of need. I yesterday received a formal visit from Hicks, and several other chiefs, the object of which was to request me to address you on this subject. "I shall be glad to be instructed what to say to them in reply. I have of late been much importuned on this subject of the an- nuity, which has been some time due. The Indians are extremely anxious to have it, and desire that it may be paid in specie. They are not content with the manner in which it has been thus far given to them. They say, that when paid, as heretofore, in goods or bank notes, it is impossible for them to apportion and distribute it in such a way, as that each individual shall get the exact amount to which he is entitled; and this difficulty, which is the cause of dissatisfaction among the members of the nation, can only be prevented by the mode of payment now asked for. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Gov. Wx. P. DUVAL, Superintendent G. HUMPHREYS, of Indian Affairs, Tallahassee, Fa. Agent Sem. Indians." 48 THE FLORIDA WAR. The commissioner of Indian affairs, in answer to the commu- nication of the agent, of March 27, says that the military cannot be employed in arresting Indian negroes." "Department of War, Ofice Indian Affairs, 1 March 27th, 1828. SIR-I have received your two letters of the 7th instant. In regard to the negro, the property of Mrs. Cooke, it was expected that, if within your reach, or the means at your disposal, you would comply with the order. The military will not be employed. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYS, THOSE. L. McKENNEY, Agent Fa. Indians, Fort King, Fa. Com'r In. Affairs." The military had already been put in requisition, through the request of the agent, and voluntary offer of Major Glassell, U. S. A., commanding at Fort King, but confined to the country in their immediate neighborhood. It was thought the presence of troops would intimidate the Indians, and cause an instant de- livery. But the demand, under such circumstances, was ridiculed, and while the commander was wasting his arguments, the negroes were immediately taken to the swamps and hammocks, under direction of experienced guides. These proceedings naturally inflamed the passions of all, and while the chiefs were calmly maintaining their rights, in the face of an authority capable of crushing them as a nation, the younger class listened attentively, anxiously awaiting the time when they could act as their feelings dictated, and revenge their wrongs, accumulating from day to day, and which seemed to become more aggravated as they at- tempted to resist them, and defend themselves. The most influ- ential chiefs endeavored to calm the feeling so rife, encouraged as it was by white men lingering upon their border, demoralizing them by the sale of whisky, and adding to their depraved condi- tion by pernicious example and advice. The agent reported to the superintendent, on the 6th of April, 1828, the murder of a white man by an Indian: "Seminole Agency, April 6th, 1828. SIR-I have to report that a murder has recently been com- mitted upon a white man in the neighborhood of 'Hamly's Old Store,' by an Indian who lived near the Oklawaha river. The cause which led to the outrage, or whether there was any provo- cation, I have not learned; though there is reason to believe the deed was altogether wanton. Upon being informed of the affair, I sent for some of the principal chiefs, who promptly attended, and declared their unqualified disapproval of the act: indeed, so THE FLORIDA WAR. 49 exasperated were they, particularly the emigrants settled on 'Big Swamp,' that some difficulty was experienced in restraining and preventing them from proceeding at once in pursuit to inflict summary justice; but as the offender is of the old Seminoles, between whom and the tribesof the west there appears, unfortu- nately, not to exist the most perfect cordiality, I deemed it ad- visable, in order to harmonize and check, if possible, an increase of unkindly feelings, to stop proceedings in the matter, until measures could be entered into to bring the different tribes to act in concert. "The occasion, though a melancholy one, seemed favorable for entering on the first step towards a more perfect union between them; which is so essential to their own happiness and the inte- rests of the United States. I accordingly detained some of the head-men from the west, and sent for Micanopy and Jumper, who had just returned, as was understood, from the hunting grounds. Jumper was found to be still out, and Micanopy, though at home, was confined to his lodge by severe sickness; of course, neither attended. Under these circumstances, I concluded to send Tus- keneha to Micanopy, whose place is only about eight miles from here, to ascertain his sentiments in relation to the murder, and whether he was disposed to join in bringing the perpetrator to justice. 'His conduct on the occasion, as reported to me by Tus- keneha, was entirely correct, and such as does him credit. He said the man deserved death by their own laws, and although he was unable to go to aid in carrying the law into effect, he should give his voice in favor of immediate punishment, and would fully sanction whatever the other chiefs might do. It was then resolved by the council that the offender should expiate his offence by death; and a party, led by Tuskeneha, proceeded to enforce the sentence. At the request of the Indians, I sent a young man named Brutan (who has been some time employed by me to herd the public cattle), as a witness. This they desired, they said, in order to satisfy the whites, some of whom might otherwise doubt them, that they were faithful. I strongly urged that the murderer should be given up to be tried by the laws of the white people; but to this the Indians as strongly objected, as being contrary to their custom. They never attempted to take a murderer alive, it would be attended with danger, and might cause the death of one or more of the party; for once notified of his detection he knew his fate, and would doubtless fight till the last. 'Twere better,' they said,' that so bad a man should lose his forfeited life, than jeopardize the safety of any good one by" unnecessary formality;' and, on the whole, though I could have desired to see them pursue a course more in consonance with the received notions of civili- zation, I could not believe it to be a point of sufficient import- 4 50 THE FLORIDA WAR. ance to authorize me to press it, at a risk of a total failure of justice, and therefore told them to pursue their own method. The party went, but did not entirely succeed, though there is reason to believe the object in view was essentially effected;- the culprit was fired upon, as he was taking shelter in a swamp, and fell, but recovered his feet, and got into the swamp. Blood was found where he ran, after the shots. I was informed yesterday, that all search of the friends of the fugitive, which has been constant, has proved unavailing; and the conjecture (a very probable one) is, that in attempting to swim the Oklawaha, which is very high, in his wounded condi- tion, he has been drowned. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, Gov. W. P. DUVAL, G. HUMPHREYS, Tallahassee, Florida. Agent Seminole Indians." The determination of the chiefs to punish the murderer, again evinced the kindest disposition towards the inhabitants, though so long aggrieved by efforts to wrest from them their property. The talk given by the principal men upon the subject, shows a determination to award justice; showing at the same time a just appreciation of their own rights, in opposition to the arguments and threats which the agent had resorted to, in endeavoring to fulfil the requirements of claimants, coming as they did from the secretary of war, under instructions from the president of the United States: Minutes of a talk held at the Seminole Agency, the 17th April, 1828, at which were present Tuskal Mathla, Head Chief: Mico Nopy, Jumper, Halata Emath- la, Halata Mico, Fee-ke-lusta, Hajo, and Cooper. Witnesses, or white persons, present: Capt. Saunders, Sutler at Tampa; Lieut. Eaton, 4th Infantry; Mr. Ganes, and Mr. Lockwood. Agent.-I understand you have come to have a talk with me: if so, proceed; I am ready to hear you. Mico Nopy.-We are told there is a white man come into our country after certain negroes. I want to know what right he has to come after them; we have been told that white people should not come into our country : besides, these ne- groes are ours, and the whites have no right to them. Agent.-This man has an order from the secretary of war to get the negroes, and I am directed to give them up to him, on his giving bonds, in the same way that Mrs. Cook got the negroes she claimed from Nelly Factor. Should the white woman who calls for these negroes, not prove her claim, the negroes will be returned to you. If you do not give them up, I shall have to send and take them by force. Jumper.-This negro woman, who is now wanted from us, belonged formerly to a white man, who 'tis now said (by those who wish to get her and her children away from us) gave her t9 his daughter. May-be this is true, may-be not; but if he did give her to his daughter, for some reason, he took her away again and brought her and sold her to the Indians, who honestly paid for her, and are therefore ;the fair owners of her. It seems that the white people will not rest, or suffer us THE FLORIDA WAR. 51 to do so, till they have got all the property belonging to us, and made us poor. The laws of the whites appear to be made altogether for their own benefit, and against the Indians, who can never under them get back any of their property; if it once gets, no matter how, into the white people's hands, we fear their laws will leave to us nothing. If we could see them work so as to restore the property that has been stolen, and otherwise unfairly taken from us, and not so as to rob us of the little we have left, we should have more reason to believe them just, but as it is, the benefit to be had from them goes all to the white people's side. It is well known that a great deal of our property, negroes, horses, cattle, &c. is now in the hands of the whites, and yet their laws give us no satisfaction, and will not make them give this property up to us. The property which this white man is after, we know to belong to our people, and we cannot therefore consent to give it up. If you send and take it from us by force, as you say you must, we cannot help ourselves, but shall think it very hard in the government to force from us that which we have purchased and fairly paid for, when it will not use the same means to make the whites return to us property of ours which they have dishonestly got in their possession. We were promised justice, and we want to see it! These negroes are ours, and we will not consent to surrender them, or say we are willing to have them taken. If they are forced out of our hands, we may not resist because we have not the power; but we must insist, that the government does not show in this business that justice which has been so often and liberally promised to us. We have submitted to one demand after another of this kind, in the hope that they would cease, but it seems that there will be no end to them, as long as we have any thing left that the white people may want, and we have become tired and discouraged. Agent.-You act wisely in not attempting to resist by force the orders of the government, which, you may rest assured will, as far as practicable, do you jus- tice in this and every other matter. You must not suppose, because you are called upon to give up these negroes, that it is the wish or intention of the gov- ernment to deprive you of any thing which of right belongs to you or your people. This course is taken in order that the dispute between you and the white claim- ant, which has been so long annoying both you and the government, may be settled and for ever put at rest. And I repeat, that should the white woman fail to prove her title to the property, it will be returned to you. Jumper.-We heard the same talk about the negroes which were taken from Nelly Factor, twelve moons since, but the negroes have not come back. We know you tell us what you think, and wish and hope that your words may prove true,- but it is discouraging, and makes our hearts sad, to have the white people coming, every few days, to wrong us out of our honest property, when we can never get out of their .hands that which*they stole from us many years ago. The negroes this man is after are ours, and the white people know it is so; and if you take it. from us, we shall think hard of it, and feel that the justice of the government is for the whites and not for us. I have nothing more to say. Col. George M. Brooke, U. S. A., commanding at Tampa Bay, had been induced, through the solicitations of Col. Humphreys, to assist him in the execution of his orders. He succeeded, with the aid of his troops, in arresting four negroes, claimed as the property of Mrs. Hannay, of St. Mary's, Ga. Col. Brooke thus writes to the agent on the 2d and 6th of May: 52 THE FLORIDA WAR. Canton Brooke, May 2d, 1828. "DEAR SIR-I received by the hands of Mr. Mickler, a few days since, your letter of the 22d April, with Col. McKenney's of the 8th March. On inquiry, I have ascertained that the negroes claimed by a person'in Georgia are not at Peas Creek, but prob- ably on the Withlacoochee, or in the neighborhood of Pilackli- chaha, and it would be useless for me to send a command after them, because they would be hid by the Indians from the most careful search. My command is, besides, so small, having only twenty-eight men for duty, that I could not well dispatch any part, which must be so weak as not to command any respect from the Indians, and in producing probable resistance, would result in an immediate state of hostilities. I have, however, seen the Indian who claims them, and who will deliver them to you or Major Glossell, but not to Mr. Mickler, who they are afraid will take them out of the nation, without their ever being able to get back the negroes, or the money which they have paid for them. It appears the old woman has been in the country for twenty years, and, at their own expense, the increase has been raised and supported. I am not to say any thing as it regards the proper title, but only state what the Indians have told me. Young Micanopy will be here on Monday next, and will proceed imme- diately in the direction of the negroes, and carry them to the agency. I do not believe that, without the consent of the Indians themselves, the negroes would have been had, without a consid- erable force and fatigue, and then with a risk of considerable consequences. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYS, GEO. M. BROOKE, Col. U. S. A. commanding." Indian Agent. Canton Brooke, May 6th, 1828. DEAR SIR-Sestaskee and young Micanopy will leave this to-day, for the agency, with a part of the negroes, and the re- mainder they will get at what is called their old place. "I really pity those Indians, and although negroes are of little value to the Indians, being rather masters than slaves, still they view them as their property. So many claims are now made on 'them, that they begin to believe that it is the determination of the United States to take them all. This idea is strengthened by the conversations of many of the whites, and which they have heard. "I would assume the responsibility of not delivering the ne- groes, unless the claim was perfectly satisfactory, and inform the government; and in any or all events, I would be perfectly satis- fied as to the perfect ability of the persons who have signed the THE FLORIDA WAR. 53 bond. It is a delicate matter, after having received a positive order; but there is, and must be always, discretion, unless the person giving the order is on the spot. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYS, GEO. M. BROOKE, Colonel U. S. A." Agent, Fort King, Fa. Though every means had been adopted to meet the demands of the highest authority, in regard to slaves, Col. Humphreys was determined to be satisfied as to the responsibility of his own acts, done in obedience to orders received, while he was enjoined, at the same time, to give protection to the Indians, as agreed upon in the treaty of Fort Moultrie. The letter from the Hon. Jos. L. Smith, judge of the supreme court of Florida, goes far to bear the Indian out in resisting the delivery of his property: St. Augustine, May 10th, 1828. "SIR-Your letter of the 9th instant reached me yesterday, and I reply to the inquiries contained in it by remarking, that property belonging to Indians, or in their possession, under bond fide claim of title, cannot legally be taken from them, but by treaty, by their consent, or by decision of a competent court of justice. General principles would forbid, and I know of no special statute conferring such a power on superintendents or agents. "In extreme cases, from necessity, as where there exists reasonable apprehension of hostilities, it would be right to take from them their arms and other means of aggression; but this, after all, would be an act of war in self-defence. "I can perceive no equity in withholding from the Indians their annuity, because they do not give up to white claimants property which they allege is their own. The act of 1802, when they have committed depredations, and injured the prop- erty of the whites, authorizes compensation (on proof) to be made by stoppages from their annuity; and this under the direc- tion, if I recollect the law correctly, of the president. "In regard to runaway negroes, who have sought refuge in the nation of which you are agent, I understand from the depart- ment, that the question, in all cases of adverse claims, was to be investigated and decided by me, under the authority of which you have had notice. During the continuance of this arrange- ment, (decided and urged by the white claimants, and, as I have been informed, by the Indians also,) whichkwould give opportu- nity for thorough investigation of proofs, on both sides, it was not to be expected that a summary order would have been issued by any functionary in the territory, that a negro in possession of the 4 THE FLORIDA WAR. Indians, with a claim of title, should be delivered to the white claimant, on his ex parte statement. "A step like this, taken in a case actually undergoing investi- gation before me, would place me in an unpleasant position, rendering future proceedings uncertain, and, in fact, terminate the benefit, to white claimants and to the Indians, of the authority given to me by the department. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. GAD HUMPHREYS, JOSEPH L. SMITH." Agent, &c. 5 The department of war, finding itself, as well as its agents, so deeply involved in difficulties in the recovery of slaves, the course of adjudication as transmitted in the instructions given to the agent by the superintendent on the 5th of January, 1825, was resumed. "Department of War, Office Indian Afairs, May 5th, 1828. "SI SR-You will direct Col. Humphreys, in order to a speedy decision in all cases which may be submitted for the recovery of runaway slaves, to refer them to the judge of the district; and if his decision be favorable to the claimants, you will order the slaves to be delivered, in pursuance of that decision, the claimant giving bonds to abide by such other legal proceedings as the parties holding the slaves may think proper to adopt. You will address the judge a line requesting him to decide, and report the cases to you, to be forwarded by you to the de- partment, for its information. Let the report of the judge be on the basis of a judicial decision. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, His Excellency, WLLIAM P. DTvAL, H THOSE. L. McKENNEY." Tallahassee. ( In one instance, the slaves demanded were in possession. Bonds were accordingly required, before surrendering them, to re- deliver the negroes to the Indian, if declared by a competent tribunal to be his property. Those offered were refused by the agent, as the persons tendered as security were irresponsible in all respects. The agent vindicates his course in a letter to the superintendent on the 14th of August: Seminole Agency, 14th August, 1828. "SIR-Your two letters, of the 31st July and Ist August, were this day received. The order relative to the slaves claimed by Mrs. Hannay, shall be attended to, but I must confess my ap- THE FLORIDA WAR. 55 prehension, that I shall find some difficulty in determining upon the competency of the security she may offer (which it is pre- sumable will be from among her friends and acquaintances in Georgia), as I am totally ignorant of the pecuniary circumstances of every individual in that state. "My situation, it may be readily imagined, would be awk- ward and embarrassing in the extreme, and I should be liable to the charge of being untrue to my duty, were I (by mistake or otherwise) to accept security-which should, in the end, prove in- sufficient, and the Indian who is the opposing claimant of Mrs. Hannay suffer in consequence the loss of her property. I take the liberty, therefore, to request that I may be furnished with spe- cific instructions for my government on this subject. "As the principal chiefs happened to be assembled at the agency in council, when your communication on the subject of the claim set up by Mrs. Cook was received, it was read and in- terpreted to them at once. "The accompanying is a talk delivered in meeting, this morning, by Hicks in reply, which I have the honor to transmit to you, with a request from the chiefs, that it may be forwarded to Washington. They appear much hurt at the idea of M---- being allowed to wrest from them, as pay for a slave, a portion of the poor pittance which they are entitled to from the govern- ment, without their having had a shadow of value for it, and that too upon her own ex parte and interested statement, which, I think I hazard little in saying, will be found, on investigation, to be grossly erroneous; for I cannot suppose the department would, for a moment, think of giving sanction to a claim so unjust and extravagant as that preferred by Mrs. -- had it not been imposed upon by an uncandid representation of the facts existing in the case. I am naturally led to infer from the tenor of your language upon the subject, as well as of that which you commu- nicate as coming from the department, that an impression has been created there, ascribing to the Indians a wilful withholding from Mrs. Cook of the negro she claims. If such an impression exists, it is a libel on the nation; and those who have been instrumental in producing it are guilty of egregious if not deliberate misrepresenta- tion. To Mrs. and her son-in-law have I repeat- edly, verbally and by letter, explained the difficulties in the case, and at the same time apprised them of the earnest desire of the chiefs that the matter should be settled, and of the efforts they were making to bring the negro in question in-efforts they were induced to make by my assuring them that Mr. was willing (for to that effect he had made professions to me) to pay a considerable balance which is yet due to the Indian of the original purchase- 56 THE FLORIDA WAR. money (none of which purchase-money, it is just for me to state here, went, as their chiefs allege, to the actual Indian owner of the negro, he utterly refusing, when sober, to accept the goods- a small packhorse-load only-which had been palmed upon him, during a period of intoxication, in exchange for his slave). He left them, and returned to his home. They were subse- quently put into the possession of other Indians, (not at all inter- ested in the trade about the negro,) by whom they were, it may be taken for granted, consumed. The negro never was delivered up, nor has there ever been exhibited to me evidence, if such exists, of any written title, upon which Mrs. claims. "It was upon the oral representations of her son-in-law, Mr. ,made at an early period of my acquaintance with him, as a business man, that I was induced to give to the Indians the advice, on the subject of this claim, alluded to in their talk here- with sent. That advice was given, not because I had seen any proof of the legality of Mr. --- 's title, but because I was led to believe a valuable and sufficient consideration had been paid for the negro in question to the proper owner by Ferrard, who seems to have been the agent of the husband of Mrs. in the transaction of purchase; and that, on this account, she had something like at least an equitable claim, which could be more easily adjusted by obtaining the consent of the nation to surren- der the negro, and leaving them to settle the business among themselves by levying contributions upon those who had been the actual recipients of the articles given for the slave to indem- nify his owner, or in any way they might prefer. "A proposition, therefore, was made to that effect, and as- sented to by the chiefs, but solely upon the ground that the goods had, as it appeared, been consumed by members of their nation, and with the express understanding that the arrangement was to be considered one of entire gratuity on their part. "Ever since this period, exertions have been made by the Indians to apprehend and give the negro up. Once, they suc- ceeded in taking and delivering him here, during a short absence of mine on business in the nation. He was put in irons, but be- fore my return effected his escape. The Indians are now in pursuit; and I have good reason to hope the fellow will, ere long, be re-surrendered. It is manifest from the foregoing facts, that, so far from the nation's attempting to practice any unfairness towards Mrs. Cook in this matter, it is acting with a liberality that might possibly be looked for in vain, if the positions of the parties were reversed. I am, sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, His Excellency, Wx. P. DuvA., G. HUMPHREYS, Governor of Florida. I Agent Seminole Indians." THE FLORIDA WAR. 57 The talk of the chiefs is marked by good sense, and manifests a disposition to act justly in the matter. The peremptory.demand made upon them, to which this talk is an answer, was accom- panied by a threat to deduct from their annuity, in-case of refusal, the value of the negroes, to be paid to the claimants: Minutes of a talk given by the head-chief, John Hicks, in council at the Seminole agency, the 15th of August, 1828, made to the government through the agent, Col. G. Humphreys. Brother, We have thought upon what you said last night, about the claim Mrs. has set up against our nation on account of her negro. We don't like the talk sent from the Big House at Washington, because we think it unjust, and we cannot consent to have the money promised us for our annuity-which is at best a little sum to be divided among so many people-taken from us in the way threatened, when our nation has received nothing for it. We find that some of the whites are determined not to let us rest, as long as we have any thing that they want; and if every one who asks is allowed to take, we should soon be without money or any thing else worth possessing, and have nothing left but our naked- ness and poverty; the right to which will not be disputed with us. We appeal to our Great Father, who has so often promised us protection and friendship, to shield us from the wrongs his white children seem determined to inflict upon us. We know that the talk you gave us yesterday from him, which the govern- ment sent, was sent because of lies which have been told to him about us. We have been a long time trying to catch the negro that the talk is about: once we took him, and delivered him at the agency; this you know, and we wish you to speak for us. We did not bring this negro in because we thought ourselves bound to do it, but because you advised us to do it. He is not a runaway, but was raised in the nation, out of which he has never been. He was bought from the brother of the Indian with whom he was living at the time our people caught him. We know that Ferrard pretended to purchase him, but we also know that the trade was not a fair one, and that the negro was never properly paid for; but you told us that Mrs. -- was willing to pay what was due, if she could get the negro; and advised us to take him, if we could, and give him up; and it was this advice which made us strive as we did to catch him. We think it very strange, after all this, that we should be told that we must pay Mrs. when it is clear she owes money to us; and we will not agree that she shall be permitted to wrong us out of the money which is our due from our Great Father; and which he has said should be punctually paid to us; and if it is taken from us for her benefit, or to satisfy any claim like hers, the thing must be done without our consent. We cannot believe our Great Father, when he hears the truth, will permit our rights to be thus taken from us. We are sensible his power is great, and that he can do with us as he chooses; but we hope that his justice is as great as his power; and believe he will place it between us and those who wish to do us wrong; and we will endeavor, therefore, to keep our minds easy until we hear again from him. If we can take the negro we will do it. Some of our people have been in search for him ever since his escape. We beg our Great Father not to condemn us unheard, or open his ears too readily to the talks of his white children; some of whom we know, speak from a lying heart and with a forked tongue. JOHN HICKS, Chief, hiU X mark. Witnesses: G. HUMPHREYS, Agent. Major GLOSSELL, U. S. Army. 58 THE FLORIDA WAR. In continuation of the subject, Col. Humphreys addresses a communication to the superintendent on the 23d of September: Seminole Agency, 23d September, 1828. SIR-I have to state, in reply to an order from the depart- ment of war which was a few days since handed to me by the agent of a Mrs. Hannay, of Georgia, requiring the delivery of certain slaves claimed by her, which are now, and have been for many years, in possession of members of this nation, in virtue of a purchase from the father of Mrs. Hannay, that it is not in my power to make the delivery directed; the chiefs positively, but respectfully, object to the procedure. They are perfectly will- ing, they say, to abide the issue of a judicial investigation, and will cheerfully submit to such decision as a competent tribunal may make in the case; but they wholly refuse their assent to a relinquishment of possession of the disputed property, before the matter has been adjudicated upon, and an award given adverse to their title. If force is resorted to, to compel their compliance, they will not, they cannot offer any other opposition to it than that of ap- peal to the justice and good faith of the government, whose pro- mises of protection and kindness they bear constantly in mind, and are inclined to set a high value upon. I think it is, much to be regretted that the order of the 5th of May, directing the re- ference of claims to negroes in dispute between the whites and Indians to the judge of the district, is not adhered to; the mea- sure is calculated to have a very happy effect, as it judiciously provides for at once carrying these troublesome controversies (which are productive of more ill feeling between the Indians and their neighbors than all other causes combined) before a tribunal adequate to decide them; and to which, whatever pre- vious steps may be taken in relation to them, falling short of final settlement, they will in all probability have to be eventually sub- mitted. I deem it proper to send this by express, that the depart- ment may be seasonably apprised of facts ; and to prevent, also, the effect and influence of any uncandid and erroneous state- ments that may be made by those who are interested against the Indians in this case. Respectfully, I am your obedient servant, His Excellency, G. HUMPHREYS, Gov. DUVAL. Agent Seminole Indians." The exasperated state of the public mind, ever so tenacious on the question of slave property, had arrived to such a crisis, that THE FLORIDA WAR. 59 the governor of the territory had become discouraged at the fail. ure of his efforts to adjust the difficulties among the inhabitants, which became more complicated, and increased in magnitude, as the country filled up with settlers and adventurers. His position required him to lend a ready ear to the grievances of all. These were represented in the most aggravated form. No rights were conceded to the Indians, and every act which interfered, with the designs of individuals crowding within the Indian limits in all quarters, was regarded as the commencement of hostilities. Per- sonal abuse was heaped upon them, their property and persons disregarded; no law shielded them, and no protection was given, other than that which was sought by the untiring exertions of the agent. He, residing in the midst of the tribe, immedi- ately in contact with them, heard their complaints with forbear- ance, and endeavored by all means within his power to allay their feelings, often highly exasperated, and assured them of that protection designed to be given by the federal government. This he owed to himself, to the Indian nation, and to his country. The calls of humanity-of the feeble, of the ignorant, of the op- pressed-he could not disregard, nor did he; but with zeal, activity, and intelligence, stood firmly; thwarted on one side by the exasperated multitude, who threatened his life, and on the other, appealed to by every impulse which actuates the human heart in the protection of the defenceless. To fully explain the state of affairs at this crisis, the following letters are subjoined: Tallahassee, Indian Offce, Sept. 22d, 1828.7 "SIR-I have received your several communications from the 15th ultimo up to the date of the 12th instant, with the talk of the chiefs in relation to the claim of Mrs. and Hannay. Copies of the whole will be forwarded to the department of war, with my remarks. "I shall state to the department, it is my opinion that you have not impressed the Indians with the necessity of complying with orders relating to the delivery of slaves in the nation; and that, if you had performed your duty, no difficulty would have occurred. I also apprise you, that William Everitt has filed in my office an affidavit to a claim he sets up to certain slaves in the nation, which will also be transmitted to the secretary of war. As the first officer of this territory, it is due to the country and my official character, to have the orders of the government promptly executed; and to accomplish this, every proper measure on my part shall be adopted. "I shall give no further orders in Indian affairs, until I hear 60 THE FLORIDA WAR. from the war department. That part of the annuity claimed by the chiefs under your immediate control, and which they request may be forwarded to them, cannot be remztted until the orders already given are complied with. You will inform the chiefs they will not be called on to attend at this place, as I desire not to have their hunting season interrupted. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. G. HUMPHREYs, ( WILLIAM P. DUVAL." Agent of the Seminole Indians. Seminole Agency, 8th October, 1828. "SIR-Your letter of the 22d ultimo was received per last mail, and read with no little surprise. It is to me matter of very great regret, that I am not able to obtain your approbation of the manner in which I have discharged my official duty in relation to the delivery of slaves claimed from the nation; and I cannot but feel aggrieved, [aware as I know you must be] of the many difficulties I have to contend with, and the lack of means at my command to enforce the orders I receive, being forbidden to employ the troops on such occasions. You attribute to me a disregard of duty no wise warranted by any circumstances that have occurred, and therefore inconsistent with that liberality and justice I had a right to expect at your hands. That delays have taken place in some cases when the delivery of slaves has been called for, I readily admit; but I must, in justice to myself, at the same time, protest against the ascription of such delays to any want of exertion on my part. Had the government placed at my disposal a competent military force, there would have been far less difficulty in enforcing obedience to the instructions of the department. The negro claimed by Mrs. has been twice brought here since the receipt of your letter next preceding the last, in relation to him, and escaped, owing to the want of suffi- cient facilities for securing him. And in relation to those claimed by Mrs. Hannay, you will have learnt ere this by my letter of the 23d of the last month, sent per express, that the In- dians have, for reasons explained in that communication, refused to make the delivery required. I am, sir, your obedient servant, His Excellency, WM. P. DUVAL, G. HUMPHREYS, Governor of Florida. Agent Seminole Indians." Seminole Agency, Oct. 10th, 1828. "SIR-A letter from his Excellency Gov. Duval, (a copy of which I herewith transmit,) received by last mail, virtually de- clining, for the present, to have any thing further to do in the THE FLORIDA WAR. 61 Indian affairs of the territory, having closed against me the ordi- nary and prescribed channel of communication with the depart- ment, I shall, I trust, be excused in addressing you direct, on subjects appertaining to my office. By the letter alluded to, it will be perceived that I am so unfortunate as not to obtain his excellency's approbation of the manner in which I have dis- charged some of my public duties, and that, on this account, he had determined to report me as a delinquent. Of this course, which is predicated upon the ex parte statements of irresponsible and interested persons, and is wholly unwarranted by existing facts, 1 have good right to complain. Aware, as Governor Duval must be, of the difficulties I have to encounter upon the subject of litigated negro claims, and sensible as he is of the lack of means at my disposal to enforce obedience from the Indians, I cannot esteem his complaint against me as liberal, or even fair. I have the honor to refer you to the accompanying document,* being a talk given by some of the principal chiefs of the nation. "From this talk (which was listened to by several white gentlemen, among them one or more officers of the garrison at Fort King) may be known their feelings in regard to the delivery required from them of certain negroes, and how far I am ob- noxious to censure for the failure of the Indians to comply with the orders directing said delivery. If all the obstacles I have met with in the course of my duties touching litigated slave claims (which have been sufficiently explained to Governor Duval) have been by him made known to his official superiors, I have no fear of reproach from them. "That I have questioned the policy, and even doubted the justice, of some of the measures directed in the property contro- versies between the whites and Indians, I am free to admit. Perhaps this was presumptuous, but if so, it was honest; and in all such cases I have been scrupulously careful not to impart my views publicly, and if ever I gave utterance to them it was done in such a way as that the Indians should by no possibility come to a knowledge of them, so that from me they can have taken no bias against the orders of the government to induce their opposi- tion to them; and therefore, whatever they have done in that respect they have done of their own accord, in the exercise of an undeniable right, and I am in no wise accountable, and must solemnly protest against the attachment to me of any censure in relation to it. The good opinion of my government must ever be valuable to me, and its favor desirable, and it will therefore be a source of gratification if my conduct receives its sanction. I feel bound to add, that it is to be feared the course threatened by Talk given by the chief Hicks. See p. 57. 62 THE FLORIDA WAR. Governor Duval, in relation to the annuity, if persisted in, will be considered by the Indians an infraction of the treaty, and serve to impair their confidence in the kindness and justice of the government. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, Hon. P. B. PORTER, G. HUMPHREYS, Secretary of War. Agent Seminole Indians." Governor Duval, in another letter on the 2d of October, re- iterates his determination to abstain from interference in Indian matters: Tallahassee, Indian Office, October 2d, 1828. "Sin-Your letter of the 23d ultimo was received from your express to-day. By the last mail, my reasons and opinions in relation to this and other orders, and the manner of their execu- tion, were communicated to you. A copy of your letter will be transmitted to the war depart- ment, by the next mail, with my remarks. There can be but one course that the department can take, consistent with the policy they have unavoidably exercised in Indian affairs. I shall give no order or take any step, in the management of the Indians. "The department must decide on the whole matters in con- troversy, and either approve your conduct-and thus surrender all direction of Indian affairs-or enforce their orders. "I cannot see that any necessity requires that a special messenger should be sent with your communication to me, as the mail regularly goes to the agency. I am, respectfully, your obedient servant, Col. GAD HUMPHREiYS, WM. P. DUVAL." Agent for the Seminole Indians. Affairs had now assumed such an aspect, that an open rupture with the Indians seemed inevitable. The inhabitants had become reckless, looking anxiously for the time when by bloodshed they could punish the Indians, and secure their property. The Indians stood ready to retaliate at any moment, determined to resist to the last extremity. The executive, as might have been expected, was inclined to defend and vindicate the whites. To avert, if possible, the commencement of hostilities, Col. Humphreys assembled the head men, and with an earnestness and sincerity which impressed them with the truth, besought them as they valued their lives to abstain from hostilities; and, as an alternative, urged them to appoint a delegation to visit Arkan- sas. This, he assured them, was the only hope of avoiding a collision, which must end in the total extinction of their nation. THE FLORIDA WAR. 63 This, long before, had been suggested, but they refused to listen in any manner to the proposition. After much persuasion, and con- trasting the present difficulties, and those apprehended, with the quiet and independence in Arkansas, they consented to the mea- sure. This was communicated to Governor Duval immediately, and to the Indian department, on the 20th of October: Seminole Agency, Oct. 24th, 1828. "SIR-As a matter interesting to the territory, and one which will therefore, no doubt, be gratifying to you as the executive, I have the pleasure to state, that several of the chiefs of this nation, among whom is John Hicks, or Tukose Mlathla, have recently consented to make a visit to the country proposed to the Indians, west of the Mississippi, for the purpose of examining it, with a view to the final removal of their nation. Should it be determined to send a deputation, it is the wish of the chiefs, that it may start early the ensuing spring. I, by the last mail, advised the department of the unexpected change in the minds of the In- dians on this important subject. Respectfully, your obedient servant, G. HUMPHREYS, His Excellency Gov. DuvAL. Agent Seminole Indians." "Seminole Agency, Oct. 20th, 1828. "SIR-I have the satisfaction to state, for the information of the department of war, that at a meeting of chiefs and others of the Seminole nation, held yesterday, at McKenzie's Pond, near the agency, pursuant to appointment made by me, for the purpose of procuring the nation to send a deputation to examine the coun- try west of the Mississippi, it was determined that the measure should be adopted, if still called for by the government, and a deputation sent at the opening of the ensuing spring. The chiefs in council were Hicks, (head-chief,) Holata Emathla, Holata Mico, Tukeheste Hajo, Hitchitee Mico, Tuskenehaw, and the sub-chief Mad Lizard. The four first-named will doubtless be recollected by you, as part of the delegation which visited the seat of government in 1826. Their tribes, with two or three others not represented in the meeting, but which may be safely relied upon to join, should the wished-for emigration take place, comprise at least two-thirds of the numerical strength of the whole nation. "I have good reason to suppose that this unexpected determi- nation, on the part of the chiefs above named, has been induced (among other reasons) by my volunteering to accompany them on the proposed excursion, which I was led to do, from a belief that the step as primary to a final removal of the nation, is desired 64 THE FLORIDA WAR. by the government, and a conviction I have long felt, that such removal, under suitable and fair circumstances, would tend to the benefit and happiness of the Indians themselves, distressed as I know those people are, by irremovable evils within the present limits of their national territory, and harassed by the persecutions of their neighbors without. Judging from the reputed character of the new country offered to them, I think it may be confidently calculated, that a visit to it will result in a general and entire removal of the nation. If I have understood the views of the government aright on the subject, and the measure proposed receives its approval, little desirable to any one, in point of per- sonal convenience and comfort, as the duty of executing it must necessarily be, it will nevertheless afford me gratification to be instrumental in carrying it into effect, especially as my engaging in it seems to be considered a point of so much importance by the Indians. "In conferring as I have with the chiefs, in relation to the suggested journey, I have acted, it is true, without any formally delegated authority, but I have, at the same time, been influenced by a wish to promote the objects of the department; and should the step I have taken be sanctioned, it will be to me a source of gratification, thus to be instrumental in benefiting the territory and Indians, at the same time meeting the policy of the govern- ment. I have the honor to be your obedient servant, CoL THos. McKEmNY, Commissioner of G. HUMPHREYS, Indian Affairs, Washington, D. C. Agent Seminole Indians." Several officers of the army were present, who bear testimony to what transpired. We the undersigned have to state, that we were present at a talk, held by Col. G. Humphreys, agent Seminole Indians, at McKenzie's Pond, on the 19th October, 1828, for the purpose of prevailing on the chiefs of said nation to send a deputation from the nation to examine the country west of the Mississippi river, which it is proposed by the government to give to the Indians. On this occasion, there were present in council, Hicks, head chief of the nation; Holata Ematha, or Blue Warrior, chief of the Ocheeny band; Holata Mico, chief of the Talsy band; Tukehuskee Hajo, chief of the Red Stick band; !fitchitee Mico, chief of the Hitchitee band; Tuskaneha, chief of the Mickasuky, or Muscogee band; and Mad Lizzard, sub-chief of the Talsy band, and a number of Tustenuggees and warriors for the different tribes. It was determined by the above named chiefs, Tustenuggees, &c., in reply to a talk from the agent, Col. Humphreys, recom- mending to them to make an examination of the country proposed to them.beyond the Mississippi, [it was agreed by said chiefs, &c.] that they would organize a deputation from the nation for that purpose, to start early the ensuing spring: Proded, the agent himself would accompany the said deputation on its tour of explration; and provided, the expenses of said deputation are to be defrayed by the government of the United States; and provided, also, that nothing is to be in Contact Us | Permissions | Preferences | Technical Aspects | Statistics | Internal | Privacy Policy © 2004 - 2010 University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries.All rights reserved. Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Disclaimer Statement Last updated October 10, 2010 - - mvs

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