Osceola the Seminole; or, The Red Fawn of the Flower Land

It is too voluminous to be given in detail. Its chief points were, an appeal to the Indians to conform peaceably to the terms of the Oclawaha treaty--to yield up their lands in...

So long as they remained in the maize-field, I saw nothing of either. The direction of my view was slightly oblique to the rows of the plants. The corn was at full growth, and i...

I saw before me a woman of middle age--somewhere between thirty and forty--a large woman, who once possessed beauty--beauty that had been abused. She was the wreck of a grand lo...

Under the impulsive influences of former friendship and present admiration, I could have rushed forward and flung my arms around him; but it was neither time nor place for the d...

I longed to revisit the Indian home; and was not slow to gratify my wish. There was no restraint upon my actions. Neither father nor mother interfered with my daily wanderings:...

The word "fort" calls up before the mind a massive structure, with angles and embrasures, bastions and battlements, curtains, casemates, and glacis--a place of great strength, f...

The rencontre between Ringgold and the Indian monopolised attention, and the criminal was for the moment forgotten. The knife knocked out of Powell's hand had fallen at the feet...

"Patience, Randolph, and you shall see. Oh! it is a rare experiment--a most cunning plot, and would be laughable were it not for the tragedy mixed up with it. You shall see. But...

The murder of the commissioner called for some act of prompt retribution. Immediately after its occurrence, several expresses had been dispatched by different routes to Camp Dra...

It was now after sunset. Orders had been issued for no one to leave the fort; but translating these as only applicable to the common soldier, I resolved to sally forth.

He was somewhat gloomed at the manner in which the day's proceedings had ended, and by the reflection that his diplomatic fame would suffer--a fame ardently aspired to by all ag...

After a short spell of obliviousness, I recovered my senses. I perceived that the Indians were still around me, but no longer in the menacing attitude in which I had seen them b...

He had not remained all the time in the same attitude, neither had his countenance shown him indifferent to what was passing. There was no constraint either in his gestures or l...

To-day the commissioner showed a bolder front. A bold part had he resolved to play, but he felt sure of success; and consequently there was an air of triumph in his looks. He re...

On my return to Florida, I found that the cloud of war was gathering over my native land. It would soon burst, and my first essay in military life would be made in the defence o...

The military college of West Point is the finest school in the world. Princes and priests have there no power; true knowledge is taught, and must be learned, under penalty of ba...

About the guilt of the mulatto, I had no longer any doubt. The mere destruction of the fish could not have been his design; he would never have taken such pains to accomplish so...

"So, then, my yellow friend, that is the intention!--a bit of revenge after all. I'll make you pay for it, you spiteful ruffian! You little thought you were observed. Ha! you sh...

They no longer blazed, for the air was perfectly still, and there was no wind to fan the fire into flame. It was seen in red patches against the trunks, smouldering and graduall...

As I have said, it was my design to make an entrance unobserved; consequently, it was necessary to observe caution in approaching the house. To this end, as I drew near the plan...

As by duty bound, I delivered a report of the scene I had involuntarily been witness to. It produced a lively excitement within the fort, and an expedition was instantly ordered...

An acquaintance thus acquired could not be lightly dropped. Should it end otherwise than in friendship? This half-blood was a noble youth, the germ of a gentleman. I resolved to...

It proved not to be so near us as we had anticipated. Pressing forward, as fast as our guides could lift the trail, we followed it for ten miles. We had hoped to find revenge at...

I stirred not till they were gone--till long after. In fact, my mind was in a state of bewilderment, that for some moments hindered me either from acting or thinking; and I sat...

Such a series of violent incidents of course created excitement beyond our own boundaries. There was a group of plantations upon the river lying side by side, and all having a f...

A new regret occupied my thoughts--I regretted that I had not carried out my intention to fire at the chief of the murderers--I regretted I had not killed him on the spot--the m...

Mad queen of the Micosaucs! what have I done to deserve this torture? Thou too my enemy! Had I been thy deadliest foe, thou couldst scarcely have contrived a keener sting for th...

If we thought the time long, it was not from want of occupation. During the day, the Indians at intervals renewed their attack; and notwithstanding all our vigilance, we had ano...

"Never!" came the response, in a tone of emphatic determination. "Never! Sooner than do that, I will linger among these logs till decay has worn the flesh from my bones, and dri...

I had expected the man. The cry "Mulato-mico," and afterwards his voice--still well remembered--had warned me of his coming. I expected to gaze upon him with dread; strange it m...

We were seated near the edge of the little opening where we had encamped, a pretty parterre, fragrant with the perfume of a thousand flowers. The moon was shedding down a flood...

Alone with my thoughts, and these tainted with considerable acerbity. More than one cause contributed to their bitterness. My pleasant purpose thwarted--my heart aching for know...

Strange as it may seem, even in that hour these observations had interested me; but while making them I observed something that gratified me still more. It was the blue dawn tha...

The morning after, I went as usual to the recruiting quarters. Gallagher was along with me, as upon this day the volunteers were to be "mustered into service," [Note 1] and our...

As yet but few troops had reached Florida, though detachments were on the way from New Orleans, Fort Moultrie, Savannah, Mobile, and other depots, where the soldiers of the Unit...

A glance to the western horizon shewed me that the sun had already sunk below the tree-tops. The twilight would be short. The young moon was already in the heavens. It might be...

Was I enduring the tortures of the future world? Were these its fiends that grinned and jibbered around me? See! they scatter and fall back! Some one approaches who can command...

There is Indian blood in my veins. My father was of the Randolphs of Roanoke--hence descended from the Princess Pocahontas. He was proud of his Indian ancestry--almost vain of it.

No one suspected how the reptile had got to the pond--for I had not said a word to any one. The belief was that it had wandered there from the river, or the lagoons--as others h...

At intervals the guides were at fault; and then the whole line was forced to halt and remain motionless. Several times both Hickman and Weatherford were puzzled as to the direct...

The dispatch called for instant obedience. Fortunately my horse was still under the saddle, and in less than five minutes I was upon his back, and galloping for the volunteer camp.

For fall two hours this singular conflict was continued, without any material change in the disposition of the combatants. Now and then an odd man might be seen darting from tre...

The crisis might have been my cue to come down; but I was overpowered with a sense of delightful happiness, and could not stir from my seat. The arrow had been drawn out of my b...

A circular basin, like a vast sugar-pan, opens into the earth, to the depth of many feet, and having a diameter of forty yards or more. In the bottom of this, several cavities a...

To dispute the identity was to doubt the evidence of my senses. The mulatto was before me--just as I remembered him--though with changed apparel, and perhaps grown a little bigg...

The two divisions of the army now came together, and after a rapid council had been held between the commanders, continued scouring the field in search of our enemy. Hours were...

They were all the words I could utter. My mother entreated an explanation; I could not stay to give it. Frantic with apprehension, I tore myself away, leaving her in a state of...

"It was once mine--it is now yours, mico! yours, _haintclitz_! Pretty creatures! enjoy it alone; you wish not the mad queen for a companion? Ha, ha! _Cooree, cooree_! I go; fear...

It was an awful death, but far less hard to endure than that which had been decreed by man. The Almighty had been more merciful: and in thus mitigating the punishment of the gui...

My own plight admonished me. I remembered my wound--I remembered that I had received it from _behind_. I remembered that the bullet that struck the tree, came from the same quar...

I felt faint enough to have reeled from the saddle; but the necessity of concealing the thoughts that were passing within me, kept me firm. There are suspicions that even a boso...

I had been but a few minutes in this state of unconsciousness, when I was awakened by a plunge, as of some one leaping into the pond. I was not startled sufficiently to look aro...

I was not allowed long to enjoy the sweets of home. A few days after my arrival, I received an order to repair to Fort King, the Seminole agency, and head-quarters of the army o...

We had not ridden far along the path, when we came upon the tracks of cattle. Some twenty head must have passed over the ground going in the same direction as ourselves--_toward...

At the time of which I write duelling was not uncommon in the United States army. In _war-time_, it is not uncommon yet, as I can testify from late experience. It is contrary to...

My sister kept her word. I saw no more of her for that day, nor until noon of the next. Then she came forth from her chamber in full riding costume, ordered White Fox to be sadd...

Suspense was preying upon me; I could endure it no longer. I at length resolved upon demanding an explanation from my sister, as soon as I should find her alone.

The spectacle of yesterday was repeated: the troops in serried lines of blue and steel--the officers in full uniform with shining epaulettes--in the centre the staff grouped aro...

To pass the night under the same roof with a man who intends to murder you is anything but pleasant, and repose under the circumstance, is next to impossible. I slept but little...

This I had upon the authority of my faithful servant, Black Jake. Upon almost any other testimony, I should have been incredulous; but his was unimpeachable. Negro as he was, hi...

Before a word was uttered, all six of us shook hands--so far as appearance went, in the most friendly manner. Osceola grasped mine warmly; as he did so, saying with a peculiar s...

Yes, it was Osceola, "the Rising Sun" [Note 1]--he whose fame had already reached to the farthest corner of the land--whose name had excited such an interest among the cadets at...

Behind me, a mother murdered and basely mutilated--a near relative slain in like fashion--my home--my whole property given to the flames. Before me, a sister torn from the mater...

"Den, massr, ef't be impossible, it am de troof. Sure as da gospel, I see Yell' Jake; he fire at you from ahind tha gum tree. Den I fire at 'im. Sure, Massr George, you hear boa...

I received my mother's embrace with filial warmth; my sister's in silence--almost with coldness. My mother noticed this, and wondered. Gallagher also shewed reserve in his greet...

As, upon the stage of a theatre, the farce follows the grand melodrama, this tragic scene was succeeded by an incident ludicrous to an extreme degree. It elicited roars of laugh...

After this action, a complete change was observed in the spirit of the army. Boasting was heard no more; and the eagerness of the troops to be led against the enemy was no longe...

To one brought up--born, I might almost say--upon the banks of a Floridian river, there is nothing remarkable in the sight of an alligator. Nothing very terrible either; for ugl...

There were several reasons why the treaty of the Oclawaha could not be considered binding on the Seminole nation. First, it was not signed by a majority of the chiefs. Sixteen c...

Excepting the memory of one short hour, Fort King had for me no pleasant reminiscences. There had been some new arrivals in my absence, but none of them worthy of companionship....

The affair of Dade's massacre is without a parallel in the history of Indian warfare. No conflict of a similar kind had ever occurred--at least, none so fatal to the whites enga...

Instances of such character are more common among mulattoes than negroes. Pride of colour on the part of the yellow man--confidence in a higher organism, both intellectual and p...

I saw not the speaker, who was completely hidden behind the thick trellis of leaves. It was not necessary I should see him, to know who addressed me; on hearing the voice I inst...

For some weeks following the council at Fort King, there appeared to be tranquillity over the land. The hour of negotiation had passed--that for action was nigh; and among the w...

To us the partial armistice was of no advantage. We dared not stir from the trees. Men were athirst, and water within sight--the pond glittering in the centre of the glade. Bett...

It never occurred to me to question the genuineness of Jake's story. What the "black folks" said was true; I had no doubt of it. The whole transaction was redolent of the Ringgo...

I had a last thought, as I fell. It was that my life had reached its termination--that in a few seconds my body would be embraced by the flames, and I should horribly perish. Th...

My grief was profound--even to misery. The remembrance of occasional moments of coldness on the part of my mother--the remembrance more especially of the last parting scene--ren...

At college, as elsewhere, I had been jeered for taking the Indian side of the question. Not unfrequently was I "twitted" with the blood of poor old Powhatan, which, after two hu...

My rate of speed soon brought me within the boundaries of the plantation; and, without pausing to breathe my horse, I galloped on, taking the path that led most directly to the...

As the moments passed, the old hunter warmed into greater freedom of speech, and from his manner I fancied he had still other developments to make. I had firm faith in his devot...

The sun was going down as we took our departure from the Indian camp. For myself, I had not the slightest idea of the direction in which we were to travel, but with such a guide...

We were scarcely outside before we saw him for whom we were searching. He was standing at a short distance from the porch, conversing with a group of officers, among whom was th...

For the remainder of that day and throughout the next, this unsatisfactory state of things continued, during which time the three of us--my friend, my sister, and myself--acted...

The prisoner was confined in a strong, windowless blockhouse. Access to him would be easy enough, especially to those who wore epaulets. It was my design to visit him; but, for...

Late as was the hour, I determined to visit the captive before going to rest. My design would not admit of delay; besides, I had a suspicion that, before another day passed, my...

Believing the savages to be in sight, I spurred towards the front. The horsemen had drawn bridle and halted. A few, who had been straggling from the path, hurried up and ranged...

Not without some surprise did I make this discovery. What was the mulatto doing in the woods at such an hour? It was not his habit to be so thrifty; on the contrary, it was diff...

It was the day after I had held the conversation with her, that I first noticed this. I noticed at the same time that her manner towards him was equally altered.

There were other circumstances connected with the bloody affair, that upon reflection appeared peculiar and mysterious. By the sudden shock, my soul had been completely benighte...

We had escaped from the blockhouse in boats, down the river to its mouth, and by sea to Saint Marks. Thence the volunteers scattered to their homes--their term of service having...

We now suffered the very acme of misery. While riding in hot haste along the trail, there was an excitement, almost continuous, that precluded the possibility of intense reflect...

It was upon the Sunday of Palms--the festival of the flowers--and the devout Castilian beheld in thee a fit emblem of the day. Under the influence of a pious thought, he gave th...

This melancholy finale to the festivities of Christmas was, if possible, rendered more sad by a rumour that shortly after reached Fort King. It was the rumour of an event, which...

We journeyed throughout the whole night. The burnt woods were left behind, and having crossed a savanna, we rode for several hours through a forest of giant oaks, palms, and mag...

There was no reply to this interrogatory. It was succeeded by a dead silence of some seconds' duration. Evidently the two men were not there, else they would have answered for t...