General Scott

Previous to and immediately after this engagement the Indians divided themselves into small parties for the purpose of devastating the country. They made their appearance simultaneously in the southern part of the peninsula as far north as Picolata and from the extreme east below St. Augustine to the west, carrying off everything that was useful to them and destroying the remainder. At New River, on the southeast side of the peninsula, they murdered the wife, children, and teacher in the family of Mr. Cooley, carrying off provisions and horses, and setting fire to the house on their departure.

The settlements in that neighborhood were abandoned, the inhabitants taking refuge near the lighthouse on Cape Florida; but they had been there only a short time when, the Indians making their appearance, they were compelled to seek shelter and protection elsewhere.

The ruthless destruction of property and of lives on the east side of the peninsula was heartrending. Their principal ravages, however, were on the east side from St. Augustine to the south. Major Benjamin A. Putnam, with a small detachment of men, marched into this country with a view to drive the Indians away. He was met by an overpowering number of the savages, and forced to retreat. In fact, no part of the State seemed to be free from these murderous savages.

General Clinch made requisitions on the Governors of Georgia, South Carolina, and Alabama to aid the Floridians in their unequal warfare with the savages. It was felt by the citizens of Florida that the Government at Washington showed great apathy, if not real indifference, to their condition. A meeting was called in Charleston, S.C., early in January, for the purpose of aiding the people of Florida with men and means, but General Eustis informed the meeting that General Clinch had sufficient force and supplies under his command to subdue any number of Indians and negroes that could be brought to oppose him. On January 12th, intelligence having been received from General Clinch asking for six hundred men, the committee conferred with General Eustis and requested him to send a company of United States troops with arms and ammunition for the defense of St. Augustine. This was granted, and the citizens of Charleston chartered a steamboat and placed on board one thousand bushels of corn, one hundred barrels of flour, thirty barrels of beef, twenty barrels of pork, and ten tierces of rice. On January 20th another meeting was called to raise volunteers for Florida. The banks of Charleston subscribed twenty-five thousand dollars as a loan to the Government. The committee dispatched a schooner, loaded with corn, rice, bread, beef, pork, and military and hospital stores, and sent a physician to attend the sick.

Four companies of volunteers were put in motion on the 27th for St. Augustine—viz., the Washington Light Infantry, Captain Ravenel; Washington Volunteers, Captain Finley; German Fusileers, Captain Timrod; and Hamburgh Volunteers, Captain Cunningham. These volunteer companies arrived at St. Augustine on January 30th, and were at once sent out to scour the country for hostile Indians; they were, however, relieved from duty on February 12th, on the arrival of the South Carolina militia and United States troops under Major Reynold Marvin Kirby. These troops were placed on the same duty as their predecessors, but there was no engagement with the hostile Indians until the latter part of March. An instance of the chivalric spirit of the South Carolina volunteers is worthy of mention. On requisition of the Governor for three companies to be furnished for Florida, Colonel Chesnut, of Camden, called out his regiment. After telling them what was wanted, he requested those who desired to volunteer in defense of their suffering neighbors to step forward. The whole regiment marched forward and tendered their services. At the same time four thousand dollars were contributed for their equipment.

On receipt of the intelligence of the Dade massacre in Savannah, a company of Georgia volunteers at once embarked for Picolata. A meeting of the Richmond Blues and Richmond Hussars, of Augusta, was called for the purpose of rendering aid. The city council appropriated the necessary funds to supply arms and ammunition. The ladies of Augusta volunteered to make the uniforms, and in less than a week these volunteers were on their way to Picolata. These companies were composed of the élite of the city. Supplies of all kinds were sent by Mayor Joseph Beard to Fort Drane and the posts on the St. John's, which were poorly equipped with ordnance and quartermaster's stores. He also sent a six-pounder cannon with necessary equipments of grape, canister, and round shot, ten thousand rounds of musket ball and buckshot cartridges, and a general supply of needful articles. Further supplies were drawn on their arrival at Picolata.

This action of Quartermaster Beard was most fortunate, as it was found that the military posts, by the neglect of the War Department or its subalterns, had been reduced to such an extremity that in case of attack they must necessarily have been shorn of the means of defense, and would have fallen into the hands of the enemy. Nothing but the timely arrival of supplies saved these posts from destruction.

There were no means of transportation at Picolata, and the quartermaster procured horses at Jacksonville for the purpose of forwarding one of the six-pounders to Fort Drane. Four of the horses on arrival were found unfit for service, but, fortunately, General John M. Hernandez was able to furnish ten chicken carts, and the quartermaster was authorized to make impressments for transportation. The Richmond Blues, one hundred and twelve strong, with the Camden and Glynn mounted volunteers, numbering twenty-seven, and the Darien Infantry of about thirty, under command of Captains Robertson, R. Floyd, and Thomas S. Bryant respectively, took up line of march as an escort to the two six-pounders, ordnance stores, twenty-five wagons and carts laden with provisions, and passed through the heart of the enemy's country, arriving on February 15th, without obstruction, at the garrison of Fort Drane.

Supplies under the same escort were at once forwarded to Fort King. Subsequently the following-named companies of Georgia volunteers arrived in Florida: The Hancock Blues, Captain A.S. Brown; State Fencibles, Captain J.A. Merriwether; Macon Volunteers, Captain Isaac Seymour; Morgan Guards, Captain N.G. Foster; Monroe Musketeers, Captain John Cureton; Washington Cavalry, Captain C.J. Malone; Baldwin Cavalry, Captain W.F. Scott. Major Ross, with several companies of mounted men from Georgia, arrived later, but owing to the advanced season, much to their disappointment, did not enter the field.

Going back to January 15th, General Edmund Pendleton Gaines, who was on a tour of inspection through the Western Department, first heard of the troubles in Florida, and at once called on the Governor of Louisiana and requested him to hold in readiness a body of volunteers for service in subduing the Seminole Indians.

He also wrote to the adjutant general at Washington, urging that no time be lost in succoring the troops in Florida, and saying, from his knowledge of the Seminole character, that at least four thousand men would be required to subdue them, protected and aided by a strong naval force.

At that time the United States was divided into two military departments by a line drawn from the southern part of Florida to the northwestern extremity of Lake Superior. The Eastern Department was under the command of General Winfield Scott, and the Western under that of General Gaines, and by reference to a map it will be seen that the line passed directly through the theater of hostilities in Florida. The meeting of these two distinguished generals was purely accidental. General Scott was in Washington when the news was received of General Clinch's engagement with the Seminoles. After dispatching his letter to the adjutant general, General Gaines proceeded to Pensacola for the purpose of getting the co-operation of the naval forces at that station. He found, however, that Commodores Dallas and Bolton and Captain Webb had received orders to direct their attention to the inlets of Florida, whence they had sailed. He received here the most alarming intelligence of the state of affairs in Florida. He proceeded to Mobile on January 18th, and there learned that Fort Brooke was invested by the Indians and the garrison in great danger of being cut off and slaughtered. He at once sent an express to General Clinch, supposed to be at Fort King, stating that he would arrive at Fort Brooke about February 8th with seven hundred men, and requested General Clinch to take the field and march southward and form a junction with him at Fort Brooke.

As the crisis demanded immediate action, and General Scott being present to receive the instructions of the Government in person, he was charged with the direction of the campaign without regard to department boundaries. General Gaines had left his headquarters at Memphis, Tenn., on a tour of inspection through his department, and it was very uncertain when or where the orders and instructions of the Government would reach him; and as the immediate services of an officer of high rank of mind and discreet judgment were required to maintain the neutrality of the United States during the war between the Texans and Mexicans, General Gaines was selected for that important duty. However, the official dispatches did not reach General Gaines until he had already taken the field in Florida and marched from Fort Brooke to Fort King, within ninety-five miles of where General Scott had established his headquarters.

In pursuance of this plan, Lieutenant-Colonel David E. Twiggs was ordered to receive into service the eight companies of volunteers requested of the Governor of Louisiana, adding them to the command of such regular troops as might be in the vicinity of New Orleans, all to be held in readiness for a movement to Tampa Bay. The troops were mustered into service on February 3d. General Gaines having arrived in New Orleans on January 27th, chartered three steamers to convey the troops and stores. The Legislature of Louisiana had appropriated eighty-five thousand dollars for the equipment of her volunteers, and on February 4th the chartered steamers, with the Louisiana volunteers and one company of regulars, were under way, and on the same day another steamer, with Colonel Twiggs and Companies B, E, G, H, I, and K of the regulars, left New Orleans. The vessels arrived safely at Hillsboro Bay, four miles distant from the garrison, on February 8th, 9th, and 10th, and the troops were immediately disembarked and camped just outside of the fort.

The fort was a triangular work formed by pickets with blockhouses at the apex, the base resting on the bay and flanked on the west by Hillsboro River. It was found that there were at the fort about two hundred regular troops, composed of Companies A, B, C, and H of the Second Artillery, and Company A of the Fourth Infantry, with Majors Francis S. Belton, Richard Augustus Zantzinger, and John Mountford, Lieutenants John Breckenridge Grayson, Samuel McKenzie, John Charles Casey, Thomas C. Legate, Edwin Wright Morgan, Augustus Porter Allen, and Benjamin Alvord, and Surgeons Henry Lee Heiskell and Reynolds. Major Belton was the commanding officer of the post.

General Gaines, having received instructions at Pensacola from the Secretary of War to repair and take charge of the forces which were assembling on the Mexican frontier, announced the fact to Colonel Twiggs; but the troops, on hearing this, manifested great dissatisfaction, and insisted that as they had volunteered to go under the command of General Gaines, he in good faith should be their leader. Following is the text of the letter of the Secretary of War to General Gaines:

The pressure not only from the troops in the field but from outside sources was so great that General Gaines felt it his duty to enter the field. Besides, that was thought a propitious time to begin active operations, as the day before the arrival of the Louisiana troops the friendly Indians had engaged the hostiles in a battle about four miles from Fort Brooke. Although at this date, as before mentioned, General Scott in Washington had been ordered to assume command in Florida, General Gaines was entirely ignorant of such order.

Orders were accordingly issued assigning officers to their respective duties. Captain Ethan A. Hitchcock, First Infantry, was announced Assistant Inspector General of the Department, and Lieutenant James Farley Izard, of the Dragoons, to be Acting Brigade Major. The artillery and infantry of the United States army, together with the Louisiana volunteer forces under Adjutant-General Persifor F. Smith, were to constitute "the light brigade." (Here is an instance of a staff officer being assigned to command troops.) The whole force to be under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel David E. Twiggs, Fourth Infantry.

The Louisiana volunteers were divided into two battalions, the first composed of the companies of Captains Burt, Lee, Williams, Rogers, and Thistle, under Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Lawson, Surgeon. (Here is another case of a staff officer and surgeon ordered to the command of troops.) The second battalion was composed of the companies of Captains Samuel F. Marks, William H. Ker, Magee, Smith, Abadie, and Barr, under Major Marks, the regiment to be commanded by Colonel Persifor F. Smith. Orders for marching were issued on the 13th, the troops to be supplied with forty rounds of ammunition and ten days' rations, five of which were to be carried in haversacks. During the Florida campaign the only articles drawn by the private volunteer soldiers were bread or flour, pork or beef, while only a few drew salt, sugar, and coffee. Major Richard M. Sands, of the Fourth Infantry, and Captain Barr's company of volunteers, amounting in all to one hundred and sixty men, were detailed for the protection of the fort, under command of Major Sands.

The army marched in three columns, equidistant one hundred yards, with a strong advance and rear guard. The center column was composed of one company of volunteers as advance guard, under command of Brigade Major Izard. Seven companies of United States artillery and infantry, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel William Sewell Foster; the baggage train, led by Captain Samuel Shannon; six companies of Louisiana volunteers as rear guard, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Lawson. Right column: Four companies of artillery acting as light infantry, under command of Major Belton. Left column: Four companies of Louisiana volunteers, under command of Major Marks. The entire command consisted of nine hundred and eighty effective men, exclusive of the detachment under Major Sands, which, added to the force, would make it eleven hundred and forty men.

The Quartermaster's Department at the post was in a very bad condition, destitute of nearly everything that was necessary for the comfort of the troops. There was great scarcity of ordnance stores, but, happily, an abundant supply of subsistence stores.

CHAPTER VI.

General Gaines reviewed the army on February 13th, and, accompanied by seventy-seven friendly Indians, took up line of march toward the Alafia River, to which point he learned that the hostile Indians had gone. The march was made under many difficulties, the horses of the baggage train breaking down and necessitating the loss of valuable articles of camp equipage. Near dark they encamped six miles from Fort Brooke. The next day they arrived at Warren, on the Alafia River, eighteen miles from the fort, and received two days' rations, which General Gaines had ordered sent around from Fort Brooke by water. Discovering no traces of Indians, he directed the march toward the grounds where Major Dade and his party were massacred. The boats having arrived at Fort Brooke with the sick and disabled and all superfluous baggage, the army moved in the direction of a deserted Indian village, passing the ruins of many fine plantations, and struck the military road near the Hillsboro River.

On the 17th they arrived at the river and halted. On the 18th, after burning two deserted Indian villages near the Big Ouithlacoochee River, the friendly Indians accompanying the expedition requested permission to return to Fort Brooke. General Gaines assured them that there was no danger to be apprehended; that he only required them to act as scouts and guides, and that they were not expected to go into battle.

The Ouithlacoochee was forded on the 19th, and that night a breastwork was thrown up on the ground which had been occupied by the ill-fated party of Major Dade. At daybreak of the 20th they resumed their march, and buried on their way the remains of Major Dade and Captain Frazier and eight other officers, and ninety-eight noncommissioned officers and privates.

It now became a question of importance whether to continue the march to Fort King, which post was thought to be besieged by the enemy, or to return to Fort Brooke. To Fort Brooke it was sixty-five miles, and to Fort King forty miles north. A large number of the volunteers were destitute of provisions. It would require five days to reach Fort Brooke, and but two to reach Fort King.

It having been reported at Fort Brooke that Fort King was assailed by the Indians and in danger of being cut off, and this opinion being strengthened by the noncompliance of General Clinch with the request of General Gaines to co-operate with him, it became General Gaines's duty to ascertain the cause. A large number of General Gaines's troops were in a destitute condition, and the senior assistant quartermaster, Captain Shannon, had a letter from the Quartermaster General at Washington, dated January 19th, which stated that large supplies of provisions had been ordered from New York to Fort King. With these facts before him, General Gaines determined to move to Fort King, where he could ascertain the position of the enemy and at the same time strengthen the garrison.

The army under General Gaines arrived at Fort King on February 22d. Finding the post poorly supplied with subsistence, he dispatched Lieutenant-Colonel Foster, with an escort of the Fourth Infantry, to proceed to Fort Drane, twenty-two miles distant, where General Clinch was stationed with four companies of artillery and one of infantry and two companies of volunteers, and endeavored to get a supply of provisions. The detachment returned on the 24th with seven days' supplies. Here for the first time General Gaines was informed that General Scott was in command in Florida, and that he was then at Picolata organizing forces and gathering supplies.

General Gaines then determined that he could not remain at Fort King, as supplies were being exhausted as fast as they came in, and that to remain there would necessarily embarrass the operations of General Scott. It was also evident that the enemy would not be found by retracing his march to Fort Brooke, but that by moving by the battle ground of General Clinch, even should he not succeed in meeting the enemy, the mere presence of a large force would perhaps tend to concentrate him, and thus give security to the frontier and enable the inhabitants to give attention to planting their crops. Besides, he would find supplies at Fort Brooke, and on his arrival the command of Colonel Lindsay would be strengthened.

The army, being provided with two days' rations, moved out on the 27th, and arriving at the river, a halt was called, the baggage train being under protection of the rear guard, while General Gaines, with the main column and artillery, moved forward for the purpose of making a reconnoissance preparatory to crossing. Finding the river too deep to ford at the point reached, General Gaines and Colonel Smith made an attempt to cross about two hundred and fifty yards higher up. Reaching a small island in the middle of the river, a sharp fire was opened upon them, accompanied by the Indian war-whoop.

The troops returned the fire, and the field piece under Lieutenant Grayson was brought into action, which quickly silenced the war-whoop. The engagement lasted about three quarters of an hour, during which one volunteer was killed and seven wounded. General Clinch's old breastwork was enlarged and occupied by the troops during the night.

On the morning of the 28th the line was again formed, and after a circuitous march the army arrived at the crossing place. James Farley Izard, a first lieutenant of dragoons, being on leave of absence, volunteered his services to General Gaines, was assigned to duty as brigade major, and was about forming the guard when the sharp crack of a rifle and the war-whoop gave notice of the presence of the enemy. His horse had received a bullet in his neck. When he dismounted he proceeded to the bank of the river, when a ball from the enemy entered his left eye. He said to the men, "Keep your positions and lie close." He died in a few days from the effect of the wound. A desultory fight was kept up from nine in the morning until one o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy withdrew. The troops threw up breastworks, inside of which they encamped for the night. Captain William G. Sanders, commanding the friendly Indians, was severely wounded. Captain Armstrong, of the United States transport schooner Motto, was wounded, and a soldier of Captain Croghan Ker's company of Louisiana volunteers was killed. General Gaines sent an express to General Clinch asking his co-operation by crossing the river eight or ten miles above and coming down on the enemy's rear. He notified General Clinch that he would not move from his position until he heard from him, and requested to be furnished with needed subsistence. The dispatch arrived on the following morning, and General Clinch sent it forward to General Scott at Picolata.

On the 29th, orders were issued for one third of the command to remain on duty inside of the encampment, while another third was engaged in strengthening the defenses. A detachment of two hundred Louisiana volunteers under command of Captain Thistle, an expert marksman, was detailed for the erection of a blockhouse near the river, while others were engaged in preparing canoes and rafts. Everything was quiet until ten o'clock, when a fire was opened by the Indians on the working parties and on three sides of the camp. The Indians were concealed in the palmettoes, about two hundred yards distant. They set fire to the grass and palmettoes, but a sudden shift of the wind carried the fire in their direction. The firing lasted about two hours, when the Indians retired. Captain Thistle and party returned to camp without having sustained any loss. The firing was renewed by the Indians about four o'clock in the afternoon, but soon subsided. The loss in General Gaines's camp was one noncommissioned officer of artillery killed, and thirty-two officers, noncommissioned officers, and privates wounded. General Gaines received a painful wound in the mouth. Lieutenant James Duncan, Second Artillery, Mr. W. Potter, secretary to General Gaines, and Lieutenant Ephraim Smith, of the Louisiana volunteers, were wounded.

General Gaines now sent another dispatch by some friendly Indians to General Clinch asking him to march his forces direct to Camp Izard instead of crossing above. He also asked for some mounted men and one or two field pieces with a sufficient supply of ammunition. General Gaines regarded this as a most favorable opportunity to attack the Indians while they were concentrated, and he thought that with such re-enforcements as he asked, and a supply of provisions, he could end the war in ten days. He had notified General Clinch, on February 28th, that he would make no sortie nor would he move from his position until he heard from General Clinch. In his second letter to General Clinch he wrote: "Being fully satisfied that I am in the neighborhood of the principal body of Indians, and that they are now concentrated, I must suggest to you the expediency of an immediate co-operation with the forces under your command. I have only to repeat my determination not to move from my position or make a sortie until I hear from you, as it would only tend to disperse the enemy, and we should then have difficulty in finding them."

If General Gaines had made an attack he would certainly have lost one or two hundred men. He had no transportation to convey the wounded, and was short of supplies, as his whole train consisted of one wagon and two carts. Had he made an attack and routed the enemy, he had no means of following them, and his victory would have been barren of results. The Indians made another attack on March 1st, and renewed it on the next day. These attacks were repeated daily until the 5th, when they sent forward their interpreter, who wanted to know if Colonel Twiggs was in command, and saying they did not want to continue the war, but to shake hands and be friends. He was told to come at nine o'clock the next morning with a white flag. On Sunday morning, March 6th, Assiola and Colonel Hago, with others, appeared for a talk. Major Barron, Captain Marks, and others met them. They said they wanted to stop fighting; that they had taken up arms against the whites because they had been badly treated; that the whites had killed many of their men; that they would stop the war if the whites were withdrawn, and would not cross the river.

Major Barron replied that he would communicate what they said to General Gaines. Jumper asked if Colonel Twiggs was in camp. He was answered in the affirmative, but was told that General Gaines was in command. General Gaines directed Captain Hitchcock, of his staff, accompanied by Captain Marks, Dr. Harrall, and others, to confer with Jumper. On meeting Jumper he expressed a desire to see General Gaines, and said they would like to consult their governor, Miconopy, who was then some distance off. The Indians insisted on seeing General Gaines, and they were informed that he was ready to meet Miconopy, their governor. Nothing definite having been settled, they retired. At a subsequent meeting the Seminoles agreed to give up their arms and cease hostilities, and meet the commissioners again for a general treaty.

In the meantime General Gaines was re-enforced by Georgia troops, under command of Captains Edward B. Robinson and Bones, the Florida mounted militia, under command of Captain McLemore, and some regulars, under Captains Charles Myron Thruston and Graham, the whole under the command of General Clinch. They also brought beef cattle and other much-needed supplies. The Indians appeared again with a white flag and asked to confer with General Gaines, but were told that they must bring their governor, Miconopy, with whom General Gaines would confer.

General Gaines now turned over the command of the army to General Clinch, and on Thursday, the 10th, the army moved in the direction of Fort Drane. General Gaines left for Tallahassee and Mobile, and was the recipient of great attention by the citizens of those places.

Such was the situation when, on January 20, 1836, General Scott was ordered to take command of the army in Florida, which had been increased to twelve hundred regulars, besides volunteers, by the time he arrived there. He left Washington the day after receiving his orders and arrived at Picolata, on the St. John's River, and on February 22d issued orders forming the army into three divisions. The troops on the west bank of the St. John's River were placed under command of General Clinch, and constituted the right wing of the army. Those on the east bank of the St. John's River, under Brigadier-General Abram Eustis, constituted the left wing, and those at Tampa Bay, under Colonel William Lindsay, constituted the center. General Scott had been authorized to ask for volunteers from the States of Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and the Territory of Florida. Among other instructions given the general was the following: In consequence of representations from Florida that measures would probably be taken to transmit the slaves captured by the Indians to the Havana, orders were given the navy to prevent such proceedings, and General Scott was directed "to allow no pacification with the Indians while a slave belonging to a white man remained in their possession." There were a great many negroes among the Indians. In the band that massacred Major Dade and his command there were sixty-three of them mounted in one company. The negroes and Indians of mixed African and Indian blood were the most cruel members of the tribe.

Re-enforcements of militia were soon added to the army. The great disadvantages under which Scott labored necessarily delayed his movements until a late period. He found the quartermaster's department very deficient, and had the greatest difficulty in transporting supplies to Fort Drane. His supplies of ordnance were very limited, and the greater part of those on hand were unfit for use. To penetrate a country like Florida, filled with swamps, morasses, and almost impenetrable hammocks, required much preparation and labor. There was no chain of posts or settlements through the country, and the army was compelled to carry a heavy load of provisions and ordnance. To increase the difficulties, heavy rains had fallen which made the roads almost impassable. General Scott arrived at Fort Drane on March 13, 1836, with a very small force. Believing the enemy to be concentrated at or near the forks of Ouithlacoochee River, he adopted the following plan of operations:

The Florida army to constitute three divisions, to be known as the right, center, and left wings; the center being composed of Alabama volunteers, three companies of Louisiana volunteers, and two companies of United States artillery, amounting to twelve hundred and fifty men, to be commanded by Colonel William Lindsay. To move from Fort Brooke and take position at or near Chicuchatty, on March 25th. Signal guns to be fired each day thereafter at 9 a.m. to announce position. The right wing, composed of a battalion of Augusta volunteers under Acting Major Robertson; a battalion of Georgia volunteers under Major Mark A. Cooper; Major John M. Douglass, Georgia Cavalry; eleven companies of Louisiana volunteers, under Colonel Persifor F. Smith; Florida Rangers, under Major McLemore; the regulars, under Colonel James Bankhead; and Captain Clifton Wharton's company of Dragoons—in all amounting to about two thousand men, to be commanded by General Clinch. This wing to move from Fort Drane and be in position near Camp Izard, on the Ouithlacoochee River, between March 26th and 28th. Signal guns to be fired at 11 a.m. The left wing, composed of the South Carolina volunteers, under Colonel Abbott H. Brisbane; mounted volunteers, under Colonels Goodwyn and Butler—amounting to about fourteen hundred men—to be commanded by General Abram Eustis. This wing to move from Volusia and take position at or near Pilaklakaha on March 27th. Signal guns to be fired at ten o'clock each day.

Each wing to be composed of three columns, a center protected by a strong van and rear guard. The baggage train to be placed in the rear of the main column. The center and left wings, on assuming their respective positions, will fire signal guns, which will be responded to by the right wing. The right wing will then move up the cove or great swamp of the Ouithlacoochee in a southeast direction and drive the Indians south, while the center will advance to the north and the left to the west, by which united movement the Indians will be surrounded and left no avenue of escape. The operations of the army will be supported by the naval forces under Commodore Alfred J. Dallas, protecting the western coast of the peninsula, to cut off retreat and supplies.

Colonel Lindsay, commanding the center wing, arrived at Fort Brooke with eight companies of Alabama volunteers on March 6th, where he found a battalion of Florida troops, commanded by Major Read, and on the 10th was joined by one company of Louisiana volunteers, under command of Captain George H. Marks.

On the 12th he discovered fires to the southeast, and it was soon reported that a large body of Indians was encamped a few miles distant. Colonel Lindsay directed Major Leigh Read with his battalion to make a reconnoissance in the direction of the Indians. Major Read moved during the night, and coming upon the Indians at daylight, surprised them and put them to flight with a loss of three killed and six taken prisoners. He also secured a quantity of camp equipage and some beef cattle.

Colonel Lindsay, not hearing from headquarters, determined to proceed as far as Hillsboro River and erect a stockade so as to place his supplies nearer to the scene of operations. This object having been effected, he left Major Read in charge of the fort, which he had named Fort Alabama, and returned to Fort Brooke on the 21st. During his absence dispatches were received from General Scott announcing the plan of campaign, and requesting Colonel Lindsay to be in position at Chicuchatty on March 25th. Major Read having been relieved, the line of march was taken up. The column being fired on by the Indians and several soldiers killed and wounded, Colonel Lindsay ordered a charge, which was executed by Captains Benham and Blount, commanding Alabama volunteers, and the Indians were driven from their covert into a pine woods.

On March 28th, three days after the time mentioned in the orders, this command was in position at Camp Broadnax, near Chicuchatty, in pursuance of General Scott's orders. The country over which they had marched was hilly, and in many places there were dense forests which retarded their movements, though the late period at which Colonel Lindsay received his orders would have prevented his arrival at the time specified in them. No censure can be attributed to General Scott for the delay, as it was impossible under the circumstances for him to have matured his plans earlier.

General Eustis, commanding the left wing, arrived at St. Augustine on February 15th, and at once established a chain of posts at intervals of from ten to twenty miles, extending along the Atlantic coast as far south as the Mosquito Inlet, in order to drive off the bands of depredators and to give protection to the plantations. Colonel Goodwyn's mounted South Carolina volunteers having arrived on March 9th, the several detachments of the left wing, with the exception of Colonel Pierce M. Butler's battalion and two companies of artillery under Major Reynold M. Kirby, were put in motion for Volusia, where they arrived on March 21st after encountering great difficulties, being compelled to cut the road nearly the whole distance. On the 22d they began crossing the St. John's River. When the vanguard, consisting of two companies under Captains Adams and T.S. Tripp, had reached the opposite shore they were attacked by about fifty Indians who were concealed in a hammock. Being re-enforced by George Henry and Hibler's companies, they charged the enemy and drove him. Two companies of mounted men were crossed above with a view of cutting off the retreat of the Indians, but they were too late. The loss in this battle was three killed and nine wounded. On the 24th, Lieutenant Ripley A. Arnold, with twenty-seven mounted men, was sent in quest of Colonel Butler and his command, who had not joined the main command, he having marched in the direction of New Smyrna. This detachment fell in with a party of twelve or fifteen Indians who gave battle. Two of the Indians were killed, and Lieutenant Arnold, having his horse shot, ordered a retreat, for which he was severely censured. The whole force of General Eustis's command being now concentrated on the west side of the St. John's River, opposite to Volusia, orders were issued to distribute thirteen days' rations, and the line of march to be taken up for Pilaklakaha, leaving the sick and wounded with two companies of Colonel Brisbane's regiment at Volusia, under command of Major William Gates, United States army. The roads being bad, they were unable to march more than seven miles in two days. On the 29th they reached the Ocklawaha, and, constructing a bridge, crossed over after sundown and discovered fires on the margin of Lake Eustis, which they supposed to be signals of the Indians. Colonel Butler, with a small command, accompanied by General Joseph Shelton, who was serving as a private soldier, moved in the direction of the fires and discovered four Indians, who at once retreated. One of these Indians, Chief Yaha Hayo, was killed, while the others made their escape. On the 30th Colonel Goodwyn was sent forward to reconnoiter, and when near Pilaklakaha was attacked by Indians, having three men and several horses wounded. Colonel Robert H. Goodwyn was soon re-enforced by General Eustis, and a battle ensued lasting nearly an hour. The Indians were driven into the swamp. On March 31st an express was sent to Scott for information and for the purpose of obtaining forage. A signal gun was fired on the following morning after their arrival, but not answered.

The right wing having assembled at Fort Drane, General Scott ordered General Clinch to put his troops in motion on March 25th and take position on the Ouithlacoochee; but a heavy rain prevented the movement until the morning of March 26th. General Clinch sent forward two flatboats drawn on wagons to await the arrival of the troops at the river. The movement was begun by Major Douglass with his mounted Georgians. The order of march was in three columns: the center, with the baggage train, headed by General Clinch, the right consisting of the Louisiana volunteers, under command of Colonel Persifor F. Smith, joined the line at Camp Smith, and the left, commanded by Colonel Bankhert, joined by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Foster's battalion of United States troops at Camp Twiggs, General Scott and staff with an escort of dragoons taking position in the center. Colonel Gadsden was appointed quartermaster general for Florida, and acting inspector general. When nine miles from Fort Drane information reached the army that some volunteers left in charge of a broken-down team had been attacked by the Indians and one man killed. On March 28th the column reached the Ouithlacoochee and encamped near Fort Izard. The river bank was occupied by sharpshooters and two pieces of artillery to protect the crossing. Foster Blodget, of the Richmond Blues of Augusta, Ga., swam the river and attached a rope to a tree on the opposite shore and planted the flag of his command. The whole command was passed over, but the rear division was fired upon by the Indians, who were quickly repulsed by the six-pounders. On the morning of March 30th a party of Indians was encountered, charged upon, and routed, and the same party were next day met and driven into the swamp. The column proceeded on its march and arrived at Tampa Bay on April 5th. They here learned that Colonel Lindsay had preceded them one day, being obliged to return for necessary subsistence.

It will be remembered that the center, being under Colonel Lindsay, took position at Camp Broadnax, near Chicuchatty, on March 28th. They were fired on by the Indians, but succeeded in driving them off. As his supplies had run short and the original plan of the campaign had been defeated, Colonel Lindsay returned with his command to Fort Brooke, arriving there April 4th. When Colonel Lindsay reached Fort Alabama, near the Hillsboro River, he learned that the post had been attacked on the morning of March 27th by three or four hundred Indians, who surrounded the breastwork and continued the attack for two hours, when they were repulsed with a loss of fifteen. The garrison lost one man killed and two wounded. General Eustis, for the same reasons which moved Colonel Lindsay, marched on April 2d from Pilaklakaha and encamped about sixteen miles from Fort Brooke, reporting to General Scott.

The whole army being now concentrated at or near Fort Brooke, the plan for a new campaign was discussed. They had found but small parties of the Indians in the cove or swamp region, and it was thought that they had gone to the southern part of the Florida peninsula and concealed themselves in the Everglades.

General Scott ordered Colonel Smith, of the Louisiana volunteers, to proceed by water to Charlotte Harbor and move north, while Colonel Goodwyn, with the South Carolina mounted men, was ordered to the lake at the head of Pease's Creek for the purpose of driving the Indians down. Having destroyed a large unoccupied Indian village on the left bank of that stream, and finding no Indians, the command returned to Hillsboro River and joined the left wing.

The Louisiana troops left Fort Brooke on April 10th and arrived at Pease's Creek on the 17th. They moved forward at once, but the weather was oppressive and the men were broken down by previous marches; many of them being destitute of shoes and other clothing, it was found necessary to return to camp. Out of over seven hundred Louisiana troops who had volunteered in January and entered the field the beginning of the next month, but one hundred and thirty were now left fit for duty. With these, however, and a small detachment of marines from the United States vessels in that vicinity, Colonel Smith determined to proceed. He embarked with one half of his command in canoes, the others proceeding by land. Meeting no Indians, he returned to Fort Brooke on April 27th, when the Louisiana troops were ordered to New Orleans to be mustered out of service. Colonel Smith proceeded to St. Mark's and reported to General Scott.

The right wing having remained at Tampa Bay from April 5th to the 13th, General Scott issued orders to General Clinch to move toward Fort Drane, and, after relieving Major Cooper, to co-operate with Colonel Lindsay, who had left Fort Brooke about the same time, for the purpose of penetrating the cove in a different direction from that pursued by the right wing on its march to Tampa, and to penetrate the forks of the Ouithlacoochee.

While Colonel Lindsay was engaged in constructing a defensive work on the military road near Big Ouithlacoochee, General Clinch encamped near Fort Cooper and dispatched some cavalry under Captain Malone to relieve the garrison, with instructions that should he meet the enemy, he was to advise General Clinch at once. When about three miles distant from the main body the Indians opened fire and at once retreated. The hammock was penetrated and searched, but no Indians were found.

Major Cooper was attacked by a large body of Indians and besieged for thirteen days. His loss was one man killed and twenty wounded. The Indians not having been found in any large numbers, the two wings separated, the center returning to Fort Brooke and the right to Fort King, where they arrived April 25th.

After the arrival of Colonel Goodwyn's mounted regiment, the left wing, accompanied by General Scott, took up line of march on the 18th for Volusia. A small party of Indians was encountered, but they fled and secreted themselves in a hammock. General Eustis's command arrived at Volusia on the evening of the 25th, and on the 28th all the volunteers from South Carolina marched to St. Augustine and were mustered out. On the arrival of Colonel Lindsay at Fort Brooke he was directed by General Scott to relieve the garrison at Fort Alabama, and disband the Alabama volunteers, leaving only regulars there.

They were attacked by the Indians with a loss of four killed and nineteen wounded. General Scott, accompanied by Colonel Gadsden, Captain Augustus Canfield, and Lieutenant Johnson, with a detachment of seventeen men, embarked in a steamboat at Volusia for the purpose of penetrating by the St. John's River the south part of the peninsula and selecting a site nearer to the seat of war as a depot for supplies. They proceeded to the head of Lake Monroe, but the boat was unable to pass the bar and they were compelled to return.

In his report of April 30th General Scott says: "To end this war, I am now persuaded that not less than three thousand troops are indispensable—two thousand four hundred infantry and six hundred horse, the country to be occupied and scoured requiring that number." He further recommended that two or three steamers with a light draught of water, and fifty or sixty barges capable of carrying from ten to fifteen men each, be employed, but did not ask for the control of the operations he recommended, saying it was an honor he would neither solicit nor decline.

CHAPTER VII.