Page 57 - John Anderson

-RKQ$QGHUVRQ±+LV/LIHDQG7LPHVLQ2UPRQG)ORULGD

but the Van Buren administration denied his request to end the war.
Powerful political forces, led by slave holding interests in the South,
would not let the war end until every Seminole was removed from
Florida. The war would continue for over four more years with, as
Jesup warned, “A continual waste of blood and treasure.”
Jesup now asked to be relieved of his command. As summer
approached in 1838 the number of troops in Florida dwindled to
about 2,300. In April Jesup was informed that he should return to his
position as Quartermaster General of the Army. In May, Zachary
Taylor, now a General, assumed command of the Army forces in
Florida. With reduced forces in Florida, Taylor concentrated on
keeping the Seminoles out of northern Florida, so that settlers could
return to their homes. The Seminoles were still capable of reaching
far north, however. In July a family was killed on the Santa Fe River,
another near Tallahassee, as well as two families in Georgia. The
fighting died down during the summer, as the soldiers were pulled
back to the coasts, and the Seminoles concentrated on growing their
crops and gathering supplies for fall and winter

Command of the war passed to Zachary Taylor, who fought a
defensive conflict for two more years but made no real gains toward

45