country referred to, which they seemed perfectly to understand. The chiefs were then to collect their people and remain quiet, and if they did so, they would be protected from the intrusion of the whites, by stationing troops in their vicinity; but if they went out of the district assigned them, they would be considered as enemies and treated accordingly; that either 1, or some other person, would in the autumn meet them on Pease creek, when the whole nation would be assembled and further arrangements entered into with them, with which they all seemed perfectly satisfied, and agreed to comply with the conditions offered them. They asked time to enable them to collect and remove their families to Pease creek and two months were granted them, from the day of the conference. Matters being thus arranged, I made them some presents in token of the good feeling of government towards them; they expressed themselves greatly gratified and understood distinctly what they promised to perform. Chitto Tustanuggee signified a wish that there might be a trading house established on Pease creek, for the accommodation of the Indians, so that there would be no necessity for going beyond the limits assigned them, to exchange their peltries and other commodities for articles essential to them, and requested that Lieut. Colonel Harney might be appointed to establish a fort and trading house accordingly, which was all promised. Chitto Tustanuggee, with his friends, under the protection of Lieut. Colonel Harney, returned to Cape Florida, and all the others departed, on the 23d, to their respective destinations, apparently with good feelings. This state of things continued until the 23d of July, when a treacherous attack was made, on the detachment stationed on the Caloosahatchee river, which had been sent there to establish the trading house and post agreeably to the terms of the agreement made, on the 18th of May, at Fort King. The fulfilment of this part of the agreement was, as requested, intrusted to Lieut. Colonel Harney. Lieut. Colonel Harney reports, that on the day preceding the attack, he arrived at the establishment on the Caloosahatchee, intending to remain several days; on his arrival, he found that all the chiefs who were to have met him there, had not arrived. He, therefore, took the opportunity to run down to Sanybel island, at the mouth of the river, where he was actively engaged in hunting wild hogs, for the subsistence of the detachment, that he returned to the camp late at night, much fatigued, and threw himself on his couch, and fell asleep. Having no commissioned officer with him, he intrusted the post to the charge of a sergeant, in whom he had great confidence; he was awakened about daybreak, by the firing and yells of the Indians, who had got possession of the camp and killed the sergeant and more than one-half of his men. Eleven soldiers and five citizens were killed; eight soldiers and two citizens escaped. Seven of the soldiers, taking refuge in a small sail boat, then lying off in the stream in which the two citizens fortunately had slept that night, as soon as possible weighed anchor and, favored by a light. breeze, slipped off unperceived by the Indians. The colonel himself escaped with great difficulty, and after walking fifteen miles down the river, followed by one soldier, came to a canoe, which he had left there the evening previous, and succeeded, by this means, in getting on board the sail boat, where he found those who had escaped in her. The Indians had exhibited the utmost friendship, immediately previous to the attack, but Lieutenant Colonel Harney had, nevertheless, given orders to the sergeant, to take the same precautions as if he doubted their sincerity; he returned to the camp on the night of the day of the attack but found no one living; he remained, however, at the mouth of the river until the evening of the second day after the attack, in hopes of picking up some of the party who might have escaped, but in vain. On Lieut. Colonel Harney's arrival at Key Biscayne, six days after, he found Chitto Tustanuggee there with his family, waiting to be conveyed to the Caloosahatchee. Chitto Tustanuggee asserted that he had no knowl edge of the hostile intentions of the Indians at the Caloosahatchee, and no participation in their deeds, and after an interview with Apiaka, declared, that they would have blood for blood, to revenge the outrage. Since these occurrences, however, events have taken place, which show that these professions were of no avail. About this time a rumor was spread among the Indians, encamped near Fort Lauderdale, by the interpreter Sandy, a negro of great influence among the Indians, that the intention of the agreement at Fort King was to entrap the Indians, at the Caloosahatchee, for the purpose of forcing them to emigrate. A portion of the Indians believed this to be the case, while others doubted it; but their distrust in the whites at length gaining the ascendant, the rumor was almost universally believed, and a renewed course of treacherous hostility was begun, near Fort Lauderdale, by those who had been apparently most friendly, including Chitto Tustanuggee and his party. The results of the repeated efforts of Government to influence these Indians, by measures of kindness and benevolence, will warrant the conclusion, that it is futile to attempt any other course towards them, than that of the greatest rigor and severity. The natural distrust between the white and red man, has at length amounted to an entire want of confidence on both sides; the proneness of the Indians to take the lives of the whites, without regard to sex or condition, whenever it is in their power to do so, and the insidious rumors let loose among them, through the interpreters, by designing individuals and those who are interested in prolonging the war, form a barrier to the renewal of any good feeling on either side. The Indians in Florida are now separated into several different parts of the Territory, and under various leaders, whose authority extends only over their immediate followers, and it appears impracticable for them to have, at present, any great national council, or to agree in any concerted measures under one leader. Those chiefs who once had sway over the greater number of these Indians, have been nearly all removed to the west, or annihilated. Pending the suspension of hostilities with the Indians, some of the companies, serving in Florida, whose terms of service were about to expire, were ordered to the north for the purpose of being recruited in physical and numerical strength. They are now again in Florida, completed to their respective establishments, with considerable additions of recruits for the several regiments. In the month of June, a camp was established near Trenton, New Jersey, for the purpose of instructing the troops in the various duties appertaining to their respective arms. The state of the service, however, did not admit of drawing from the various frontiers as great a number of troops as was originally contemplated; still, the measure was attended with beneficial results, which I had an opportunity of witnessing, personally, in September last, just before the breaking up of the camp. Both of the inspectors general, having been employed upon a court martial of long continuance, have not inspected, within the last year, all the troops; such as they have inspected, have been reported generally in good condition. The efficiency of the line of the army is much impaired, by the number of officers detached to serve in the staff, who, as far as regards the regiments to which they belong, may be considered non-effective. For instance, there are six assistant adjutants general, twenty-eight assistant quartermasters, and four commissaries of subsistence, all taken from the line, and still holding their rank in their respective regiments. Most of these officers are captains of companies; the consequence is, that there are many companies commanded by lieutenants. I cannot too strongly recommend that the officers of the Quartermaster's and Subsistence Departments, whose duties are wholly out of the line, be permanently separated from their regiments, or that some provision be made for supplying their places by new appointment or promotion, as the case may require; for every company ought to have an effective captain and at least two lieutenants. It has frequently happened that, in Florida and on the western frontier, there have been companies without a single officer present to command them; so that officers not belonging to the companies have been detached, not only from their proper companies, but from other regiments, to take the temporary charge of such companies, much to the detriment of the service. In the year 1799, on the recommendation of General Washington, an excellent provision was made, by law, for securing the proper number of officers in each regiment and company, and such a provision, if now revived, would be of great importance to the line of the army. It is this: In order to keep the necessary complement of officers in each regiment, it was provided, that the staff officers of the regiment, as adjutant, quartermaster, or paymaster, was each an additional officer, selected from the subalterns; and that a company should not be without its complement of officers, their places were supplied by promotion, or new appointment, as the case might require; so that each company had its captain and two subalterns effective. So with other branches of the staff; every officer detached to serve as an aid de camp to a general officer, or as an assistant to the adjutant general, if taken from his regiment, became a supernumerary in his grade, and his place was supplied by the promotion of the officer next in rank, or the appointment of an officer at the foot of the regiment, to fill the vacancy, thus keeping up the number of officers effective in the regiment. Such a provision ought now to be revived, to render the line effective in officers, as the companies have been greatly increased in numerical strength, by the law of July 5, 1838, and, consequently, require the full complement of officers to command them. The assistant quartermasters, twenty eight in number, and the four assistant commissaries of subsistence, making an aggregate of thirty-two officers, nearly equal to the number of officers for a whole regiment, now taken from the line, ought to be permanently separated, and without any connexion with the line, as the regiments, with their present numerical strength, cannot bear so great a draft upon their officers, most of them being captains of companies. Our army is employed in so many ways, so distant from the centre of the nation, and always, on the frontiers, in an attitude of war, that it requires the greatest vigilance to maintain its discipline, and the attention of all the officers to render it effective. In addition to the above, I would respectfully submit to your consideration the propriety of some legal provisions being made for officers who may become superannuated or unfit for duty, by infirmities, the result of exposure in the line of their duty, who would cheerfully retire from the service if they had the means of support; and I feel confident that the following plan, while it would render the corps of officers most effective, and create no additional expense to Government, if adopted, would be highly beneficial to the public service. Let every officer who may be superannuated or unfit for service retire. from the army on his pay proper, without any other emolument or allowance, and let the officer who, according to the rules of promotion, would as in ordinary cases fill his place, be promoted; but, in such case, as long as the retired officer should live, the officer thus promoted should receive only the pay of the commission which he held at the time of his promotion to the rank of the retired officer. Thus, a retired colonel would receive seventy-five dollars a month, and the lieutenant colonel promoted to fill his place would have the rank of colonel with the pay of a lieutenant colonel, and the rations, forage, and other allowances of a colonel, and so the major, who would in consequence become lieutenant colonel, would receive the pay of a major, with the rations, forage, &c. of a lieutenant colonel; the senior captain would be a major, with the pay of captain, and the allowances of a major; the senior first lieutenant would become a captain, with the pay of first lieutenant, and the emoluments of a captain; the senior second lieutenant would become first lieutenant, with the pay of second lieutenant; and, finally, the brevet second lieutenant would become second lieutenant; so that the officers performing the duties of these grades, respectively, would each have a rank corresponding with their respective duties, with increased emoluments, and every grade would thus become effective to the service: but, as it now is, the officer who is not fit for service receives all the pay and all the allowances of an effective officer, while the officer, who is obliged to supply his place and do his duty, gets neither rank nor advantage of any sort. It will be seen that, by the proposed arrangement, there will be an actual economy, as the service would be more efficient, inasmuch as there would be officers capable of performing the du ties of every grade, and, consequently, the public interest would be perfectly guarded, which cannot be the case while there is a deficiency of offi cers in any regiment or corps. I beg leave again to draw the attention of the department to the fact, that there is no provision made by law for the widows and orphans of the officers of the regular army, who may die in consequence of wounds received, or diseases contracted, by exposure in the service; while there is a provision of that nature for all other descriptions of troops, whether militia, rangers, sea fencibles, or volunteers, as will appear by the act of the 4th of July, 1836. There are the widows of several meritorious officers and soldiers now suffering by the deprivation of their natural protectors, who have sacrificed their lives in their country's service, to whom the extension of the provision of that law would be a great relief, and I am sure, with a knowledge of that fact, you will see the justice of urging on Congress the application of the benefits of that law to the widows and orphans of the members of the regular army, who have thus died in the service of their country. I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, your most obedient servant, ALEX. MACOMB, Major General Commanding in Chief. To the Hon. J. R. POINSETT, |