60199616-flight-to-freedom-african-runaways-and-maroons-in-the-americas

126 Flight to Freedom
Maroons and Indians fought desperately, losing many of their comrades in
the process. The remainder fled into the nearby swamps, making it very difficult
for the Whites to pursue them (Porter 1951, 249–80; Mulroy 1993, 14–15).
The war was not yet over, as runaways continued to swell the ranks of the
Seminole Maroons. During the next two decades they engaged in desultory
warfare against the American forces, who found it extremely difficult to track
them down. The Whites wanted the Seminoles off the neighbouring fertile
lands and into reservations where they could control them more easily.
Seminole Indian chiefs agreed in 1832 to move from Florida to Indian
Territory west of the Mississippi River. However, the Seminole Maroons, in
particular, resisted such attempts and, according to Mulroy (1993, 28), the
opposition of the Maroons clearly laid the foundation for the Second
Seminole War. 13
This war, which began in 1835, was precipitated by the abduction of one of
Chief Osceola’s wives (the daughter of a Black Maroon woman and a
Seminole chief ), and his capture and imprisonment for a short time when he
demanded her return (Porter 1932, 338). This young Seminole leader was
determined to requite the wrong done to him. He led the attack on a group
of American soldiers, killing about one hundred of them. The war that
ensued lasted until 1842 and united Indians, Africans and their mixed offspring
against the Whites. The inception of the war saw some 1,650 Indians
and 250 African Maroons pitted against the state forces. Although, as on
most occasions, the battle was unequal in terms of men and military equipment,
the Africans in particular were said by a contemporary writer to be
“the most formidable foe, more blood-thirsty, active, and revengeful, than the
Indian. . . . Ten resolute negroes, with a knowledge of the country, are sufficient
to desolate the frontier, from one extent to the other” (Porter 1932,
347). 14 General Thomas Jesup referred to the conflict as an African rather
than an Indian war. He also stated that the Blacks were the most active and
committed fighters, and they seemed to have a controlling influence over the
Indian chiefs (Mulroy 1993, 29). 15 The Americans realized that the Maroons
would pursue the war to the death rather than be returned to slavery.
The war finally ended with an agreement that the Maroons should be
relocated to more remote areas in southwestern Florida (Blassingame 1979,
214). The conflict cost the United States twenty million dollars and the lives
of fifteen hundred White civilians and soldiers. As usual, casualty figures for
the Seminole Indians and Maroons are lacking, but they must have been sub-