each side, and the whites were driven from the ground, having several of their number wounded.

The next operations of importance were those between the forces under General Gaines and Osceola, and upon the memorable Ouithlecoochee. General Gaines was upon a tour of inspection and duty, when he first learned that serious disturbances had occurred between the whites and Seminoles. This was about the 15 January, and the general was arrived at New Orleans. His previous head-quarters had been at Memphis, in Tennessee. He therefore called on the governor of Louisiana, to have a body of volunteers in readiness for military service, and set out himself immediately for the scene of hostilities. At Pensacola he found some vessels of war, under Commodores Dallas and Bolton, and Captain Webb, who had already commenced operations in the neighborhood of Tampa Bay, and other adjacent inlets. Colonel Twiggs had peen ordered to receive into service eight companies of volunteers, to be raised by the governor of Louisiana, and the regular force at Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and other stations in the immediate vicinity of New Orleans, and to hold himself in readiness for a movement towards Tampa. This force consisted of about 1100 men.

That no time should be lost, General Gaines returned immediately to New Orleans (about 26 January), and, on the 4 February, was under way again for Florida, with his forces organized. He arrived at Tampa, with his forces, in three steam-boats, on the 9th, and, on the 13th began to proceed into the Indian country. His first movement was to the east, on the Alafia River, having understood there had been a fight in that direction, near Fort Brooke, between the hostile and friendly Indians; but after two days, no enemy being discovered. the line of march was altered for Fort King. General Gaines's army had but ten days' rations; but, by advices, he was assured that there was plenty at Fort King.

On the 20 February, the army passed Major Dade's fatal field, on which was found 106 men, all of whom they decently interred. All the officers who fell in that disastrous fight were identified, and, what was very remarkable, every man was accounted for; but what struck every one with the greatest surprise, was, that the dead were in no instance pillaged; articles the most esteemed by savages were untouched; the officers' bosom-pins remained in their places; their watches were found in their pockets, and money, in silver and gold, was left to decay with its owner,- -a lesson to all the world-a testimony that the Indians are not fighting for plunder!-nay, they are fighting for their rights, their country, their homes, their very existence! The arms and ammunition were all that had been taken, except the uniform coat of Major Dade.

On the 22 February, the army arrived at Fort King, much to the agreeable surprise of the garrison, which it had been reported was cut off by the Indians. Owing to the country's being in possession of the Indians, no supplies had arrived; and, the next day, a troop of horse was despatched to Fort Drane, (22 miles north-west,) in hopes to obtain further supplies. They returned the 24, but with only seven days' additional rations. To this they added two days' more at Fort King. The general scarcely knew what course next to take; but he finally concluded to move down the Ŏuithlecoochee, over General Clinch's battle-ground, and so to Tampa, thinking such a route might bring him in contact with the main body of the Indians. Accordingly the army moved, on the 26th, from Fort King, and, at two o'clock on the 27th, arrived at General Clinch's crossing-place. Here, while examining and sounding the river, the Indians fired upon them, and set up a fierce war-cry; but their numbers were not sufficient to make any material impression, although they continued the fight for about half an hour. The whites lost one killed, and eight wounded. On the 28th, the army, having resumed its march, was again attacked, about two miles from its former position, and a fire was kept up about half of the day. At the commencement of the action, Lieutenant Izard, of the United States dragoons, fell, mortally wounded. In the course of the fight, another was killed, and two wounded. In the evening, express was sent to Fort Drane, with directions for the commanding officer to march down with a force upon the opposite side of the Ouithlecoochee and thus come upon the

rear of the Indians finish the war.

which movement, should it succeed, it was hoped, would

On the morning of the 29th, no Indians were to be seen; but the general did not relax his precautions. A party was preparing timber and canoes for crossing the river, when, about 9 o'clock, they were sharply fired upon, and, at the same time, the encampment was attacked upon every side, but that towards the river. The Indians now seemed in great force, (12 or 1500, as was supposed,) having been collecting, from all quarters, since the fight on the previous day. They continued the contest two hours, in which time one man was killed and 33 wounded. Among the latter was the general himself,— -a rifle ball having passed through his lower lip, knocked out one tooth, and damaged two others. When it was found that the general was wounded, his companions expressed much regret; but he talked of it as a matter of small moment; said "it was very unkind in the rascals to take away a tooth which he valued so highly."

On reconnoitering the enemy's ground, after he had fled, Gaines's men found one of their dead, which had been dragged a considerable distance and left unburied, from which circumstance they conjectured he had fled in haste. His rifle had been taken away, but he was found to be well provided with ammunition, having plenty of powder and sixty bullets. The place of this attack Gaines called Camp Izard.

The flight of the Indians was no security for their not appearing again; for, on the 2d of March, they returned, and commenced pouring in their shot upon the whites, which, at intervals, they continued to do until the 5th. Meantime all of their provisions were exhausted, and they began the slaughter of their horses to sustain life. But it is said that, during all this time, no one was heard to murmur or complain.

On the night of the 5th, about 10 o'clock, a call was heard from the woods, and some one requested a parley. On the officer of the guard's demanding what was wanted, it was answered that the Indians were tired of fighting, and wished for peace. The general ordered the officer of the guard to answer, that if the Indians wished to treat, to send a messenger the next morning, with a white flag, and he should come and go in safety. He replied, "very well," and added that "he desired to have a friendly talk, and to shake hands." Accordingly, on the morning of the 6th, about 300 Indians filed out from the river, and took a position in the rear of the whites, about 500 yards off. They expected nothing now but a most bloody contest, supposing the main body of the Indians to be concealed in a neighboring hammock. Both parties remained a short time in suspense, each doubting what the other would do. At length, one or two advanced within hailing distance, and, being joined with others, repeated what had been said the night before. The general now sent out to them a staff officer, and they told him they did not wish to fight any more, but requested that the army should withdraw from the Ouithlecoochee. Osceola was at the head of the Indian deputation. When the officer who had met the Indians reported this talk to Gaines, he ordered him to return to Osceola, and to inform hin, in the plainest terms, that they would be subdued, that a large force was on the way into their country, and that, unless they submitted, every Indian found in arms would be shot. When this was communicated to the Indians, they said they would go and hold a council, and would meet them again in the afternoon. The meeting in the afternoon, accordingly, took place, and the Indians urged what they had said in the morning, and added that they had lost many of their men by death and wounds, and were tired of the war; but as their governor (as they styled Micanopy) was not there, they must first consult him, and asked to have the war suspended until he could be consulted. They were told that if they would cease from acts of hostility, go south of the Quithlacoochee, and attend a council when called upon by the United States commissioners, they should not be molested. This they agreed to, and, at the same moment, General Clinch came upon the main body of the Indians, and they all fled with the utinost precipitation, probably concluding this was a stratagem which the whites had prepared to cut them off. Clinch came with 500 men and supplies, which was doubtless more agreeable to the starving army, than even a treaty with Osceola.

The Indians seem to have been well acquainted with the condition of Gen

eral Gaines's army; for, during the interview with Osceola, he asked how they were off for provisions, and when they told him they had enough, he shook his bead, saying, "It is not so; you have nothing to eat; but, if you will come over the river, I will give you two beeves, and some brandy." It is therefore surprising that he should have been now asking for peace. It shows, however, that he was well aware of the hopelessness of his case; and, although he was able to deal with General Gaines, he early knew of the approach of General Clinch, and it was, probably, on his gaining that knowledge, that he concluded to see what kind of terms could be got of the whites, as the affairs of war then stood.

General Gaines, having transferred his command to General Clinch, left for New Orleans about the 9 March, and General Clinch proceeded with his united forces to Fort Drane. A negro spy, who had been sent among the hostile Indians, from Camp Izard, soon after returned, and confirmed the peaceable intentions of the chiefs: they told him, that in their various skirmishes with General Gaines on the Ouithlacooche they had lost 30 men. Of the whites but 5 were killed, and 60 wounded. It is rather uncommon that there should be so great a disproportion between the slain of the parties, when it is considered that the Indians almost always fought from coverts.

On the 9 March, Captain Allison of the Florida volunteers had a skirmish near his camp, not far from Fort Brooke. He routed the Indians, whom he judged to be a thousand strong, and took considerable plunder. Hence, notwithstanding the Indians were supposed to desire peace, skirmishes continued. And on the 23 March, a company of volunteers were attacked about six miles from Volusia, in which the whites lost three men killed, and six wounded, and the Indians five or six. Among the latter was their chief, called Ouchee Billy, or Billy Hicks. He was found the day after the fight, concealed in some brush. About the 5 April, Major McLemore, by order of General Scott, took a position on the Ouithlacoochee, and erected a block-house, which was called Camp McLemore. Here, about 40 men, far removed into the heart of the Indian country, were to remain until relieved by the General, or Major McLemore who, it appears, after establishing the post, immediately left it. This small force seems to have arrived here at a most fortunate time, for it was four days before they were discovered by the Indians, and during this period they had completed a block-house for their protection.

It is scarcely to be credited that this little company of inen, sent here by the commander-in-chief of the army, should be left without the means of escape in extremity of circumstances, and no way kept open by which their situation from time to time might be known; such, however, was the case, and for about six weeks nothing was heard of them. They had not been provided with provisions for more than two weeks, and it was the general impression of every one that they had all perished by famine or the hands of the Indians.

The following account of the siege of Camp McLemore by Dr. Lawrence, surgeon there at the time, shall be given in his own words:-"We had just completed building the block-house, and dug out a spring near the edge of the fort, when, on the morning of the 9th of April, at a little before dawn of day, we were attacked by the Indians, who had encompassed us on three sides, and were in number about 150 or 200. The engagement lasted one hour and three quarters, when they found out, to their sorrow, that our reception was not only too warm, but that they had ventured too near us without due reflection. On the next day, we had one man killed on his post by an Indian rifle, fired from the opposite side of the river. On the 15 April, we were attacked by a body of the savages who had completely surrounded us, and whose number we computed at 4 to 500, though we have since heard that Powell had 1000 to 1500 of them. This was the hottest engagement we had during our stay on the Ouithlacoochee. They fired their guns by hundreds at the same moment at our block-house, and succeeded in taking our only means of escape, our boat-which they took down the river and destroyed after the battle. The engagement continued two hours and 45 minutes, and we had three men slightly wounded.

"On the 24th, we had a very severe battle, in which they displayed ther

ingenuity by shooting fire-arrows on fire upon the roof of the house, which destroyed the roof and left us exposed to the inclemency of the weather. This arrow-firing was performed by 26 of their men, whilst about 3 to 500 used their guns. We had, on this occasion, two or three of our men wounded. We probably killed 40 or 50 of the Indians. The night after the battle, we heard their chief hail us, and say, "that he was going away in the morning, and would trouble us no more." He kept his promise very well, though he did give us about 100 guns the next morning, ere he left. Our captain, Holloman, was killed on the 3 May, whilst endeavoring to fortify and strengthen our position. The Indians continued to give us a passing shot, from 50 to 100 guns, every five or six days, though he kept a spy upon us at other times. The officers were 21 days living on corn, without salt or meat, and the men about 28 days."

It appears that the great danger of ascending the Ouithlacoochee, together with the known circumstances of the garrison, had fixed in the minds of all those who were able to lend them aid, that they had been cut off; and therefore, to hazard any thing to clear up this extremely doubtful case, was considered next to crime itself. At length, the poor distressed handful at Camp McLemore, found among their number, three that would venture out for succor, and they arrived at Tallahassee in a canoe, about the 16 April. This circumstance, in all probability, proved the safety of their fellows, as well as themselves. A company was made up at St. Marks, and under Captain Leigh Read, proceeded in a steam-boat for the Ouithlacoochee on the 22 May, and on the 24 took off the garrison without the loss of a man.

While these affairs were being transacted on the Ouithlacoochee, a considerable force marched from Volusia to a point on the Oklawaha River, distant 30 miles, on their way to Fort Brooke. The river being higher than usual, the force was obliged to halt to build a bridge for the passage of their cannon and baggage wagons. On the opposite side of a lake, on the left of the detachment, two fires were soon discovered, which it was supposed were made as signals by two parties of Indians. Colonel Butler immediately proceeded to cross over the river with his battalion, and when he had marched about three miles, some Indians were discovered and pursued by the advanced guard. General Joseph Shelton was of Butler's party, who, being ahead of the advanced guard, charged upon one of the Indians, who was in the rear of the retreating party. At about 25 paces from him, the Indian turned, and they both levelled their rifles-Shelton fired first, and mortally wounded the Indian in the neck, who then endeavored to make his escape. Shelton dropped his gun, and rushed on him with his pistol, which missed fire at five or six paces from him. The Indian now turned and shot Shelton in the hip, and at the same moment another white came up and shot the Indian in the back, and he was immediately despatched. The ball which entered Shelton's hip passed round near the spine, and was cut out, and he was recovering.

I have been particular in detailing this affair, as the Indian who fell in it, proved to be a chief of distinction, known among the whites by the name of MAD WOFF, which was the English signification of his name. In Indian it was KOHAHAJO. He was of Micanopy's tribe, and had under him 40 or 50 warriors, and was probably one of the leaders on the Ouithlacoochee, who beset General Gaines so long. His name was given in among them by Black Dirt, as Coaharjo. It is also to the treaty of Payne's Landing, and he was one of the Indian deputation who visited the country west of the Mississippi afterwards.

The next day after Kohahajo was killed, Colonel Butler and Goodwin, with a battalion of mounted men, were sent to reconnoitre Pilaklikaha, the residence of Jumper and Micanopy. When they had proceeded about six nailes, their advanced guard received a sharp fire from a hammock on the left, but were soon dislodged by a charge from the main body. Two of the whiter

were badly wounded, one horse killed, and four wounded. After another considerable swamp-fight, in which several were wounded, the army_proceeded to the Indian town, but it had been deserted for a long time. They burnt it, and then proceeded to Fort Brooke.

An officer in General Scott's army at Tampa wrote on the 15 April:-"Al

the militia will leave us by the 20 May, and the regulars will go into summer quarters at this place, Key West, Volusia, Mosquito, and one or two more posts at the south. Without the greatest good luck nothing will be done this summer, and the war must be renewed in the autumn."

About the time General Gaines left Fort Draine, General Scott arrived there, with instructions to assume the chief command of the forces in Florida. Since that time the operations have been of not much importance. About the 20 March, Captain Hitchcock communicated the following valuable information respecting the hostile Indians, which was given him by the friendly chief, Black Dirt, whose Indian name is TUCK-ALUSTER HARJO. He says that in the fights with General Gaines were the following chiefs and warriors, viz. :-JUMPER with 30, ASSUHOLA [Osceola] with 7, ALLBUrtuHARJO With 30, JARHARTO CHEE with 30, CARCHAR TOSKNUSK (Mecosukee) with 470, MECANOP (principal chief) with 80, ABRAM (Negro) with 80, WEEA FLOCKO MATTEZ with 70, YARHARHACJO with 160, TOSKIEUCAR with 50, ECHUA MATTEZ with 50, HAT How EMATTEZ with 30, CHARLES ( Negro) with 3, COAHARJO with 1, and TOPARLAGEE with 40.

There had been about 400 Seminoles collected at Tampa, chiefly women and children of Black Dirt's tribe, who were on the 12 April shipped off for "beyond the Mississippi" by General Scott.

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CHAPTER XIL

CREEK WAR-Murders anu devastations begin-Eleven persons killed near Colum bus-Mail routes in possession of the Indians-A steam-boat attacked and men killed-Chiefs of the war parties-Mail stages destroyed-The town of Roanoak burnt-Colonel Lindsay's Florida affair-Excessive dismay of the people of Georgia-Murder of families Fight on the Chattahoochie-Capture of JIM HENKY and NEAMATHLA-Account of the chiefs-Surrender of the Indians.

ADJUTANT-GENERAL McIntosh wrote from Fort Mitchel, Alabama, (or che Chattahoockie, 15 miles above Columbus,) 7 May last, as follows:-"It has just been reported to me, that Col. Flournoy was shot dead by the Indians on the 5th instant, about 15 miles below this post. I am also informed that a report is currently circulating among the Creeks, that the Seminole Indians have defeated the whites in Florida. This report will no doubt imbolden them to many acts of hostility that they would not otherwise dare commit. A constant communication must be kept up between them, as the Creeks are conversant with every transaction that occurs in Florida. Marshal, the halfbreed, says he is apprehensive mischief will be done by the Indians before long. Other friendly Indians are of this opinion. Opothleyohola, principal of the upper Creeks, says he cannot keep his people together, or restrain them."

At the same time Colonel Flournoy was killed, ten others met a like fate, some of them within 12 miles of Columbus, at the Ochee Bridge on the Old Federal Road. "The Indians have entire possession of that road, and all the settlers have fled. A train consisting of 150 wagons, with about 150 fugitives, on their way to Columbus, were fired upon, on the 10 April."

Up to the 18 May, at Augusta, (Ga.) it was reported that all the southern mail routes were in possession of the Indians, except that to Mobile. The day before, all the mails were brought back. Colonel Crowell's plantation, and many others, had been burnt, and a stage agent and two drivers had been killed. The governor of Georgia had ordered two regiments of volunteers to take the field. About this time the steam-boat Hyperion was attacked on her passage up the Ch' ttahoochie, and two pilots and one passenger were killed. She was then run on shore on the Georgia side, and after being abandoned, was taken and des roye by the Indians.

The Creek tows and tribes which have declared themselves hostile are a