WASHINGTON, _March 25, 1818_.
_To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States_:
I now lay before Congress all the information in the possession of
the Executive respecting the war with the Seminoles, and the measures
which it has been thought proper to adopt for the safety of our
fellow-citizens on the frontier exposed to their ravages. The inclosed
documents show that the hostilities of this tribe were unprovoked, the
offspring of a spirit long cherished and often manifested toward the
United States, and that in the present instance it was extending itself
to other tribes and daily assuming a more serious aspect. As soon as the
nature and object of this combination were perceived the major-general
commanding the Southern division of the troops of the United States was
ordered to the theater of action, charged with the management of the war
and vested with the powers necessary to give it effect. The season of
the year being unfavorable to active operations, and the recesses of
the country affording shelter to these savages in case of retreat, may
prevent a prompt termination of the war; but it may be fairly presumed
that it will not be long before this tribe and its associates receive
the punishment which they have provoked and justly merited.
As almost the whole of this tribe inhabits the country within the limits
of Florida, Spain was bound by the treaty of 1795 to restrain them from
committing hostilities against the United States. We have seen with
regret that her Government has altogether failed to fulfill this
obligation, nor are we aware that it made any effort to that effect.
When we consider her utter inability to check, even in the slightest
degree, the movements of this tribe by her very small and incompetent
force in Florida, we are not disposed to ascribe the failure to any
other cause. The inability, however, of Spain to maintain her authority
over the territory and Indians within her limits, and in consequence to
fulfill the treaty, ought not to expose the United States to other and
greater injuries. When the authority of Spain ceases to exist there, the
United States have a right to pursue their enemy on a principle of
self-defense. In this instance the right is more complete and obvious
because we shall perform only what Spain was bound to have performed
herself. To the high obligations and privileges of this great and sacred
right of self-defense will the movement of our troops be strictly
confined. Orders have been given to the general in command not to enter
Florida unless it be in pursuit of the enemy, and in that case to
respect the Spanish authority wherever it is maintained; and he will be
instructed to withdraw his forces from the Province as soon as he shall
have reduced that tribe to order, and secure our fellow-citizens in that
quarter by satisfactory arrangements against its unprovoked and savage
hostilities in future.