General Thomas Sidney Jesup commanded military operations
against the Seminoles in Florida during the early stages of the
conflict now known as the Second Seminole War (1835-1842). The
Second Seminole War was the longest and costliest Indian War in
United States history. Jesup’s field diary, available on Florida
Memory, contains his perspective on the war from October 1,
1836, to May 30, 1837. This series of blog posts places
significant entries from the Jesup diary in the context of the
Seminole Wars and the history of Anglo-American Indian-African
relations in the Southeast. Below is the eighth and final post
in the series. Thomas Sidney Jesup left Florida in 1838. The
mood of many Americans had turned against the General following
the dubious capture of Osceola under a white flag of truce in
October 1837. Northern politicians and abolitionists were
especially critical of Jesup, particularly vocal opponents of
Indian Removal. The time had long passed since Native Americans
dominated the New England frontier