General Scott

by Marcus J. Wright

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."