further difficulties in the work of enslaving the exiles.
general gaines in person defends those left at new orleans—he appeals from the judgment—effect of appeal—authorities at washington informed of difficulties—general jessup retires from the command—general taylor succeeds him—he refuses to follow policy of general jessup—recognizes no prisoners as slaves—letter from adjutant general—he promptly refuses to have any thing to do in watson’s slave-dealing transaction—this indignant answer is received without reply by department—other persons claim the exiles detained at new orleans—commissioner driven to the necessity of declaring correct law on the subject—same as that avowed by general gaines, by general taylor, and by hon. j. q. adams—claim of colonel humphreys for slaves—jessup’s answer—reynolds returns from fort gibson to new orleans—collins reaches the city same day—inquires as to the situation of the thirty-one exiles left there—is referred to major clark—clark’s answer—collins leaves city in disgust—his letter to secretary of war charging reynolds with misconduct—exiles remaining at new orleans are delivered to reynolds—are sent to fort gibson—join their friends—all are left however without permanent homes or lands—intention of the administration to compel them to unite with the creeks—they refuse—cherokees tender them lands—they settle upon cherokee territory.
1838.
after the emigrating company of indians and exiles had left new orleans, under charge of lieutenant reynolds, gen’l gaines assumed upon himself the whole responsibility of defending the thirty-one who remained in that city; for as yet there had been no trial upon the merits of the case, although it was pretty evident that the judge was strongly impressed in favor of re?nslaving them. the cause was duly brought to a hearing, and, after argument and consideration, the court gave judgment in favor of the claimants.
this was no more than had been expected. general gaines, faithful to his own convictions of justice, took an appeal to a higher tribunal; and this appeal rendered it necessary for the court to fix a time within which the claimants should enter bail for costs and damages, or the negroes would be delivered up to general gaines by the sheriff.
in the meantime, the executive officers at washington had become informed of the difficulties which had lain across the path of mr. collins, and felt it to be desirable that the whole matter should be arranged with as little discussion as possible.
general jessup retired from the command of the army in florida on the fifteenth of may, and returned to washington, leaving general zachary taylor as commander-in-chief of our military forces in that territory. he had shown himself prompt in the execution of all orders; cool, deliberate, and firm in battle; faithful to his men, to himself and his country; but, up to this time, he had manifested no particular zeal in the capture of negroes. indeed, although he had penetrated farther into the indian country than any other officer—had fought the bloodiest battles of any commander in florida, yet he refused to draw any distinctions among his prisoners. with him indians and negroes were equally prisoners of war, and entitled to the same treatment. nor would he listen to men who professed to own the persons whom he captured, or who had surrendered themselves as prisoners.
the administration having been a party in the sale to watson, determined to carry out the slave-dealing arrangement with him; at least so far as regarded the thirty-one negroes who yet remained in new orleans. in order to effect this object, it was deemed necessary to have the co?peration and aid of general taylor. the adjutant general, therefore, addressed him on the subject, enclosing to him the letter of the commissioner of indian affairs, dated the ninth of may, addressed to the secretary of war, and heretofore referred to. general taylor evidently thought the honor of the service would be compromited by this slave-dealing transaction. he subsequently became president of the united states; and as the reader will feel anxious to understand precisely the views which he entertained, we give that portion of his letter to the adjutant general which relates to this subject. it is in the following words:
“i have the honor to acknowledge your communication of the tenth of may, 1838, accompanied by one of the ninth from the commissioner of indian affairs, addressed to captain cooper, acting secretary of war, on the subject of turning over certain negroes, captured by the creek warriors in florida, to a mr. collins, their agent, in compliance with an engagement of general jessup.
“i know nothing of the negroes in question, nor of the subject, further than what is contained in the communication above referred to; but i must state distinctly for the information of all concerned, that, while i shall hold myself ever ready to do the utmost in my power to get the indians and their negroes out of florida, as well as to remove them to their new homes west of the mississippi, i cannot for a moment consent to meddle with this transaction, or to be concerned for the benefit of collins, the creek indians, or any one else.”
this language was received at the war department without reproof, although the secretary was from south carolina, bred up in the chivalrous doctrines of the palmetto state. he quietly suffered a brigadier general thus plainly to express his contempt for this slave-dealing transaction, in which not only the war department, but the president of the united states, was involved. he appears to have been willing to encounter almost any kind of disrespect, rather than call public attention to the subject.
in the meantime other claims were presented to the department for those exiles, or portions of those, who had been captured by the creeks.[120] gad humphreys filed with the secretary of war a list of forty-seven slaves who had fled from him in 1830, stating that they had gone to the seminoles, and that a part of them had been sent to fort pike.
colonel humphreys appeared to regard himself as entitled to the possession of those people; although by the treaty of payne’s landing the seminoles had paid for all slaves residing with them prior to 1832; and had been released from all further demands on account of such slaves.
colonel humphreys stated that his claim had been examined by the late agent, general wiley thompson, and decided against him; but insisted that the decision was wrong, and avowed his ability to show it erroneous by proper proof whenever he should have an opportunity, and again demanded that the slaves should be brought back to florida, where he could present his proof without trouble. this letter was inclosed in one directed to mr. downing, delegate in congress from florida, and by him transmitted to the secretary of war, and by that officer referred to the commissioner of indian affairs. thus driven to the wall, the commissioner of indian affairs came out in plain and unmistakable language, asserting the doctrine, that the government held the power and constitutional right to dispose of prisoners taken in war, whatever their character may be. this doctrine had been eloquently sustained by general gaines, on the trial in new orleans. it was the doctrine avowed by hon. john quincy adams in the house of representatives, during the next session of congress; but it called down upon him much abuse in that body, and in the democratic papers of the country. the commissioner’s report to the secretary of war set forth in distinct language, that the claims of individuals to slaves were precluded by the action of the government in sending these people west; that they had been captured by the army and disposed of by the executive, and the action of the department could not be changed in consequence of individuals claiming them as slaves. in short, he repeated the doctrine advanced by general gaines at new orleans. the report also confirmed the policy of general taylor in disregarding the claims of individuals to persons captured by the army, and was a tacit condemnation of that pursued by general jessup, and previously sanctioned by the secretary of war. this report was passed over to the secretary.
that officer (mr. poinsett) having received this report, transmitted it to colonel humphreys. this drew from that gentleman a still more elaborate argument in favor of his claim, which occupies nearly four heavy pages in documentary form. this was also transmitted to mr. downing, and by him passed over to the secretary of war; but we are not informed whether the secretary of war replied to this second argument or not.
it is, however, important to the truth of history to notice this recognition of the doctrine by a slave-holding secretary of war, that the executive in time of war may separate slaves from their masters, and send them out of the country, without regard to the relation previously subsisting between them and their owners. the principle was thus recognized by mr. poinsett, although a citizen of south carolina, acting under the advice and direction of mr. van buren, a democratic president of the united states.
general jessup also, in a report to the war department, declared, that, in his opinion, the treaty of payne’s landing exonerated the indians from all claims for slaves which accrued prior to that date, and that colonel humphreys and other claimants could only demand a proportion of the seven thousand dollars allowed by the indians for slaves then residing among them. this suggestion was obviously just, and was approved by the secretary of war; and we are naturally led to inquire, why the same obviously just rule was not applied to some hundreds of other cases precisely like that of colonel humphreys?
in the meantime, lieutenant reynolds having accomplished his mission, so far as the emigration of the captives shipped on board the two boats which left new orleans on the nineteenth and twenty-first of may were concerned, returned to that city in order to complete the duties assigned him in regard to the thirty-one prisoners who had been detained there by legal sequestration. collins, faithful to the trust reposed in him, also returned to new orleans with the full purpose of securing those people as slaves to watson. they reached the city on the twenty-third, and found the slaves still in the possession of the sheriff; as the time assigned by the court within which the plaintiff was to enter bail had not expired.
on the twenty-fifth of june, mr. collins addressed a note to mr. reynolds, inquiring whether there had been any decision of the court upon the claim of love to the seminole negroes left at that place; and what number he (reynolds) was satisfied belonged to the creek indians; and demanding that such as belonged to them should be delivered to him, under the order of the commissioner of “indian affairs.”
mr. reynolds replied that he understood the case had been dismissed; but as he (reynolds) was then acting under a superior officer (major clark), he would refer mr. collins to him.
on the following day, collins addressed major clark on the subject; but receiving no answer, and becoming vexed and disgusted with the business, he left the city on the twenty-seventh for his home in alabama. in justice to mr. collins, we let him speak for himself, and quote the remainder of his report to the commissioner of indian affairs, being that portion which relates to his efforts to get possession of these thirty-one exiles. it reads as follows:
“on arriving at new orleans on my return, i found the representatives of love had withdrawn their claim against those thirty-two negroes that were left there, thirty-one of which lieutenant r. expressed himself satisfied belonged to the claim. i addressed a note to lieutenant r. requesting that such of the negroes as he was satisfied of the identity might be turned over to me; he in turn referred me to major clark who was his senior officer, and who had received similar instructions to his own. i had, in company with lieutenant r. the day before, called upon major clark, and learned his determination in relation to the negroes. he did not recognize the validity of his order, inasmuch as ‘by order of the secretary of war’ did not precede your signature, and had even the hardihood to state, that, by an examination of the lists, none of those negroes in new orleans were embraced in the claim i presented, and subsequently ordered lieutenant reynolds to send the negroes forthwith to arkansas. after i saw a settled and determined purpose to thwart me there as well as elsewhere, i left new orleans on the next day for this place, and since my arrival here, i have learned by a letter from lieutenant reynolds, that the negroes were sent off the next day after i left.”
“captain morrison i did not see. not perhaps being as fruitful in expedients as some others of them, he stopped at fort jackson, and sent to new orleans for transportation outfit, etc., and passed the city on his way up, without but few knowing who he was, or anything else in relation to him. i learned indirectly from major clark, (who probably did not intend this admission for me,) that he had between twenty and thirty of the negroes on board belonging to this claim.”
“i am, sir, with the highest respect,
yours, etc.,
n. f. collins.
c. a. harris, esq.,
comm’r indian affairs, washington, d. c.”
it is most obvious that collins believed that the military officers of government, who were serving at a distance from washington, viewed his mission with no particular favor, and he evidently retired from new orleans with some degree of indignation.
in the meantime, the claimant love, despairing of obtaining the negroes, refused to enter bail for costs and damages, in case the suit should be determined against him in the higher court, and the sheriff delivered them over to mr. reynolds on the same day that collins left the city. on the next day, mr. reynolds wrote the commissioner of indian affairs, saying, “the thirty-one negroes who were arrested, seized from me and lodged in the jail of this city, were last evening surrendered to me. the creek attorney (n. f. collins, esq.) nor any authorized agent being present, and not wishing to detain them at the expense of the government, they were immediately embarked and dispatched west, with twenty-five days’ provisions, under the charge of assistant conductor benjamin, who, to satisfy the indians, had been left with the negroes at the period of the service of the process; of which fact i informed the department at the time.”
these thirty-one prisoners who had been thus detained, were now once more under way for their western home. their hearts appeared to beat more freely as the noble steamer, which bore them on their way to their friends and future homes, cut loose from her moorings and sped her way toward her destined port. on board that happy craft, also, were many smiles and hearty congratulations exchanged among those children of the forest, who had been borne along on the tide of ever-varying circumstances. although helpless and penniless, and apparently friendless, they had almost miraculously escaped the meshes which our government and the slave-dealers had spread for their destruction. in due time they reached fort gibson, and were delivered over to the care of the proper agent, who conducted them to their friends. and now some nine hundred seminoles, and some three to four hundred exiles, had reached the indian country; they constituted the first party of that nation who, driven from their homes—their native wilds—had consented to be taken to a strange land.
they had been assured by general jessup and all officers who spoke for the government, that the treaty of payne’s landing was to be complied with. to enforce that treaty had been the order of general jackson. general cass had declared that the indians must comply with that treaty; while, to our indian agents, he asserted it to be the policy of the government to unite the creeks and seminoles as one people.
but the indians and exiles were constantly assured, that they were to have a tract of country set off to their separate use; and when they entered into the articles of capitulation with general jessup, on the eighteenth of march, 1837, that officer, on behalf of the united states, had stipulated to protect the indians and “their allies” in the enjoyment of their lives and property.
but now the turpitude and guilt of the executive were revealed. the orders of the agent directed him to take them on to the territory assigned to the creeks. this would subject them to creek jurisdiction and creek laws; and they were perfectly conscious that every exile would be immediately enslaved. yet there was no country which they could call their own. the perfidious pretense of enforcing the treaty of payne’s landing, without giving them a separate territory according to the supplemental treaty, now stood exposed in its proper light. abraham was a man of influence with his brethren. he had used his utmost efforts to induce them to emigrate. he had been honest. he believed in the integrity of our nation, of its people, its government; but his error had been fatal. the exiles were in the western country, without a home, and with no means of support, except the stipulation of government to furnish them provisions for one year.
it was at this time, when a christian government had violated its faith, most solemnly pledged, in order to enslave a people who for ages had been free, that a pagan government performed towards the exiles and seminoles the christian duty, the hospitality, of furnishing them temporary homes. the cherokees had volunteered to exert their influence with the indians and exiles in favor of peace. they had induced many of them to come into the american camp under flags of truce which had been violated, and their persons seized, held prisoners, and sent west. they had themselves, apparently, been involved in this treachery practiced by our government, and, under these circumstances, they consented to share their own possessions with the seminoles and exiles until further arrangements were made; they consented to have the seminoles and exiles settle on their land for the present, until the government could be induced to fulfill its most sacred compacts with these victims of slaveholding persecutions.
