COMMENCEMENT OF THE SECOND SEMINOLE WAR.
The number of Exiles in Florida--Spanish Maroons--Seminole
Slaves--Osceola--His Parentage--His Character--His Wife--Her
Parentage and sad Fate--Imprisonment of Osceola--His Release--He
swears Vengeance against Mr. Thompson--Decree of General
Council--Fate of Charley E. Mathler--Osceola and followers seek the
life of Thompson--Lay in wait near Fort King--Fate of Mr. Thompson
and Lieut. Smith--Of the Sutler and his Clerks--General Clinch
orders Major Dade to Fort King--The Major seeks a faithful
Guide--Engages the Services of Louis, a Slave--His Learning and
Character--He meditates the Massacre of Dade and his men--Councils
with the Exiles--Arranges the plan of Massacre, and informs them of
the time--Exiles and Indians rendezvous in Wahoo Swamp--Dade's
Approach--The preparation--The Massacre--Osceola and Louis--The
Exiles and Indians again meet in the Swamp for the
night--Digression--Incidents.
The number of Exiles at the commencement of the Second Seminole War, has
been variously estimated. Probably their whole number, including women
and children, was not less than twelve hundred. To these may be added
the slaves belonging to the Seminoles, estimated at two hundred, making
a population of fourteen hundred blacks. Most of the slaves lived with
the Exiles, separate and apart from their masters, paying a certain
quantity of vegetables annually, for the partial freedom which they
enjoyed. There were many half-breeds, however, some of whom resided with
the Indians, and others were located with the Exiles.
The Spanish population called the Exiles "Maroons," after a class of
free negroes who inhabit the mountains of Cuba, Jamaica, and other West
Indian islands. Indeed, some of the Maroons of Cuba appear to have
found their way to Florida,[78] and many of the Exiles passed from that
Territory to the West India Islands. Many officers of Government appear
to have known or cared little for these people, while others manifested
much intelligence and humanity in regard to them. We have already
noticed the efforts of Mr. Thompson, the Indian Agent, of Colonel
Clinch, and of Colonel Eaton, in behalf of the Exiles, who had long
resided in Florida.
During the summer, the Indians committed various depredations upon the
white people, such as stealing horses and killing cattle; but the first
open hostilities occurred on the twenty-eighth of December, when two
important and bloody tragedies took place, which left the country no
longer in doubt as to the actual existence of war.
A young and gallant warrior, named Osceola, was the principal actor in
one of these scenes. He was the son of an Indian trader, a white man,
named Powell. His mother was the daughter of a Seminole chief.
He had recently married a woman said to have been beautiful. She was the
daughter of a chief who had married one of the Exiles; but as all
colored people by slaveholding laws are said to follow the condition of
the mother, she was called an African slave. Osceola was proud of his
ancestry. He hated slavery, and those who practiced the holding of
slaves, with a bitterness that is but little understood by those who
have never witnessed its revolting crimes.
He visited Fort King, in company with his wife and a few friends, for
the purpose of trading. Mr. Thompson, the Agent, was present, and, while
engaged in business, the wife of Osceola was seized as a slave.
Evidently having negro blood in her veins, the law pronounced her a
slave; and, as no other person could show title to her, the pirate who
had got possession of her body, was supposed of course to be her owner.
[Illustration: As.se.he.ho.lar. (known as Osceola, or Powell.)]
Osceola became frantic with rage, but was instantly seized and placed in
irons, while his wife was hurried away to slaveholding pollution.[79] He
remained six days in irons, when, General Thompson says, he became
penitent, and was released.
From the moment when this outrage was committed, the Florida War may be
regarded as commenced. Osceola swore vengeance upon Thompson, and those
who assisted in the perpetration of this indignity upon himself, as well
as upon his wife, and upon our common humanity.
The Exiles endeavored to stimulate the Indians to deeds of valor. In
general council, they decreed that the first Seminole who should make
any movement preparatory to emigration, should suffer death. Charley E.
Mathler, a respected chief, soon after fell a victim to this decree.
Osceola commanded the party who slew him. He had sold a portion of his
cattle to the whites, for which he had received pay in gold. This money
was found upon his person when he fell. Osceola forbade any one touching
the gold, saying it was the price of the red man's blood, and with his
own hands he scattered it in different directions as far as he was able
to throw it.
But his chief object appeared to have been the death of General
Thompson. Other Indians and Exiles were preparing for other important
operations; but Osceola seemed intent, his whole soul was absorbed, in
devising some plan by which he could safely reach Mr. Thompson, who was
the object of his vengeance. He, or some of his friends, kept constant
watch on the movements of Thompson, who was unconscious of the danger to
which he was exposed. Osceola, steady to his purpose, refused to be
diverted from this favorite object. Thompson was at Fort King, and
there were but few troops to protect that fortress. But Indians seldom
attempt an escalade, and Osceola sought an opportunity to take it by
surprise. With some twenty followers, he lay secreted near the fort for
days and weeks, determined to find some opportunity to enter by the open
gate, when the troops should be off their guard.
Near the close of December, a runner brought him information that Major
Dade, with his command, was to leave Fort Brooke on the twenty-fifth of
that month, and that those who intended to share in the attack upon that
regiment, must be at the great "Wahoo Swamp," by the evening of the
twenty-seventh. This had no effect whatever upon Osceola. No
circumstance could withdraw him from the bloody purpose which filled his
soul.
On the twenty-eighth, in the afternoon, as he and his followers lay near
the road leading from the fort to the house of the sutler, which was
nearly a mile distant, they saw Mr. Thompson and a friend approaching.
That gentleman and his companions had dined, and, on taking their
cigars, he and Lieut. Smith, of the Second Artillery, had sallied forth
for a walk, and to enjoy conversation by themselves.
At a signal given by Osceola, the Indians fired. Thompson fell, pierced
by fourteen balls; Smith received about as many.[80] The shrill
war-whoop followed the sound of the rifles, and alarmed the people at
the fort. The Indians immediately scalped their victims, and then
hastened to the house, where Mr. Rogers, the sutler, and two clerks,
were at dinner. These three persons were instantly massacred and
scalped. The Indians took as many valuable goods as they could carry,
and set fire to the building. The smoke gave notice to those in the fort
of the fate that had befallen the sutler and his clerks. But the
condition in which the commandant found his troops, forbade his sending
out any considerable force to ascertain the fate of Thompson and his
companion. Near nightfall, a few daring spirits proceeded up the road to
the hommock, and brought the bodies to the fort; but Osceola and his
followers had hastened their flight, not from fear of the troops, but
with the hope of joining their companions at Wahoo in time to engage in
scenes of more general interest.
General Clinch had foreseen that hostilities were unavoidable, and, as
early as the fifteenth of November, had sought to increase the number of
troops at Fort King by such reinforcements as could be spared from other
stations. For this purpose, he ordered Major Dade, then at Fort Brooke,
near Tampa Bay, to prepare his command for a march to Fort King. The
distance was one hundred and thirty miles, through an unsettled forest,
much diversified with swamps, lakes and hommocks. No officer nor soldier
could be found who was acquainted with the route, and a guide was
indispensable: yet men competent to the discharge of so important a
trust were rarely to be found, for the lives of the regiment might
depend upon the intelligence and fidelity of their conductor.
At this point in our history, even before the commencement of general
hostilities, we are led to the acquaintance of one of the most romantic
characters who bore part in the stirring scenes of that day. On making
inquiry for a suitable guide, the attention of Major Dade was directed
to a colored man named Louis. He was the slave of one of the old and
respectable Spanish families, named Pacheco, who resided in the vicinity
of Fort Brooke. Major Dade applied to the master, Antonio Pacheco, for
information concerning his slave, and was assured that Louis, then near
thirty years of age, was one of the most _faithful_, _intelligent_, and
_trustworthy_ men he had ever known. He had also been well bred, was
polite, accomplished, and learned. He read, wrote, and spoke, with
facility, the Spanish, French, and English languages, and spoke the
Indian, and was perfectly familiar with the route to Fort King, having
frequently traveled it.
Pleased with the character and appearance of Louis, Major Dade entered
into an agreement with the master for his services in conducting the
troops through the forest to Fort King, at the rate of twenty-five
dollars per month, and stated the time at which the service was to
commence. The contract was made in the presence of Louis, who listened
attentively to the whole arrangement, to which he of course gave his own
consent.
Louis Pacheco was too enlightened to smother the better sympathies of
the human heart. He was well informed, and understood the efforts that
were making to reënslave his brethren, the Exiles. With many of them he
had long been acquainted; he had witnessed the persecutions to which
they had been subjected, the outrages heaped upon them, and now saw
clearly the intention to subject them to slavery among the Creeks. He
had spent his own life thus far in servitude, and, although his
condition was regarded with envy by the plantation servants around him,
he yet sighed for freedom.
Blessed with an intellect of no ordinary mould, he reflected deeply upon
his condition, and determined upon his course. Hostilities had not yet
commenced, and he was in the daily habit of conversing with Indians, and
often with Exiles. He was well acquainted with the character of each,
and knew the men to whom he could communicate important information with
safety. To a few of the Exiles, men of integrity and boldness, he
imparted the facts that Dade, with his troops, would leave Fort Brooke
about the twenty-fifth of December, for Fort King, and that he, Louis,
was to act as their guide; that he would conduct them by the trail
leading near the Great Wahoo Swamp, and pointed out the proper place for
an attack.[81]
This information was soon made known to the leading and active Exiles,
and to a few of the Seminole chiefs and warriors. The Exiles, conscious
that the war was to be waged on their account, were anxious to give
their friends some suitable manifestation of their prowess. They desired
as many of the Exiles capable of bearing arms as could assemble at a
certain point in the Great Wahoo Swamp, to meet them there as early as
the twenty-seventh of December, armed, and prepared to commence the war
by a proper demonstration of their gallantry.
Information was sent to Osceola and his followers, inviting them to be
present. They were lying secreted near Fort King, too intent upon the
death of Thompson to turn their eyes for a moment from their victim.
However, many other chiefs and warriors assembled at the time and place
designated, in order to witness what they supposed would be the first
scene in the great drama about to be acted. Their spies detached for
that purpose, arrived at their rendezvous almost hourly, bringing
information of the commencement of Dade's march, the number of men
forming his battalion, and their places of encampment each night.
In the evening of the twenty-seventh, their patrols brought word that
Dade and his men had arrived within three miles of the point at which
they intended to attack them. Of course every preparation was now made
for placing themselves in ambush at an early hour, along the trail in
which it was expected the troops would pass. The scouts reported that
precisely one hundred and ten men constituted the force which they
expected to encounter, and the official report fully confirms the
accuracy of their intelligence. The Exiles looked to the coming day with
great intensity of feeling. More than two hundred years since, their
ancestors had been piratically seized in their own country, and forcibly
torn from their friends--from the land of their nativity. For a time
they submitted to degrading bondage; but more than a century had elapsed
since they fled from South Carolina, and found an asylum under Spanish
law in the wilds of Florida. There their fathers and mothers had been
buried. They had often visited their graves, and mourned over the sad
fate to which their race appeared to be doomed. For fifty years they had
been subjected to almost constant persecution at the hands of our
Government. The blood of their fathers, brothers and friends, massacred
at "Blount's Fort," was yet unavenged. They had seen individuals from
among them piratically seized and enslaved. Their friends, residing with
E-con-chattimico and with Walker, had been openly and flagrantly
kidnapped, and sold into interminable servitude, where they were then
sighing and moaning in degrading bondage. In looking forward, they read
their intended doom, clearly written in the slave codes of Florida and
the adjoining States, which could only be avoided by their most
determined resistance. If they behaved worthy of men in their condition,
their influence with their savage allies would be confirmed, and they
would be able to control their action on subsequent occasions. Every
consideration, therefore, tended to nerve them to the work of death
which lay before them.
In the meantime, their victims were reposing at only four or five miles
distant in conscious security. Their encampment had been selected
according to military science. The men and officers were encamped in
scientific order. Their guards were placed, their patrols sent out, and
every precaution taken to prevent surprise. They had seen service, and
cheerfully encountered its hardships, privations, and dangers, but had
no suspicion of the fate that awaited them on the coming day.
At early dawn, the men were paraded, the roll called, and the order for
regulating the day's march given. They were then dismissed for
breakfast, and at eight o'clock, resumed their march, and proceeded on
their way in the full expectation of reaching their destination by the
evening of that day.
But the insidious foe had been equally vigilant. They had left their
island encampment with the first light of the morning, and each had
taken his position along the trail in which the troops were expected to
march, but at some thirty or forty yards distant. Each man was hidden by
a tree, which was to be his fortress during the expected action. A few
rods on the other side of the trail lay a pond of water, whose placid
surface reflected the glittering rays of the morning sun. All was
peaceful and quiet as the breath of summer.
Unsuspicious of the hidden death which beset their pathway, the troops
entered this defile, and passed along until their rear had come within
the range of the enemies' rifles, when, at a given signal, each warrior
fired, while his victim was in full view and unprotected. One-half of
that ill-fated band, including the gallant Dade, fell at the first fire.
The remainder were thrown into disorder. The officers endeavored to
rally them into line; but their enemy was unseen, and ere they could
return an effective shot, a second discharge from the hidden foe laid
one-half their remaining force prostrate in death. The survivors
retreated a short distance toward their encampment of the previous
night, and, while most of the Exiles and Indians were engaged in
scalping the dead and tomahawking those who were disabled, they formed a
hasty breastwork of logs for their defense. They were, however, soon
invested by the enemy, and the few who had taken shelter behind their
rude defenses were overcome and massacred by the Exiles, who conversed
with them in English, and then dispatched them.[82] Only two individuals
beside Louis, the guide, made their escape. Their gallant commander, his
officers and soldiers, whose hearts had beat high with expectation in
the morning, at evening lay prostrate in death; and as the sable victors
relaxed from their bloody work, they congratulated each other on having
revenged the death of those who, twenty years previously, had fallen at
the massacre of "Blount's Fort." The loss of the allied forces
was--three killed and five wounded.
After burying their own dead, they returned to the island in the swamp
long before nightfall. To this point, they brought the spoils of
victory, which were deemed important for carrying on the war. Night had
scarcely closed around them, however, when Osceola and his followers
arrived from Fort King, bringing intelligence of the death of Thompson
and Lieutenant Smith, together with the sutler and his two clerks.
There, too, was Louis, the guide to Dade's command. He was now _free_!
He engaged in conversation with his sable friends. Well knowing the time
and place at which the attack was to be made, he had professed necessity
for stopping by the way-side before entering the defile; thus
separating himself from the troops and from danger. Soon as the first
fire showed him the precise position of his friends, he joined them; and
swearing eternal hostility to all who enslave their fellow men, lent his
own efforts in carrying forward the work of death, until the last
individual of that doomed regiment sunk beneath their tomahawks.
The massacre of the unfortunate Dade and his companions, and the murder
of Thompson and his friends, at Fort King, occurred on the same day, and
constituted the opening scenes of the second Seminole War.
[Sidenote: 1847.]
We bespeak the indulgence of the reader, while we digress from the
chronological narration of events which followed consecutively upon this
opening of the second Seminole War, in order to give a short sketch of
some incidents which occurred in Congress, and were connected with the
employment of Louis, and his subsequent service with the enemy.
Twelve years after the massacre of Dade's command, Antonio Pacheco
presented his petition to Congress, setting forth that he had been the
owner of a valuable slave named Louis; that he hired him as guide to
Major Dade to conduct his command from "Fort Brooke" to "Fort King;"
that at the time of Dade's defeat, Louis had been _captured by the
Indians_, and by them had been subsequently surrendered to Major General
Jessup, and by that officer sent to the Indian country, west of the
Mississippi, whereby he became lost to his owner, who, therefore, prayed
Congress to grant him full indemnity for his loss.
Among the proofs accompanying this petition was a letter from General
Jessup, setting forth that, after Louis had been employed to act as
guide, he had kept up a correspondence with the "Seminole negroes,"
informing them of the intended march of Major Dade, etc. He also
represented Louis as a man of extraordinary intellect and learning,
declaring that he regarded him as a _dangerous_ man; that he would have
had him tried and hanged, instead of sending him West, if he had found
leisure to attend to it; that from prudential motives he had sent him
to the Indian country; and stated that he was worth a _thousand
dollars_.
The case was most interesting in its character. Louis was probably the
most dangerous enemy of the United States at that time in Florida. With
his intelligence, he must have felt an inveterate hostility to the
Government and the people, who robbed him of his most sacred right to
liberty. Probably his former master and family were in greater danger
from his vengeance than any other persons. He had surrendered to General
Jessup as prisoner of war with arms in his hands; had been treated--very
properly treated--as a prisoner of war: therefore, the master called on
the people of the nation to pay him a thousand dollars for protecting
him, his family, friends and nation from the fury of his own slave; and
General Jessup and many Northern Representatives exerted their personal
and political influence to sustain the claim.
The petition and accompanying papers were referred to the committee on
Military Affairs, a majority of whom were known to be favorable to the
interests of slavery. At the head of it was the Hon. Armisted Burt, of
South Carolina, a man of intelligence and influence. He appeared devoted
to the interests of the "peculiar institution."
[Sidenote: 1848.]
Having examined the case, he presented it to the consideration of the
committee, and a majority at once agreed to sustain a bill giving to the
owner a fair compensation for the loss of his slave. The Chairman agreed
to draw up a report sustaining the bill, and present it to the committee
the next morning.
Hon. John Dickey, of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, now deceased, was also
a member of the committee. He boarded at the same house with the author
of this narrative. While at tea that evening, Mr. Dickey remarked, that
his committee were about to report a bill to pay for this slave, and
said, if he were familiar with the subject, he would draw up a minority
report against the bill. A gentleman sitting at the table remarked, that
other gentlemen, who were familiar with the subject, would doubtless
feel willing to lend him any aid in their power. All however agreed,
that an evening was too short a time to draw up a suitable report on so
important a question; yet it was known that slaveholders controlled the
action of the House, and they showed no courtesy to those opposed to the
"peculiar institution," and would of course grant no time to draw up a
minority report. After tea, Mr. Dickey and another gentleman retired to
a room by themselves, and before sunrise the next morning, had completed
the report, which now appears among the House Documents, Thirtieth
Congress, first session, numbered 187, filling sixteen heavy octavo
pages of printed matter. At ten o'clock the committee met, and, having
listened to the report of their Chairman, they were called on to hear
that of Mr. Dickey, which took distinct and unmistakable grounds against
the right of men to hold their fellow-beings as _property_, under the
Federal Constitution. This case furnishes the first instance in which
the records of the nation show a minority report from any committee
_against_ slavery. Mr. Dickey, having taken his position, stood firmly
upon the doctrines he had avowed in his report; and the other members of
the committee took their choice between the report of Mr. Burt and that
of Mr. Dickey.
General Dudley Marvin, of New York, General James Wilson, of New
Hampshire, and Hon. David Fisher, of Ohio, signed the report of Mr.
Dickey; while the four Democratic members, all of whom resided in the
slave States, signed that of Mr. Burt. So far as the committee were
concerned, the five Democratic members assumed the position now occupied
by that party, to wit, that under our Federal Constitution, man may
hold, sell and transfer human beings as property; while the four Whig
members based their action upon the doctrine now occupied by the
Republican party--that, under our Federal Constitution, men cannot be
transformed into brutes; nor can one man hold _property_ in another.
The reports of the majority and minority were printed, and attracted
attention among the members; but the bill did not come up for discussion
until the next session. On the twenty-third of the following December,
the committee of the whole House, in passing through its calendar of
private claims, reached this case. Mr. Dickey led off in a short, but
well-arranged argument, sustaining his report. His remarks were so well
directed and so pertinent, that, near the close of his speech, Mr. Burt
called him to order, for _discussing the subject of slavery_. Upon the
conclusion of Mr. Dickey's remarks, General Wilson of New Hampshire
obtained the floor, and the House adjourned.
The bill did not come up again for discussion until the twenty-ninth.
Before going into committee on that day, Mr. Rockwell, of Connecticut,
Chairman of the committee on Claims, offered a resolution closing debate
on this bill at half-past one o'clock, allowing but one hour and a
quarter for the discussion of this important question, which now
agitates the whole Union; but it was regarded at that time as
meritorious in any member to prevent agitation of the subject of
slavery, and the resolution passed with little opposition. When the
House resolved itself into committee of the whole, Mr. Wilson, of New
Hampshire, delivered his views, sustaining the report of the minority of
the committee; making the question distinctly to depend upon the right
of men to hold property in men, under the Federal Constitution.
Mr. Brown, of Mississippi, followed in a few remarks, taking strong
ground in favor of the principle, that slaves are _property_, to the
same extent that horses and cattle are property. Mr. Cabel, of Florida,
followed in a few words to the same point. Here the time for closing the
debate arrived; but Mr. Burt, having reported the bill, held the right
to speak one hour, under the rules, in reply to those who opposed its
passage. He had evidently expected the bill would pass without serious
opposition, and had become somewhat excited by the difficulties with
which he had to contend; confident however of final success, he at once
declared the only question to be, that of _property in human flesh_.
Many Northern men were unwilling to meet this bald question. Mr.
Collamer, of Vermont, interrupted Mr. Burt, inquiring, if there were not
other questions of law involved? Burt replied, with some degree of
arrogance, that he would "leave no other loop-hole for gentlemen to
escape." This supercilious bearing of Mr. Burt greatly delighted some
Northern members, while it appeared greatly to embarrass others; but his
speech was the last, and, there being no opportunity for reply, every
thing gave promise of a triumphant victory to the slaveholders.
After the conclusion of this speech, the vote was taken in committee,
where no record was kept, and stood for the bill _seventy_, against it
_forty-four_--the majority being even greater than the slaveholders
expected. The bill was then reported to the House, and Mr. Crowell, of
Ohio, moved to lay it on the table, and called for the yeas and nays;
and the recorded vote stood, ayes _sixty-six_, noes _eighty-five_--being
a majority of nineteen in favor of the claim. The bill was then ordered
to a third reading without division.
Soon as this result was announced, the Author moved a reconsideration of
this vote. The reconsideration being a privileged question, he held the
floor, and was proceeding to deliver his views, but gave way for an
adjournment.
[Sidenote: 1849.]
On the sixth of January, the bill again came up in the regular order of
business, and Mr. Giddings concluded his remarks. He endeavored to meet
the arrogance of Mr. Burt, clearly and as fully as his abilities would
permit. He accepted the challenge thrown out by that member, that he
would leave no other loop-hole for gentlemen to escape, than by meeting
the question of _property in human flesh_. To this point he directed his
remarks, attempting to show the doctrine of Mr. Burt to be opposed to
the Declaration of Independence, to the Constitution of the United
States, to civilization, to the dictates of our common humanity.[83]
When he concluded his remarks, he withdrew his motion to reconsider, in
order to test the sense of the House on the passage of the bill, which
would be the next question in order.
As the roll was called, and the votes given, the result became doubtful,
and much interest was manifested in all parts of the hall. The bill and
discussion had been thrust upon the House by slaveholders: its whole
merits were based upon the most vital principles of slavery. The
question of property in human flesh, constitutes one of the essential
elements of the institution, without which it could not survive one
hour. The slave power had not for many years been defeated on any
proposition touching slavery, and it appeared painful for those
interested in that institution to have their influence doubted.
The Clerk (a deputy) was engaged a long time in counting the votes, and
ascertaining the result. He was a slaveholder, and appeared perplexed;
some members, even before he made report of the vote, expressed doubts
of his accuracy. At length he passed his report to the Chair. The
Speaker, Mr. Winthrop of Massachusetts, casting his eye upon the
figures, rose from his seat, and announced the vote--"ayes _ninety_,
noes _eighty-nine_," and then remarking that the rules of the House made
it his duty to vote in all cases when such vote would _change the
result_, began to give his reasons for the vote he was about to record,
and as he proceeded it became evident that he was _opposed to the bill_.
The Clerk then handed him another paper, and the Speaker, after reading
it, announced that the Clerk had mistaken the vote, and without saying
more, announced--"ayes _ninety-one_, noes _eighty-nine_," and declared
the bill "_passed_."
The interest had now become intense in all parts of the hall. It was
perfectly natural that men should be suspicious of the Clerk. Mr.
Dickey, in particular, had taken a deep interest in the question. He was
sitting near the Author, and expressed freely the opinion, that the
Clerk had reported the vote incorrectly. So strong was this belief, that
he went to the Clerk, and demanded a copy of the record giving the ayes
and noes. The Clerk promised to give it soon. Dickey waited a short
time, and renewed his call on the Clerk, who again promised. Dickey,
after waiting a proper time, went to the Clerk's table, and took the
record of yeas and nays, and brought it to the seat of the Author, and
requested his assistance in counting the vote. They counted and
_re_-counted several times, but were unable to make the vote other than
"_eighty-nine_ ayes, and _eighty-nine_ noes"--showing a tie vote; which,
without the Speaker's vote, would have defeated the bill. Dickey
returned the record to the Clerk, and then called the attention of the
House and the Speaker to the fact, that the Clerk had inaccurately
reported the vote. The Speaker replied, if an error had occurred, the
proper time to correct it would be the next morning, on reading the
Journal, when a motion to correct the entry would be in order, in
preference to any other business.
On looking over the list, it was subsequently discovered, that the vote
of Hon. John W. Farrelly of Crawford county, Pennsylvania, was not
recorded. This added intensity to the interest already felt on the
subject.
The next meeting of the House was on Monday, when the Speaker recited
the facts as they occurred on Saturday, and declared that, on a more
careful examination, it was found that the vote stood--"ayes
_eighty-nine_, noes _eighty-nine_."
Mr. Farrelly inquired, if his vote was recorded? The Speaker informed
him it was not, but that it was his right to have it recorded, if he had
actually voted on the passage of the bill. That gentleman declared that
he had voted _no_, on the passage of the bill, and the vote being
recorded, the Speaker declared the result to be "_ayes eighty-nine,
noes_ NINETY," and then announced the bill "_lost_!"
The friends of freedom were greatly cheered, from the consideration,
that party ties had not been strong enough to control members on this
important vote. Of the twenty-one members from Ohio, only Mr. Ritchey of
Perry, Mr. Cummins of Tuscarawas, and Mr. Taylor of Ross, voted with the
slaveholders; while such Democrats as Messrs. Faran, Fries, Kennon,
Lamb, Miller, Morris, Sawyer and Starkweather voted against the doctrine
that men and women may be held and treated as property. Indeed, there
were but few Representatives from the free States willing to recognize
that doctrine. No member from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Michigan, Wisconsin or Iowa voted for it.
From Maine, Messrs. Clapp, Clarke and Williams; from New York, Messrs.
Birdsal, McClay, Murphy, Necoll and Tallmadge; from Pennsylvania,
Messrs. Brady, Bridges, Brodhead, Charles Brown, C. J. Ingersol, Levin
and Job Mann; from Indiana, Messrs. Dunn, R. W. Thompson and Wick; and
from Illinois, Messrs. McClernand and Richardson voted to pay Pacheco a
thousand dollars, because General Jessup sent a most dangerous enemy out
of Florida.
Mr. Burt, and the friends of slavery generally, appeared irritated by
defeat. They had driven their Northern allies to revolt. The more they
reflected upon the subject, the more important the issue appeared. They
had caused great agitation, while professing to deprecate all discussion
in regard to slavery. If slaves were not _property_ under the Federal
Constitution, they must be regarded as _persons_. If the civilized world
looked upon them as persons, those who held them in bondage must of
course be considered as oppressors of mankind, and could have no claim
to the title of Democrats or of Christians. In every point of view, the
result appeared disastrous to the slave power.
It was under these circumstances, that the Hon. William Sawyer of Ohio,
was induced to move a reconsideration of the vote by which the bill was
lost. From the fact that none but those voting in the negative could by
the rules of the House move a reconsideration, and that he subsequently
voted against his own motion, it is probable he made it from personal
kindness to those who supported the bill. On this motion, a long
discussion subsequently arose, which did not terminate until the
nineteenth of January, when the motion to reconsider prevailed, and on
the final passage of the bill the vote stood--ayes 101, noes 95. So the
bill was passed by the House of Representatives, and the struggle in
that body terminated. But the bill was never brought up for discussion
in the Senate, and the claim was never more moved in either House of
Congress. The question of property in human flesh, however, continued to
be discussed by the people, and in Congress, until it has become one of
the great issues on which political parties now base their action.
* * * * *
NOTE.--The life of this slave Louis is perhaps the most romantic of any
man now living. Born and reared a slave, he found means to cultivate his
intellect--was fond of reading; and while gentlemen in the House of
Representatives were engaged in discussing the value of his bones and
sinews, he could probably speak and write more languages with ease and
facility than any member of that body. In revenge for the oppression to
which he was subjected, he conceived the purpose of sacrificing a
regiment of white men, who were engaged in the support of slavery. This
object effected, he asserted his own natural right to freedom, joined
his brethren, and made bloody war upon the enemies of liberty. For two
years, he was the steady companion of Coacoochee, or, as he was
afterwards called, "Wild Cat," who subsequently became the most warlike
chief in Florida. They traversed the forests of that territory together,
wading through swamps and everglades, groping their way through
hommocks, and gliding over prairies. They bivouacked together; suffered
heat and cold, hunger and thirst, together. For two years, they stood
shoulder to shoulder in every battle; shared their victories and defeats
together; and when General Jessup had pledged the faith of the nation
that all Indians who would surrender should be protected in the
enjoyment of their slaves, Wild Cat appeared at head quarters, followed
by Louis, whom he claimed as his property, under slaveholding law, as he
said he had captured him at the time of Dade's defeat. The ruse took.
General Jessup, being a slaveholder, and believing that slaves, like
horses and cattle, were the subjects of capture, immediately sent Louis
with other black warriors to Fort Pike, near New Orleans, and thence
with the first emigrating party of Seminoles to the western country,
where he was three years subsequently joined by Coacoochee, and these
friends, again united, became intimate, sharing together the fortunes
which awaited them, of which we shall speak in due time.