Seminole War

in Flori , > s^ OI»AIV i»* intended to represent the iiorrid Iflassacre of the Whites in I?i^..* 1 • T* I ^^«^ J -m % bruary 18&G, when near Four Htm. ne aboie I ^ ^^ f;m, clliWp£'"J lo„d«, in December 1835 and January a,dre ~ Ie« victims to the barbarity of the JJegroes and I^<IjJ ins. AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE OF THE ITS^ CAUSE, RISE AND PROGRESS, AND A MINUTE DETAIL OF THE HORRID MASSACRES Of the Whites, by the Indians and Negroes, in Florida, in the months of December, January and February. Communicated for the press by a gentleman who has spent eleven weeks in Florida, near the scene of the In dian depredations, and in a situation to collect every im portant fact relating thereto. ,! PROVIDENCE : i Printed for D. F. Blanchard, and others, Publishers, 1836. ' • ft 3 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by Daniel F. Blanchard, proprietor, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New-York. r SEMINOLE WAR. At the termination of the Indian War, in 1833, when, after much bloodshed, a treaty of peace was happily ef fected, and as was believed, firmly established between the American Government and Black Hawk and his fol lowers, it was then the opinion of many, that in conse quence of the severe chastisement received by the latter, that neither they or any of their red brethren would be found so soo^ manifesting- (by offensive operations) a dis position to disturb the repose of the white inhabitants of any of ouF frontier settlements—but, in this opinion, we have recently found ourselves mistaken, as, at an early period of the present year, tidings of an unpleasant nature were received by the inhabitants of the north, from their brethren at the south, that the war-whoop had been sounded by a tribe of Indians denominated Seminoles ; and in addition to the immense property destroyed by them, many of the defenceless inhabitants (male and fe male) of the Floridas, had fallen victims to the tomahawk and scalping- knife ! Since the commencement of offen sive operations, by the savages, (which may be viewed as a war of extermination, as they appear disposed nei ther to give or take quarter) pains have been taken to collect every fact of an important and interesting nature, relative to the cause and progress of the alarming and bloody conflict, with which to present the public. The name " Seminole" (i. e. wild) is applied by the Creeks, to all vagabonds of that nation, and as a tribe, their history justifies the application. It was the towns J belonging to this tribe that were burnt by General JACK SON, in 1817, when Francis, and some others of their principal chiefs were slain; there are, however, numbers SEMI.NOLE WAR m of the tribe still remaining, and it is represented that they are not now what they were at that period; they were then, indeed, Savages, with but little or no knowledge of civilized warfare—they are now a different race, being a mixture of Creeks, Chickasaws, Chocktaws, Cherokees, Mickasookees, and Blacks. Their intercourse with the whites has not only rendered them more sagacious and adroit in eluding their enemy, but far more capable of de fending themselves, and more provident as to the contin gencies against which they ought to guard, and are am ply supplied with munitions of war, and with provisions; having, as they have represented, driven nearly 3000 head of cattle into the swamps in the interior, for their subsist ence while contending with the whites; and boasting of a force of 2000 warriors fit to take the field, and of an ad ditional force of about 800 captured or runaway negroes from the South, who have united with them in the pres ent contest; and are all well acquainted with every fast ness, pass or morass in the territory. The Mickasooky tribe is considered the leading band of the Seminoles ; they have always been noted as the most determined and ruthless of the savage race ; their head chief is Micano- py, a man far advanced in years, and who has neveFper formed much to distinguish himself as a very great war rior ; the next in command, is Jumper, who bears a truly savage countenance, and possesses a disposition corres ponding therewith—his influence is great with Micanopy, and by whom he is altogether dictated. The third in rank, is Oscala, alias Powell, a chief as cunning as he is brave ; he is about 35 years of age, is a half breed, and of slender form, but active and muscular ; he possesses unbounded influence over the Indians, which he has ac quired by no unbecoming artifices, but by the great supe riority of his intellectual powers, his daring courage, and admirable military turn of character. The skill with which he has for a long time managed to frustrate the measures of our government, for the removal of the In dians beyond the Mississippi, agreeable to treaty, entitle him to be superior to Black Hawk. In so destitute a situation were the Seminoles left after the destruction of their villages by General Jackson, that H. SEMINOLE WAR. 5 Congress soon after voted them a very considerable sum of money ($40,000) to keep them from the starvation with which they were threatened—and in consideration therefor, they, agreeable to a treaty concluded with them in. May, 1832, agreed to relinquish their present territory (which has been the scene of their present depredations) and at the end of three years, to relire to the prairies of Arkansas; and it appears that the hostility of a very con siderable proportion of them, originated in a reluctance to adhere to said treaty, so far as it required of them" to quit the land of their forefathers. The three years expired in May last, but as the Indians manifested an unwillingness to move, it was judged expedient by the officers entrusted with their removal, to give them six months longer to prepare for their journey. By the treaty, their cattle and horses were to be surrendered and paid for, and accord ingly the Indian Agent advertised the Indians to bring them in to be sold on the first and fifteenth of December last; to this Charles (who was then their head chief) as sented, but others strongly objected, and expressed their determination to die, arms in hand, on the soil of their forefathers; and in manifestation of this determination, at one of their councils held in December last, nine warriors entered and discharged nine bullets in the heart of Charles for his too great subserviency to the whites !—the Agent (General Thompson, of Georgia, formerly a member of Congress) soon after shared a similar fate near Camp King, by the hands of Powell, who, it afterwards appear ed, had borne him inveterate hatred, but until this mo ment had concealed his antipathies so skillfully, that the General supposed him personally friendly ! These mur ders, together with that of two or three other friendly chiefs, was the signal for a general rise of the Seminoles, and for a preparation to commence offensive operations; which was done by first sending their women and children South, in their canoes, near Cape Sable and Ten Keys, for the purpose of preparing the. County Root, (so called) ^)f which flour is made, and upon which in time of scarcity, they are accustomed to live. They next commenced an attack on the plantations of the whites in the interior, and upon their settlements at New River and Cape Florida, SEMINOLE WAR. and plundered, destroyed and laid waste every thing of value that came in their way. Not content with firing the dwelling-houses, barns and cribs of grain of the whites, herds of cattle, horses, hogs and poultry were shot down, and even the legs of the latter were cut off, and their mangled bodies stuck^full of light wood splinters ! Fami lies widely separated from one another, had no other means of safety than flight afforded them, and that in a way which prevented their providing themselves with the most necessary articles of clothing, bedding, &c.—their furniture, cattle, grain, agricultural implements, &c. &c. were all left to the mercy of the savage foe, and years of toil may not enable them to recover the pecuniary com forts of which they have been deprived. Several families had got but recently settled, and had just got themselves comfortably situated, when they were obliged to fly for their lives ! It was estimated that in the month of Janu ary, 500 families were thus driven from their homes, and in almost a state of starvation, sought protection under the walls of St. Augustine and other fortified places, from the ravages of the enemy !—nor were all so fortunate as to escape with their lives; many were barbarot butchered by the merciless wretches, regardless of age or sex! among these was the unfortunate family of Mr. William Cooley, an old and respected inhabitant of New River; Mr. C. was from home—they murdered his wife, three children, and a Mr. Joseph Flinton, a teacher in the family, in a most barbarous manner! shot several hogs, plundered his house, and carried away with them all his horses and two negro slaves. The cold blooded massacre of this unfortunate family, was attended with • many aggravations, as Cooley had always been on the most intimate terms with the Indians ; his wife was taken captive by them several years since, and was as such re • tained by them a sufficient length of time to enable her to become acquainted with their language, customs, &c.

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