COAST ARTILLERY, JOURNAL - Air Defense Artillery

568 THE COAST ARTILLERY JOURNAL
Fort Marion was the center of the military operations on the part of the
Americans, and was the scene of the disgraceful episode of treachery by which
Osceola and other Indian chieftains were captured.
In 1838 General Hernandez, in command of the United States troops on the
peninsula, sent word to Osceola that he would be safe from I molestation should
he come to Fort Marion for a peace talk. With every confidence in the honesty
and integrity of the white men, the Indian leader arrived at the fort with seventy
followers. He was immediately placed in irons, despite the promises given him
and in violation of the customs of war. From Fort Marion the Seminole chief
was taken to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston harbor, where he later died from much
brooding and the unaccustomed confinement.
The same tactics were employed with Coacoochee, the second great leader of
the Seminoles, and the war promptly collapsed. Coacoochee was confined in Fort
Marion for a time, and then sent into virtual exile with his people to a western
reservation.
During the Civil War, Fort Marion was the scene of a brief period of excitement
when it was seized by sympathizers of the Confederacy. It quickly fell
before Federal troops, however, and had no further active part in the conflict.
Fort Marion today is unoccupied by troops, its military value having iong
since passed. It still stands in the northern part of the city, however, and is a
well preserved specimen of Spanish military architecture.
Inspection Trip hy the Assistant Secretary of War
The Assistant Secretary of War, Colonel Hanford MacNider, has made the
following report of his recent five thousand air-mile inspection trip through the
Southwest, to the Secretary of War:
Upon my recent five thousand air-mile inspection trip to San Antonio
and through the Southwest, the very apparent increase of interest by every
Army post community and by the near-by larger centers in all matters
of National Defense was emphasized at every stop. The close and cordial
relationships built up between the Army personnel and the civilian population
as exemplified on every hand in the field is a welcome story to those
who sit on the receiving end of all the professional "Disband the Army"
propagandists.
The Assistant Secretary's report, which covered conditions particularly in
the Dayton, St. Louis, Fort Sill, and San Antonio districts, as well as the many
large cities and air ports visited en route to over a dozen State Legion Conventions
ranging from Vermont to Texas and from West Virginia to Iowa, relates not
only an increased and intelligent interest in all Army matters, but a constant
demand from civic organizations, as well as from former service men, for an increased
scope in the many civilian training activities now a part of the War
Department's program.
Without a single exception unsolicited praise of local Commanding
Officers and the men of their commands was forthcoming in every state
visited. The most frequent question put to me was: "How can we best
help to secure better conditions for, and an increase in, the same kind of
personnel for this particular community?"
In Texas, Oklahoma, ~Iissouri, Iowa, North Carolina and New York,
Army units, on the days of inspection, were found taking part in local celebrations,
or public enterprises of one kind or another. In every city and