Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 1.djvu/227

Rh fort with terrible slaughter. &quot;A large amount of property was found, estimated at $200,000, and 150 barrels of powder were saved from one uninjured magazine.&quot; (Fairbank s History of Florida, p. 263.) It is claimed that this attack was secretly favored by the Spanish authorities, who had been much annoyed by the operations of these bandits.

The Seminole Indians continued a series of hostilities along the borders, retreating for protection into Spanish territory, until finally President Monroe decided to submit to this state of affairs no longer, and ordered General Gaines to attack the hostile Indians, pursuing them when necessary into Florida. These orders were issued in December, 1817, and General Jackson was directed to proceed to the front and take command in person. The famous letter of General Jackson to President Monroe, written January 6, 1818, commonly known as the &quot;Rhea letter,&quot; and the subsequent quarrel to which it gave rise between Jackson and Calhoun, are too well known to need recital. quot;Let it be signified to me through any channel,&quot; says Mr. J. Rhea, &quot;that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished. President Monroe was sick in bed when the letter arrived. It was referred to Mr. Calhoun, secretary of war, who returned it to the president as a private letter, requiring an answer from himself. It remained unnoticed until after the event, and was never answered. Official orders authorized Jackson to make war upon the Seminoles, and to cross the Spanish line, if necessary, in pursuit, but under no circumstances to attack or invest a Spanish post.

Jackson hastily enrolled 1,000 volunteers from Tennessee, and leaving Nashville January 22, 1818, marched to the frontier in Georgia, where he was joined by a body of Georgia militia and 500 United States troops. A little later, by treaty with the Creeks, he added to his force 2,000 Indians. He at once entered the Seminole