The Exiles of Florida Part 26

At the battle of Fort Mellon, on the eighth of February, 1837, he is said to have commanded two hundred warriors, many of whom were Exiles.

He was at the battle of "Okechobee," on the twenty-fifth of December, 1837; the severest battle ever fought in Florida. Nearly all his warriors were with him. He was posted on the left of the Indian line, occupying the hommock, when General Taylor approached. He declared that not an Indian gave way until the charge of Colonel Foster, although he said the fire of our men "sent a stream of bullets among his warriors."

He stated the whole loss of the allied forces in that memorable conflict to be thirteen killed and nineteen wounded, being less than one-fourth of General Taylor's loss.

His father (King Philip) being imprisoned at St. Augustine in 1838, naturally felt desirous that his son should go with him to the Western Country, where he knew he must emigrate. He sent out a confidential friend with a message to Wild Cat, inviting him to come and see him.

General Jessup also sent a.s.surances of his perfect safety, if he wished to come and visit his father. The messenger found him, and faithfully delivered the message which his father sent. There were also other Indians and Exiles going to Fort Peyton, under the peaceful invitation and a.s.surance of safety which General Jessup sent them. Wild Cat left his band; and, arrayed in his best robes, bearing a white flag, went with them and was betrayed, through the agency of General Hernandez, into the power of General Jessup, as we have heretofore shown. He was imprisoned in the castle at St. Augustine with his friend Talmas-Hadjo.

Accustomed to roam in the forests at will, and enjoy the free air of Heaven, this confinement bore down their spirits and affected their physical health. He and his friend Talmas-Hadjo made their escape, an account of which was given in a former chapter.

His father remained with the other prisoners--was sent to Charleston; and subsequently died on his pa.s.sage to Fort Gibson in 1837, with the first party of emigrants under Lieut. Reynolds.

Wild Cat now became one of the most active warriors in Florida. With his followers, he repaired to the Okefenoke Swamp, and, encamping in its fastnesses, sallied forth, as occasion permitted, and spread death and devastation in the southern settlements of Georgia. From thence he returned south, and committed constant depredations both east and west of the St. John's. In 1840, his daughter, an interesting girl of twelve years of age, fell into the hands of our troops, in a skirmish near Fort Mellon. This was regarded as a most fortunate circ.u.mstance, as it would be likely to procure an interview with the father. Micco, a sub-chief and friend of Wild Cat, was dispatched with a white flag, on which were drawn clasped hands in token of friendship, with a pipe and tobacco. He found Wild Cat, and delivered the message of the Commanding General, requesting an interview. Wild Cat agreed to come in, and gave Micco a bundle of eight sticks, denoting the days which would elapse before he appeared in camp. Micco returned, and made his report.

On the fifth of March, Wild Cat was announced as approaching the American camp with seven of his trusty companions. He came boldly within the line of sentinels, dressed in the most fantastic manner. He and his party had shortly before killed a company of strolling theatrical performers, near St. Augustine, and, having possessed themselves of the wardrobe which their victims had with them, he now decorated himself and followers in the most grotesque style. He approached the tent of General Worth, calm and self-possessed, and shook hands with the officers. He addressed the Commanding General in fluent and dignified language, saying, he had received the talk and white flag sent him; that, in pursuance of the invitation, he had come to visit the American camp with peaceful intentions; that, relying upon the good faith of the officer in command, he had entrusted himself to their power, in order to promote the designs of peace which had been tendered him. The dignity of his manner, the gracefulness of his gestures, the musical intonations of his voice, the blandness of his countenance, won the sympathy, and commanded the attention, of all around him.

At this moment his little daughter escaped from the tent, where it was intended she should remain until General Worth should feel that the proper time had arrived for him to present her to her father. With the feelings and habits of her race, she presented him musket b.a.l.l.s and powder, which she had by some means obtained and secreted until his arrival. On seeing his child, he could no longer command that dignity of bearing so much the pride of every Indian chief. His self-possession gave way to parental emotions; the feelings of the father gushed forth; he averted his face and wept.

Having recovered his self-possession, he addressed Colonel Worth, saying, "The whites dealt unjustly by me. I came to them, when they deceived me. I loved the land I was upon; my body is made of its sands.

The Great Spirit gave me legs to walk over it; eyes to see it; hands to aid myself; a head with which I think. The sun, which shines warm and bright, brings forth our crops; and the moon brings back the spirits of our warriors, our fathers, our wives and children. The white man comes; he grows pale and sickly; why can we not live in peace? They steal our horses and cattle, cheat us, and take our lands. They may shoot us--may chain our hands and feet; _but the red man's heart will be free_. I have come to you in peace, and have taken you all by the hand. I will sleep in your camp, though your soldiers stand around me thick as pine trees.

I am done: when we know each other better, I will say more."

General Worth a.s.sured him of the good faith with which he should be treated; that the feelings which he had expressed were honorable to him and to his people; that the emotions manifested on seeing his child, were highly creditable to him as a father; a.s.sured him that his child should not be separated from him; that the American officers and soldiers highly respected the parental affection which he had exhibited.

He then entered upon a consultation with him concerning the best mode of obtaining a peace.

Wild Cat spoke with great sincerity; frankly stated the condition and feelings of this people; stated the friendly attachment between the Exiles and Indians; said that they would not consent to be separated; that nothing could be done until their annual a.s.semblage in June, to feast on the green corn; that, hard as the fate was, he would consent to emigrate, and would use his influence to induce his friends to do so.

After remaining four days in camp, he and his companions left, accompanied by his little daughter, whom he presented to her mother on reaching his own encampment.

Prompt to his engagement with General Worth, he returned on the tenth day after his departure. He stated that he could do nothing until June; but expressed his desire to see General Armistead, the former commander, who was yet at Tampa Bay. With that officer he also made arrangements to do whatever was in his power to induce his friends to emigrate.

There appears no good evidence on which to doubt the sincerity of Wild Cat; yet it appears that General Armistead, before leaving Florida, ordered Colonel Childs, commanding at Fort Pearce, to seize Wild Cat, if he should come within his power, with such followers as should attend him, and send them to Tampa Bay for emigration. General Armistead retired to Washington soon after issuing this order, leaving General Worth in command.

On the twenty-first of May, Wild Cat and his brother, together with an uncle, a brother of his father King Philip, and twelve other Indians and three Exiles, came into Fort Pearce, where Colonel Childs was in command. Wild Cat and his friends had reposed perfect confidence in the honor and good faith of General Worth. He had been betrayed by General Hernandez, acting under General Jessup's orders; had been imprisoned, and suffered much; but from the manner and bearing of General Worth, he had been led to repose the most implicit confidence in his sincerity.

Colonel Childs, however, punctilious in his obedience to orders, at once seized and sent him and his companions in irons to Tampa Bay, where they were immediately placed on board a transport and sent to New Orleans, en route for Fort Gibson. The people of Florida heartily approved this transaction, feeling that the Territory was now rid of one of its most dangerous foes.

General Worth soon learned the manner in which Wild Cat had been again seized as a prisoner, in violation of the pledged faith of Government.

Mortified and chagrined, he at once dispatched a faithful officer, with explicit directions, to bring Wild Cat and his friends back to Florida at the earliest moment at which he should be able. The officer found them at New Orleans, and forthwith started with them on his return to Tampa Bay.

This measure of General Worth, though bold, and in direct opposition to the popular sentiment of Florida, probably tended as much to the pacification of that Territory as any movement during the war.

General Worth set out to meet the distinguished chief, and reached Tampa Bay on the third of July. The next day he went on board the ship, where he met Wild Cat and his companions; they were yet in irons. As they met upon the deck, the General took him cordially by the hand; a.s.sured him of his sincere friendship; of the mistake by which he had been arrested; but a.s.sured him, that so great was his renown as a warrior, and such were the fears which the people entertained of him, that, as commanding General, he was constrained to hold him a prisoner.

Perhaps nothing so touches the vanity of a savage as an expression of his greatness; and the consummate policy of General Worth was never more apparent than in the manner of his treating this savage chief. After recounting the devastation and death which Wild Cat had scattered throughout the Territory, he told him, with great emphasis, that he had the power to put an end to the war. He then told him he was at liberty to select five of his most trusty friends, and send them to his band with such a message as would inform them of the precise state of facts, to name the time necessary to gather his band, and have them at Fort Brooke; that, if they failed to come in at the appointed time, he and his followers, who should remain with him, should be _hanged_.

Wild Cat listened with emotion; most of his followers wept. After General Worth had closed his remarks, he arose, and, with great force of eloquence and truth, portrayed the wrongs to which he and his friends had been subjected. He then added, that they had fought the white people bravely, had killed many, but they were too numerous and too strong for them to contend with; that they were compelled to submit. Then, in conclusion, he said he would send out his friends, and do what he could to induce his band to surrender, for emigration.

While he was speaking, the hour of twelve arrived, and an armed ship lying in port, opened her ports and commenced firing a national salute, in honor of the day. Wild Cat stopped, and, turning to General Worth, inquired the cause. It was explained to him, and he readily contrasted his own situation and that of his friends, who were sitting around him in irons, with the condition of the freemen to whom they were prisoners.

After he had concluded his remarks, he gathered around him his friends, and, having consulted with them, he selected his five messengers, one of whom was taken from the Exiles, and the other four from the Indians. The five messengers were brought together, and he addressed them in their own language, apparently with deep emotion; but when he came to inform them of the message they were to deliver to his wife and child, the feelings of the husband and father again overpowered him: he turned aside and wept; and such was the deep and thrilling interest which pervaded those around him, that the hardy sailors who had long been accustomed to danger, and the soldier who had become familiar with death in its various forms, were melted to tears. The sympathy became general; and all present seemed to acknowledge the reality of those holy affections of the human heart which G.o.d has implanted deep down in its core and center. Silence pervaded the whole a.s.semblage. The order was given by General Worth in a low and solemn voice to remove the fetters from the limbs of the five messengers. It was done quietly, and all looked on with interest. After the irons had been taken from their limbs, and all was prepared for their departure, Wild Cat shook hands with each as they pa.s.sed over the side of the ship. To the last he handed a silk handkerchief and a breast-pin, saying, "give them to my wife and child."

The time which Wild Cat had voluntarily set for their return, was forty days. The band was supposed to be on the Kissimee or St. John's River; and much interest was felt by all in the result. They greatly feared that delay might take place in finding and communicating with them.

Officers and soldiers partic.i.p.ated in the excitement; and the messengers were instructed by them to inform the commanding officer at that post, if any great delay should occur.

The success of this mission was regarded as the turning point of the Florida War, and in its perfect success all felt a deep interest; as it was believed that his example would be followed by other chiefs of sufficient influence to bring this long protracted war to a close.

The officers visited Wild Cat and his friends, on board the ship, daily, and endeavored to cheer them by constantly expressing their confidence in the fidelity of the messengers. He endeavored to surmount the anxiety and apprehension which his situation naturally brought to his mind; but his care-worn countenance and anxious manner showed the corroding solicitude which he felt.

"Old Micco," the Indian chief who at first induced Wild Cat to come in to Fort c.u.mmings, was at Tampa Bay at the time the messengers left. He was aged, but continued active. He had been the confidential friend of King Philip, the father of Wild Cat, and was now the warm friend of the son. He volunteered to accompany the messengers, a.s.suring Wild Cat that he would himself return in ten days with such tidings as he should be able to gather in that time.

The old man, faithful to his engagement, on the tenth day appeared at Tampa Bay with six warriors and a number of women and children, and reported that others were on their way. The return of Micco with such intelligence cheered his followers and friends, and gave to our officers and soldiers confidence in the entire success of the plan; but the chief continued to exhibit gloom, and at times he evinced despondency of spirits.

In the meantime, his people continued to arrive daily, and in less than thirty days, his entire band were encamped at Tampa Bay. He had informed General Worth of the precise number of his warriors by delivering to him a bundle containing one stick for each warrior. On the last day of July, it was found that the number of warriors, including Exiles, exactly corresponded with the number of sticks.

When informed that his warriors were all in, he resumed his natural cheerfulness; his countenance became lighted up with hope and intelligence; his bearing was lofty and independent. Several officers went on board to congratulate him. He was warmly greeted. He now, turning to the officer of the guard, in a tone of confident a.s.surance, requested that his irons might be removed, and he permitted to address his warriors, as he said, "like a man." His shackles were taken off; and he then dressed himself in a manner which he deemed fitting the occasion. His turban was of crimson silk, from which three ostrich plumes were gracefully suspended; his breast was covered with glittering silver ornaments; his many-colored frock was fastened around his waist by a girdle of red silk, into which was thrust his scalping knife, enclosed in its appropriate scabbard. Red leggins and ornamented moccasins completed his attire. He was attended on sh.o.r.e by several officers, who took seats with him in the boat. As they approached the sh.o.r.e, and he saw his friends who had gathered at the landing to greet him, his heart seemed to swell with emotion; but gathering himself for the occasion he became dignified and haughty in his deportment, and as he stepped on sh.o.r.e be waived his hand, beckoning them all to stand back. They impulsively obeyed; and raising his form to its utmost height he sent forth a shrill war-whoop, which reached every ear in the vicinity, as the announcement of his freedom. A hearty response at once came back from every warrior of the band. The crowd simultaneously opened to the right and left, when, without noticing the presence of any person, he at once proceeded to the head-quarters, where he met General Worth, whom he saluted in the most respectful manner. He then turned to his people and addressed them, stating the arrangement with General Worth, thanking them for so cheerfully coming to him, declared they were now at peace with the white people. He then inquired for his wife and child, who had remained silent spectators of the whole scene. They at once came forward, and as he saw them, the feelings of the husband and father again overcame him for an instant; but resuming his lofty demeanor he mingled again with those faithful and tried followers, who had so often stood beside him in times of peril.

Such were the fortunes, and such the character, of one of those chieftains whom the incidents of the Florida War brought into public notice. He is now introduced to the reader, and will continue to receive occasional attention until the close of our narrative, and perhaps he may again appear in the future history of the people to whose trials and persecutions we are now directing attention.

We have felt this sketch due to the cause of truth, inasmuch as during the war, and even up to the present day, public newspapers have spoken of Wild Cat as a cruel and vindictive savage. His efforts in behalf of freedom have been represented by public officers as crimes, and he has been held up to the public as an unprincipled brigand. We would judge him, as we would all others, by his acts.

Wild Cat's band, now convened at Tampa Bay, had been previously diminished by emigration. It now numbered seventy-eight warriors, sixty-four women and forty-seven children--making in all one hundred and eighty-nine souls. We have no official statement of the number of Exiles who surrendered with this band. We suppose, however, from the warm interest which Wild Cat always took in behalf of the Exiles, that more would have flocked to his standard than to those of other chiefs; but we have no evidence that such was the fact. Probably the Exiles const.i.tuted about one-sixth of the band--that being the proportion of Exiles who accompanied him to Fort c.u.mmings, and were seized with him by Colonel Childs. Indeed, we have had no official data by which to determine the proportion of Exiles who const.i.tuted the several parties that surrendered after General Jessup left the army. No subsequent commander in Florida appears to have drawn distinctions as to the color of his prisoners. They were all reported as _Seminoles_, and the term "negro"

occurred only incidentally in their official reports, when speaking of the cla.s.s of interpreters and agents who were employed; nor do we find that General Worth made any effort to send any of his prisoners into slavery. So far as we are informed, like General Taylor, he treated them all as _prisoners of war_, ent.i.tled to the same rights, the same respect, and the same attentions, agreeably to the doctrine advanced by General Gaines at New Orleans.

General Worth appears to have felt authorized to send every Exile who surrendered, to the Western Country. If any of them were claimed by the slaveholders of Florida, he directed the proofs of ownership to be taken and the value of the negro estimated, and then, without waiting for further contest, the negro was treated as other prisoners, and sent West with his Seminole friends, leaving the Government to pay for the slave or not, as the Executive and Congress should determine.[130]

It was this policy which enabled General Worth to conduct the war with so much greater success than his predecessors. It enabled him to avail himself of all the influence of Wild Cat, now exerted in favor of emigration; while General Jessup, by delivering over the Exiles to slavery, had induced the same chief to exert absolute violence to prevent emigration.[131]

General Worth, having secured the friendship and cooperation of Wild Cat, entered into consultation with him as to the best method of carrying out his plan of peaceful surrender of the Indians and Exiles, and their emigration West. Those in the eastern part of the Territory, under Hospetarche and Tiger-tail and Sam Jones, were bitterly opposed to emigration. They determined, in council, to kill any messenger sent to them for the purpose of persuading them to surrender, or any one who should attempt to leave them for the purposes of emigration.

Notwithstanding this determination, some three or four families, numbering in all about twenty souls, made their escape (Aug. 10), and, though closely pursued, reached the military post on Pease Creek, and were sent to Tampa Bay, where they joined Wild Cat's band. Otulke, a brother of Wild Cat, lived in the vicinity of those people who had become so indignant, and it was deemed important to inform him of Wild Cat's determination to go West. The chief had also a younger brother, now with the band at Tampa Bay, who volunteered to perform the hazardous duty of carrying a message to Otulke. Much solicitude was felt for his safety, but he accomplished his mission successfully. Otulke, with some six warriors and their families, obeyed the call, and came to Tampa Bay and joined the party destined for emigration.

Otulke also brought a message from Hospetarche, an aged chief, the head of a small band numbering nearly one hundred souls. He was said to be eighty-five years of age; but was yet active, and possessed great energy. He sent a message to Wild Cat that he, too, was coming in to see him. He was from the "Great Cypress Swamp," whose inhabitants were regarded as very treacherous, and altogether dest.i.tute of integrity.

A few days after Otulke arrived, Hospetarche sent a boy with a white flag to Tampa Bay, saying, he was old and fatigued, and wanted whisky and provisions to enable him to reach Fort Brooke. These were sent him; but the next day another message of the same character was received, and complied with. This practice continued for five days. And such was the desperate character of the old chief, that none of the friendly Indians dared go out to meet him, particularly as they learned that he was attended only by warriors; they believed he was intent on hostility rather than peace, and they feared him.

Wild Cat had been absent for some days. When he returned, he ascertained the situation of Hospetarche, with whom he had long been acquainted. The next morning he dressed himself in his gayest attire, and, taking his rifle, mounted his favorite horse, which had been brought to Tampa Bay by his followers.

The officers who witnessed his departure, declared that the n.o.ble animal exhibited evidence of having recognized his master. No sooner had Wild Cat mounted, than he began to champ his bit and paw the earth, as if impatient to bear forth his rider to the hunting grounds. Wild Cat, sitting upon his spirited horse, shook hands with General Worth and the other officers, and then dashed into the forest; and before sunset, returned with his venerable friend, Hospetarche, and eighteen warriors.

After they arrived, they were treated kindly, but placed under a strong guard. They sent confidential friends however to their homes, who in a few days returned, bringing with them the women and children of the whole band. There were now at Tampa Bay nearly three hundred prisoners ready for emigration, including Exiles, supposed to be about sixty in number.

While General Worth was thus successful in his efforts to induce the Indians and their allies peacefully to emigrate, he was pained to witness the sufferings to which his army were subjected. As an ill.u.s.tration of the sacrifice which our nation made in this effort to enslave the Exiles, we would state, that the 1st regiment of Infantry, under Colonel Miller, came to Florida in 1838, and left in August, 1841.

It numbered some six hundred men, and during the three years of its residence in Florida, one hundred and thirty-five soldiers and six commissioned officers died of sickness. This we believe to be nothing more than the average loss of the troops who served in that war, in proportion to the time of service. The official reports for July, 1841, showed two thousand four hundred and twenty-eight men on the sick list, unfit for duty, being considerably more than one half of the whole army.

A few Indians and Exiles, from various bands, occasionally arrived at Tampa Bay, and joined the emigrating party. Throughout the different families, they appeared to believe that General Worth was acting in good faith. The whole character of the war had undergone a change. It had originally been commenced and prosecuted for the purpose of reenslaving Exiles: now that object, so far as they could discover, appeared to have been given up. Exiles and Indians were treated alike. Wild Cat, their most active and popular chief, and the leading Exiles with him, were acting with sincerity in favor of emigration. The war was in fact suspended, for the adoption of a more pacific policy, which seemed to promise success.

Tiger-tail was yet inexorable and inveterate. He was said to have murdered his own sister for proposing to surrender; yet a small party from his band escaped to Tampa Bay, and were protected. A few other Indians and Exiles were captured without bloodshed; and such were the prospects of returning peace, that by the commencement of September, General Worth informed the War Department that the 3d regiment of Artillery could be spared from the service in Florida; and that he hoped, within a month, to discharge the 4th and 5th Infantry, and the 3d Dragoons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Thlocklo Tustenuggee. (Tiger Tail.)]

Wild Cat visited Tiger-tail in his retreat, which was regarded as a most hazardous undertaking. With six followers he started on a visit to this barbarous chief. He reached the vicinity of his camp near nightfall, but deemed it prudent not to approach at that late hour of the day. He and his friends fearing discovery, bivouacked in a grove, supposing they had not been noticed by any one. In the darkness of the night, they heard slight movements near them. Wild Cat suspected it was the wary chief, preparing to ma.s.sacre himself and friends. He boldly called out, announcing his own name, and telling Tiger-tail not to come upon him like a coward, by stealth, but to speak frankly, or come up boldly to a personal conflict. Tiger-tail, surprised and astonished at this course, commenced conversation. Wild Cat, referring to their former friendship, avowed his desire to renew the attachment; or, if Tiger-tail insisted on fighting, then he would meet him in a manner becoming a bold warrior. The ferocity of Tiger-tail gave way. They agreed to meet next day, when a long consultation was held. The savage chief gave a.s.surances of his peaceful disposition, and promised to reflect upon the propriety of emigrating. Wild Cat also sent to other chiefs messages, a.s.suring them of his intention to emigrate; that his band, and that of Hospetarche, with individuals from other villages, were at Tampa Bay with the intention of soon embarking for the Western Country.