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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 43/340

A History of Columbia County, Florida

Seminoles that they must return all Negroes acquired during the
conflict but could keep those held from the period before the war.
There were practical difficulties in determining the date of acqui­
sition of many of the Indians’ Negroes, but the seriousness of the
issue lessened when the Seminoles yielded many slaves. On the
whole the Indians honored their commitment to stay south of the
Hillsborough River, but white slave hunters and cattlemen entered
the area of the Indians, and problems resulted. There were other
difficulties such as an outbreak of measles in the Indian camps, but
in April, 1837, Alligator, Cloud and their people arrived at Tampa
Bay, and by the end of May these chiefs along with Micanopy,
Jumper and some seven hundred people prepared to leave for the
West. On the night of June 2, however, Osceola, Sam Jones and
some two hundred Seminole warriors surrounded the holding
camp and forced the Indians to leave.27
In the fall of 1837 Indian leaders again met with Jesup and
indicated a willingness to end the war and move to the West. Even
Osceola was willing to meet with the general under a flag of truce.
At the proposed meeting Jesup violated the truce and seized
Osceola and several other chiefs. Osceola was sent to Fort Marion
at St. Augustine and later to Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South
Carolina. Suffering from chronic malaria and general debility,
Osceola died at Fort Moultrie on January 30, 1838.
The largest battle of the war was fought at Okeechobee on
Christmas Day, 1837. Colonel Zachary Taylor and some one thou­
sand troops encountered some four hundred Seminoles led by
Wildcat. Taylor ordered his troops to charge, and, although his
soldiers suffered heavy casualities, the Indians were forced to
withdraw. When General Jesup relinquished his command in May
1838, close to 2,400 Indians had been killed or captured, and over
1,000 had already been sent to Indian territory in the West. In

27Ibid., pp. 202-04; Niles Register, Vol. LI, April 22, 1837, p. 113.
42

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