The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1914-03-11


soldiers, the world over,
revere the name of Andrew jackson,
and In view of the fact that their
next reunion is to be held in the only
city in the south that was named In
honor of that great and brave man,
his services in freeing Florida from
the blight of Indian barbarians will
be of interest.
Jacksonville was named for Gen.
Andrew Jackson as a compliment, and
mark the appreciation, for services he
rendered to civilization in the Semi
mole War. There could have been no
progress, or civilization in Florida
but for the work of Andrew Jackson.
Conditions in this territory in 1918,
nearly a hundred years ago, demand
ed the services of a brave and reso-
lite man. Gen. Jackson was selected
by the government as the one man
above all others to head the move
ment against the Seminole Indians.
who had been terrorizing the terri
tory for several years and committing
atrocities OF the most brutal char
acter.
In March, 1918, Gen. Jackson was
ordered to the site of the Seminole
War. He invaded East Florida, and
a campaign of less than six weeks
crushed these Indians. 1t is related
by historians that in one village, not
far removed from Jacksonville, he
found 300 scalps of men, women and
children, many of them still fresh,
hanging to a war pole. Gen. Jackson
knew that the Spaniards were in sym
pathy with the Indians in their at
tacks on American settlers. After
cleaning up a number of Indian vii
lagos he captured the Spanish post
of st. Marks. For this act he was
severely censured by his government.
However the naked fact is that "Old
Hickory" was more courageous than
the men who were conducting the af-
fairs of State at Washington.
Early in May, 1918, Gen. Jackson
closed his campaign against the Sem
inoles in East Florida. He had COM
pletely broken their power and run
them out of the territory. They
caused no more serious trouble.
Characteristic Tactics.
During his campaign in East Flori-
da, Gen. Jackson obtained satisfe Glory
evidence that Spanish officers at Pen
sacola were in sympathy with the In
dams. He promptly decided to march
against them and teach them a les
son. The Spanish Governor Of West
Florida learning Of Gen. Jackson's pur-
pose, sent him a written protest
against his invasion. This protest Is
now on file among the Jackson docu-
ments in charge of the Tennessee
Historical Society at Nashville. The
protest was delivered to Gen. Jack
son near Pensacola on May 23, but
it had no effect on that determined
man. In reply, he sent a peremptory
demand for the immediate surrender
of Pensacola and Barrancas. Jackson
advanced Immediately on Pensacola
and possessed it. Two days later the
Barrancas garrison capitulated, were
received as prisoners of war and sent
to Havana.
Having thus snatched both East and
West Florida from the Indian and
Spaniards, Gen. Jackson at once pro-
ceeded to establish a provisional gov
eminent under the stars and stripes.
Having accomplished this he returned
to Tennessee, then his home.
Without censuring Gen. Jackson,
the government restored Pensacola
and st. Marks to Spain, and the Span
iards were put in possession. Shortly
however, Florida was ced-
ed to the United States and Gen.
Jackson was made provisional, Cover