The Exiles of Florida

On the next day, General Jessup addressed a long communication to the Secretary of War, in which he gives his views upon the policy of immediate emigration somewhat at length, and advises its abandonment in the following language:

“In regard to the Seminoles, we have committed the error of attempting to remove them when their lands were not required for agricultural purposes; when they were not in the way of the white inhabitants, and when the greater portion of their country was an unexplored wilderness, of the interior of which we were as ignorant as of the interior of China. We exhibit in our present contest the first instance, perhaps, since the commencement of authentic history, of a nation employing an army to explore a country, (for we can do little more than explore it,) or attempting to remove a band of savages from one unexplored wilderness to another.”

“As a soldier, it is my duty, I am aware, not to comment upon the policy of the Government, but to carry it out in accordance with my instructions. I have endeavored faithfully to do so; but the prospect of terminating the war in any reasonable time is any thing but flattering. My decided opinion is, that, unless immediate emigration be abandoned, the war will continue for years to come, and at constantly accumulating expense. Is it not, then, well worthy the serious consideration of an enlightened Government whether, even if the wilderness we are traversing could be inhabited by the white man, (which is not the fact,) the object we are contending for would be worth the cost? I do not certainly think it would; indeed, I do not consider the country south of Chickasa-Hatchee worth the medicines we shall expend in driving the Indians from it.”

To this communication the Secretary of War replied: “In the present stage of our relations with the Indians residing within the States and Territories east of the Mississippi, including the Seminoles, it is useless to recur to the principles and motives which induced the Government to determine their removal to the West. The acts of the Executive, and the laws of Congress, evince a determination to carry out the measure, and it is to be regarded as the settled policy of the country. In pursuance of this policy, the treaty of Payne’s Landing was made with the Seminoles; and the character of the officer employed on the part of the Government is a guarantee of the perfectly fair manner in which that negotiation was conducted and concluded. Whether the Government ought not to have waited until the Seminoles were pressed upon by the white population, and their lands become necessary to the agricultural wants of the community, is not a question for the Executive now to consider. The treaty has been ratified, and is the law of the land; and the constitutional duty of the President requires that he should cause it to be executed. I cannot, therefore, authorize any arrangement with the Seminoles by which they will be permitted to remain, or assign them any portion of the Territory of Florida as their future residence.”

“The Department indulged the hope, that, with the extensive means placed at your disposal, the war by a vigorous effort might be brought to a close this campaign. If, however, you are of opinion that, from the nature of the country and the character of the enemy, such a result is impracticable, and that it is advisable to make a temporary arrangement with the Seminoles, by which the safety of the settlements and posts will be secured throughout the summer, you are at liberty to do so.”

General Jessup had previously represented the subjection of the Seminoles as an object easily to be accomplished. He had so represented in his letter to Mr. Blair, in 1836, which occasioned the withdrawal of General Scott, and his own appointment to the command of the army in Florida. He had himself been in command more than a year, and the War Department was doubtless somewhat astonished at his recommendation now to adopt the policy which the Indians and Exiles had from the first been ready to accept. He was probably somewhat mortified at seeing his proposition so coldly received, and the whole responsibility of carrying it out placed upon himself, upon condition that he was satisfied nothing better could be accomplished. He had done all in his power to effect the objects so much cherished by the Administration. But the Secretary of War still urged the carrying out of the treaty of Payne’s Landing, not according to its letter and spirit, but according to the unnatural and unexpected construction which General Jackson placed upon it, after complaints were made against the Seminoles by the people of Florida. It is also evident that no intention of executing it according to the supplemental treaty entered into by the Seminole Delegates while at the West, was entertained by the Administration. No measures had been taken for establishing the boundaries between the Seminoles and the Creeks; nor do we hear of any intention to fulfill that stipulation. On the contrary, it had been constantly asserted by the Secretary of War, that the Seminoles and Creeks were to be united as one people.

The Commanding General, in the opinion of many statesmen, had compromited the honor of the service, and violated the plighted faith of the nation by treacherously seizing Indians and Exiles who had approached the army under the white flag, which had so long been regarded as a sacred emblem of peace by all civilized nations; yet, notwithstanding these circumstances, his propositions were in spirit rejected, although in language he had been authorized to negotiate a temporary peace upon the basis he had proposed.

It is believed that the substance of this answer had become to some extent known, or suspected by the Indians, for General Jessup admits he received the decision of the Secretary of War on the seventeenth; and on the nineteenth, he directed the chiefs to meet him in Council on the twentieth, at twelve o’clock. For some cause, the Indians and their allies appear to have been indisposed to do this, and he directed Colonel Twiggs to seize them, and hold them prisoners; and he reported to the War Department that, by this movement, “five hundred and thirteen Indians, and one hundred and sixty-five negroes, were secured.”112

Of this transaction we can only speak from the account given of it by General Jessup. From his report, certain important facts are clearly understood. For instance, he announces to the Indians and Exiles a proposition to treat with them, upon the basis of permitting them to remain in the country. That, for the purpose of entering into such a negotiation, they collected near Fort Jupiter; and that, without any attempt to negotiate, and while they were in his camp, they were unexpectedly seized against their will; and that Passac Micco, and fourteen others, escaped capture. Nor does General Jessup pretend that one of those six hundred and seventy-eight persons voluntarily surrendered. It is certain, that however honorable the intentions of General Jessup were, the Indians and the Exiles were deceived, and, as they believed, treacherously dealt with.

The official register of colored persons seized at Fort Jupiter, represents one hundred and fifty-one as properly belonging to the Seminoles, or as “Seminole negroes,” the term usually applied to the Exiles by General Jessup and his officers; and fourteen are represented as the slaves of citizens of Florida. These people were soon hurried off to Tampa Bay, where they were confined within the pickets, under a strong guard. Fort Brooke now presented to the eye of a stranger all the external appearances of a first class “slave factory” upon the African coast. The Exiles who had been betrayed at Fort Peyton and other places, and not delivered over to slave-hunters, were also here; and the number had so greatly increased, that many had to be sent to New Orleans for safe keeping.

When the Exiles seized at Fort Jupiter arrived at Tampa Bay, they found, among those already there, many old acquaintances, friends and relatives, who had been taken at other places. Families, in some instances long separated, were once more united; husbands, whose wives and children had been seized and long imprisoned at Tampa Bay, now rejoined their families, and were in some degree compensated for the mortification of having been made prisoners by treachery.

But fathers and husbands, whose children and wives were captured by the Creeks near Withlacoochee and other places during the previous year, now looked around for their families in vain. On making inquiry, they were informed their friends had been taken to Fort Pike, which had now become a general depot for the imprisonment of Exiles.

The Indians who had been captured by this “coup d’etat,” were sent to Charleston, South Carolina, for safe keeping; and the negroes reported upon the registry as “slaves of citizens of Florida,” were without ceremony delivered over to those who claimed to be their masters.

We have now reached a period of the war at which we are constrained to admit our inability to give a full or accurate history of the various captures of Exiles, or of the reënslavement of those captured.

Captain Sprague, who had the advantages of personal observation and experience during the war, says that General Hernandez of the Florida Militia, serving principally in the eastern part of the Territory, “captured some important chiefs, and restored to citizens more than three hundred negroes who had been captured by the Indians.” But the means which he used for their capture is not stated.

General Jessup informs us, also, that Abraham, the negro chief, and two Indians, were sent to the Seminoles west of the Okechobee, and prevailed upon Alligator, and three hundred and sixty Indians and negroes, to surrender to Colonel Smith and General Taylor. But what proportion of this number were Exiles, we are not informed; nor are we told of the means used, or the assurances given, to induce them to surrender. It is certain, that many of the chiefs alleged that the Cherokee Delegation assured their friends, that they would be permitted to remain in their own country, and that the President was desirous of making peace upon those terms; and General Jessup says, that the negro chief Abraham, and another negro interpreter named Auguste, gave the same information. Abraham had in fact dictated the supplemental treaty, entered into by the delegation while in the Western Country, and was made to believe, at all times, that the Government would fulfill, and abide by, the terms of this supplemental treaty. It was on this conviction that he acted, and he appears never to have doubted the good faith of the Executive until he actually arrived in the Western Country.

CHAPTER XIV.

GREAT DIFFICULTIES INTERRUPT THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR

John Ross, the Cherokee Chief, demands the release of Wild Cat and other Chiefs – Answer of Secretary of War – Mr. Everett’s resolution in Congress – Secretary’s Report – General Jessup’s answer – Agitation in Congress – Hon. John Quincy Adams – Hon. William Slade – Difficulty with Creek Warriors – The Exiles who had been captured by the Creeks – Arrangements for emigrating both Indians and Exiles – Indians at Charleston, and Negroes at Tampa Bay, transported to Fort Pike – Families again united – Sympathy excited – General Gaines becomes engaged in their behalf – His noble conduct – Embarrassment of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and of the Secretary of War – Singular arrangement – Discrepancies unexplained – A Slave-dealer professes to purchase ninety of the Exiles, in order to relieve the Government – Appoints his brother-in-law an Agent to receive them – Department furnishes the necessary vouchers – Sudden change of policy – Sixty Exiles claimed by a Slave-dealer named Love – General Gaines appears on behalf of Exiles – His able defense – Court renders judgment discharging Rule – Thirty-six Exiles released by Love – Lieutenant Reynolds with the Indians, and all but these thirty-six Exiles, take passage for Fort Gibson.

While General Jessup was engaged in carrying out the designs of the Administration by artifice, and by force, events of a serious character were transpiring at Washington which demanded the attention of both the Executive and himself. John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, learning the manner in which Osceola, Wild Cat, and other Seminole chiefs and warriors, had been betrayed and seized, while visiting General Jessup under a flag of truce, by advice and at the suggestion of the Cherokee Delegation, wrote an able and very spirited letter to the Secretary of War, demanding the release of the prisoners thus captured in violation of the principles of civilized warfare.

The Secretary attempted a vindication of General Jessup, and an interesting correspondence followed, marked with great ability, in which Ross, with much force, exhibits what he seemed to regard as the perfidious treatment to which the Seminoles had been subjected, while acting under the advice of himself and his country-men, and protected by the flag of truce, which had ever been recognized and held sacred as the inviolable emblem of peace. This was the first exposure of the manner in which this disastrous war had been conducted. Up to that time no member of Congress, or Executive officer, appears to have uttered an objection or protest against the war, or against the manner in which it was carried on. Ross was at the city of Washington, and mingled freely with members of Congress, and in private conversations called their attention to the facts stated.113

Mr. Everett, of Vermont,114 a man of great experience and ability, moved a resolution (March 21) in the House of Representatives, calling on the Secretary of War for such information as he possessed touching the capture of Indians, while visiting the American army under flags of truce. The resolution was adopted, and, in reply, the Secretary of War (April 11) transmitted the answer of General Jessup, in which he rests his justification, upon the bad faith which, he alleges, the Indians had previously exhibited towards the United States. This answer occupies some fifteen documentary pages, most of which are filled with the facts already known to the reader.

After the report of the Secretary of War had been printed, Mr. Everett gave his views upon the facts, in a speech which attracted much attention in the country. The people were already turning their attention to the subject of slavery. Petitions were sent to Congress calling on that body to abolish the institution within the District of Columbia. The Hon. John Quincy Adams had thrown the weight of his influence in behalf of the right of petition, and was known to be opposed to the institution. Hon. William Slade, a member of the House of Representatives from Vermont, had openly avowed his deep and heart-felt sympathy with the Abolitionists, who were striving to direct the popular mind to the crimes of the “peculiar institution,” as slavery was then called.

It was evident, that a full exposure of the causes which led to the Florida war, and of the manner in which it had been prosecuted, would tend to defeat the Democratic candidate in the next Presidential campaign. It was therefore clearly the policy of that party, and of the Administration, to maintain as great a degree of silence as possible upon all these subjects.

Among the early difficulties presented to the consideration of the War Department, was the settlement with the Creek warriors who had served under the contract made by order of General Jessup, in 1836, to give them a certain gross amount in cash, and all the plunder they could capture– which General Jessup and the Creeks understood to embrace negroes, as well as horses and cattle.

The General, by his order, had directed eight thousand dollars to be paid to them, and twenty dollars for each negro belonging to citizens, who had been captured by them and delivered over to the claimants.

This disposal of the public treasure by an individual, was most clearly unauthorized, either by law or by the constitution; yet the order had been approved by the Executive, and had been made the act of the President, who thus assumed the moral and political responsibility attached to this gross violation of law, and of the Constitution.

The question how this charge upon the treasury was to be met, seems to have borne heavily upon the mind of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and he expressed this difficulty to General Jessup. That officer, being less familiar with matters of finance than with those of a strictly military character, replied, that the amount might with propriety be charged to the annuities due the Seminoles; but as that fund was under the supervision of Congress, it would not do to charge it over to that appropriation, lest it should create agitation.

Another difficulty was, as to the disposal of the negroes themselves. They were now said to be the “property of the United States;” and the question very naturally arose, what shall be done with them? This question was also propounded to General Jessup by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The General replied, that he thought it best to send them to Africa, for the benefit of civilization on that coast. But that could not be done except by appropriations made by Congress; and it was feared that, to ask Congress for an appropriation of that character, might lead to the disclosure of unpleasant facts.115

In the meantime, arrangements were made to send the prisoners, both Indians and Exiles, to the Western Country, without any particular decision in regard to the ninety negroes captured by the Creek warriors, and sent to Fort Pike as the property of the United States, and fed and clothed at the public expense for more than a year.

Agreeably to orders from the War Department, General Jessup detailed Lieutenant J. G. Reynolds to superintend the emigration, as disbursing agent, and W. G. Freeman as an assistant. These appointments were approved by the Department; and transports were engaged to take such prisoners as were at Charleston, South Carolina, around the peninsula of Florida to Tampa Bay, on the western coast, and thence to New Orleans.

There were at that time many negroes at Tampa Bay, intentionally separated from the Indians, who had been sent, at the same time, to Charleston. Major Zantzinger wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, to know how these negroes at Tampa Bay were to be disposed of. The Commissioner immediately answered by letter, directed to Lieutenant Reynolds, saying, “I have to instruct you, that all of those negroes mentioned by Major Zantzinger, which are the property of the Seminoles,116 are to be received with, and to constitute a portion of, the emigrating party for all purposes of transportation and subsistence. * * * * You will consider it your duty to call at Tampa Bay, receive this party, and transport it to the West with the detachment now at New Orleans.”

This direction required Lieutenant Reynolds to transport the ninety Exiles, sent to New Orleans on the second of June, 1837, to the Western Country; for they constituted a part of “the detachment at New Orleans,” which he was directed to transport West. They had been captured while fleeing from our army, and of course were nearly all of them women and children, who, by the fortunes of war, had been separated from their husbands, and fathers, and brothers, that were left behind in the Indian Country. Those husbands, brothers and fathers, were among the first to capitulate in order to rejoin their families from whom they had thus been separated. Many Exiles had been betrayed and seized at Fort Peyton. Some had surrendered at Volusi; others had capitulated at Fort Jupiter; others had come in and given themselves up at different posts: and all these were assembled for transportation at “Tampa Bay,” where they awaited arrangements for sending them to the Western Country.

Major General Gaines was at that time commanding the south-western division of the army of the United States; and Fort Pike was situated within his military district. Lieutenant Reynolds had taken the prisoners at Charleston on board the transports; had sailed around the peninsula of Florida; called at Tampa Bay; had taken on board the negroes assembled at that point, and had reached Fort Pike.

Members of families long separated were now united. Fathers embraced their wives and children, whom they had not seen for more than a year; brothers and sons embraced their sisters and mothers; and all exhibited those deep sympathies of the human heart, which constitute the higher and holier emotions of our nature. The officers and soldiers who witnessed this scene could not but feel interested in these people, many of whose ancestors had fled from oppression generations previously, and who, for more than half a century, had been subjected to almost constant persecution. It was undoubtedly owing to these circumstances, that so many of the officers of our army became deeply interested in securing their freedom.

Major Zantzinger was in command at Fort Pike; but he could only act under the direction of his superior officers. Lieutenant Reynolds, therefore, applied to Major General Gaines for orders to Major Zantzinger to deliver the Exiles at Fort Pike to him for emigration. From the peculiar language used in this order, it is most evident that General Gaines expected some effort would be made to prevent the emigration of the Exiles, then resident at Fort Pike. The order is so unusual in its tone and language, that we insert it, as follows:

“To Major Zantzinger, or the officer commanding at Fort Pike, or the officer who has charge of the slaves, or other servants, belonging to, or lately in possession of, Seminole Indians, now in charge of Lieutenant Reynolds, destined to the Arkansas: You will, on receipt hereof, deliver to the said Reynolds all such slaves or servants belonging to, or claimed by, or lately in possession of, the said Seminole Indians to be conducted by him in their movements to the Arkansas River, where the Indians, or their slaves or servants, are to be permanently located and settled: taking triplicate receipts for said slaves or servants, one of which will be forwarded to the undersigned.

EDMUND P. GAINES,Maj. Gen. U. S. A., Commanding.”

The above order was dated on the twenty-first of March. The next day Lieutenant Reynolds inclosed a copy to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, saying, he should commence his voyage West with the emigrants, and adding, “It is not my intention to remove the negroes from Fort Pike until ready for departure, as I am convinced that many individuals with fraudulent claims are in a state of readiness, and only waiting the arrival of the negroes in this city (New Orleans) to carry their object into effect. The measures I shall adopt will bar their intention.”

This letter explains the reason of the precise and specific terms in which the order of General Gaines was expressed. It is due to the memory of General Gaines, and to the character of Lieutenant Reynolds, that their determined efforts to preserve the liberties of these people, so far as they were able, should find a place in history. The war had been commenced and prosecuted for the purpose of seizing and returning to bondage all those people whose ancestors had once fled from oppression. It was the avowed policy of the Administration to prevent these ninety Exiles, who had been captured by the Creek Indians, from going to the Western Country, preferring to have them consigned to slavery in Georgia or Florida, rather than enjoy freedom in the new homes assigned to the Indians in the West. This feeling had encouraged desperate men to make unfounded claims to their persons: and it should be recorded to the honor of many of our officers, that they were active and vigilant in their efforts to defeat these piratical claims, and the exertions of the President and heads of the various Executive Departments, to consign these people to interminable bondage. In order to do justice on this subject, it is necessary to permit all concerned to speak for themselves, so far as convenience will allow. To carry out this object, the reader will excuse our frequent quotations from official documents.

On the twenty-sixth of March, Lieutenant Reynolds wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dating his letter at “New Barracks,” below New Orleans, saying, “The Indian negroes will be received at Fort Pike, and brought to this place, via the Mississippi River. This course was adopted with the concurrence of General Gaines. Everything will be in readiness to embark soon as the boat arrives. General Gaines has directed that the guard under the direction of Lieutenant Wheaton shall proceed with me.”