He, together with Alligator, finding the troops pursuing them so closely as to prevent their loading, and that large numbers had retired, thought it prudent to do the same, and they scattered in small bodies throughout the country. Jesup was succeeded in the command by Taylor, who, after two years of harassing service, was relieved by Colonel Armistead.
This officer was in turn relieved by Colonel William J. Worth, making the eighth commander sent out to close the war. General Jesup is entitled to great credit for his energy and perseverance. Within a year and a half two thousand four hundred Indians and negroes, seven hundred of whom were warriors, had surrendered or been killed, and most of their villages and stock had been destroyed or captured. But the end of this troublesome war seemed as distant as ever. Before tendering his resignation, General Jesup recommended to the War Department the assignment of the southern part of Florida to the Indians, instead of removing them to the West.
His salutary advice was not heeded, and five years more of harassing and destructive warfare ensued. During General Taylor's term of service, blood-hounds were imported for the purpose of hunting down the Indians. These savage brutes—more humane than their masters—refused to follow an Indian's trail, so that this proved a useless barbarity. The Everglades, situated in the southern part of Florida, constituted the principal stronghold of the Indians. They were expanses of shoal water, varying in depth from one to five feet, dotted with innumerable low and flat islands, generally covered with trees and shrubs.
Much of this area is covered with almost impenetrable saw-grass as high as a man's head, but the little channels in every direction are free from it. Colonel Harney, with one hundred men in canoes, penetrated this region in December, , killed Chai-ki-ka, a Spanish Indian chief, and executed six of his followers on the spot.
Okechobee was the last general fight in which the Indians were engaged. Thenceforth their policy was to avoid a battle, but, moving rapidly by night, to seize every opportunity to wreak their vengeance on the unarmed inhabitants of the country. Murders were committed by them within a few miles of Tallahassee and St. This state of things continued with brief intervals until the spring of , when General Worth took command.
No officer ever entered upon a more unpromising field in which to acquire distinction. All the best officers of the army, many of them experienced in Indian warfare, had signally failed to conquer the Indians, who were effectually concealed in the Everglades and swamps, where their families and crops were secure, and whence they could sally forth upon long expeditions for murder and rapine. At this time the Indians were enjoying the cool shades of their dense hommocks, luxuriating in an abundant supply of green corn, melons, pumpkins, pease, beans, sweet-potatoes, and other vegetables.
They were too cautious to subject themselves to a hot sun or to the liability of pursuit. Desirous of remaining undisturbed, they molested no one, postponing their hostile excursions until after harvest. Fully comprehending the task before him, the new commander, instead of going into summer quarters as was, usual at this period of the year, at once organized his force in the most effective manner, and prepared for a continuous campaign, irrespective of the season, establishing his head-quarters at Fort King.
Simultaneous movements against the Indians took place during the months of June and July in every district, breaking up their camps and destroying their crops and stores. Every swamp and hommock between the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts was visited, and the band of Halleck-Tustenuggee routed out of the Wahoo Swamp. The detachments continued scouting the country for twenty-five days. Six hundred men were engaged, about twenty-five per cent of whom were sent to the hospitals.
An officer describes one of these scouting parties of thirty or forty men as "resembling banditti rather than a body of regular troops. Its commander, without shoes or stockings, his pantaloons sustained by a belt, in which were thrust a brace of pistols, without vest or coat, his cap with a leathern flap behind to divert the rain from coursing down his back, in this costume led his detachment through bog and water day after day, dependent for food upon the contents of his haversack strapped to his back.
The pride and satisfaction of the soldier in doing his duty could alone sustain him through this arduous and health-destroying service. Coacoochee was again a prisoner, and Worth resolved to make use of him to induce his followers to submit. An interview took place at Tampa, on board the transport in which the chief was confined. The impressiveness of the scene was enhanced by the fine martial figure of the general—he was six feet high and finely proportioned—and by the presence of his brilliant staff in full uniform.
Coacoochee received them with a dignity and calmness in marked contrast with his usual hold and dashing demeanor. Taking the young chief, who was heavily ironed, by the hand, the general said:. You have fought long, and with a true and strong heart, for your country.
You are a great warrior; the Indians look upon you as a leader. This war has lasted five years, it must now end. You are the man to do it. I wish you to state how many days it will require to effect an interview with the Indians in the woods. You can select three or five of these men to carry your talk.
Name the time, it shall be granted; but I tell you, as I wish your relatives and friends told, that unless they fulfil your demands, yourself and these warriors now seated before us shall be hung to the yards of this vessel when the sun sets on the day appointed, with the irons on your hands and feet.
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I tell you this that we may well understand each other; I do not wish to frighten you—you are too brave a man for that—but I say what I mean, and I will do it. This war must end, and you must end it. I hunted in these woods. I saw the white man, and was told he was my enemy. I could not shoot him as I would a wolf or bear, yet like these he came upon me.
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Horses, cattle, and fields he took from me. He said he was my friend; he abused our women and children, and told us to go from the land; still he gave his hand in friendship. We took it; while taking it he had a snake in the other, his tongue was forked, he lied and stung us. I asked but for a small piece of these lands—enough to plant and live upon, far South—a spot where I could place the ashes of my kindred—a spot only sufficient upon which I could lay my wife and child. This was not granted me. I was put in prison; I escaped. I have been taken again; I feel the irons in my heart. You and your officers have taken us by the hand in friendship.
The heart of the poor Indian thanks you. We know but little, we have no books which tell all things, but we have the Great Spirit. These told me last night you would be our friend. I give you my word—the word of Coacoochee. It is true I have fought like a man, so have my warriors, but the whites are too strong for us. I wish now to have my band around me and go to Arkansas. Can I go to my warriors? No, do not ask me to see them.
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I never wish to tread upon my land unless I am free. If I can go to them unchained they will follow me in, but I fear they will not obey me when I talk to them in irons. They will say my heart is weak, I am afraid.
Could I go free they will surrender and emigrate. General Worth, in reply, told him that he could not go, and the chief selected five of his companions to bear his message.
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When the others are thrown away, and this only remains, say to my people that with the setting sun Coacoochee hangs like a dog, with none but white men to hear his last words. Collie, then; come by the stars, as I have led you to battle; come, for the voice of Coacoochee speaks to you. The chosen messengers were relieved of their irons and departed, and by the last of the month all had come in—one hundred and eighty-nine, men, women, and children. General Worth had succeeded in this plan by working upon the weak point of Coacoochee—his vanity. He was vain, bold, and cunning, but was by no means the great warrior he supposed himself.
Worth made still further use of him, employing his services in bringing in other bands, succeeding better by negotiation than by hostile pursuit. In November and December a combined land and naval expedition was made through the Everglades and the Big Cypress Swamp, the Indian stronghold, where Arpeika and the Prophet held supreme command. The troops marched through swamps deep in mud and water, their boats penetrated every creek and landed upon every island.
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The country in every direction was explored, but not an Indian was seen. Their huts were burned, their fields devastated, and they fled in every direction. It was a peculiar service upon which these various corps were employed. There was to be seen, at the same time, in the Everglades, the dragoon in water from three to four feet deep, the sailor and marine wading in the mud in the midst of cypress stumps, and the soldiers, infantry and artillery, alternately on the land, in the water, and in boats.
Comforts and conveniences were wholly absent, even subsistence was reduced to the lowest point. Night after night officers and men were compelled to sleep in their canoes, others in damp bogs, and in the morning to cook their breakfasts over a fire built on a pile of sand in the prow of their boat, or kindled around a cypress stump. Officers carried their own provision and packs upon their backs. Before the expedition was ended, many of the men were compelled to resort to the cabbage-tree for subsistence.
An officer who took part in this expedition, at the close of his journal says: The only reward we ask is the ending of the Florida War. Covell's decease in Also a memoir of Rev. Covell, son of the former, and late a pastor of the First Baptist church in the city of Albany, N. Tools Cite this Export citation file. Indian history for young folks; by Francis S. Full-text searching is available within public or private collections , and within individual items. Text Appearing After Image: At the time of upload, the image license was automatically confirmed using the Flickr API.
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