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115-560: Fort Morgan can apply to any one of several places in the United States: Fort Morgan (Alabama) , a fort at the mouth of Mobile Bay Fort Morgan, Alabama , a nearby community Fort Morgan (Colorado) , a frontier military post located in present-day Fort Morgan, Colorado Fort Morgan, Colorado , a city located in Morgan County Topics referred to by

230-600: A hammock surrounded by sawgrass . The ground was thick mud, and sawgrass easily cuts and burns the skin. Taylor had about 800 men, while the Seminoles numbered less than 400. Taylor sent the Missouri volunteers in first. Colonel Richard Gentry , three other officers and more than twenty enlisted men were killed before the volunteers retreated. Next in were 200 soldiers of the 6th Infantry , who lost four officers and suffered nearly 40% casualties before they withdrew. Then it

345-590: A Seminole stronghold called the Cove of the Withlacoochee , an area of many lakes on the southwest side of the Withlacoochee River . When they reached the river, they could not find the ford, and Clinch had his regular troops ferried across the river in a single canoe they had found. Once they were across and had relaxed, the Seminoles attacked. The troops survived only by fixing bayonets and charging

460-406: A band of Yuchis, including their leader, Uchee Billy . General Jesup had King Phillip send a message to his son Coacoochee (Wild Cat) to arrange a meeting with Jesup. When Coacoochee arrived under a flag of truce, Jesup arrested him. In October Osceola and Coa Hadjo, another chief, requested a parley with Jesup. A meeting was arranged south of St. Augustine. When Osceola and Coa Hadjo arrived for

575-468: A battle went on for eight days. Still at Fort Drane, Clinch requested that General Scott change his orders and allow him to go to Gaines' aid. Clinch finally decided to disobey Scott and left to join Gaines just one day before Scott's permission to do so arrived at Fort Drane. Clinch and his men reached Camp Izard on March 6, chasing away the Seminoles. General Scott had begun assembling men and supplies for

690-431: A fortification, called Camp Izard, and sent word to General Clinch. Gaines hoped that the Seminoles would concentrate around Camp Izard, and that Clinch's forces could then hit the Seminoles in their flank, crushing them between the two forces. General Scott, however, who was in charge of the war, ordered Clinch to stay at Fort Drane. Gaines's men were soon reduced to eating their horses and mules, and an occasional dog, while

805-535: A grand campaign against the Seminoles. Three columns, totaling 5,000 men, were to converge on the Cove of the Withlacoochee, trapping the Seminoles with a force large enough to defeat them. Scott would accompany one column, under the command of General Clinch, moving south from Fort Drane . A second column, under Brig. Gen. Abraham Eustis , would travel southwest from Volusia, a town on the St. Johns River . The third wing, under

920-601: A member of the Corps of Colonial Marines and was present at, and taken into custody, at the Battle of Negro Fort In custody only a short time, he was a Black Seminole leader, and interpreter for the Seminoles, who played a critical role during the Second Seminole War. Eustis burned the town before moving on to Volusia. All three columns were delayed. Eustis was two days late departing Volusia because of an attack by

1035-599: A military engineer for Napoleon . However, Hopkins died a year later in a yellow fever epidemic, having accomplished little. The following contractor, Samuel Hawkins of New York, died in 1821 before completing anything on the project. The U.S. Army turned the task over to the United States Army Corps of Engineers under Captain René Edward De Russy . Using enslaved laborers, De Russy made some progress before he became sick in 1825 and turned

1150-595: A more substantial fort that could defend itself from landward and protect the entrance to the bay, leading to Fort Morgan replacing Fort Bowyer. After the War of 1812 , the United States began a program to strengthen its seacoast defenses. As part of this program, in 1818, the U.S. Army contracted with Benjamin Hopkins of Vermont to build a large masonry fort on Mobile Point after a design by Simon Bernard , who had been

1265-407: A narrow window. The escapees included Coacoochee and John Horse , a Black Seminole leader. "Undoubtedly the general violated the rules of civilized warfare...[and] he was still writing justifications of it twenty-one years later" for an act that "hardly seems worthwhile to try to grace the capture with any other label than treachery ." A delegation of Cherokee was sent to Florida to try to talk

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1380-577: A project meant to repair cracks in the walls. Second Seminole War Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War , also known as the Florida War , was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles , consisting of Creek and Black Seminoles as well as other allied tribes (see below). It was part of

1495-697: A series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars . The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as "the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States". After the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832 that called for the Seminoles' removal from Florida, tensions rose until fierce hostilities occurred in Dade's massacre in 1835. This engagement officially started

1610-417: A stream of unknown depth under hostile fire, and with supplies again running short, Call withdrew and led his men to Volusia. On December 9, Call was relieved of command and replaced by Maj. Gen. Thomas Jesup , who took the troops back to Fort Brooke. The enlistments of the volunteers were up at the end of December and they went home. In 1836, the U.S. Army had just four Major Generals. Alexander Macomb, Jr.

1725-464: A truce was arranged. Fighting did not stop right away, and a meeting between Jesup and the chiefs did not occur until near the end of February. In March a 'Capitulation' was signed by a number of chiefs, including Micanopy, stipulating that the Seminoles could be accompanied by their allies and "their negroes, their 'bona fide' property" in their relocation to the West. Even as Seminoles began to come into

1840-503: A young warrior beginning to be noticed by the European Americans, was particularly upset by the ban, feeling that it equated Seminoles with slaves and said, "The white man shall not make me black. I will make the white man red with blood; and then blacken him in the sun and rain ... and the buzzard live upon his flesh." In spite of this, Thompson considered Osceola to be a friend, and gave him a rifle. Later, though, when Osceola

1955-593: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Fort Morgan (Alabama) Fort Morgan is at the tip of Mobile Point at the western terminus of State Route 180 (Alabama) . It and Dauphin Island , on which Fort Gaines is situated, enclose Mobile Bay. The Alabama Historical Commission maintains the site. After the departure of the Spanish from Mobile in April 1813,

2070-684: The Alachua Prairie in what is now Alachua County (see Ahaya ). The Spanish in St. Augustine began calling the Alachua Muscogees cimarrones , which roughly meant "wild ones" or "runaways", and which is the probable origin of "Seminole". This name was eventually also applied to the other groups in Florida, although the Native Americans still regarded themselves as members of different tribes. Other groups in Florida at

2185-543: The American Civil War to today. Eight days before Alabama declared secession from the United States, Colonel John B. Todd attacked the fort with four companies of Alabama volunteers, capturing it before dawn on 3 January 1861. The Confederates then proceeded to strengthen the defenses of Mobile Bay. The key point was the Main Ship Channel opposite Fort Morgan, as this was the only approach where

2300-410: The Battle of Jupiter Inlet , led eighty men towards a Seminole camp only to find themselves outnumbered by the Seminoles. A charge against the Seminoles was unsuccessful, but the troops made it back to their boats after losing four dead and twenty-two wounded. The party's retreat was covered by Army Lt. Joseph E. Johnston . At the end of January, Jesup's troops caught up with a large body of Seminoles to

2415-518: The Oklawaha River . The treaty negotiated there called for the Seminoles to move west, if the land was found to be suitable. They were to be settled on the Creek reservation and become part of the Creek tribe. The delegation of seven chiefs who were to inspect the new reservation did not leave Florida until October 1832. After the chiefs had toured the area for several months and had conferred with

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2530-652: The Patriot War of 1812 was part of these ongoing conflicts. In 1818, Andrew Jackson led an invasion of Spanish Florida , during the War of 1812 and the Creek War leading to the First Seminole War . The United States acquired Florida from Spain through the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819 and took possession of the territory in 1821. Now that Florida belonged to the United States, settlers pressured

2645-531: The Second Battle of Fort Bowyer . This time they were successful, with its American garrison surrendering the fort. Before the British could continue their attack towards Mobile, Alabama , they received word that the Treaty of Ghent , ending the war, had been signed on Christmas Eve, 1814. When word of the treaty's ratification arrived shortly thereafter, the British withdrew. The site was a logical one for

2760-591: The Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War and returned East and West Florida to Spanish control. The United States disputed the boundaries of West Florida. They accused the Spanish authorities of harboring fugitive slaves (see the Negro Fort ) and of failing to restrain the Native Americans living in Florida from raiding the United States. Starting in 1810, the United States occupied and annexed parts of West Florida . Also,

2875-621: The United States Army Coast Artillery Corps (CAC) built an experimental battery called Battery Test about a mile from Fort Morgan. The battery held a single 10-inch gun on a disappearing carriage. Then in 1916, the Navy had two battleships, the USS ; New York and the USS  Arkansas , shell the battery for two days to see how well it would survive, which it did with remarkably little damage. The gun

2990-440: The 1880s for use as a breakwater. Once again under U.S. control, the U.S. Army used it as a base for reconnaissance raids and then as a staging area for the Battle of Spanish Fort and the Battle of Fort Blakeley , which occurred days before General Robert E. Lee surrendered at the Battle of Appomattox Court House . During a renovation project in the 1870s, the fort received 12 200-pounder Parrott rifled cannons. Eventually,

3105-455: The Army camps to await transportation west, slave catchers were claiming blacks living with the Seminoles. As the Seminoles had no written records of ownership, they generally lost in disputes over ownership. Other whites were trying to have Seminoles arrested for alleged crimes or debts. All of this made the Seminoles suspicious of promises made by Jesup. On the other hand, it was noted that many of

3220-492: The Army established a radio transmitting and receiving station at Fort Morgan as a part of a nationwide Morse-code communication network. The transmitter had the call letters WUR. When Fort Morgan was abandoned, the call letters were transferred to Fort McClellan, Alabama . In April 1942, the Army re-occupied the fort and constructed an adjacent airfield. Initially, the CAC brought five Model 1918 155mm (6.1-inch) guns to equip

3335-574: The Army while awaiting the reply, and there was considerable fraternizing between the two camps. Secretary of War Joel Roberts Poinsett rejected the arrangement, however, and instructed Jesup to continue his campaign. Upon receiving Poinsett's response, Jesup summoned the chiefs to his camp, but they refused his invitation. Unwilling to let 500 Seminoles return to the swamps, Jesup sent a force to detain them. The Seminoles offered very little resistance, perhaps seeing little reason to continue fighting. Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park preserves an area of

3450-479: The Army, Alexander Macomb , to negotiate a new treaty with the Seminole. Remembering the broken treaties and promises of the past, they were slow to respond to the new overtures. Finally, Sam Jones sent his chosen successor, Chitto Tustenuggee, to meet with Macomb. On May 19, 1839, Macomb announced reaching agreement with the Seminole. They would stop fighting in exchange for a reservation in southern Florida. As

3565-519: The Battle of Sand Butte in 1873 during the Modoc War . This battery's armament consisted of two British 4.7-inch rapid-fire Armstrong guns . The battery's role was to prevent smaller enemy vessels from passing through the ship's channel in front of the fort. The battery was deactivated in 1917, and its guns were removed. The fifth battery was Battery Schenk, named for Lieutenant William T. Schenck, who

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3680-558: The Cove of the Withlacoochee in December, had been appointed Governor of the Territory of Florida on March 16, 1836. Governor Call proposed a summer campaign using militia and volunteers instead of regular Army troops. The War Department agreed to this proposal, but delays in preparations meant the campaign did not start until the end of September. Call also intended to attack the Cove of the Withlacoochee. He sent most of his supplies down

3795-506: The Cove, Fort Alabama on the Hillsborough River north of Fort Brooke, Fort Barnwell near Volusia , and Fort Drane itself. The Seminoles also burned the sugar works on Clinch's plantation. After that, Clinch resigned his commission and left the territory. Fort Alabama was abandoned in late April. In late May, Fort King was also abandoned. In June the soldiers in a blockhouse on the Withlacoochee were rescued after being besieged by

3910-459: The Cove. In mid-November Call tried again. His forces made it across the Withlacoochee this time, but found the Cove abandoned. Call divided his forces, and proceeded south along the river. On November 17, Seminoles were routed from a large camp. There was another battle the next day, and the Seminoles were assumed to be headed for the Wahoo Swamp. Call waited to bring the other column across

4025-505: The Creeks who had already been settled there, on March 28, 1833, the federal government produced a treaty with the chiefs' signatures. Upon their return to Florida, however, most of the chiefs renounced the statement, claiming that they had not signed it, or that they had been forced to sign it. They said they did not have the power to decide for all the tribes and bands that resided on the reservation. Even some U.S. Army officers claimed that

4140-478: The Indians of stealing their Negroes. However, this "accusation" was often reversed; whites were raiding Florida and forcibly stealing the red men's slaves. Worried about the possibility of an Indian uprising and/or an armed slave rebellion, Governor DuVal requested additional Federal troops for Florida. Instead, Fort King was closed in 1828. The Seminoles, short of food and finding the hunting becoming poorer on

4255-464: The Indians, who have nobly defended their country against our attempt to enforce a fraudulent treaty. The natives used every means to avoid a war, but were forced into it by the tyranny of our government. On December 29, General Clinch left Fort Drane (recently established on Clinch's plantation, about twenty miles (32 km) northwest of Fort King) with 750 soldiers, including 500 volunteers on an enlistment due to end January 1, 1836. They were going to

4370-610: The Seminole out of northern Florida, so that settlers could return to their homes. The Seminoles were still capable of reaching far north. In July they were thought responsible for the deaths of a family on the Santa Fe River , another near Tallahassee, as well as two families in Georgia. The fighting died down during the summer, as the soldiers were pulled back to the coasts. The Seminoles concentrated on growing their crops and gathering supplies for fall and winter. Taylor's plan

4485-514: The Seminoles for 48 days. On July 23, 1836, Seminoles attacked the Cape Florida lighthouse , severely wounding the assistant keeper in charge, killing his assistant, and burning the lighthouse. The lighthouse was not repaired until 1846. Fort Drane was abandoned in July because of illness, with five out of seven officers and 140 men on the sick list. The Army was suffering terribly from illness; at

4600-399: The Seminoles into a set-piece battle, he concentrated on wearing the Seminoles down. This required a large military presence in Florida, and Jesup eventually had a force of more than 9,000 men under his command. About half of the force were volunteers and militia. It also included a brigade of Marines, and Navy and United States Revenue Cutter Service (AKA: Revenue Marine) personnel patrolling

4715-611: The Seminoles into moving west. When Micanopy and others came in to meet the Cherokees, General Jesup had the Seminoles held. John Ross , the head of the Cherokee delegation, protested, but to no avail. Jesup replied that he had told the Cherokees that no Seminole who came in would be allowed to return home. Jesup now had a large army assembled, including volunteers from as far away as Missouri and Pennsylvania —so many men, in fact, that he had trouble feeding all of them. Jesup's plan

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4830-519: The Seminoles three years to move west of the Mississippi. The government interpreted the three years as starting 1832, and expected the Seminoles to move in 1835. Fort King was reopened in 1834. A new Seminole agent, Wiley Thompson, had been appointed in 1834, and the task of persuading the Seminoles to move fell to him. He called the chiefs together at Fort King in October 1834 to talk to them about

4945-413: The Seminoles to be sent west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles were opposed to the move, and especially to the suggestion that they should be placed on the Creek reservation. Most European Americans regarded the Seminoles as simply Creeks who had recently moved to Florida, while the Seminoles claimed Florida as their home and denied that they had any connection with the Creeks. The status of runaway slaves

5060-597: The Seminoles, at the cost of four dead and 59 wounded. The militia provided cover as the Army troops withdrew across the river. On January 6, 1836, a band of Seminoles attacked the coontie plantation of William Cooley on the New River (in present-day Fort Lauderdale, Florida ), killing his wife and children and the children's tutor. The other residents of the New River area and of the Biscayne Bay country to

5175-407: The Seminoles. Clinch's and Lindsay's columns only reached their positions on March 28. Because of problems crossing through uncharted territory, Eustis's column did not arrive until March 30. Clinch crossed the Withlacoochee on March 29 to attack the Seminoles in the Cove, but found the villages deserted. Eustis's column did fight a skirmish with some Seminoles before reaching its assigned position, but

5290-533: The Seminoles. Sailors and Marines helped man Army forts that were short of manpower. Sailors, Marines, and the Cuttermen of the Revenue Marine participated in expeditions into the interior of Florida, both by boat and on land. Against those numbers the Seminoles had started the war with between 900 and 1,400 warriors, and with no means of replacing their losses. The total population of the Seminoles in 1836

5405-466: The U.S. Government abandoned the fort, letting it fall into disrepair. Then, under the presidency of Grover Cleveland , Secretary of War William Endicott chaired the Endicott Board , which led to a program of building new concrete batteries. Between 1895 and 1900, Fort Morgan received five concrete batteries with fire control, electricity, and communications. The first battery, Battery Bowyer,

5520-456: The U.S. did not recognize it. Over the years, those who became known as Black or Negro Seminoles established communities separate from the Seminole villages, and the two peoples had close alliances although they maintained separate cultures. "Negroes among the Seminoles constituted a threat to the institution of slavery north of the Spanish border. Slave holders in Mississippi and other border areas were aware of this and "constantly accused

5635-553: The United States built an earth and wood redoubt on Mobile Point , ultimately naming it Fort Bowyer after Col. John Bowyer, who completed the construction before leaving in 1814. In September 1814, the fort withstood a British naval and land attack, known as the First Battle of Fort Bowyer . The British returned in February 1815 after their defeat at the Battle of New Orleans and again launched an attack that became known as

5750-635: The age of 28, left any account of the battle from the Army's perspective. Entitled "The Surprising Adventures of Ransom Clark, Among the Indians in Florida" , it was published in 1839 by J. Orlando Orton and "printed by Johnson and Marble in Binghamton, New York ." Joseph Sprague suffered a " shattered arm ", served in the army until March 1843, and lived out his days near White Springs, Florida , until possibly 1848. No written material from Sprague's personal military experience 's has ever surfaced. The Seminoles lost three men killed, with five wounded. On

5865-794: The areas between the St. Johns and the Oklawaha River, between the Oklawaha and the Withlacoochee River, and along the Caloosahatchee River . A joint Army-Navy unit patrolled the lower east coast of Florida. Other troops patrolled the northern part of the territory to protect against Seminole raids. Colonel Taylor saw the first major action of the campaign. Leaving Fort Gardiner on the upper Kissimmee with 1,000 men on December 19, Taylor headed towards Lake Okeechobee . In

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5980-465: The blacks with the Seminoles began turning themselves in. After a couple of swings in policy on dealing with fugitive slaves, Jesup ended up sending most of them west to join the Seminoles that were already in Indian territory. On September 10, 1837, the Army and militias captured a band of Mikasukis including King Phillip, one of the most important chiefs in Florida. The next night the same command captured

6095-510: The chiefs agreed to move west, but asked to delay the move until the end of the year, and Thompson and Clinch agreed. Five of the most important Seminole chiefs, including Micanopy of the Alachua Seminoles, had not agreed to the move. In retaliation, Thompson declared that those chiefs were removed from their positions. As relations with the Seminoles deteriorated, Thompson forbade the sale of guns and ammunition to them. Osceola ,

6210-521: The chiefs had been "wheedled and bullied into signing." Others noted "there is evidence of trickery by the whites in the way the treaty is phrased." The members of the villages in the area of the Apalachicola River were more easily persuaded, however, as they suffered more encroachment from European Americans; they went west in 1834. The United States Senate finally ratified the Treaty of Payne's Landing in April 1834. The treaty had given

6325-505: The chiefs together to read a letter from President Andrew Jackson to them. In his letter, Jackson said, "Should you... refuse to move, I have then directed the Commanding officer to remove you by force." The chiefs asked for thirty days to respond. A month later the Seminole chiefs told Thompson that they would not move west. Thompson and the chiefs began arguing, and General Clinch had to intervene to prevent bloodshed. Eventually, eight of

6440-425: The coast and inland rivers and streams. In all the Revenue Marine committed 8 Cutters to operations in Florida during the war. The U.S. Navy and the Revenue Marine both worked with the Army from the beginning of the war. Navy ships and revenue cutters ferried men and supplies to Army posts. They patrolled the Florida coast to gather information on and intercept Seminoles, and to block smuggling of arms and supplies to

6555-506: The command of Col. William Lindsay, would move north from Fort Brooke . The plan was for the three columns to arrive at the Cove simultaneously so as to prevent the Seminoles from escaping. Eustis and Lindsay were supposed to be in place on March 25, so that Clinch's column could drive the Seminoles into them. On the way from St. Augustine to Volusia to take up his starting position, Gen. Eustis found Pilaklikaha, or Palatlakaha ( Palatka, Florida ), also known as Abraham's Town. Abraham had been

6670-533: The demands for manpower in the Florida war. Many people were beginning to think that the Seminole had earned a right to stay in Florida. The cost and time required to get all the Seminole out of Florida were looming larger. Congress appropriated US$ 5,000 to negotiate a settlement with the Seminole people in order to end the outlay of resources. President Martin Van Buren sent the Commanding General of

6785-518: The east of Lake Okeechobee. The Seminoles were originally positioned in a hammock, but cannon and rocket fire drove them back across a wide stream (the Loxahatchee River ), where they made another stand. The Seminoles eventually just faded away, having caused more casualties than they received, and the Battle of Loxahatchee was over. The fighting now died down. In February 1838, Seminole chiefs Tuskegee and Halleck Hadjo approached Jesup with

6900-585: The fighting spread, action was taken on many levels. Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott was placed in charge of the war. Congress appropriated US$ 620,000 for the war. Volunteer companies began forming in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina . General Edmund P. Gaines put together a force of 1,100 regulars and volunteers in New Orleans and sailed with them to Fort Brooke. A lack of arms was also an issue, with only two arsenals located in Florida, one at Fort Brooke and

7015-544: The fighting. Memorials are also located in Jonathan Dickinson State Park . Jesup asked to be relieved of his command. As summer approached in 1838 the number of troops in Florida dwindled to about 2,300. In April, Jesup was informed that he should return to his position as Quartermaster General of the Army. In May, Zachary Taylor, now a General, assumed command of the Army forces in Florida. With reduced forces in Florida, Taylor concentrated on keeping

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7130-445: The first two days out ninety Seminoles surrendered. On the third day Taylor stopped to build Fort Basinger , where he left his sick and enough men to guard the Seminoles that had surrendered. Three days later, on Christmas Day, 1837, Taylor's column caught up with the main body of the Seminoles on the north shore of Lake Okeechobee. The Seminoles led by Alligator, Sam Jones , and the recently escaped Coacoochee, were well positioned in

7245-632: The fort fired on the island, destroying the lighthouse. During the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864, United States Navy forces under Admiral David G. Farragut passed Fort Morgan and entered Mobile Bay. Farragut captured the Tennessee and the Selma , forced the beaching and burning of Gaines , and captured Fort Gaines . This freed U.S. Army units under U.S. Major General Gordon Granger to besiege Fort Morgan . After two weeks of bombardment from sea and land, Richard Lucian Page , commander of

7360-414: The fort, surrendered on 23 August 1864, after first spiking the fort's guns. During the siege, the wooden roof of the fort's citadel , a ten-sided barracks located in the center of the fort used to house the enlisted men, caught fire and the structure was badly damaged. Rather than restore it, post-war crews used the ruins as a brick source for repairing the fort. The remains of the citadel were razed in

7475-401: The fort. The Army placed two on top of Fort Morgan on mounts that permitted 360 degrees traverse. The remaining three guns stood on the fort's parade ground. The United States Department of War turned Fort Morgan over to Alabama in 1946, and the Army completely abandoned the fort in 1947. Fort Morgan was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. In 2007 it was listed as "one of

7590-472: The government to remove the Seminole and their allies altogether. In 1823 the government negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek with the Seminoles, establishing a reservation for them in the middle of the territory. Six chiefs, however, were allowed to keep their villages along the Apalachicola River (see Neamathla ). The Seminoles gave up their lands in the panhandle and slowly settled into

7705-501: The insertion of a barrel sleeve. This was a makeshift, and the U.S. Army later gave the guns away to cities for Civil War memorials. The second battery, completed in 1900, was Battery Dearborn, named for Major General Henry Dearborn . The battery had eight breech-loading 12-inch coast defense mortars in two four-gun pits. The intent was that the mortars would rain down shells on the vessels' less heavily armored decks if enemy vessels approached. The third battery, also completed in 1900,

7820-463: The meeting, also under a white flag, they were arrested. Osceola was dead within three months of his capture, in prison at Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina . Not all of the Seminoles captured by the Army stayed captured. While Osceola was still held at Fort Marion (Castillo de San Marcos) in St. Augustine, twenty Seminoles held in the same cell with him and King Phillip escaped through

7935-520: The men responsible for the attack over to Harney in 33 days. In the meantime, the Mikasuki in Sam Jones' camp near Fort Lauderdale remained on friendly terms with the local soldiers. On July 27 they invited the officers at the fort to a dance at the Mikasuki camp. The officers declined but sent two soldiers and a Black Seminole interpreter with a keg of whiskey. The Mikasuki killed the soldiers, but

8050-556: The nation's 10 most endangered battle sites" by the Civil War Preservation Trust in History Under Siege: A Guide to America's Most Endangered Civil War Battlefields . In June 2008, a 90-pound live Union naval shell was uncovered at the site. The shell was from a Parrott rifle on a U.S. Navy warship and was fired at the fort in the summer of 1864. The discovery came during excavations as part of

8165-436: The north. The winter season was fairly quiet. The Army killed only a few Seminole and transported fewer than 200 to the West. Nine U.S. troops were killed by the Seminoles. Taylor reported in the Spring of 1839 that his men had constructed 53 new posts and cut 848 miles (1,365 km) of wagon roads. In Washington and around the country in 1839, support for the war was eroding. The size of the Army had been increased because of

8280-476: The other at Fort Marion, with a third under construction in what is now Chattahoochee . When Gaines reached Fort Brooke, he found it low on supplies. Believing that General Scott had sent supplies to Fort King, Gaines led his men on to Fort King. Along the road they found the site of the Dade Massacre, and buried the bodies in three mass graves. The force reached Fort King after nine days, only to find it

8395-417: The other side of the river were shooting at any soldier who showed himself along the river. Call then turned west along the north bank of the river to reach the supply depot. However, the steamer bringing the supplies had sunk in the lower part of the river, and the supply depot was far downstream from where Call was expecting it. Out of food, Call led his men back to Fort Drane, another failed expedition against

8510-406: The poorly guarded holding camp at Fort Brooke and led away the 700 Seminoles there who had surrendered. The war did not immediately resume on a large scale. General Jesup had thought that the surrender of so many Seminoles meant the war was ending, and had not planned a long campaign. Many of the soldiers had been assigned elsewhere, or, in the case of militias and volunteers, released from duty. It

8625-486: The proposition that they would stop fighting if they were allowed to stay south of Lake Okeechobee. Jesup favored the idea, foreseeing a long struggle to capture the remaining Seminoles in the Everglades , and calculating that the Seminoles would be easier to round up later when the land was actually needed by white settlers. However, Jesup had to write to Washington for approval. The chiefs and their followers camped near

8740-553: The ram Tennessee , and three gunboats, Morgan , Gaines and Selma , all under the command of Admiral Franklin Buchanan . Fort Morgan provided protective fire for blockade runners during the war. All 17 vessels that ran out of the bay eluded capture, as did 19 of the 21 that attempted to enter. After Confederates observed U.S. Army soldiers in the Sand Island Lighthouse reconnoitering Fort Morgan,

8855-632: The removal to the west. The Seminoles informed Thompson that they had no intention of moving, and that they did not feel bound by the Treaty of Payne's Landing. Thompson requested reinforcements for Fort King and Fort Brooke, reporting that, "the Indians after they had received the Annuity, purchased an unusually large quantity of Powder & Lead." General Clinch also warned Washington that the Seminoles did not intend to move, and that more troops would be needed to force them to move. In March 1835 Thompson called

8970-462: The reservation, although they occasionally had clashes with European Americans. Colonel (later General) Duncan Lamont Clinch was placed in charge of the Army units in Florida. Fort King was built near the reservation agency, at the site of present-day Ocala, Florida . By early 1827, the Army reported that the Seminoles were on the reservation and Florida was peaceful. This peace lasted for five years, during which time there were repeated calls for

9085-556: The reservation, were wandering off of it more often. Also in 1828, Andrew Jackson, the old enemy of the Seminoles, was elected President of the United States . In 1830 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act . They wanted to solve the problems with the Seminoles by moving them to west of the Mississippi River . In the spring of 1832, the Seminoles on the reservation were called to a meeting at Payne's Landing on

9200-416: The river, then entered the Wahoo Swamp on November 21. The Seminoles resisted the advance in the Battle of Wahoo Swamp , as their families were close by, but had to retreat across a stream. Major David Moniac, who was part Creek and possibly the first Native American to graduate from West Point , tried to determine how deep the stream was, but was shot and killed by the Seminoles. Faced with trying to cross

9315-475: The same day as the Dade Massacre, Osceola and his followers shot and killed Wiley Thompson and six others outside of Fort King. In February, Major Ethan Allen Hitchcock was among those who found the remains of the Dade party. In his journal he wrote about the discovery and vented his bitter discontent with the conflict: The government is in the wrong, and this is the chief cause of the persevering opposition of

9430-463: The same point on the Withlacoochee where Clinch had met the Seminoles one-and-a-half months earlier, and it took another day to find the ford while the two sides exchanged gunfire across the river. When a crossing was attempted at the ford of the Withlacoochee, Lt. James Izard was wounded (and later died), and General Gaines was stuck by a bullet. Unable to ford the river, and not having enough ration to return to Fort King, Gaines and his men constructed

9545-418: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Fort Morgan . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fort_Morgan&oldid=915097964 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

9660-522: The soldiers, and killed all but three of the command, which became known as the Dade Massacre . Only three white men survived the battle. Pvt Edwin DeCourcey was hunted down and killed by a Seminole the next day. The other two survivors, Pvt Ransom Clarke and Pvt Joseph Sprague, returned to Fort Brooke. Only Clarke, who ultimately succumbed to his wounds 5 years later, dying on November 18, 1840 at

9775-399: The south fled to Key West. On January 17, volunteers and Seminoles met south of St. Augustine at the Battle of Dunlawton . The volunteers lost four men, with thirteen wounded. On January 19, 1836, the Navy sloop-of-war Vandalia was dispatched to Tampa Bay from Pensacola. On the same day 57 U.S. Marines were dispatched from Key West to help man Fort Brooke. The regular American army

9890-645: The summer passed, the agreement seemed to be holding. There were few killings. A trading post was established on the north shore of the Caloosahatchee River, near present day Cape Coral , and the Seminoles who came to the trading post seemed to be friendly. A detachment of 23 soldiers was stationed at the Caloosahatchee trading post under the command of Colonel William S. Harney . On July 23, 1839, some 150 Indians, including Billy Bowlegs and two other leaders named Chakaika and Hospertarke, attacked

10005-569: The territory altogether. A war party led by Osceola captured a Florida militia supply train, killing eight of its guards and wounding six others. Most of the goods taken were recovered by the militia in another fight a few days later. Sugar plantations along the Atlantic coast south of St. Augustine were destroyed, with many of the slaves on the plantations joining the Seminoles. The U.S. Army had 11 companies, about 550 soldiers, stationed in Florida. Fort King had only one company of soldiers, and it

10120-665: The time of the Seminole Wars included " Spanish Indians ", so called because it was believed that they were descended from Calusas , and "rancho Indians", persons of Native American ancestry, possibly both Calusa and Muscogee, and mixed Native American/Spanish ancestry, living at Spanish/Cuban fishing ranchos on the Florida coast. For a brief period after the start of the war, these rancho Indians, particularly those residing along Tampa Bay, were offered protection. However, they were also eventually forced onto reservations. The United States and Spain were at odds over Florida after

10235-467: The time summer in Florida was called the sickly season . By the end of August, Fort Defiance, on the edge of the Alachua Prairie, was also abandoned. Seeing that the war promised to be long and expensive, Congress appropriated another US$ 1.5 million, and allowed volunteers to enlist for up to a year. Richard Keith Call , who had led the Florida volunteers as a Brig. Gen. when Clinch marched on

10350-496: The trading post and guard. Some of the soldiers, including Colonel Harney, were able to reach the river and find boats to escape in, but most of the soldiers, as well as a number of civilians in the trading post, were killed. The war was on again. The Americans did not know which band of Indians had attacked the trading post. Many blamed the 'Spanish' Indians, led by Chakaika . Some suspected Sam Jones, whose band of Mikasuki had come to agreement with Macomb. Jones promised to turn

10465-465: The trail to Fort King and killed him. As the realization that the Seminoles would resist relocation sank in, Florida began preparing for war. The St. Augustine Militia asked the War Department for the loan of 500 muskets. Five hundred volunteers were mobilized under Brig. Gen. Richard K. Call . Indian war parties raided farms and settlements, and families fled to forts, large towns, or out of

10580-614: The unoccupied lands in Florida in the 18th century. These included Alabamas , Choctaw , Yamasees , Yuchis and Muscogees (then called "Creeks"). The Muscogees were the largest group, and included people from the Lower Towns and Upper Towns of the Muscogee Confederacy , and both Hitchiti and Muscogee speakers. One group of Hitchiti speakers, the Mikasuki, settled around what is now Lake Miccosukee near Tallahassee . Another group of Hitchiti speakers settled around

10695-442: The war although there were a series of incidents leading up to the Dade battle. The Seminoles and the U.S. forces engaged in mostly small engagements for more than six years. By 1842, only a few hundred native peoples remained in Florida. Although no peace treaty was ever signed, the war was declared over on August 14, 1842 by Colonel William Jenkins Worth . Bands from various tribes in the southeastern United States had moved into

10810-403: The warriors coming into the transportation camps had not brought their families, and seemed mainly to be interested in collecting supplies. By the end of May, many chiefs, including Micanopy, had surrendered. Two important leaders, Osceola and Sam Jones , had not surrendered, however, and were known to be vehemently opposed to relocation. On June 2 these two leaders with about 200 followers entered

10925-486: The water was deep enough to permit major warships to pass. To defend this area, the Confederates placed 18 of the fort's heaviest guns (including two 7-inch Brooke rifles and two British-made 8-inch Blakely rifles ) so that they could bear on the channel. They also built redoubts and trenches east of the fort to impede any attack via land. Lastly, they complemented the land defenses with a small flotilla consisting of

11040-399: The west coast of the peninsula and up the Withlacoochee to set up a supply base. With the main body of his men he marched to the now abandoned Fort Drane, and then on to the Withlacoochee, which they reached on October 13. The Withlacoochee was flooding and could not be forded. The army could not make rafts for a crossing because they had not brought any axes with them. In addition, Seminoles on

11155-417: The whole action had killed or captured only a few Seminoles. On March 31 all three commanders, running low on supplies, headed for Fort Brooke. The failure of the expedition to effectively engage the Seminoles was seen as a defeat, and was blamed on insufficient time for planning and an inhospitable climate. April 1836 did not go well for the Army. Seminoles attacked a number of forts, including Camp Cooper in

11270-536: The work over to his deputy, Lieutenant Cornelius Ogden. Ogden completed the work in March 1834 and turned the fort over to Captain F.S. Belton, commander of Company B, 2nd U.S. Artillery. This unit remained at the fort for about a year and a half before its transfer to Florida to assist in the Second Seminole War . Multiple concrete arches have been embedded into the walls of Fort Morgan from the beginning of

11385-491: Was Battery Duportail, named for Major General Louis Lebègue Duportail . Its armament consisted of two 12-inch breech-loading rifles on disappearing carriages. The battery was decommissioned in 1923. The Army removed the breechblocks and plugged the breeches before abandoning the guns. The Army scrapped the guns in the early 1940s. The fourth battery was Battery Thomas, named for Captain Evan Thomas, who had been killed in

11500-513: Was a continuing irritation between Seminoles and European Americans. "The major problem was not with them [Seminoles] but with the Indian- Negros ." General Taylor would not, being a slave holder himself, deny "the Seminoles of their Negros", and "in practice", handed his captives over to Lt. J. G. Reynolds, U.S. Marine Corps , "in charge of immigration." Spain had given freedom to slaves who escaped to Florida under their rule, although

11615-416: Was also getting into summer, the 'sickly season', and the Army did not fight aggressively in Florida during the summer. The Panic of 1837 was reducing government revenues, but Congress appropriated another US$ 1.6 million for the war. In August the Army stopped supplying rations to civilians who had taken refuge at its forts. Jesup kept pressure on the Seminoles by sending small units into the field. Many of

11730-458: Was causing trouble, Thompson had him locked up at Fort King for a night. The next day, in order to secure his release, Osceola agreed to abide by the Treaty of Payne's Landing and to bring his followers in. The situation grew worse. A group of European Americans assaulted some Indians sitting around a campfire. Two more Indians came up during the assault and opened fire on the European Americans. Three European Americans were wounded, and one Indian

11845-493: Was estimated at around 6,000 up to 10,000 people. January 1837 saw a change in the war. In various actions a number of Seminoles and Black Seminoles were killed or captured. At the Battle of Hatchee-Lustee , the Marine brigade, "succeeded in capturing the horses and baggage of the enemy, with twenty-five Indians and negroes , principally women and children." At the end of January some Seminole chiefs sent messengers to Jesup, and

11960-407: Was feared that they might be overrun by the Seminoles. There were three companies at Fort Brooke, with another two expected on the way, so it was decided to send two companies to Fort King. On December 23, 1835, the two companies, totaling 110 men, left Fort Brooke under the command of Maj. Francis L. Dade . Seminoles shadowed the marching soldiers for five days. On December 28 the Seminoles ambushed

12075-492: Was hailed as a great victory for Taylor and the Army. Taylor now joined the other columns sweeping down the peninsula to pass on the east side of Lake Okeechobee, under the overall command of General Jesup. The troops along the Caloosahatchee River blocked any passage north on the west side of the lake. Still patrolling the east coast of Florida was the combined Army-Navy force under Navy Lt. Levin Powell. On January 15, Powell, in

12190-406: Was killed and one wounded. In August 1835, Private Kinsley Dalton (for whom Dalton, Georgia , is named) was killed by Seminoles as he was carrying the mail from Fort Brooke to Fort King. In November, Chief Charley Emathla, wanting no part of a war, led his people to Fort Brooke, where they were to board ships to go west. This was considered a betrayal by other Seminoles. Osceola met Charley Emathla on

12305-528: Was killed in action in Luzon in 1900 during the Philippine–American War . The battery initially held two, later increased to three, 3-inch rapid-fire guns . It also protected the ship channel. Hurricanes in 1906 and in July 1916 caused great damage to the wooden houses at Fort Morgan along Officer's Row. The wide porches that helped cool the buildings in summer were particularly vulnerable. In 1915,

12420-646: Was operational during the Spanish–American War . It had four 8-inch breech-loading guns on disappearing carriages . The battery closed in 1917, and the guns were removed for conversion to railway guns for service in Europe in World War I . At the beginning of the Spanish–American War, Fort Morgan also received eight 10-inch smooth-bore muzzle-loading Rodman cannons , converted to 8-inch rifles with

12535-402: Was removed shortly after the tests. After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the fort trained CAC soldiers in modern weapons. The fort also trained field anti-aircraft batteries. In 1920 the fort received four British 9.2-inch howitzers. These guns were abandoned and scrapped in 1924 when the Army abandoned the fort. Thereafter, the base deteriorated. During World War I,

12650-442: Was the commanding general of the Army. Edmund Gaines and Winfield Scott had each taken to the field and failed to defeat the Seminoles. Thomas Jesup was the last Major General available. Jesup had just suppressed an uprising by the Creeks of western Georgia and eastern Alabama (the Creek War of 1836 ), upstaging Winfield Scott in the process. Jesup brought a new approach to the war. Instead of sending large columns out to try to force

12765-417: Was the turn of the 4th Infantry, 160 men augmented by remnants of the 6th Infantry and the Missouri volunteers. This time the troops were able to drive the Seminoles from the hammock and towards the lake. Taylor then attacked their flank with his reserves, but the Seminoles were able to escape across the lake. Only about a dozen Seminoles had been killed in the battle. Nevertheless, the Battle of Lake Okeechobee

12880-618: Was to build small posts at frequent intervals across northern Florida, connected by wagon roads, and to use larger units to search designated areas. This was expensive, but Congress continued to appropriate the necessary funds. In October 1838, Taylor relocated the last of the Seminole living along the Apalachicola River to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Killings in the Tallahassee area caused Taylor to pull troops out of southern Florida to provide more protection in

12995-533: Was to sweep down the peninsula with multiple columns, pushing the Seminoles further south. General Joseph Marion Hernández led a column down the east coast. General Eustis took his column up the St. Johns River (southward). Colonel Zachary Taylor led a column from Fort Brooke into the middle of the state, and then southward between the Kissimmee River and the Peace River . Other commands cleared out

13110-415: Was very short on supplies. After receiving seven days' worth of rations from General Clinch at Fort Drane, Gaines headed back for Fort Brooke. Hoping to accomplish something for his efforts, Gaines took his men on a different route back to Fort Brooke, intending to engage the Seminoles in their stronghold in the Cove of the Withlacoochee River. Due to a lack of knowledge of the country, the Gaines party reached

13225-459: Was very small at the time, with fewer than 7,500 men manning a total of 53 posts. It was spread thin, with the Canada–U.S. border to guard, coastal fortifications to man, and especially, Indians to move west and then watch and keep separated from white settlers. Temporary needs for additional troops were filled by state and territory militias, and by self-organized volunteer units. As news and rumors of

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