HOSTILITIES MAINTAINED BY GEORGIA.
Mr. Madison's election--His character--Desire of people of Georgia
to enslave Exiles--They demand annexation of Florida--Congress
passes a law for taking possession of that Territory--General
Mathews appointed Commissioner--Declares insurrection--Takes
possession of Amelia Island--Spanish Government demands
explanation--The President disavows acts of Mathews--Governor
Mitchell succeeds Mathews--Georgia raises an Army--Florida
Invaded--Troops surrounded by savage foes--Their danger--Their
retreat--Stealing Slaves--Lower Creeks join Seminoles--Georgia
demands their surrender--Chiefs refuse--Georgia
complains--President refuses to Interfere--Another Invasion of
Florida--Towns burned; Cattle stolen--Troops withdrawn from Amelia
Island--Public attention directed toward our Northern
frontier--Lord Cockrane enters Chesapeake Bay--Issues Proclamation
to Slaves--Dismay of Slaveholders--Slaves go on board British
ships--Several vessels enter Appalachicola Bay--Col. Nichols lands
there with Troops--Gathers around him Exiles and Indians--Builds a
Fort, arms it, and places Military Stores in Its Magazines--Treaty
of Peace with England--Provision in regard to Slaves taken away
during War--Claimants of the Exiles encouraged--Col Nichols
delivers Fort to the Exiles--Their plantations, wealth, and social
condition--Our Army--General Gaines represents Fort as in
possession of Outlaws--Plans for its
destruction--Correspondence--General Jackson's order--Col. Clinch's
Expedition--Met by Sailing-Master Loomis and two gun-boats--Fort
blown up--Destruction of human life--Negroes captured and
enslaved--Property taken--Claimed by Governor of Florida--First
Seminole War commenced.
When Mr. Madison assumed the duties of President (March 4, 1809), the
Exiles were quietly enjoying their freedom; each sitting under his own
vine and fig-tree, without molestation or fear. Many had been born in
the Seminole country, and now saw around them children and
grand-children, in the enjoyment of all the necessaries of life. Many,
even of those who fled from Georgia after the formation of that colony,
had departed to their final rest; but their children and friends had
been comparatively free from persecutions since the Treaty of Colerain,
in 1796. Discarding all connection with the Creeks, and living under
protection of Spain, and feeling their right to liberty was
"self-evident," they believed the United States to have tacitly admitted
their claims to freedom. With these impressions, they dwelt in conscious
security, believing no further attempts would be made to reënslave them.
Mr. Madison had penned the memorable Address of Congress to the people
of the United States, published near the close of the old Confederation,
in which was reiterated, in glowing language, the doctrines of the
Declaration of Independence; and in the Convention that framed the
Constitution, he had declared "it would be wrong to admit, in that
instrument, that _man can hold property in man_."
[Sidenote: 1810.]
The people of Georgia were not satisfied with the existing state of
things. They were greatly excited at seeing those who had once been
slaves, in South Carolina and in Georgia, now live quietly and happily
in the enjoyment of liberty, with their flocks and their herds, their
wives and their little ones, around them; but they were on Spanish soil,
protected by Spanish laws. The only mode of enslaving them was, firstly,
to obtain jurisdiction of the Territory; and the annexation of Florida
to the United States was, accordingly, urged upon the Federal
Government.
[Sidenote: 1811.]
Spain had acquired her American territories by conquest, and was too
proud to part with them. An excitement, however, was raised in favor of
its annexation; and this anxiety to secure the slave interests of the
South, soon extended to Congress, and infused itself into the Executive
policy of the nation. A law was passed by the two Houses, in secret
session, and approved by the President, for taking possession of
Florida. Gen. Mathews, a slaveholder of Georgia, was appointed
Commissioner for that purpose. A few malcontents were found in the
northeastern part of the Territory; their numbers were increased by men
of desperate fortunes from Georgia; and an insurrection was proclaimed
by the Acting General. Mathews, commanding the insurgents, took
possession of Amelia Island, and of the country opposite to it on the
main land. The Spanish Government, on learning the outrage, remonstrated
with our Executive, who disavowed the acts of Mathews, whom he recalled;
and proceeded to appoint General Mitchell, the Governor of Georgia, to
act as Commissioner, in place of Mathews.
Mitchell, however, continued to hold military possession of the island
and part of the main land, and, in fact, continued to carry forward the
policy which Mathews had inaugurated. These things occurred while our
nation was professedly at peace with Spain, and constituted a most
flagrant violation of our national faith.
[Sidenote: 1812.]
The Executive of Georgia, apparently entertaining the idea that his
State was competent to declare war and make peace, raised an army,
which, under the command of the Adjutant General, entered Florida with
the avowed intention of exterminating the Seminoles, who had so long
refused to surrender the Exiles; while the real object was the recapture
and reënslavement of the refugees. The Creeks of the Lower Towns,
however, took sides with the Seminoles, in opposing this piratical foray
of slave-catchers. The army having penetrated a hundred miles or more
into Florida, found itself surrounded with hostile savages. Their
supplies were cut off; the men, reduced almost to a state of starvation,
were compelled to retrace their steps; and with great loss the survivors
reached Georgia. But they robbed those Spanish inhabitants who fell in
their way of all their provisions, and left them to suffer for the want
of food. Nor were the Georgians satisfied with taking such provisions as
were necessary to support life; they also took with them a large number
of slaves, owned by Spanish masters, with whom they resided.[21]
The people, and the authorities of Georgia, were greatly incensed at the
Creek Indians, who had assisted the Seminoles in defending themselves;
and the Governor of that State demanded of the chiefs a surrender of
those individuals who had thus offended against the sovereignty of that
commonwealth. The chiefs refused to deliver up their brethren, and the
Governor complained to the President of this disregard of slaveholding
comity by the Creeks.
The Federal authorities appear to have felt very little interest in the
matter, and Georgia determined to redress her own grievances. The
Legislature of that State, deeming their interests neglected by the
Federal Government, passed resolutions declaring the occupation of
Florida essential to the safety and welfare of their people, whether
Congress authorized it or not; and they passed an act for raising a
force "_to reduce St. Augustine and punish the Indians_."
Under this declaration of war by the sovereign power of Georgia, another
army was raised. Hunters, trappers, vagabonds, and men of desperate
fortunes, were collected from that State, from East Tennessee, and from
other Southern States, to the number of five hundred; and Florida was
again invaded. This expedition was more successful, in some respects,
than the first. They burned two or three of the smaller Seminole towns,
destroyed several cornfields that had been planted by the Exiles, and
drove back to Georgia large herds of cattle, which they had stolen from
the negroes; yet the principal object of the Expedition failed: They
were unable to capture an individual, or family, of the Exiles. There
were no Spanish inhabitants in that part of Florida from whom they could
capture slaves, and they were compelled to return without human victims,
but with the loss of several individuals of their own party. Thus, after
a struggle of more than two years (ending May, 1813), the State of
Georgia found itself unable to conquer Florida or the Seminoles, or to
capture the Exiles. Further prosecution of the war was given up, the
troops were withdrawn from Amelia Island, and peace was restored.
This extraordinary proceeding, on the part of Georgia, appears to have
excited very little attention at the time; probably in consequence of
the more important operations that were then being carried forward, upon
our Northern and Northwestern frontiers. Harrison at Tippecanoe, and at
Maumee; and Scott and Van Rensselaer at Queenston, and along the Niagara
frontier, were gallantly confronting the British army, aided by powerful
allies from the various neighboring tribes of savages; and so greatly
was the attention of the people of the Northern States absorbed in these
operations, that they were scarcely conscious of the slave-catching
forays carried on by the State of Georgia. Indeed, during these
operations, the public men of that State were among the most vehement
advocates for a strict construction of the Federal Constitution, and for
maintaining the American Union.
[Sidenote: 1814.]
These transactions upon our Southern frontier, called attention of
British Ministers to the Seminoles and the Exiles. A hostile fleet
entered Chesapeake Bay, under Lord Cochrane, who issued a proclamation
inviting all persons (meaning slaves), who desired to emigrate from the
United States, to come with their families on board his Britannic
Majesty's ships of war; assuring them of the privilege of entering his
Majesty's naval service, or of settling with their families, as _free_
persons, in either of the British West India Islands. This proclamation
was widely circulated, and spread very general consternation along our
Southern seaboard: it gave the slaveholders of Georgia occasion to look
to their own protection, and to secure the fidelity of those bondmen who
yet remained in the service of their masters.[22]
[Illustration: Gopher John, Seminole Interpreter.]
Two British sloops of war and some smaller vessels suddenly appeared in
Appalachicola Bay, where they landed a body of troops, under Lieut.
Colonel Nichols, of the British Army, for the purpose of lending support
and protection to the Exiles and their Indian allies. He opened
communications with them, furnished them with arms and ammunition, and
soon drew around him a considerable force of Indians as well as negroes.
His encampment was on the east side of the Appalachicola River, some
thirty miles above its mouth. In November, he completed a strong fort on
the bank of that stream. Some eight pieces of heavy ordnance were
mounted upon its walls, and its magazine was well stored with the
material of war.[23] It was evidently intended as a defense against the
forays of slave-catchers, who were not expected to bring with them heavy
artillery. The plan was well conceived. Even the plundering expeditions
authorized by the State of Georgia, would have been unable to make any
impression on this fortification. But neither Nichols, nor the Exiles,
appear to have anticipated the employment of the United States navy in a
piratical work, discarded by most Christian nations and people, and
allowed to be carried on only upon the African coast.
The British fleet withdrew from the coast of Georgia, and the
slaveholders of that State were relieved, for a time, from those
apprehensions of slave insurrection which had been excited by the
proclamation of Lord Cochrane.
In the meantime the Treaty of Ghent was ratified, and peace restored to
the country. In that treaty the interests of Slavery had not been
forgotten; and the same stipulations were inserted, in regard to the
withdrawal of his Majesty's troops and navy, "without taking or carrying
away any negroes or other property of the citizens," which characterized
the treaty of 1782. The owners of slaves who had fled from service under
the proclamation of Lord Cochrane, now determined to obtain compensation
for their loss. This general feeling again aroused the cupidity of those
whose fathers had once claimed to own those Exiles, who fled from
Georgia some thirty or forty years previously.
In the spring of 1815, Colonel Nichols and his troops withdrew from
Florida, leaving the fort, with its entire armament and magazine of
military stores, in the possession of the Exiles, who resided in the
vicinity. Their plantations extended along the river several miles,
above and below the fort.[24] Many of them possessed large herds of
cattle and horses, which roamed in the forests, gathering their food,
both in summer and winter, without expense or trouble to their owners.
The Pioneer Exiles from South Carolina had settled here long before the
Colony of Georgia existed. Several generations had lived to manhood and
died in those forest-homes. To their descendants it had become
consecrated by "many an oft told tale" of early adventure, of hardship
and suffering; the recollection of which had been retained in tradition,
told in story, and sung in their rude lays. Here were the graves of
their ancestors, around whose memories were clustered the fondest
recollections of the human mind. The climate was genial. They were
surrounded by extensive forests, and far removed from the habitations of
those enemies of freedom who sought to enslave them; and they regarded
themselves as secure in the enjoyment of liberty. Shut out from the
cares and strifes of more civilized men, they were happy in their own
social solitude. So far from seeking to injure the people of the United
States, they were only anxious to be exempt, and entirely free from all
contact with our population or Government; while they faithfully
maintained their allegiance to the Spanish crown.
[Sidenote: 1815.]
Peace with Great Britain, however, had left our army without active
employment. A portion of it was stationed along our Southern frontier of
Georgia, to maintain peace with the Indians. The authorities and people
of Georgia maintained social and friendly relations with the officers
and men of the army. By means of Indian spies, the real condition of the
Exiles was also ascertained and well understood. What means were used to
excite the feelings or prejudices of the military officers against these
unoffending Exiles, is not known at this day. Most of the officers
commanding in the South were, however, slaveholders, and probably felt a
strong sympathy with the people of Georgia in their indignation against
them, for obtaining and enjoying liberty without permission of their
masters.
General Gaines, commanding on the Southern frontier of Georgia, making
Fort Scott his head-quarters, wrote the Secretary of War (May 14),
saying, "certain negroes and outlaws have taken possession of a fort on
the Appalachicola River, in the Territory of Florida." He assured the
Secretary, that he should keep watch of them. He charged them with no
crime, imputed to them no hostile acts. He was conscious that they had
taken possession of the fort solely for their own protection; but he
styled them _negroes_, which, in the language of that day among
slaveholders, was regarded as an imputation of guilt; and _outlaw_ was
supposed to be a proper term with which to characterize those who had
fled from bondage and sworn allegiance to another government.[25]
For more than a year subsequently to the date of this letter, General
Gaines made the Exiles a subject of frequent communication to the War
Department. In this official correspondence, he at all times spoke of
them as "runaways," "outlaws," "pirates," "murderers," etc.; but in no
instance did he charge them with any act hostile to the United States,
or to any other people or government.
Of these communications the Exiles were ignorant. They continued in
peaceful retirement, cultivating the earth, and gaining a support for
themselves and families. In the autumn of 1815, they gathered their
crops, provided for the support of the aged and infirm, as well as for
their children. They carefully nursed the sick; they buried their dead;
they lived in peace, and enjoyed the fruits of their labor. The
following spring and summer found them in this enviable condition.
[Sidenote: 1816.]
While the Exiles living on the Appalachicola were thus pursuing the even
tenor of their ways, plans were ripening among the slaveholders and
military officers of our army for their destruction. A correspondence
was opened by the Secretary of War with General Jackson, who commanded
the Southwestern Military District of the United States, holding his
head-quarters at Nashville, Tennessee. Various letters and
communications passed between those officers in regard to this "Negro
Fort," as they called it.
Power is never more dangerous than when wielded by military men. They
usually feel ambitious to display their own prowess, and that of the
troops under their command; and no person can read the communications of
General Gaines, in regard to the Exiles who had gathered in and around
this fort, without feeling conscious that he greatly desired to give to
the people of the United States an example of the science and power by
which they could destroy human life.[26]
At length, on the sixteenth of May, General Jackson wrote General
Gaines, saying, "I have little doubt of the fact, that this fort has
been established by some villains for the purpose of rapine and plunder,
and that it ought to be blown up, regardless of the ground on which it
stands; and if your mind shall have formed the same conclusion, destroy
it and return the _stolen negroes_ and property to their rightful
owners."[27]
Without attempting to criticise this order of General Jackson, we must
regard a fort thus situated, at least sixty miles from the border of the
United States, as a most singular instrument for the purpose of
"rapine," or plundering our citizens. Nor could General Jackson have
entertained any apprehensions from those who occupied the fort. The
entire correspondence showed them to be _refugees_, seeking only to
avoid our people; indeed, his very order shows this, for he directs
General Gaines to return the "_stolen negroes_ to their rightful
owners." The use of opprobrious epithets is not often resorted to by men
in high official stations: yet it is difficult to believe, that General
Jackson supposed these negroes to have been stolen; for, neither in the
official correspondence on this subject, nor in the papers accompanying
it, embracing more than a hundred documentary pages, is there a hint
that these negroes were "_stolen_," or that they had committed violence
upon any person, or upon the property of any person whatever. They had
sought their own liberty, and the charge of stealing themselves, was
used like the other epithets of "outlaws," "pirates" and "murderers," to
cast opprobrium upon the character of men who, if judged by their love
of liberty or their patriotism, would now occupy a position not less
honorable in the history of our country than is assigned to the patriots
of 1776.
Nor is it easy to discover the rule of international law, which
authorized the Executive of the United States, or the officers of our
army, to dictate to the crown of Spain in what part of his territory he
should, or should not, erect fortresses; or the constitutional power
which they held for invading the territory of a nation at peace with the
United States, destroy a fort, and consign its occupants to slavery. But
those were days of official arrogance on the one hand, and popular
submission on the other. The Exiles, or their ancestors, had once been
slaves. They now were cultivating the richest lands in Florida, and
possessed wealth; they were occupying a strong fortress. Many slaves
during the recent war had escaped from their masters, in Georgia, and
some were supposed to be free subjects of Spain, living in Florida; and
if the Exiles were permitted to enjoy their plantations and property in
peace, it was evident that the institution in adjoining States would be
in danger of a total overthrow. These facts were apparent to General
Jackson, as well as to General Gaines and the slaveholders of Georgia.
General Gaines only awaited permission from his superior to carry out
the designs of the slaveholders, who had become alarmed at the dangers
to which their "peculiar institution" was subjected. Upon the receipt of
the order above quoted, he detailed Lieut. Col. Clinch,[28] of the
regular troops, with his regiment and five hundred friendly Creek
Indians, under McIntosh, their principal chief, to carry out the
directions of General Jackson. Colonel Clinch was directed to take with
him two pieces of artillery, for the purpose of cannonading the fort if
necessary.[29]
This commencement of the first Seminole war was, at the time, unknown
to the people of the United States. It was undertaken for the purposes
stated in General Jackson's order, to "blow up the fort, and _return the
negroes to their rightful owners_." Historians have failed to expose the
cause of hostilities, or the barbarous foray which plunged the nation
into that bloody contest which cost the people millions of treasure and
the sacrifice of hundreds of human lives.
It was July before the arrangements were fully made by Colonel Clinch
and his savage allies for descending the river, with suitable artillery
and supplies, to accomplish the object of their mission.[30] The Creeks,
having entered into the treaties of New York and Colerain, by which they
bound themselves, twenty years previously, to return those Exiles who
fled from Georgia, and having failed to perform those stipulations, now
cheerfully united with the American army in this first slave-catching
expedition undertaken by the Federal Government.
Of these movements the Exiles had been informed by their neighbors, the
friendly Creeks; for, among the Lower Creeks, were individuals who at
all times sympathized with them, and kept them informed of the measures
adopted for their destruction. All the families living on the river and
in the vicinity of the fort, fled to it for protection. They had no idea
of the advantages arising from scientific warfare; they believed their
fortification impregnable. Colonel Nichols had erected it for the
purpose of affording them protection, and they had no doubt of its
efficiency for that purpose.
Such were the delays attending the journey, in consequence of
difficulties in transporting heavy guns and provisions, that the troops
did not reach the vicinity of the fort until the twenty-fourth of July.
In the meantime, Commodore Patterson, in pursuance of orders from the
naval department, had detailed Sailing-Master Loomis, with two
gun-boats, to assist in carrying out the order of General Jackson.[31]
On the twenty-fourth of July, Colonel Clinch commenced a reconnoisance
of the fort. On the twenty-fifth, he cleared away the brush and erected
a battery, and placed upon it two long eighteen-pounders, and commenced
a cannonade of the fortress. At the time of this investment, there were
about three hundred Exiles in the fort, including women and children,
besides thirty-four Seminole Indians:[32] yet in the official report of
Colonel Clinch, he makes no mention of his fire being returned; nor does
he say that any of his men were killed or wounded by the occupants of
the fort.
On the twenty-sixth of July, Sailing-Master Loomis, with his command,
reached a point on the river some two miles below the fort. Colonel
Clinch met him at that place, for consultation, and informed him that
his fire had thus far proved ineffectual, and that a nearer approach of
artillery by land would be difficult.[33]
Judging from the language used in his official dispatch, Sailing-Master
Loomis must have entertained some feelings of distrust towards Colonel
Clinch, as they evidently separated in bad temper: yet no officer in the
service of the United States ever exhibited greater prudence in his
preparations, or more firmness in battle, than Colonel Clinch. He was,
however, a man of kind and humane feelings, and high notions of honor.
It has been supposed by many of his friends, that he shrank from the
perpetration of the outrage which he had been detailed to commit.[34]
On the morning of the twenty-seventh, Loomis, with his boats, ascended
the river and cast anchor opposite the fort, while Colonel Clinch and
the Creek Indians took positions so as to cut off retreat by land. The
cannonade was resumed, and the land and naval forces of the United
States were engaged in throwing shot and shells for the purpose of
murdering those friendless Exiles, those women and children, who had
committed no other offense than that of having been born of parents who,
a century previously, had been held in bondage. Mothers and children now
shrieked with terror as the roar of cannon, the whistling of balls, the
explosion of shells, the war-whoops of the savages, the groans of the
wounded and dying, foretold the sad fate which awaited them. The
stout-hearted old men cheered and encouraged their friends, declaring
that death was to be preferred to slavery.
The struggle, however, was not protracted. The cannon balls not taking
effect upon the embankments of earth, they prepared their furnaces and
commenced the fire of hot shot, directed at the principal magazine. This
mode proved more successful. A ball, fully heated, reached the powder in
the magazine. The small size of the fort, and the great number of people
in it, rendered the explosion unusually fatal. Many were entirely buried
in the ruins, others were killed by falling timbers, while many bodies
were torn in pieces. Limbs were separated from bodies to which they had
been attached, and death, in all its horrid forms, was visible within
that doomed fortress.[35]
Of three hundred and thirty-four souls within the fort, two hundred and
seventy were _instantly killed_; while of the sixty who remained, only
_three_ escaped without injury.[36] Two of the survivors--one negro and
one Indian--were selected as supposed chiefs of the allied forces within
the fort. They were delivered over to the Indians who accompanied
Colonel Clinch, and were massacred within the fort, in the presence of
our troops;[37] but no report on record shows the extent of torture to
which they were subjected.
We have no reliable information as to the number who died of their
wounds. They were placed on board the gun-boats, and their wounds were
dressed by the surgeons; and those who recovered were afterwards
delivered over to claimants in Georgia. Those who were slightly wounded,
but able to travel, were taken back with Colonel Clinch to Georgia and
delivered over to men who claimed to have descended from planters who,
some three or four generations previously, owned the ancestors of the
prisoners. There could be no proof of identity, nor was there any court
authorized to take testimony, or enter decree in such case; but they
were delivered over upon _claim_, taken to the interior, and sold to
different planters. There they mingled with that mass of chattelized
humanity which characterizes our Southern States, and were swallowed up
in that tide of oppression which is now bearing three millions of human
beings to untimely graves.
Sailing-Master Loomis informed the Naval Department, through Commodore
Patterson, that the value of the property captured in the fort was "not
less than two hundred thousand dollars." He also stated that a portion
of this property was "delivered over by Colonel Clinch to the Indians
who had accompanied him, on the _express agreement that they should
share in the plunder_." Another portion of property was held by Colonel
Clinch, as necessary for the use of the troops. A list of the articles
thus taken is given in the report: it embraces spades, shovels,
pickaxes, swords, sword-belts, pistols and muskets. The remainder of the
property was taken on board the gun-boats, and held subject to the order
of the Secretary of the Navy.[38]
The Governor of Florida demanded, in the name of "his Most Christian
Majesty the king of Spain," possession of the property thus captured in
the fort; denying the right of either our army or navy to invade the
territory of Spain, and take and carry away property from its
fortifications.
To this claim Sailing-Master Loomis replied, that the property did not
belong to the Spanish crown, but to the Exiles, who were in possession
of it, from whom it was taken by _conquest_. This correspondence between
his Excellency the Governor of Florida and the Commander of the two
gun-boats, was duly transmitted to our Government at Washington, and may
now be found in our National Archives.[39]
Some twenty-two years subsequent to the capture of this property, and
the massacre of those who were in possession of it, a bill was reported
in the House of Representatives,[40] granting five thousand dollars to
the officers, marines and sailors who constituted the crews of those
gun-boats, as compensation for their _gallant_ services. Whether the
honorable Chairman of the Naval Committee who reported the bill, or any
member of the House who voted for it, was aware of the true character of
the services rendered, is a matter of doubt; but the bill passed without
opposition, became a law, and the people of the United States paid that
bonus for the perpetration of one of the darkest crimes which stains
the history of any civilized nation.[41]
The official correspondence connected with this massacre was called for
by resolution, adopted in the House of Representatives, and was
communicated to that body at the second session of the fifteenth
Congress. But no action appears to have been proposed in regard to it;
nor does it appear that public attention was at that time particularly
called to this most wanton sacrifice of human life.
In this massacre, nearly every Exile resident upon the Appalachicola
River, including women and children, perished or was reënslaved. Their
homes were left desolate; their plantations, and their herds of cattle
and horses, became the property of those who first obtained possession
of them. Probably one-third of all the Exiles at that time resident in
Florida, perished in this massacre, or were reënslaved by Colonel
Clinch; yet the atrocious character of the transaction appears to have
attracted very little attention at the time. General Jackson was popular
as a military officer, and the Administration of Mr. Madison was
regarded with general favor. No member of Congress protested against the
transaction, or made known its barbarity to the people; while the ablest
members taxed their ingenuity, and brought all their rhetoric to bear,
in vindication of those concerned in the outrage.[42]
While Mr. Clay and others severely condemned the technical invasion of
Florida, as an act of hostility toward the King of Spain, they omitted
all reference to this wanton massacre of the Exiles: nor have we been
able to learn that any member even intimated that the bloody Seminole
war of 1816-17 and 18, arose from efforts of our Government to sustain
the interests of Slavery; or that our troops were employed to murder
women and children because their ancestors had once been held in
bondage, and to seize and carry back to toil and suffering those who
escaped death in that barbarous massacre. The officers of Government,
and historians of that day, appear to have avoided all reference to the
fact, that the people thus murdered had been far longer in the
wilderness than were the children of Israel; that they were contending
for that Liberty which is the rightful inheritance of every human being.
Indeed, more than twenty years elapsed after this massacre, before a
distinguished Philanthropist gave to the public the first intimation
that such a people as the Exiles had existed.[43]