US Presidency
1842

To the Senate and House of Representatives. The season for active hostilities in Florida having nearly terminated, my attention has necessarily been directed to the course of measures to be pursued hereafter in relation to the few Indians yet remaining in that Territory. Their number is believed not to exceed 240, of whom there are supposed to be about 80 warriors, or males capable of bearing arms. The further pursuit of these miserable beings by a large military force seems to be as injudicious as it is unavailing. The history of the last year's campaign in Florida has satisfactorily shown that notwithstanding the vigorous and incessant operations of our troops ( which can not be exceeded ), the Indian mode of warfare, their dispersed condition, and the very smallness of their number ( which increases the difficulty of finding them in the abundant and almost inaccessible hiding places of the Territory ) render any further attempt to secure them by force impracticable except by the employment of the most expensive means.