The proposition, however, was rejected by the Executive; and General Worth continued to carry forward the work which he had prosecuted thus far with such signal success. He dismissed more troops from service in Florida; discharged employees in the various departments under his command, and made such retrenchments as he was able to effect, without detracting from the efficiency of the public service.
On the sixteenth of April, the troops fell in with Hallec Tustenuggee, who, with some seventy warriors of his own and other bands, was encamped upon an island in the Great Wahoo Swamp, and after an irregular fight of two hours, routed them. The loss was slight on both sides. Our troops had one man killed, and four wounded; the allies three wounded, whom they carried from the field. This was the last battle fought in the Florida War. The Indians scattered in various directions, and in that way evaded pursuit.
Halec Tustenuggee was a most skillful warrior: bold and daring in his policy, yet capable of dissimulation and treachery. He had been the object of pursuit for two years. His unceasing vigilance had enabled him to bid defiance to civilized troops. He was now nearly destitute of powder and provisions, and, as an alternative, professed a desire for peace. He came into the American camp boldly, shook hands with General Worth, and proclaimed his pacific purpose. His professions were treated with great apparent respect. He wanted provisions for his band. They were encamped within three miles of General Worth’s head-quarters, and were fed at public expense. And when the whole band had come within the lines, for the purpose of attending a feast, they were secured as prisoners, and immediately sent to Tampa Bay for emigration; and, on the fourteenth of July, this entire band, consisting of one hundred and twenty persons, embarked for Fort Gibson, by way of New Orleans. They reached their destination in safety; and most of them took up their residence with their brethren, the Seminoles; while others joined the Creeks.
The Federal Executive, having more maturely considered the suggestions of General Worth, at length concluded to accede to his propositions for a pacification with the remaining hostiles in Florida. That officer, having secured Halec Tustenuggee and his band, and sent them West, now dispatched his messengers to those small bands of hostiles which remained, inviting them to hold a council and enter into an arrangement, based upon the condition, that the allies should remain in the southern portion of the Peninsula of Florida, confined to certain limits, and abstain from all acts of aggression upon their white neighbors.
Most of these small bands sent chiefs, or sub-chiefs, to attend the council; and terms of peace were agreed to, and the following General Order was issued:
“ORDER,} Head Quarters Ninth Military Department,}
No. 28.} Cedar Key, Florida, August 14, 1843. }
“It is hereby announced, that hostilities with the Indians within this Territory have ceased. Measures are taken to pass the few remaining Indians within certain limits—those in the far south immediately; those west of the Suwanee in a few days, who, meantime, there is every reasonable assurance, will conduct inoffensively if unmolested in their haunts. The lands thus temporarily assigned, as their planting and hunting grounds, are within the following boundaries, to wit: From the mouth of Talockchopco, or Pease Creek, up the left bank of that stream to the fork of the southern branch, and, following that branch, to the head or northern edge of Lake Istokpoga; thence down the eastern margin of that lake to the stream which empties into the Kissimee River, following the left bank of the said stream and river to where the latter empties into Lake Okeechobee; thence down, due south, through said lake and everglades to Shark River, following the right bank of that river to the Gulf; thence along the Gulf shore (excluding all islands between Punta Rosa and the head of Charlotte’s Harbor) to the place of beginning.
“The foregoing arrangements are in accordance with the instructions of the President of the United States.
“By order of Col. WORTH:
S. COOPER, A. A. General.”
Most of the troops were now withdrawn from Florida. General Worth retired from the command, and the Florida War was supposed to have ended. It had been commenced with a determination to reënslave the Exiles. That object was, in part, attained. More than five hundred persons were seized and enslaved, between the first of January, 1835, and the fourteenth of August, 1843. Probably one half of them had been born free; the others had themselves escaped from slavery. To effect this object, forty millions of dollars were supposed to have been expended. Eighty thousand dollars was paid from the public treasury for the enslavement of each person, and the lives of at least three white men were sacrificed to insure the enslavement of each black man. The deterioration of our national morality was beyond estimate, and the disgrace of our nation and government are matters incapable of computation. The suffering of the Indians and Exiles amidst such prolonged persecution, such loss of lives and property, we cannot estimate. The friends and families who were separated, the number of those who were made wretched for life, the broken hearts, we will not attempt to enumerate. Nearly one half of the whole number were consigned to the moral death of slavery, and many to that physical death which was dreaded far less than slavery. After wandering in the wilderness thrice forty years, they fell under the oppression, the persecution, the power of a mighty nation, which boasts of its justice, its honor, and love of liberty. We lament the sad fate of those who died in that struggle; but with deeper anguish, and far keener mortification, we deplore the unhappy lot of those who were doomed to drag out a miserable existence, amidst chains and wretchedness, surrounded by that moral darkness which broods over the enslaved portion of our fellow-beings in the Southern States.