The native American Indians were defending their land; European settlers were the intruders. Nevertheless, history recalls the wars against the Indians. There were many Indian Wars, dating back to 1637 when the New England colonists feared the Pequot Indians. Later came disagreements with Wampanoag, Pueblo, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, and numerous others. The reason for these wars were always the same; the white man was trying to take over the rich lands which had been occupied by Indians for years.
Initially, in the early 1600's, as the white, "pale faces" established settlements along the Atlantic Coast, there were short preludes of peace. As they moved southward and westwardly, more and more disagreements occurred, and a greater and greater number of quarrels developed between the Indians and the white man; most often resulting in the death of one or the other.
INDIAN WARS IN THE SOUTH (1813-1842): In the southeastern part of the new world, the Indian battles were with the Creek and Seminole tribes. The Creek were aroused by Chief Tecumsch and they attacked villages throughout Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. When Andrew Jackson rallied a force of militiamen and broke the power of the Creek in 1814 at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River in east-central Alabama, the Creek relinquished a large track of land. The Seminole, a southern branch of the Creek in Florida, became angry because the Creek gave up the land, and rose up against the whites in the First Seminole War (1816-1818). Jackson marched into Florida with 3,000 men. His action forced Spain to give up that territory, but did not completely subdue the Seminole, who began fighting again in 1835. In the Second Seminole War they retreated into the Everglades and struggled desperately for seven years. Their Chief, Osceola, vowed to fight "till the last drop of Seminole blood has moistened the dust of his hunting ground." The whites captured Osceola in 1837, but the Seminole fought on until they were nearly wiped out. The descendants of the surviving Seminole did not make formal peace with the government until 1934.
The following men served in the Indian Wars with Capt. James Walker from June 9, 1838 until August 19, 1838, and all are buried in Brantley County. Legend: * = Served in both wars, Indian War and CSA.
|NAME OF VETERAN||CEMETERY|
|DOWLING, DAVID||HIGH BLUFF|
|* DOWLING, JAMES||DOWLING|
|* GRIFFIN, DEMPSEY||HIGH BLUFF|
|HARRIS, JIMPSEY||NEW HOPE|
|HIGHSMITH, ALLEN||NEW HOPE|
|STOKES, RICHARD||HIGH BLUFF|
|WAINRIGHT, WILEY||TRADER'S HILL|