GREAT DIFFICULTIES INTERRUPT THE PROGRESS OF THE WAR.
John Ross, the Cherokee Chief, demands the release of Wild Cat and
other Chiefs--Answer of Secretary of War--Mr. Everett's resolution
in Congress--Secretary's Report--General Jessup's answer--Agitation
in Congress--Hon. John Quincy Adams--Hon. William Slade--Difficulty
with Creek Warriors--The Exiles who had been captured by the
Creeks--Arrangements for emigrating both Indians and
Exiles--Indians at Charleston, and Negroes at Tampa Bay,
transported to Fort Pike--Families again united--Sympathy
excited--General Gaines becomes engaged in their behalf--His noble
conduct--Embarrassment of Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and of
the Secretary of War--Singular arrangement--Discrepancies
unexplained--A Slave-dealer professes to purchase ninety of the
Exiles, in order to relieve the Government--Appoints his
brother-in-law an Agent to receive them--Department furnishes the
necessary vouchers--Sudden change of policy--Sixty Exiles claimed
by a Slave-dealer named Love--General Gaines appears on behalf of
Exiles--His able defense--Court renders judgment discharging
Rule--Thirty-six Exiles released by Love--Lieutenant Reynolds with
the Indians, and all but these thirty-six Exiles, take passage for
Fort Gibson.
While General Jessup was engaged in carrying out the designs of the
Administration by artifice, and by force, events of a serious character
were transpiring at Washington which demanded the attention of both the
Executive and himself. John Ross, principal chief of the Cherokee
Nation, learning the manner in which Osceola, Wild Cat, and other
Seminole chiefs and warriors, had been betrayed and seized, while
visiting General Jessup under a flag of truce, by advice and at the
suggestion of the Cherokee Delegation, wrote an able and very spirited
letter to the Secretary of War, demanding the release of the prisoners
thus captured in violation of the principles of civilized warfare.
The Secretary attempted a vindication of General Jessup, and an
interesting correspondence followed, marked with great ability, in which
Ross, with much force, exhibits what he seemed to regard as the
perfidious treatment to which the Seminoles had been subjected, while
acting under the advice of himself and his country-men, and protected by
the flag of truce, which had ever been recognized and held sacred as the
inviolable emblem of peace. This was the first exposure of the manner in
which this disastrous war had been conducted. Up to that time no member
of Congress, or Executive officer, appears to have uttered an objection
or protest against the war, or against the manner in which it was
carried on. Ross was at the city of Washington, and mingled freely with
members of Congress, and in private conversations called their attention
to the facts stated.[113]
Mr. Everett, of Vermont,[114] a man of great experience and ability,
moved a resolution (March 21) in the House of Representatives, calling
on the Secretary of War for such information as he possessed touching
the capture of Indians, while visiting the American army under flags of
truce. The resolution was adopted, and, in reply, the Secretary of War
(April 11) transmitted the answer of General Jessup, in which he rests
his justification, upon the bad faith which, he alleges, the Indians had
previously exhibited towards the United States. This answer occupies
some fifteen documentary pages, most of which are filled with the facts
already known to the reader.
After the report of the Secretary of War had been printed, Mr. Everett
gave his views upon the facts, in a speech which attracted much
attention in the country. The people were already turning their
attention to the subject of slavery. Petitions were sent to Congress
calling on that body to abolish the institution within the District of
Columbia. The Hon. John Quincy Adams had thrown the weight of his
influence in behalf of the right of petition, and was known to be
opposed to the institution. Hon. William Slade, a member of the House of
Representatives from Vermont, had openly avowed his deep and heart-felt
sympathy with the Abolitionists, who were striving to direct the popular
mind to the crimes of the "_peculiar institution_," as slavery was then
called.
It was evident, that a full exposure of the causes which led to the
Florida war, and of the manner in which it had been prosecuted, would
tend to defeat the Democratic candidate in the next Presidential
campaign. It was therefore clearly the policy of that party, and of the
Administration, to maintain as great a degree of silence as possible
upon all these subjects.
Among the early difficulties presented to the consideration of the War
Department, was the settlement with the Creek warriors who had served
under the contract made by order of General Jessup, in 1836, to give
them a certain gross amount in cash, and all the _plunder they could
capture_--which General Jessup and the Creeks understood to embrace
negroes, as well as horses and cattle.
The General, by his order, had directed eight thousand dollars to be
paid to them, and twenty dollars for each negro belonging to citizens,
who had been captured by them and delivered over to the claimants.
This disposal of the public treasure by an individual, was most clearly
unauthorized, either by law or by the constitution; yet the order had
been approved by the Executive, and had been made the act of the
President, who thus assumed the moral and political responsibility
attached to this gross violation of law, and of the Constitution.
The question how this charge upon the treasury was to be met, seems to
have borne heavily upon the mind of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
and he expressed this difficulty to General Jessup. That officer, being
less familiar with matters of finance than with those of a strictly
military character, replied, that the amount might with propriety be
charged to the annuities due the Seminoles; but as that fund was under
the supervision of Congress, it would not do to charge it over to that
appropriation, lest it should create agitation.
Another difficulty was, as to the disposal of the negroes themselves.
They were now said to be the "_property of the United States_;" and the
question very naturally arose, what shall be done with them? This
question was also propounded to General Jessup by the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs. The General replied, that he thought it best to send
them to Africa, for the benefit of civilization on that coast. But that
could not be done except by appropriations made by Congress; and it was
feared that, to ask Congress for an appropriation of that character,
might lead to the disclosure of unpleasant facts.[115]
In the meantime, arrangements were made to send the prisoners, both
Indians and Exiles, to the Western Country, without any particular
decision in regard to the ninety negroes captured by the Creek warriors,
and sent to Fort Pike as the property of the United States, and fed and
clothed at the public expense for more than a year.
Agreeably to orders from the War Department, General Jessup detailed
Lieutenant J. G. Reynolds to superintend the emigration, as disbursing
agent, and W. G. Freeman as an assistant. These appointments were
approved by the Department; and transports were engaged to take such
prisoners as were at Charleston, South Carolina, around the peninsula of
Florida to Tampa Bay, on the western coast, and thence to New Orleans.
There were at that time many negroes at Tampa Bay, intentionally
separated from the Indians, who had been sent, at the same time, to
Charleston. Major Zantzinger wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
to know how these negroes at Tampa Bay were to be disposed of. The
Commissioner immediately answered by letter, directed to Lieutenant
Reynolds, saying, "I have to instruct you, that all of those negroes
mentioned by Major Zantzinger, which are the property of the
Seminoles,[116] are to be received with, and to constitute a portion of,
the emigrating party for all purposes of transportation and subsistence.
* * * * You will consider it your duty to call at Tampa Bay, receive
this party, and transport it to the West _with the detachment now at New
Orleans_."
This direction required Lieutenant Reynolds to transport the ninety
Exiles, sent to New Orleans on the second of June, 1837, to the Western
Country; for they constituted a part of "the detachment at New Orleans,"
which he was directed to transport West. They had been captured while
fleeing from our army, and of course were nearly all of them women and
children, who, by the fortunes of war, had been separated from their
husbands, and fathers, and brothers, that were left behind in the Indian
Country. Those husbands, brothers and fathers, were among the first to
capitulate in order to rejoin their families from whom they had thus
been separated. Many Exiles had been betrayed and seized at Fort Peyton.
Some had surrendered at Volusi; others had capitulated at Fort Jupiter;
others had come in and given themselves up at different posts: and all
these were assembled for transportation at "Tampa Bay," where they
awaited arrangements for sending them to the Western Country.
Major General Gaines was at that time commanding the south-western
division of the army of the United States; and Fort Pike was situated
within his military district. Lieutenant Reynolds had taken the
prisoners at Charleston on board the transports; had sailed around the
peninsula of Florida; called at Tampa Bay; had taken on board the
negroes assembled at that point, and had reached Fort Pike.
Members of families long separated were now united. Fathers embraced
their wives and children, whom they had not seen for more than a year;
brothers and sons embraced their sisters and mothers; and all exhibited
those deep sympathies of the human heart, which constitute the higher
and holier emotions of our nature. The officers and soldiers who
witnessed this scene could not but feel interested in these people, many
of whose ancestors had fled from oppression generations previously, and
who, for more than half a century, had been subjected to almost constant
persecution. It was undoubtedly owing to these circumstances, that so
many of the officers of our army became deeply interested in securing
their freedom.
Major Zantzinger was in command at Fort Pike; but he could only act
under the direction of his superior officers. Lieutenant Reynolds,
therefore, applied to Major General Gaines for orders to Major
Zantzinger to deliver the Exiles at Fort Pike to him for emigration.
From the peculiar language used in this order, it is most evident that
General Gaines expected some effort would be made to prevent the
emigration of the Exiles, then resident at Fort Pike. The order is so
unusual in its tone and language, that we insert it, as follows:
"To Major Zantzinger, or the officer commanding at Fort Pike, or
the officer who has charge of the slaves, or other servants,
belonging to, or lately in possession of, Seminole Indians, now in
charge of Lieutenant Reynolds, destined to the Arkansas: You will,
on receipt hereof, deliver to the said Reynolds all such slaves or
servants belonging to, or claimed by, or lately in possession of,
the said Seminole Indians to be conducted by him in their
movements to the Arkansas River, where the Indians, or their
slaves or servants, are to be permanently located and settled:
taking triplicate receipts for said slaves or servants, one of
which will be forwarded to the undersigned.
EDMUND P. GAINES,
_Maj. Gen. U. S. A., Commanding_."
The above order was dated on the twenty-first of March. The next day
Lieutenant Reynolds inclosed a copy to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, saying, he should commence his voyage West with the emigrants,
and adding, "It is not my intention to remove the negroes from Fort Pike
until ready for departure, as I am convinced that many individuals with
fraudulent claims are in a state of readiness, and only waiting the
arrival of the negroes in this city (New Orleans) to carry their object
into effect. The measures I shall adopt will bar their intention."
This letter explains the reason of the precise and specific terms in
which the order of General Gaines was expressed. It is due to the memory
of General Gaines, and to the character of Lieutenant Reynolds, that
their determined efforts to preserve the liberties of these people, so
far as they were able, should find a place in history. The war had been
commenced and prosecuted for the purpose of seizing and returning to
bondage all those people whose ancestors had once fled from oppression.
It was the avowed policy of the Administration to prevent these ninety
Exiles, who had been captured by the Creek Indians, from going to the
Western Country, preferring to have them consigned to slavery in Georgia
or Florida, rather than enjoy freedom in the new homes assigned to the
Indians in the West. This feeling had encouraged desperate men to make
unfounded claims to their persons: and it should be recorded to the
honor of many of our officers, that they were active and vigilant in
their efforts to defeat these piratical claims, and the exertions of the
President and heads of the various Executive Departments, to consign
these people to interminable bondage. In order to do justice on this
subject, it is necessary to permit all concerned to speak for
themselves, so far as convenience will allow. To carry out this object,
the reader will excuse our frequent quotations from official documents.
On the twenty-sixth of March, Lieutenant Reynolds wrote the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, dating his letter at "New Barracks," below New
Orleans, saying, "The Indian negroes will be received at Fort Pike, and
brought to this place, via the Mississippi River. This course was
adopted with the concurrence of General Gaines. Everything will be in
readiness to embark soon as the boat arrives. General Gaines has
directed that the guard under the direction of Lieutenant Wheaton shall
proceed with me."
Major Zantzinger, who commanded at Fort Pike, appears to have felt some
delicacy at delivering up the negroes on the order of General Gaines,
and, with those impressions, wrote General Jessup, inquiring as to that
point. He received an answer, dated seventh of April, approving his
course, and saying, "the removal of the negroes was _proper_; they were
either _free_, or the property of the Indians."
All these proceedings were reported to the proper Department at
Washington. About the time, or soon after, they would naturally reach
that city, William Armstrong, Acting Superintendent of the Indians in
the Western Territory, evidently in the joint service of our Government
and of the Creek Indians, addressed a note to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, dated at Washington City, April twenty-third, 1838, saying,
"When General Jessup called upon volunteers to go to Florida, he
promised them all the _property_ they could capture. Accordingly, the
Creeks captured near _one hundred negroes_, which they left in
possession of the officers of the United States. _What has become of
these negroes?_ Will they receive them, or their value, as promised?"
The difficulty attending the transformation of men into chattels now
increased so much, that the Commissioner of Indian Affairs addressed a
letter to the Hon. Secretary of War, which is so characteristic of the
manner in which the administration of our Government was then conducted,
that we give the letter in full:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
"_Office of Indian Affairs_, May 1, 1838.
"SIR: I have the honor to submit for the consideration and decision
of the Department a question that has been presented by the
Superintendent of the Western Territory, (Captain Armstrong.)
"In September last, General Jessup advised the Department that he
had purchased from the Creek warriors all the negroes (about eighty
in number), captured by them, for $8,000, and this purchase was
approved on the seventh of October. At a subsequent date, he wrote
that he had supplied Lieutenant Searle with funds, and directed him
to make the payment. It is believed, however, that the warriors
refused to take the sum named, Lieutenant Searle having made no
such payment, and the delegation here asserting that they never
received it. It is now asked, whether they will be permitted to
take the negroes, or be paid their value? It was suggested by
General Jessup, that the consideration for the captives would be a
proper charge on the Seminole annuity. But this would deprive the
friendly portion, who have emigrated, of what they are justly, and
by law, entitled to, and to a certain extent would be paying the
Creeks with their own money; for the fourth Article of the Treaty
with the Seminoles, of May ninth, 1832, provides, that 'the
annuities then granted shall be added to the Creek annuities, and
the whole amount be so divided that the chiefs and warriors of the
Seminole Indians may receive their equitable proportion of the same
as members of the Creek confederation.' Independently of this
difficulty, I would respectfully suggest, whether there are not
_other objections to the purchase of these negroes by the United
States_? It seems to me, that a proposition to Congress _to
appropriate money to pay for them, and for their transportation to
Africa, could its authority for that course be obtained, or for any
other disposition of them_, WOULD OCCASION GREAT AND EXTENSIVE
EXCITEMENT. Such a relation assumed by the United States, for
however laudable an object, would, it appears probable, place the
country in no enviable attitude, especially at this juncture, when
the _public mind here and elsewhere it so sensitive upon the
subject of slavery_. The alternative would seem to be, to deliver
the negroes to the Creeks, as originally agreed on. The subject
involves so many delicate considerations, that I respectfully
invite your attention to it, and your direction as to the answer to
be given to the delegation now in the city. As early a decision of
this question as practicable, is very desirable: the Indians
intending to leave this place in four or five days, and being
anxious that this matter should be disposed of before they go.
"Very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
C. A. HARRIS, _Commissioner_.
Captain S. COOPER, Acting Sec'y of War."
"P. S.--If it should be determined to deliver them to the Creeks, I
would suggest, as the opinion of this office, that it would be
_impolitic for them to be taken to the country West_, and that so
far as the Department may of right interfere in regard to the
ultimate disposition, _it should endeavor to have it effected_ IN
SOME OTHER MODE.
C. A. H."
It is no part of our duty to comment on these proceedings; yet we are
constrained to say, that no historian has, or can explain the reason of
delay on the part of the Creek Indians, in regard to their claim to
these people, for more than an entire year, upon any principles of
consistent action. General Jessup said, in his official communications,
they _had received their pay_, and that "the negroes _were the property
of the Government_;" and the Department had approved his whole course on
this subject. The Creeks, so far as we can learn, left the country and
went West, perfectly satisfied. This Delegation had been some months in
Washington, and, as the Commissioner of Indian Affairs says, were to
leave in four or five days; when, for the first time, they mentioned the
subject, although the negroes had been detained from them, as they
allege, in direct violation of their contract. They appear to have
rested satisfied until difficulties from other quarters were presented
to the Administration. And these letters may all easily be explained, as
the carrying out of a previous understanding between these officers and
the Creek Indians. However that may be, the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs wrote Captain Armstrong, Superintendent of the Western
Territory, as follows:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
"_Office of Indian Affairs_, May 5, 1838.
"SIR: The Secretary of War has directed that the negroes belonging
to the Seminoles, and captured by the warriors in Florida, shall be
placed at the disposal of the Delegation now in this city. But
before this can be carried into effect, it will be necessary to be
satisfied that the warriors have not received the $8,000 promised
in the agreement with General Jessup; to ascertain accurately their
number and identity, and the claims of citizens upon any of them.
For all to which such claims can be established, $20 each will be
allowed. From the information now here, the number is supposed to
be between sixty and seventy, the original number having been
reduced by sickness. All the facts herein indicated will be
required as early as practicable; but some time must necessarily
elapse. It is the opinion of the Department, that it will be
impolitic to take these negroes West, and that they should be
otherwise disposed of. Any arrangement the Delegation may make
respecting them, and submit to this office, will be sanctioned, and
instructions given for such action as may be proper on the part of
the Government.
"Very, &c., C. A. HARRIS.
Capt. WM. ARMSTRONG,
Washington."
One feature in these communications stands out prominently to the view
of the reader: the number of these victims appears to have undergone
constant diminution. General Jessup reported the number sent to Fort
Pike at _ninety_. In his previous letter, addressed to the Secretary of
War, Commissioner Harris states the number at eighty; and in this
communication, written four days subsequently, he states the number to
be between sixty and seventy; while the official registry shows there
was one hundred and three--of whom some, however, undoubtedly died.
If the honorable Secretary of War intended these people should be
delivered over to the Creek Indians as their _property_, it would be
difficult to understand by what law he should himself attempt to control
them, in the subsequent disposition of their legalized chattels, or by
what authority he should object to their going West.
It will however be seen that one point yet remained undecided. The
negroes were not to be delivered until it was ascertained that the
Creeks had _not_ received the eight thousand dollars, agreeably to the
order of General Jessup in September, 1837.
Fortunately, a Lieutenant Sloan, who had acted as a disbursing agent of
the United States, was at that precise time in Washington City. He
stated to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in a letter dated May
sixth, being the day after this decision of the Secretary of War,
assuring him that he had learned _from Lieutenant Searle himself that
the Indians refused_ to accept the eight thousand dollars for their
interest in the negroes. These statements constituted a series of
supposed facts, which appears to have been regarded as necessary to
authorize the subsequent proceedings.
This evidence was, accordingly, deemed satisfactory; and the Creek
Indians were now declared to be the owners of these ninety Exiles, under
the original contract made between them and General Jessup, in 1836:
thus abrogating the order of General Jessup, No. 175, and setting aside
the approval of that order by the Department of War itself--which was
dated the seventh of October, 1837--leaving the United States to sustain
the loss incurred by feeding and clothing the prisoners, and guarding
them for thirteen months.
At this time a slave-dealer by the name of James C. Watson, said to
reside in Georgia, happened to be also at the seat of Government, as was
common for Southern gentlemen during the sessions of Congress. To this
man the officers of Government now applied for aid, in extricating
themselves from the difficulty into which they had been brought by this
slave-dealing transaction. Even the Secretary of War is said to have
encouraged Watson to purchase those negroes of the Creek Indians.[117]
By request of these public functionaries, and at their instance, Mr.
Watson declares he was induced to purchase the negroes, and to give
between fourteen and fifteen thousand dollars for them.[118] It was
perhaps the heaviest purchase of slaves made in the city of Washington
during that year, and certainly the most dignified transaction in human
flesh that ever took place at the capital of our nation, or of any other
civilized people; inasmuch as the high officers of this enlightened and
Christian confederation of States constituted a negotiating party to
this important sale of human beings.
The purchase appears to have taken place on the seventh of May; and
Watson, being unable to go immediately to New Orleans, authorized his
brother-in-law, Nathaniel F. Collins of Alabama, as his agent and
attorney, to repair to that city and take possession of the prisoners.
Yet the whole business appears to have been carried on in the name of
the Creek Indians.
On the eighth of May, five persons, styling themselves "chiefs, head-men
and delegates of the Creek Tribe of Indians," filed with the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs a request, stating that they had
appointed Nathaniel F. Collins, Esq., of Alabama, their agent and
attorney, to demand and receive from General Jessup the negro slaves
which the Creek warriors had captured in Florida, under their agreement
with that officer, made in September, 1836, and requesting the
Department to furnish the proper order for obtaining possession of the
slaves from the officer having them in charge. This request was
communicated to the Secretary of War the next day, by the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, and constitutes a part of the record; and, coming
from that department of government most implicated in this slave-dealing
transaction, we place it before the reader:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
_Office of Indian Affairs_, May 9, 1838.
SIR: The decision made a few days since, requesting that the
negroes captured by the Creek warriors in Florida, should, in
compliance with the engagement of General Jessup, be delivered to
the Delegation now here, has been communicated to them with the
intimation that, when they had determined what disposition would be
made of them, and communicated information of the same to this
Department, the necessary orders would be issued. In a
communication just received from the Delegation, they state they
have appointed Nathaniel F. Collins, of Alabama, their attorney in
fact to receive the negroes. I have the honor to request that an
order be issued to the commanding officer at Fort Pike; to Major
Isaac Clark, at New Orleans; to the commanding officer in Florida,
and to any other officer who may have charge of them, to deliver to
Mr. Collins all the negroes in question. He will, of course, hold
them subject to the lawful claims of all white persons. Abraham and
his family should be excepted, in consequence of a promise made by
General Jessup. The officers should be instructed to use due
caution, so as to deliver only those captured by the Creeks. It is
proper to remark, that it appears from a letter received from
Lieutenant Sloan, that these Indians refused to receive the $8,000,
offered them under the direction of General Jessup, for their
interest in these negroes.
Very respectfully,
Your most obedient servant,
C. A. HARRIS.
Capt. S. COOPER, Acting Sec. of War."
On the same day, Mr. Collins was furnished with written instructions,
which, being also important, are presented to the reader:
"WAR DEPARTMENT,
"_Office of Indian Affairs_, May 9, 1838.
"SIR: Having been notified by the Creek Delegation that they have
appointed you their agent and attorney in fact, to receive the
negroes captured by their warriors in Florida, which, by the
decision of the Secretary of War, are to be delivered up to them,
in conformity to the agreement made with them by General Jessup, I
have the honor to transmit herewith the copy of a communication to
the Secretary of War on the subject, which has received his
approval. Orders will be given to the officers therein named to
carry the measure into effect, in conformity to the recommendation.
Captain Morrison, Superintendent of Seminole Emigration at Tampa
Bay, and Lieutenant Reynolds, engaged in removing a party of the
same, at New Orleans, have been instructed to assist and coöperate
in the matter. Herewith you will receive the copy of a list of
negroes captured by General Jessup, which, it is believed, embraces
the negroes to which the Creeks are entitled; but as this is not
certain, much caution should be used in identifying them. It is
supposed that all these negroes now alive are at Fort Pike; but
some of them may be at Tampa Bay, or other places: it will be for
you to find them. No expense of any nature whatever, growing out of
this matter, will be paid by the United States.
C. A. HARRIS, _Comm'r._
N. F. COLLINS,
Washington, D. C."
Preparations being now perfected, and the whole matter being fully
understood, Mr. Collins left Washington on the following morning,
prepared to bring those fathers, and mothers, and children, back to
servitude in Georgia, from which their ancestors had fled nearly a
hundred years previously; and this nefarious work was thus encouraged
and sanctioned by our Government.
Of these movements the Exiles were ignorant. Many hearts were moved in
sympathy for them, and many of our military officers were active in
their endeavors to defeat the machinations of the President and the War
Department.
Lieutenant Reynolds found it necessary to return to Florida before
leaving New Orleans with his party of Emigrants. While he was absent,
the efforts of slaveholders to reënslave these people appeared to
increase, and they became more bold, although Collins had not yet
appeared, clothed with the authority of Government, to effect their
enslavement.
General Gaines, commanding the Western Military District of the United
States, and residing at New Orleans, as if premonished of the arrival of
this national slave catcher, issued his peremptory order (April 29),
directing Major Clark, Acting Quarter-Master at New Orleans, to make
arrangements for the _immediate_ embarkation and emigration of the
Seminole Indians and _black prisoners of war_, at that time in
Louisiana, to the place of their destination on the Arkansas River, near
Fort Gibson.
Major Clark being thus placed in charge of the prisoners for the purpose
of emigrating them, at once informed the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
that claims were "made for about seventy of the Seminole negroes, and
the courts here have issued their warrants to take them. The United
States District Attorney has been consulted. He gives it as his opinion,
that the Sheriff must be allowed to serve the process. It appears they
are claims from Georgia, purchased from _Creek Indians_. No movement of
the Indians or negroes can be made at present. The Indians are almost in
a state of mutiny."
This state of feeling arose from these attempts again to separate the
Indians and negroes. Many of them were intermarried: they had been
separated; their families broken up, but were now reunited, and they
determined to die rather than be again separated. The Exiles had also
fought boldly beside the Indians; they had encountered dangers together,
and had become attached to each other; and soon as the subject of
surrendering the Exiles to bondage was named, the Indians became
enraged, threatening violence and death to those who should attempt
again to separate them from the Exiles.
The claimants mentioned by Major Clark, were from _Georgia_. The pirates
who robbed E-con-chattimico and Walker of their slaves and seized the
Exiles resident with those chiefs, as stated in a former chapter, were
from Georgia. Watson, the more dignified dealer in human flesh, and
acting in accordance with the advice of the Secretary of War, was also
from Georgia; and all these claims were said to be derived from Creek
Indians, who, as we have seen, professed to own all the Exiles who fled
from Georgia after the close of the Revolution, and prior to 1802,
together with their descendants.
Information, respecting these difficulties of reënslaving the Exiles,
reached the authorities at Washington, and created great embarrassment.
The War Department appears never to have anticipated that negroes, who
were already prisoners of war, would find friends or means to awaken the
sympathy of others. But it was clear that any litigation would make the
public acquainted with the facts.
It will be recollected that on the tenth of May, the Commissioner of
Indian Affairs wrote an order, directed to General Jessup, to deliver up
near one hundred of these Exiles to Collins, the Agent of Watson, and
two days later--that is, on the twelfth of May--he wrote Thomas Slidell,
District Attorney of the United States at New Orleans, saying, "It is
represented to this Department, that the emigration of the Seminoles,
now near New Orleans, has been impeded by claims set up to some of their
negroes. I am directed by the Secretary of War to request that you will
give the Indians your advice and assistance, and by all proper and legal
means protect them from injustice and from harrassing and improper
interferences with their property and persons. It is of the highest
importance that, if possible, no impediments should be suffered to be
thrown in the way of their speedy conveyance to their country, west of
Arkansas."
It is a historical curiosity, that the Secretary of War should so often
change his policy. He had, as the reader is aware, exerted his influence
to prevent those Exiles, who had been captured by the Creeks, from going
West.
On the fifth of May, Commissioner Harris declared--"_it is the opinion
of the Department that it will be impolitic to take these negroes
West_;" and on the ninth, acting under the direction of the Secretary of
War, he furnished Mr. Collins with authority to demand and receive these
people, and instructions were also issued "to the officer commanding at
Fort Pike; to Major Isaac Clark at New Orleans; to the commanding
officer at Florida, and to any other officer who may have the negroes in
charge," to deliver them to Mr. Collins; while three days afterwards he
assures Mr. Slidell, as before stated, "It is of the _highest importance
that, if possible, no impediments should be suffered to be thrown in the
way of their speedy conveyance to their country, west of Arkansas_."
This letter to Mr. Slidell was inclosed in another of the same date,
addressed to Major Clark, as follows:
"SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt to-day of your
letter of the third instant.
"The enclosed copy of a letter of this date to the United States
District Attorney will show you what measures have been adopted in
relation to the claims set up to the Seminole negroes. This is all
that this Department can do in this matter.
"_It is very much to be regretted, that anything has occurred to
prevent the speedy emigration of these Indians._ I will be greatly
obliged to you, should no emigrating agent be at New Orleans, to
give all the aid in your power in removing the difficulties which
are thrown in their way."
While the Executive officers at Washington, the Creek Indians, and the
slave-dealer Watson, were arranging their contracts and perfecting
their plans for enslaving those Exiles, who had been captured with the
assistance of the Creek warriors, an important and most spirited contest
was progressing in New Orleans.
Before one of the courts of the State of Louisiana, a slave-dealer by
the name of Love, claimed title to the bodies, the bones and muscles,
the blood and sinews, of some sixty of these persons, held by the United
States as _prisoners of war_. They had been captured by our troops as
hostiles; had been held for thirteen months as prisoners of war; had
been fed, and clothed, and guarded, at the expense of the people of the
United States: but they were now claimed as the _property_ of Love. This
absurdity was presented before an enlightened court as a grave question
of international law; and a determined effort was put forth before that
State tribunal to change the law of nations; to modify the law of Nature
and of Nature's God, so far as to transform men into chattels, and
declare these prisoners of war to be the property of their fellow men.
Love demanded the Exiles of General Gaines, who was in actual command of
the Western Military District of the United States, and by virtue of his
office held control of the Exiles while in his district. Bred to the
profession of arms, he had made himself familiar with those principles
of natural, of international, law which point out the rights of
belligerents, whether they belong to the victorious or the vanquished
nation. Being advised that efforts were making to get possession of
these Exiles for the purpose of reënslaving them, he indicated to the
officer in command at the barracks the propriety of retaining possession
of them as he would of other _prisoners of war_.
On the second of May, the Sheriff of New Orleans appeared at the
barracks, and desired to pass the line of sentinels for the purpose of
serving his process; but the sentinel, punctilious to his duty, refused
to let him enter. The Sheriff then returned his writ with the following
indorsement thereon:
"Received May second, 1838, and demanded the within slaves of
General Gaines, the defendant, who answered me, that he never had
the within described _slaves_ in his possession, or under his
control. I found the slaves at the barracks of the United States,
but the officers in charge of the same refused to deliver them to
me. Returned May eighth, 1838.
FREDERICK BUISSON, _Sheriff_."
The Exiles still remained in the barracks under the officers in charge
of them; and on the ninth of May, General Gaines sued out a rule to set
aside the order of sequestration upon the grounds, "that the negroes
were '_prisoners of war_' of the United States, taken in combat with the
Seminole Indians; that the control of the United States over said
negroes, and their right to the control of such negroes as _prisoners of
war_, could not be taken away by the sequestration issued."
Thus was the manhood of these colored people asserted by this military
officer of the United States at that day, when few members of Congress
would have hazarded their reputation by the avowal of similar doctrines.
Twenty-three years previously, as the reader has already been informed,
General Gaines gave to the War Department notice that "fugitives and
outlaws had taken possession of a fort on the Appalachicola River."
Twenty-two years previously, he had detailed General Clinch, with his
regiment and five hundred Creek warriors, to destroy "Blount's Fort,"
and take the fugitive slaves and return them to their owners. He had
only two years previously gone to Florida, marched into the Indian
Territory, and fought them bravely for several days. He now saw these
Exiles and Indians in a different situation. He witnessed their
attachment to each other as parents and children, as husbands and wives,
as members of the human family, and his sympathy was aroused--his
humanity was awakened. His finer feelings being called forth, he
possessed the firmness, the independence, to act according to the
dictates of his conscience and judgment.[119]
He assumed the responsibility of paying costs and damages, caused
himself to be made defendant in the case, and, having obtained a rule on
the sheriff to show cause why the negroes should not be delivered as
prisoners of war to him, as commander of that Military District, he
appeared in person at the bar of the court, and ably vindicated the
rights of Government, of himself, and of the prisoners.
"The laws (said he) of the United States authorize the late and existing
war against the Seminole nation of Indians, and against all persons in
their service. The negroes claimed by the plaintiff were found in the
service of the Indians, speaking the same language, and, like the
inhabitants of all savage nations, aiding and assisting in the war. They
were captured and taken by the United States forces _as prisoners of
war_, and they are now in charge of a United States officer, Lieutenant
Reynolds, acting pursuant to the orders of the President of the United
States, directing him to superintend their transportation from the
theatre of war in Florida, to a place set apart for their location, west
of the State of Arkansas, _as prisoners of war_, as well as servants of
the Seminole Indians, who are also _prisoners of war_.
"The laws of war, as embraced in the works of Brynkershoeck, Vattel and
Wheaton, clearly sanction the principle, that all persons taken in
battle, or who may be forced to surrender, whether officers, soldiers,
or followers of the enemy's army, _are prisoners of war_. * * *
"Among savage nations, it is universally known and admitted, that in war
they have no _non-combatants_, excepting only such as are physically
incapable of wielding arms. Every man, without regard to age or color;
every boy able to fire a gun, or wield a hatchet, or an arrow, is a
_warrior_. And every woman is a laborer, in the collection and
preparation of subsistence and clothing for the warriors: all are
therefore liable, when captured in a state of hostility, to be treated
_as prisoners of war_."
He declared himself "lawlessly taxed with this investigation, and
lawlessly threatened with heavy damages and costs, and forced to be
defendant, without any legal or rational grounds of action against him.
I am (said he) authorized, in virtue of my official station as Major
General, commanding the Western Division of the Army of the United
States of America, to serve them honestly and faithfully against their
enemies and opposers, whomsoever, and to obey the orders of the
President of the United States, etc. Under this official pledge, I deem
it my duty to afford every officer of the army whatever facilities may
be necessary and proper, to enable them to perform whatever duty is
confided to them by the President of the United States. In pursuance of
this authority, I ordered Major Clark to furnish transportation, for
enabling Lieutenant Reynolds, and the officers on duty with him, to
convey the prisoners of war to the place of their destination in the
Western Country."
"But it seems that the counsel for the claimant has flattered himself
that I should make the most convenient and accommodating defendant
imaginable. I was expected to take _the responsibility_ of doing
whatever the voracious claimant might desire, without coming into this
honorable court. I take leave to apprise the court, for the benefit of
all concerned, that I have never hesitated to assume the responsibility
of _doing my duty_, or of doing _justice_; but I have not yet learned,
while acting in my official capacity on oath, to take the responsibility
of doing that which is _repugnant to law, unjust and iniquitous_, as I
verily believe any favor shown to this claim would be."
"The court appears to labor under the impression, that the negroes in
question were captured by the Seminole Indians, in the course of their
hostile incursions upon our frontier inhabitants. _Is this the fact?_ I
will assume, for the learned counsel of the claimant, that he _will
never have the temerity to assert that they are among the number taken
from our frontier inhabitants in the present, or in any former war_."
The gallant General, as well as some other well informed officers,
appears to have been conscious of the real character of these Exiles, as
will have been noticed in his last remark, assuring the court, that they
were _never captured from the white people_ "in the present, or in _any
former war_."
The ground which he assumed, that the captives were prisoners of war,
subject to the orders of the Executive, was so self-evidently true that
it could not be met or overthrown, by reason or by argument.
His honor the Judge, in delivering his opinion discharging the rule,
disregarded all claims to right on the part of the Exiles. They being
black, under the laws of Louisiana, were presumed to be slaves to some
person; and he spoke with exultation of the fact, that neither General
Gaines nor the United States had claimed them as _slaves_; and he
declared it would be infinitely more wise and natural for the United
States to hold them as lawful _prize_ to the captors, than it would be
to send them with the Indians to cultivate their lands in time of peace,
and swell the number of our enemies in times of war; but, on this
motion, he thought the court bound to regard the facts set forth in the
plaintiff's claim as true, and he therefore discharged the rule, and
made the order of sequestration absolute.
There now appeared no hope of escape for these people; they seemed to be
the sport of fortune. For more than a century they and their ancestors
had set at defiance the efforts of slaveholders, assisted by Government,
to reënslave them; but they now appeared to be within the power of those
who were anxious to consign them to bondage.
On the fifteenth of May, Lieutenant Reynolds, having returned to New
Orleans, wrote the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, saying, "I arrived at
this place from Tampa Bay yesterday; was detained longer than I expected
to be, in consequence of the absence of General Jessup from Fort Brooke.
Arrangements are made for the embarkation of the party for 'Fort
Gibson,' with the exception of sixty-seven of the negroes, who are
claimed by persons from Georgia. The civil authorities, I understand,
require that these negroes be not removed. It appears that General
Gaines presented himself as defendant, and contended, that as the
negroes were _prisoners of war_, the civil authority had no right to
wrest them from the Government's hands. The court however decided
contrary, acknowledging the Indians alone as _prisoners_, and the
negroes as the _property_ of the Indians. The case will not come on for
some time, and, deeming (from all that I can learn) that the claim is
fraudulent, it will be necessary that they remain."
Lieutenant Reynolds was delayed until the twenty-first of May before he
was able to embark the other prisoners. One steamer left on the
nineteenth; and on the twenty-first, he wrote the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, saying, "Thirty-one of the negroes, out of the sixty-seven,
have been selected by the claimants. These negroes, I am informed, do
not belong to the Indians on whom the claims have been made."
This opened up new hopes for those to whom the claimants admitted they
had no title. There is, however, something about this surrender which we
are not able to explain. It is certain that Lieutenant Reynolds left New
Orleans on the twenty-first of May with all the prisoners, both Indians
and negroes then at that city, except thirty-one left in charge of the
sheriff, and seven Spanish maroons, whom he discharged. The remaining
thirty-one were left in the charge of the sheriff, with the
slave-catching vultures watching, and eager to fasten their talons upon
them so soon as opportunity should permit. The separation was painful.
Families were again severed: parents were torn from their children, and
brothers and sisters compelled to bid adieu to each other; and as they
could see no escape for those left at New Orleans, they regarded the
separation as final.
But the other prisoners were on board. Lieutenant Reynolds and other
officers had done what they could, and they desired soon as possible to
get the hapless Exiles, who yet remained in their possession, beyond the
reach of slave-hunters and slave-catchers. That mysterious power,
steam, was now applied; and rapidly the vessel was driven against the
strong current of the Mississippi, as the sable passengers cast their
last, lingering look toward their friends who remained behind, the
victims of a tyranny--an oppression--which yet disgraces the
civilization of the age in which we live. The Indians were also
thoughtful and sad, as they cast their eyes back towards their beloved
Florida, the scenes amidst which they had been born and reared; where
they had fought; where their brethren had been slain; where their
fathers rested peacefully in their graves. Many bitter sighs were heard,
and many tears fell from the eyes of those prisoners as they resumed
their voyage, for unknown homes in the Western Country.