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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 40/340

The Second Seminole War

Clarke, was able to crawl away at night and return to Fort
Brooke.17 Three days later on December 31, 1835, Osceola and
some two hundred and fifty warriors were engaged by forces
under Generals Clinch and Call near the Withlacoochee River in
the first pitched battle of the war, but neither side gained a
victory.
Chief Alligator, one of the leaders in the Dade massacre, was
the same Alligator who, some twenty-two years earlier, had moved
his tribe from Alligator Town to the central region of the territory
south of Alachua. Alligator emerged as one of the major battle
leaders of the Seminoles during the war and was instrumental in
convincing the tribes to emigrate at its conclusion. Governor Duval
once described Alligator as a “shrewd, crafty and intelligent” chief
who possessed good manners and was always “regal in dealing
with white men.” Whereas six feet was not an uncommon height
for Seminole men this war leader stood only about five feet with
good proportions, an “open face” and a well-sculptured “Roman
nose.” Duval noted that Alligator had a good sense of humor and
was a natural comedian “who often brought out laughter even
during solemn council meetings.”18

The situation in East Florida was extremely precarious dur­
ing the early stages of the war. The Jacksonville Courier of
January 7, 1836, drew the frontier line as extending from Picolata
on the St. Johns to Whitesville on Black Creek twenty-three miles
south of Jacksonville, and on to Alligator, and from there west to
the Suwannee. It was an extensive and exposed frontier, and all
areas south of it were regarded as dangerous Indian domain.19
Attacks in East Florida continued throughout the spring and
summer of 1836. By early June the country between Newnansville
”/bid., pp. 90-92.
18 Duval to McKenney, March 20,1826, in Carter, Territorial Papers, Vol., p. 483.
19 Jacksonville Courier, January 7,1836, cited in “Jacksonville and the Seminole
War 1835-36,” Florida Historical Quarterly 4 (July, 1925), p. 23.

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