Ft. Heileman and the Second Seminole War
Ft. Heileman was established in present-day Middleburg, Florida in
1836. Middleburg was called Garey’s Ferry at the time and it was a trade
center for north Florida. The ferry was not the only boat on Black Creek.
Small steamships coming from the St. John’s River docked at the wharf
with passengers and supplies that farmers could not make themselves. The
United States Army used the wharf to bring soldiers and military equipment
to North Florida when a war started.
The fort was a collection
of buildings. No drawings
exist. This is an artist’s
conception
based
on
written descriptions from
people who were there.
The war was between the
Americans and the Seminoles.
They had fought briefly in 18171818, but this time, it was a full-scale war. The Second Seminole War
lasted from 1835-1842. They fought for three reasons: land, lifestyle, and
race.
First, they fought because the Americans wanted to take control of the
land the Natives lived on in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina,
Mississippi, and Georgia. The tribes living on the land were the Cherokee,
Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw, and the Seminoles. The tribes were related by
kinship and by their way of life, though their languages were somewhat
different.
The second reason
1. Seminole
the Americans and the
2. Creek
Natives fought was
3. Choctaw
because the two groups
4. Chickasaw
had very different rules
5. Cherokee
for how they lived.
Both peoples farmed,
but farming was a task done by American
men, while among the Seminoles the
women were the farmers.
American
women at that time could not vote, but Seminole women had a voice in
decisions affecting the whole village. Only American men could be “head
of the household,” but Seminole women made most of the decisions about
the family.
Seminole children did not attend schools but learned from their
parents and other adults in the villages how to be good hunters and farmers,
and how to make the weapons and tools they needed. The Cherokee, who
lived in Georgia and were cousins of the
Seminoles, had a written language and a
Constitution similar to the United States
Constitution, but the Seminole language
was not written down and none of the
Seminoles could read or write.
The differences between the
American way of life and the Native
way of life made it hard for the two
groups to do business together. The
Natives did not believe anyone could
“own” the land any more than anyone
could “own” the sky. The Natives had Two boys, two examples of
powerful chiefs, but no one spoke for all dressing up. The boy on the
the Natives like the President of the left is Osceola.
United States speaks for all Americans.
The third reason the Americans and the Native Americans fought was
because of American attitudes about race. Even when the Natives tried to
live like the Americans, the Americans did not want them for neighbors
because of their dark skin. The Seminoles
welcomed African-American slaves who
escaped bondage by running away to the
Native villages. They became part of the
community, married Seminoles, and lived
according to Seminole community rules.
Abraham was a Chief among the Black Seminoles.
Most of the natives in four of the five tribes did not want to fight.
They agreed to give up their land and move to the Indian Territory, which is
now the state of Oklahoma.
The Trail of Tears
They had to walk, a journey
of a thousand miles. Of the
14,000 people who began the
trip, 4,000 of them died on
the way. Their journey is
called the “Trail of Tears.”
Micanopy and Mad
Wolf (Yaha-Hajo) were the
two most powerful chieftains
who opposed the American policy of “removal” to Oklahoma. Osceola was
the most famous Seminole warrior.
Micanopy
Mad Wolf
Osceola
The two most famous United States Presidents during the Seminole
Wars were Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Before Jackson became
President, he was also a General and he fought against the Seminoles in the
early years of the war. General Thomas S. Jessup commanded the troops in
Florida for two years. He was replaced by General Taylor, who became
President of the United States after the Seminole War ended.
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
Zachary Taylor
The worst of the fighting began when five
Seminole chiefs signed an X by their names on the
Treaty of Payne’s Landing. The treaty stated that
the Seminoles would leave their land in Florida
and move to Oklahoma. The problem was that the
men who signed the treaty did not speak for all the
Seminoles, including the most powerful chief,
Micanopy. Micanopy, Osceola and over half of
the 5,000 Seminoles in the State refused to move.
American troops came to force them to leave their
Jessup
homes.
Most of the fighting was in South Florida,
but the Seminoles attacked farms across the Florida Panhandle as well.
Even though no farms were attacked in Clay County, houses in nearby
counties were burned, and the farmers and their families in Clay County
were afraid. They went to Ft. Heileman for safety.
The families moving into the area of the fort had to learn new rules for
eating and sleeping, and how they spent their time during the day. The new
rules for the people at Ft. Heileman were a lot like the rules people have to
follow when there is a hurricane threatening Florida and families have to
evacuate to schools, churches, and other public places.
Families could only take a few of their belongings and possessions.
They had to live in tents or shelters made of branches, with little privacy.
Other families lived only a few feet away. They had to get in line to get
their meals, like students today get in line in the cafeteria at school. Almost
all of life took place outdoors.
They couldn’t do the normal things they usually did during the day.
They had no crops to tend or livestock to feed. Children could not go to
school.
Many people became ill and died. The physician at the fort did not
have enough medical supplies, nor was there a hospital at the fort. One of
the children who died was the baby son of Captain Samuel McRee. A poem
titled “The Burial of an Infant in Florida” appeared in the Army and Navy
Chronicle in 1840.
I lay thee here my sinless one
I put thee down to rest
But not upon thine elder bed
Nor on thy mother’s breast.
Within this little grave they’ve scooped
Far in the forest wild
I lay thee here my precious one
I leave thee here my child.
The Second Seminole War lasted until 1842. The fort was abandoned
that year because the fighting had stopped. When hostilities resumed in
1855, the fighting was largely confined to the southern region of the state.
The United States government moved some of the soldiers who had died at
the fort to the military cemetery in St. Augustine. United States Army
records in the Library of Congress show that about three dozen veterans and
an unknown number of citizens (including the Captain McRee’s baby son)
remain buried at the fort’s cemetery.
The Seminoles were not defeated, but the fighting finally stopped
when most of them said they would go to Oklahoma. Not all of them left
Florida, however. The Seminoles who stayed moved into the Everglades,
where they have lived since the war ended.
All Native Americans became United States citizens in 1924. In 1970
the United States government awarded the Seminoles $12,347,500 for the
land they lost during the Seminole Wars. In 2002, the government awarded
the Oklahoma Seminoles $55,000,000 for their lost land.
Today the area where the fort
was located is a park. Each year on
Memorial Day, a service is held near
the fort’s cemetery to honor the
families and military veterans who died
so that Florida could be settled by
Americans.