Chapter 20:
Marines in the 2nd Seminole War

 

In the summer of 1835, Commandant Colonel Henderson marched his Marine battalion south to join the Creek war. Legend has it that he had left the Marine barracks in Washington with a note tacked on his HQ door, “Gone to fight the Indians. Will be back when the war is over.” In fact, they arrived too late for the fight and spent the rest of the summer patrolling the Georgia/Alabama border on foot and by steamboat.

They joined Lieutenant Colonel Freeman’s battalion, and on Oct. 28, took command at Fort Brooke near Tampa, Florida. The two battalions were reorganized into one regiment of six companies comprising more than half the strength of the entire Corps. They were joined by 750 Creek Indian volunteers with Marine officers commanding some of the Creek units. This was the Corps’ first experience leading native troops.

Commanding General Alexander Macomb had only four major generals at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War. Major Generals Edmund Gaines and Winfield Scott had failed in their mission due to insufficient planning and difficult terrain and climate. Major General Thomas Jesup was the last of the senior officers to attempt defeating the Seminoles.

The word Seminole is from the Creek word simanooli, meaning runaway. These runaway Creeks were survivors from the battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1812, and they refused to join the Creek migration to the new Indian Territory later called Oklahoma. They escaped south to Florida to get away from the whites, thinking that the swampland would be impassable for pursuit. The British continued to encourage Seminole raiding parties long after official cessation of the War of 1812, in 1814.

Jesup had just suppressed a Creek uprising in western Georgia and eastern Alabama—the campaign known as the Creek War of 1836—and decided to try a new approach to the fight in Florida. Rather than using large columns to force the Seminoles into fighting a large, set battle, he concentrated on “search and destroy” tactics—wearing the Indians down with small attacks that threatened their families and sources of supply. The Indians’ tactics were “hit and run” and they melted away in seconds into the swamp refuge if the enemy was too formidable.

The Seminoles lived in “hammocks” which was a patch of ground rising above the swamp and waterways, covered with saw-grass. Having a network of hammocks provided the Indians hundreds of acres for growing foodstuffs and pasture land. Finding the enemy in this lair of swampland was a major challenge. These same frustrating tactics were employed by the Viet Cong 130 years later.

The Army made repeated sorties into the Great Waboo Swamp without success. The Allied Creeks, wearing white turbans to distinguish them from the enemy in battle, led the pursuit. In one attack, Marine Lieutenant Andrew Ross, who held the rank of Captain in the Creek unit, was shot while trying to cross a stream. He died of his wounds on December 11, 1836, the first Marine officer to be killed in action since the end of the War of 1812.

When Brig. Gen. Jesup took over the war, he mustered a force of over 9,000 men, half of which were Army regulars, plus a battalion of Marines consisting of 38 officers and 400 enlisted Marines. He reorganized the Army of the South into two brigades and on Jan. 8, 1837, gave Marine Col. Henderson command of the 2nd Brigade which included the Marines. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Miller was given responsibility to guard the convoys moving between Tampa Bay and the Army depots on the military road to Fort King.

On Jan. 23, near Lake Abapopka, a detachment including Captain John Harris’ company of “Horse Marines” fought a large body of Seminoles. Five days later, Col. Henderson led a force into the Great Cypress Swamp to find the main body of Indians.

When the Allied Creeks made contact with the Seminoles, Henderson ordered the Marines into the battle. In the dense swamp, the Marines and the Creeks engaged the enemy across the Hatchee-Lustee River, a deep 20-yard-wide stream. Marines and soldiers extended along the river bank to lay a crossfire. When the enemy’s fire slackened, the troops plunged over, swimming or crossing on logs. Capt. Harris was one of the first across. The enemy fell back. Mounted Marines captured some women and children along with 100 pack ponies and 1,400 head of cattle—but the warriors escaped into the swamp taking their wounded with them. Marine Private Joel Wright was killed in the crossing and three others were wounded.

Henderson’s force pursued the enemy for half a mile through an even more difficult stretch. The Seminoles made repeated stands, but Henderson could never catch up with the enemy’s main body. Even so, the Battle of the Hatchee-Lustee was the Marine’s largest battle of the war. Six Marines had been KIA—including Marine Drummer Thomas Peterson—or died later of wounds.

Having lost their families and their main source of food, the Seminoles agreed to a parley in March with the chiefs consenting to a truce and removal to the west. On March 6, an armistice was signed. Many chiefs, including Micanopy, had surrendered but the two important leaders—Osceola and the aged Arpiucki (also known as Sam Jones)—had not come in and were very opposed to relocation. The Indians agreed to assemble at Fort Brooke for removal; it looked as though the war was over.

Henderson was promoted to brevet Brigadier General, the first Marine to hold a general officer rank. Captains William Dulany and Harris were made brevet majors. Henderson returned to Washington in May and Brevet Lt. Col. Miller was left in command of the troops south of the Hillsborough River. His force included 189 Marines at Tampa Bay, where the Seminoles began to concentrate for removal. Everyone was convinced the war was finished.

Then, at midnight on June 2, Osceola recaptured the compliant chiefs and their 700 followers at the poorly guarded fort, and forced them to leave the Marine encampment before dawn. The war began again and continued for five more years.

In October, a parley was formed with Osceola, the chief fire-brand, and Coeehajo, who were both seized after being tricked by a false flag of truce. Osceola died of malaria three months later at Fort Moultrie, Charleston, at the age of 33. Another battle was fought at Lake Okeechobee on Christmas Day.

In the summer of 1838, a special naval force was organized from small ships and dugout canoes. The unit won the nickname “Mosquito Fleet.” By 1841, it had 652 men including 130 Marines.

The war dragged on intermittently, employing unusual tactics. In 1839, Brigadier General Walter Armistead, in one of his “search and destroy” missions, obliterated over 500 acres of Seminole crops. Col. Harvey, in another attack, had his men dress as Seminoles to bait a trap. He received $55,000 from Congress to bribe Seminole chiefs to bring in their bands. Braves were given $500 to come in and move west, females were paid $100. American victory was eventually achieved by a combination of the destruction of Seminole food resources and plain bribery.

The Navy began to take a larger role in the war. In late 1839, command of the Mosquito Fleet on the east coast passed from Lieutenant Powell to Lieutenant McLaughlin, USN. Based at Tea Table Key in the upper Florida Keys, this force was intended to interdict Cuban and Bahamian traders bringing arms and munitions to the Seminoles. Schooners patrolled offshore and barges ranged closer to the mainland.

In addition, smaller boats and 140 dugout canoes manned by sailors and Marines probed the Everglades and up-river. In December of 1840, Marines in dugouts crossed the Everglades from east to west and were the first white men to make this journey.

In 1841, with Col. Worth now in command, the conduct of this war was costing the US $1,116,000 a year. Worth finally received permission from Congress to allow the remaining Seminoles to be left in peace if they stayed in the southwest part of southern Florida. Seminole bands remaining in Florida included some led by Holata Mico (nicknamed “Billy Bowlegs"); Arpicochi; Chipco; and the black Seminole leader Thlochlo Tustenuggee or “Tiger-Tail.” The mixed-blood black chiefs were especially determined to continue the fight—to them, death was better than a return to hard, coastal slavery. This was the first time blacks had fought in a war for their freedom.

Although the Seminole Wars went on for more than 40 years, the last Seminoles living in the Everglades never surrendered to the U.S. forces: a lasting testament to Indian bravery and determination. A total of 1,466 men and 61 Marines were killed or died of malaria in the Florida war.

The 2nd Seminole War was the first of many Expeditionary Force operations for which the U.S. Marines would become justly famous.