But the wishes of Macanopy and Osceola were as nothing beside the will of President Jackson; and General Wiley Thompson was sent as the government agent to Florida, to arrange the removal of the Seminoles. Thompson reported that the Seminoles were unwilling to emigrate, and received for reply that they must go; that his military force should be increased, and that the annuities which the Seminoles received under the treaty of 1823 should not be paid until they consented to leave the country. The Seminoles took council together and promised to go the following spring; and Thomson, writing to the president, said, “I believe that the whole nation will come into this measure, but it is impossible not to feel a deep interest and much sympathy for this people.”
But when the spring came, and government measures began to be put in operation for their removal, the heart of the whole people was roused as one man, and they declared that they “could not leave their homes and the graves of their fathers.” This persistance in opposition was attributed to Osceola, whose bearing was proud and gloomy, and by order of General Thompson he was put in irons. Dissembling his wrath, Osceola obtained his liberty, and not only gave his consent to the removal of the whole nation, but so completely won the confidence of the government agent as to be entrusted with various commissions in different parts of the country, which he executed faithfully. In the meantime, however, he was concerting with the Indians a plan of deep revenge, which in the month of December began to take effect.
The remainder of this mournful history we will briefly relate from Marcius Willson. “At this time General Clinch was stationed at Fort Orange in Florida. Being supposed to be in danger from the Indians, and also in want of supplies, Major Dade was despatched from Fort Brooke, at the head of Tampa Bay, with upwards of 100 men, to his assistance. He had proceeded about half that distance, when he was suddenly attacked by the enemy, and he and all but four of his men were killed; and those four, horribly mangled, afterwards died of their wounds. At the time of Dade’s massacre, Osceola with a small band of warriors was prowling in the vicinity of Fort King. While General Thompson and a few friends were dining at a store only 250 yards from the fort, they were surprised by a sudden discharge of musketry, and five out of nine were killed. The body of General Thompson was found pierced with fifteen bullets. Osceola and his party rushed in, scalped the dead, and retreated before they could be fired upon by the garrison.
“Two days later, General Clinch engaged the Indians on the banks of the Withlacoochee, and in February of the following year, General Gaines, the commander of the north-western division, was attacked near the same place. In May, several of the Creek towns and tribes joined the Seminoles in the war. Murders and devastations were frequent; the Indians obtained possession of many of the southern mail-routes in Georgia and Alabama, attacked steamboats, destroyed stages, burned several towns, and compelled thousands of the whites, who had settled in their territory, to flee for their lives. A strong force, however, joined by many friendly Indians, being sent against them, and several of the hostile chiefs having being taken, the Creeks submitted; though such was their desperation, that many Indian mothers killed their children rather than that they should become prisoners to the pale-faces. During this summer great numbers were transported west of the Mississippi.
“In October, Governor Call took command of the forces in Florida, and with nearly 2,000 men marched into the interior, when several engagements took place.”
The time for the election of president being now come, Martin Van Buren was chosen, and Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, vice-president. The war in Florida, though it still raged, was for the time disregarded, owing to the monetary and mercantile distresses of the country, which reached their crises almost immediately after the accession of Van Buren. And yet so prosperous had the country been, only in the preceding June, that a large amount of surplus revenue had accumulated, which was given up to the people, and distributed in three instalments among the several states in proportion to their respective representations in congress. While this extraordinary prosperity lasted, there was a perfect frenzy of speculation; hundreds made immense fortunes, and tens of thousands were reduced to want. During the months of March and April of 1837, the failures in the city of New York alone amounted to nearly 100,000,000 dollars. The great extent of the business operations of the country, and their intimate connexion with each other, caused the evil to extend into all channels of trade. It was felt from the highest to the lowest. The third instalment of the surplus revenue, which we have already mentioned, having not yet been paid to the different states, was now applied to the necessities of government; but no means of relief were attempted for the people, it being contended that the case did not call for governmental interference, but a reformation in individual extravagance and a return to the old neglected ways of industry. A destructive fire in New York, which occurred at the close of 1835, and the loss by which was estimated at 17,000,000 dollars, added to the present distress.
Nevertheless growth, which is the principle of American life, went on. In September, 1835, Wisconsin was erected into a territory, and Arkansas into a state; and now, in the midst of the general distress, Michigan was admitted into the Union, making the twenty-sixth state; the original number of thirteen being doubled.
We must now resume and conclude our account of the Seminole war, which at this critical moment added to the expenses of the nation; while the climate of a country abounding in swamps and marshes, amid which the war was carried on, proved more fatal to the whites than even the Indians themselves. After several encounters early in the season, a number of chiefs came to the camp of General Jessup, and signed a treaty, by which hostilities were to cease, and the Seminoles engaged to remove beyond the Mississippi. But again the war broke out, and Osceola being suspected as the cause, was seized in the month of October, when, with several other chiefs and about seventy warriors, he arrived under the protection of a flag of truce at the American camp. This was the finishing stroke to the misfortunes of the Seminoles. It was a base action; but the treachery of Osceola was pleaded in its palliation. The Indian chief was now in the safe custody of the pale-faces, but the strength of the Seminoles was not yet broken. He was confined in Fort Moultrie, on Sullivan’s Island, opposite Charleston. Though a captive, he was not treated with unkindness. He was visited by the principal people of Charleston, and all was done for him which could render him comfortable, but his spirit was broken. It is related by one gentleman who visited him frequently, that the expression of his countenance was the most melancholy that could be conceived. He, however, is said never to have uttered any lamentation, although he often spoke with bitterness of the manner in which he had been taken prisoner, and of the injustice which had been done to his people. His person was handsome, his voice melodious, and his eyes filled with a gloomy fire.
Although his bearing and his fate awoke, as we have said, a universal interest for him, and Mr. Edin in particular, who felt an enthusiasm for the handsome and unhappy Seminole chief, brought him presents, he was indifferent to all; he grew more and more silent, and from the moment when he was put in prison his health declined, though he did not appear to be ill. He ate very little and refused all medicine. The captive eagle could not live when deprived of the free life and air of his forest.[[81]]
Osceola was a captive, but his people were not quelled. They, however, after they lost his leadership, strove not so much to maintain a hold on their country as to fight out the quarrel with their enemies. Accordingly, for three years more the war went on. In 1839, General Macomb, who had assumed the chief command of the army, induced a number of chiefs in the southern part of the peninsula again to sign a treaty of peace. By this treaty they were permitted to remain in the country until they could be assured of the prosperity of their friends, who had already emigrated. Again the treaty was broken, and in June of that year the territorial government offered 200 dollars for every Indian, dead or alive; and thus a war of extermination having begun, was continued till the year 1842.