A misunderstanding having arisen between General Scott and General Jesup, the former, by direction of the President (General Jackson), was ordered to Washington, "in order that an inquiry be had into the unaccountable delay in prosecuting the Creek war and the failure of the campaign in Florida." a On the 7th of July, General Scott relinquished the command to Gen eral Jesup. The number of troops employed in the Creek campaign was: The Indian warriors at the beginning, were estimated by General Scott at from 3,000 to 5,000." OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA. After the departure of General Scott and the resignation of General Clinch, the command of the troops in this department, pending the arrival of General Jesup, devolved on Governor Call. In September, with a force mainly consisting of Tennessee mounted volunteers and Florida militia, he moved to the Withlacoochee, but the Indians, as in the preceding campaign, did not risk an engagement. The remaining operations of the year were too insignificant to be mentioned. On the 8th of December, General Jesup assumed command, relieving Governor Call. Creek Indians organized and mustered as volunteers, summer of 1836.. 1,517 22,024 2,456 1,605 24, 480 23,541 2,544 26,085 These figures include the 698 militia and volunteers employed to prevent Indian hostilities on the Southwestern frontier. The remainder nearly all served in the Seminole and Creek Wars, the number of mounted volunteers and militia being 13,127.4 a American State Papers, vol. 7, p. 337. C Report of Adjutant-General, American State papers, vol. 6, p. 1061. Adding 1,757 regulars and marines, who were in Florida on the 30th of November, 1836, the whole number of troops in the field during that year was 27,842." The prime element of national expense did not lie in the pay of this large body of volunteers and militia. It was due to their brief terms of service, to which, as in the Revolution and in the War of 1812, our generals were forced to subordinate their operations. The peculiar notions, too, of these war levies on the subject of fatigue duty, added in this instance, to the cost of the war, by depleting the fighting strength of the veteran troops. In writing to the Secretary of War, December 12, 1836, General Jesup stated: Without a strong corps of wagon drivers, muleteers, and laborers, it is almost impossible to act efficiently in this country. The southern militia do not labor for themselves, and consequently can not or will not labor for the public. The regular troops are on constant fatigue duty, and a road leading from camp, and on which we are to march to-day, requiring repair, I sent instructions to General Armstrong last night to move forward with his brigade and cause the necessary repairs to be made. He replied that it would be impossible, as his men would not work. I shall, therefore, be compelled to put this labor also upon the regular troops. At the same time that I consider southern volunteers inefficient for many purposes, it is due them to say that they are efficient whenever rapid marches are to be made, or an enemy to be fought. Add to them such a corps as I propose, and you make them efficient for every purpose. The large force required during the first year of the war, led both the Secretary of War and the General in Chief, to renew their recommendations for an increase of the line and staff of the Army. In his annual report the General in Chief stated: * * The regiments of artillery and infantry have, since the late war with Great Britain, been placed on the lowest possible establishment, as to rank and file, consistent with a regard to the preservation of military knowledge and discipline among them, but for operations in the face of an enemy, the rank and file were reduced too low for any efficient service, a company of artillery having, when full, only forty-eight rank and file, and that of the infantry forty-six. * Without reckoning the casualties of war, it is not to be expected that any company will be able, one month after taking the field, to present, under arms, more than two-thirds of its original number, for, independently of the casualties just alluded to, the soldiers of the Regular Army are obliged to become the drivers of the trains of artillery, of provisions, and of other supplies, as well as the laborers on all occasions where labor for the service is required, as no troops for these special duties are provided by law in the American Army, as are in other services, and experience has proved, wherever militia or volunteers have been called into the service, that these duties have devolved on the regular troops. I would then recommend, in order to render the Army efficient and capable of performing the duties required of it, as well as on the score of economy, that every company of artillery or infantry be augmented to one hundred rank and file, so that there may always be, in each regiment, for duty with arms, a respectable force. The Secretary of War in approving this recommendation, December 6, 1836, added: If we may judge from the experience of the last few years, the measure is as plainly called for on the score of economy, as it is by other and more impressive considerations. The expenses occasioned by the hostile aggressions of the Sac and Fox Indians in 1832, amounted to more than three millions of dollars, and the several appropriations for suppressing Indian hostilities made by Congress at the last session, and amounting to five millions of dollars, have already been drawn from the Treasury; and though a considerable amount is yet in the hands of disbursing officers, the whole will be required to meet expenses already incurred. a American State Papers, vol. 6, pp. 1053 and 1060. c American State Papers, vol. 6, p. 819, If it be one of the first objects of legislation to guard against the evils of war, then must it be admitted that the prevention of Indian hostilities, so far as human foresight is competent to that end, should be the great care of the Congress of the United States; for whilst our exposure to such hostilities is imminent, the evils which attend them are so peculiar and unmitigated, as to bring on those public agents who may neglect to guard against them, the most fearful responsibility.a CAMPAIGN OF 1837. During the winter of 1836-37 many expeditions were sent out to search the fastnesses and swamps held by the enemy, but with no decisive results, except to harass the Indians and keep them moving from place to place. The warfare, however, proved so wearisome, that on the 6th of March, 1837, the principal chiefs agreed to a capitulation, which specified that the entire nation should immediately emigrate west of the Mississippi. This capitulation was looked upon as ending the war, and preparations were made to move the regular troops to their former stations, but it finally proved to be a mere ruse to gain time, until the sickly season began, when military operations would again be suspended. On the night of June 2, Micanopy, the head chief, and two or three others, who had encamped with their followers near Tampa Bay, the port of embarkation, were abducted and taken to the interior. Their disappearance was the signal for the breaking up of the camp and the renewal of hostilities. For the rest of the year military operations were much the same as in 1836. Small bands of Indians suddenly appeared here and there over a territory of 52,000 square miles and easily avoided the troops. General Jesup, up to the 21st of October, nearly ten months after taking command, was unable to report their losses at more than 30 slain and 500 captured. In December, the last severe battle of the war was fought by General Taylor at Lake Okeechobee. The nature of the country and the character of the troops are thus explained in his official report: At this place the final disposition was made to attack them, (the Indians), which was in two lines, the volunteers under Gentry, and Morgan's spies to form the first line in extended order, who were instructed to enter the hummock, and in the event of being attacked and hard pressed, were to fall back in the rear of the regular troops out of the reach of the enemy's fire. The second line was composed of the Fourth and Sixth Infantry, who were instructed to sustain the volunteers, the First Infantry being held in reserve. Moving on in the direction of the hummock, after proceeding about a quarter of a mile, we reached the swamp which separated us from the enemy, three-fourths of a mile in breadth, being totally impassable for horse and nearly so for foot, covered with a thick growth of saw grass, 5 feet high, and about knee-deep in mud and water, which extended to the left as far as the eye could reach and to the right to a part of the swamp and hummock we had just crossed, through which ran a deep creek. At the edge of the swamp all the men were dismounted and the horses and baggage left under a suitable guard. Captain Allen was detached with the two companies of mounted infantry, to examine the swamp and hummock to the right, and in case he should not find the enemy in that direction, was to return to the baggage and in the event of hearing a heavy firing, was immediately to join me. After making these arrangements I crossed the swamp in the order stated. On reaching the borders of the hummock the volunteers and spies received a heavy fire from the enemy, which was returned by them for a short time, when their gallant commander, Colonel Gentry, fell, mortally wounded; they mostly broke, and instead of forming in rear of the regulars, as had been directed, they retired across the a American State Papers, vol. 6, p. 811. swamp to their baggage and horses; nor could they be again brought into action as a body, although efforts were made repeatedly by my staff to induce them to do so. The enemy, however, were promptly checked and driven back by the Fourth and Sixth Infantry, which, in truth, might be said to be a moving battery. The weight of the enemy's fire was principally concentrated on five companies of the Sixth Infantry, which not only stood firm, but continued to advance until their gallant commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, and his adjutant, Lieutenant Centre, were killed, and every officer, with one exception, as well as most of the noncommissioned officers, including the sergeant-major and four of the orderly sergeants, killed and wounded of those companies; when that portion of the regiment retired a short distance and were again formed, one of the companies having but four men left untouched. * * * Lieutenant-Colonel Foster with six companies, amounting in all to 160 men, gained the hummock in good order, where he was joined by Captain Noel, with the two remaining companies of the Sixth Infantry, and Captain Gillam, of Gentry's volunteers, with a few additional men, and continued to drive the enemy for a considerable time, and by a change of front separated his line, and continued to drive him until he reached the great Lake Okeechobee, which was in rear of the enemy's position, and on which their encampment extended for more than a mile. The action was a severe one, and continued from half past 12 until after 3 p. m., a part of the time very close and severe. We suffered much, having 26 killed and 112 wounded, among whom are some of our most valuable officers. The hostiles probably suffered, all things considered, equally with ourselves, they having left 10 dead on the ground, besides doubtless carrying off many more, as is customary with them when practicable. a The tenacity with which, as a people, we cling to the delusion that a citizen with a musket is equal, if not superior, in courage to a disciplined soldier, was curiously illustrated by the publication of General Taylor's official report. Incensed by the reflections on the behavior of her troops, the legislature of the State of Missouri appointed a joint committee, to investigate the case of the men whose conduct had been impeached. On receiving this report the legislature, in February, 1839, nearly fourteen months after the battle, passed a series of joint resolutions, the first of which declared that the conduct of the Missouri volunteers and spies in the Florida campaign" was such as only could be expected from good soldiers and brave men." The second resolution declared "that so much of Col. Z. Taylor's report of the battle of Okeechobee, which charges that the Missouri volunteers and spies mostly broke and fell back to the baggage, and that the repeated efforts of his staff could not rally them, is proved to be unfounded, not to say intentionally false." * * * The third, fourth, and fifth resolutions declared: That so much of said report which states that the Missouri volunteers and spies behaved themselves as well or better than troops of that description usually do, is not so much a compliment to them as a slander upon citizen soldiers generally; that Colonel Taylor, in his report of the battle of Okeechobee, has done manifest injustice to the Missouri volunteers and spies, and that said report was not founded upon facts as they occurred; that a commanding officer who wantonly misrepresented the conduct of men who gallantly sustained him in battle, is unworthy a commission in the Army of the United States. a American State Papers, vol. 7, p. 987, 988. NUMBER OF TROOPS EMPLOYED IN 1837. This number can not be definitely stated. The return of the Adjutant-General for November 30, 1837, showed that there were in Florida, on that date, the following troops: " a Of the regular force, 2,870 were "present for duty;" of the volunteers, 4,012. Under the law these men could only be organized for either six or twelve months, and must therefore be discharged at the end of the next campaign. At this very time, the regular force in Florida could have been raised to more than 7,700 rank and file, during the war, by increasing the 77 companies to 100 enlisted men each. In addition to the volunteer force as given in the table, 1,200 mounted men were supposed to be en route from Georgia, making a total of 5,476 volunteers. The whole number of raw troops who had been called into service in Florida up to this time was 15,290, including about 900 Indian warriors. Before the close of 1837, unfavorable comment was excited by the extravagance of the war, which was to a great extent due to the large proportion of mounted troops. Notwithstanding the well-established military axiom that cavalry require much longer training and instruction than infantry, the table shows that, exclusive of the 1,200 Georgians, nearly four-fifths of the volunteers were mounted. Among the regulars, on the other hand, the dragoons numbered less than oneseventh. The dependence of the Government upon the caprice of raw troops, and its inability to control expenditures, were well shown in the case of the Georgia troops above referred to. Writing to Mr. Poinsett, the Secretary of War, November 22, General Jesup states: By Lieutenant McLean, who arrived yesterday, I was informed that a force of 1,200 or 1,300 Georgia volunteers were on their march to Florida. I had requested the governor to send Colonel Nelson with a battalion or even a regiment, if he could raise the force; but, in reply, he informed me that you had countermanded the requisition on that State; and I had learned from Major Churchill, as well as from other sources, that the colonel was employed on the Cherokee frontier and would not be in Florida. I had, therefore, not calculated upon him. a American State Papers, vol. 7, p. 920. |