Smith County
In The Second Seminole War

By Steven Denney

All rights reserved not for any use other than personal research.

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In 1836, William Bowen Campbell was a rising young lawyer in the Carthage Bar.  He saw an opportunity when President Jackson called for volunteers to fight the Seminole Indians in June of 1836.  President Jackson called for 2000, men from Tennessee and supposedly 4000 responded.  Campbell took the lead in organizing a company from Smith County and was elected Captain. 

 

Campbell and the Smith Countians rendezvoused with the other Tennessee Volunteers at Campt Blount near Fayetteville where they were organized into regiments.  Campbell’s company was included as part of the Second Tennessee Mounted Infantry.  William Trousdale and Josephus Conn Guild of Sumner County were elected to the positions of Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel.  Nashville Postmaster Robert Armstrong was elected Brigadier General.

 

The Tennessee troops were originally intended to fight the Creek Indians in lower Alabama, but by the time they arrived on the scene there was no foe to fight.  After this they were ordered to go to Florida, where they could support the fight against the Seminoles.  When they arrived at Tallahasse, they discovered that there were no provisions waiting for them, a problem they would face again and again during the short time of their service.   The men then marched to Fort Drane, where they were reinforced, and pushed on further to the Withlacoochie River.  There on October 12, the first contact was made with the Indians.  This time the fight went to the favor of the Americans as they surprised and captured a group of several braves.  The next day, Colonel Guild left on an expedition upstream with a 300 man battalion, including the Smith Countians, to defeat an Indian fortification.  As the troopers were crossing a small swollen stream they were ambushed by a party of indians.  Several of the American troops were wounded before the Indians retreated, but Guild felt it was prudent to withdraw his bloodied battalion in order to resupply. 

 

During the few months that the regiment had been in service, they had travelled a great deal over rough country.  The men and horses were always tired and this was compounced by the lack of forage for the horses or supplies for the men.  Forage became so scarce that most of the regiment’s mounts died of starvation.  Being by necessity changed from mounted to foot infantry was greatly resented by the men was a cause of great resentment among the men, and they were not bashful when it came to expressing their displeasure to their superior officers.  After a lenghty period of time in which the soldiers marched instead of rode, the troops became very restive.

 

Several of the company officers determined that drastic measures would be necessary to improve the lot of the regiment.  At Camp Lane on October 24th, Captain Campbell suggested to his fellow officers that a resolution be written for all of the officers to sign, in an attempt to force a solution of their problem.  He accepted the task of attempting “to feel the pulse of the more nervous [officers] and ascertain what might be done.”

 

Soon a resolution was completed which outlined the reasons for unrest.  The regiment had been raised with the promise that they would serve as mounted men-not infantry-but due to the “unjustifiable failure” on the part of certain Florida officials to supply the men with suitable forage, the greater number of the regimental mounts had died.  Any further action involving the regiment would necessarily be on foot and “such service would be pernicious in a great degree to the health and comforts of said brigade” due to the marshy nature of the territory and poor supply situation.

 

The resolution further stated that the men had been “shamefully and cruelly treated in relation to provisions on the Withlacoochee and other points....[Even if now remounted] we will oppose and refuse to comply with any order requiring us to move from this point without a reasonable portion of provisions wherever we may be required to go.”  These were heady words for a group of captains and lieutenants.

 

The author and supporters of the resolution hoped that all the officers would sign the document in order to show unity.  Campbell felt that there was little chance of everyone signing because of the possibility of repercusions, although he and a few others still supported the idea.  Diarist Henry Hollingsworth recorded “now the only Captains who seem operated upon by principle and consequently willing to go any lenght in defense of their rights, are Henry of Sumner, Bledso, Grundy and Campbell.”  The necessary support could not be garnered to adopt the resolution.

 

On September 28, several officers again met to discuss the situation. Campbell was officer of the day, so his duties kept him from attending but he sent word that he was willing to support almost anything “to prevent the men from being marched on foot.”  To the consternation of Campbell and his allies, nothing was accomplished at the meeting because the officers present could not agree upon a united mode of action.  Some of hte men wished for a continuation of activities, while some advised caution.   The volunteers returned to the Withlacoochie on November 13th to continue the fight they had begun a month earlier.  They found the Indian towns in the area deserted and had to settle for burning them.  After this action, Captain Campbell lost his horse, and his words vividly express the plight the poor animals were in due to a lack of forage: 

 

“I lost my horse on the 15th of November 1836.  I had rode him into the Cove with you when we burned the towns on the 13th of Nov.  and he was thus very weak, and on the next day he was so weak that I could scarcely move him.  We lay in campt that day and I turned him out in a prarie close by to feed.  On the next morning I could not find him, and was ordered off at the head of the footmen of the 1st Battalion of your Regt.  My horse must have lain down in the high grass and could not get up, or died as he could not be found.”

 

ON the 18th and 21st of November, the men again engaged the Indians.  On the 18th, Indians were located at a village in the Wahoo Swamp.  A three prong-attack was conducted upon a hummock near town to which the braves had retreated.  The Indians fired first but were driven back.  Several soldiers were lost as killed or wounded.  Included among the wounded was Richard Alexander, a Sumner Countian who later moved to Smith County.  On the 21st, the Indians were again engaged, and this time the Tennesseans were more successful.  This was to prove to be the last fighting for our company.

 

During the Seminole Campaign, most of the casualties suffered by the Tennesseans were due to disease rather than enemy action.  The American troops were unaccustomed to the climate, water in the swamps was of poor quality, military sanitation was crude at best, medical care was poor, plus disease carrying insects were thick, while supplies were thin.  Combine all these factors with the stress of the campaign and there is no wonder that disease was rampant. 

 

In December the men were marched to Tampa Bay, for the return trip home.  On Christmas Day, “as warm as summer” the men coped with the difficult task of loading the ships to return home.  Boarding was a dangerous and tedious process, as the transport ships could approach no closer than six miles from shore, and the men had to be rowed out to the transports a few at a time on the ship’s boats.  Campbell’s company of Smith Countians was loaded onto the ship Georgian, on which, though the men were in cramped quarters, they would be willing to endure “anything to get home.”  They embarked on December 26th, but did not arrive at New Orleans until January the 6th and were given a grand reception.  From there the men were marched back to Tennessee.

 

During the seven months service whith the Smith Countians endured in the Deep South, they “displayed great gallantry and won the cordial commendation of the General.”  In addition, Campbell “established an enviable reputation for courage and skill.”  This experience would lay the ground work for the classic campaigns which William Trousdale and William B. Campbell would wage against each other during ther previous races for congress and governor.  Also gaining invaluable experience during the Florida War was Richard Alexander, who would serve as first major of the First Tennessee Infantry during the Mexican War.

 

As alluded to above, William Campbell would turn his experience in the Seminole War to good political use during the subsequent years.  It seems that his flirtation with mutiny did not stop his rapid rise.  Resigning his seat as a member of the legislature when he joined the army in 1836, he was elected as a Whig to Congress for three successive terms, defeating Trousdale twice.  In 1842 he was elected Major General of the Tennessee Militia-which by this time was a largely ceremonial role.  When the Mexican War started, Campbell took advantage of the fact that two Smith County companies were selected to serve in the 1st Tennessee Regiment, and parlayed his popularity with the boys into election as colonel of the regiment.  He served with distinction during the war as commander of  “The Bloody 1st Tennessee.” and after the war he defeated incumbent Governor William Trousdale and became Governor.  He refused a second term.  During the secession crisis of 1861, both sides begged him to come out in favor of their position.  He finally chose to remain loyal to the Union, turning down the offer of command of the troops of the Confederate Army in Tennessee.  He did accept a commission as Brigadier General in the Union Army with the understanding (per his request) that he would not serve in field command.  During the war, he was promoted as the Vice Presidential running mate of George McClellan for the 1864 campaign, but refused the nomination. 

 

I do not have a complete list of Smith County’s soldiers in the Seminole War.  The following lists of members for the company comes from the mess and guard book of Sergeant Paschal M. Brien, a member of the company from the southern part of the county.  His home was probably later cut off into what is today Dekalb County.

 

From the mess list of July 11, 1836:

 

Leach, John

Gray, G.W.

Tucker, W.G.

Allison, William

Pendleton, Levi

Reed, Hugh

Shy, J.G.

Reasonover, J.J.

Webster, Peter

Coe, John

Farmer, S.A.

Allison, Joseph

Ford, James G.

Ford, William G.

Wade, Charles

Warren, John

Owens, James

Owens, H.G.

Pugh, Francis

Taylor, William

Wochran, H.J.

Baker, William

Barret, James

Womack, Alfred

Penile, William

Wilson, William

Boze, Richard

Boze, James

Phillips, David

Carmax, George

Snow, Isaac

Calhoun, Hardy

Jones, Richard

Haynes, Rufus

Maney, H.G.

Beasley, S.C.

Dale, Thomas

Harrel, T.G.

Coleman, J.J.

Debrunt, J.G.

 

 

From the guard list July 11-July 19

 

 

Alexander, J.H.

Gray, G.G.

Hazard, Cyrus

Harts, Seaborn

Taylor, W.B.

Parrot, Nathaniel

Ward, Sterling

Hallum, Jonah

Davis, E.W.

Hallum, William

Coggin, Daniel

McClanahan, William

Forrester, William

Baker, William

Haney, H.B.

McFarland, John

Claiborne, John B.

Phillips, David

Dougherty, William

Hollis, Eligah

Hayne, Robert

Allison, Samuel

Webster, PEter

Heflin, H.

Davenport, J.G.

Warren, H.J.

Davis, James

Cheek, James

Snow, P.

Lancaster, Wm.

Wilson, William

Reed, Hugh

 

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