Fort Worth, Texas, Named for War of 1812 Hero-- Part 2: The USMA, Second Seminole War and Mexican War

Despite the injury, William Jenkins Worth was determined to continue serving in the U.S. Army.  He was appointed to Commandant of the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1816 while he was a major.  

As commandant, Worth instilled the lessons of duty and honor into the aspiring young officers.  He taught the importance of never excusing a dishonorable act in another officer and the necessity of integrity in all matters, to keep one's word bio matter what.    His essays in honor are still required reading  for West Point cadets.

In 1838, he was promoted to colonel and given command of an infantry regiment.  he fought in the Second Seminole War in Florida as tribes and settlers clashed.  He was promoted to brigadier general afterward.

After Texas was admitted to the United States in 1845, Mexico threatened war over its former possession.  Worth was assigned to patrol the border between the two countries along with  General Zachary Taylor, and war erupted in 1846.

--Brock-Perry

William J. Worth-- Part 3: Second Seminole and Mexican Wars

Continued from December 27, 2020.

SECOND SEMINOLE WAR

Using his own tactics, he successfully prosecuted the Second Seminole War in Florida and was promoted to the rank of brevet brigadier general.  Eventually he convinced Secretary of War John C. Spencer to allow the remaining Seminoles  in the territory of Florida to confine to an unofficial reservation in southwest Florida, and declared an official end to the war in August 1842.

MEXICAN WAR

When the Mexican War began, Worth was serving under General Zachary Taylor in Texas and negotiated the surrender of the Mexican city of Matamoros.  He next commanded the Second Regular Division, Army of Occupation at the Battle of Monterrey in September 1846.  In 1847, he was transferred to  his old friend Winfield Scott's army and placed in command of the First Division.

He took part in the Siege of Veracruz and engaged  in the battles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras and Churubusco.  At Mexico City, Scott ordered Worth to seize the Mexican fortifications at Molino del Rey.  This effectually ended the two generals' friendship when Scott refused to allow Worth to change his plan of attack, a move that caused the First Division to suffer heavy casualties.

--Brock-Perry

William J. Worth-- Part 1: Badly Wounded at the Battle of Lundy's Landing

From Wikipedia. 

WILLIAM J. WORTH

(March 1, 1794-May 7, 1849)

United States officer in War of 1812, Second Seminole War and Mexican War.

Commissioned as a first lieutenant in March 1813 and served as an aide to then-brigadier general Winfield Scott.  They developed a friendship that remained for the rest of their lives.  William even named his son Winfield Scott Worth.   William distinguished himself at the Battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Landing during the Niagara Campaign.  

In the latter battle, he was seriously injured by grapeshot in the thigh.  Not expected to survive the wound, Worth spent a year in confinement, recovered and was raised to the rank of major.  Unfortunately, however, he remained lame for the rest of his life.

--Brock-Perry

William Jenkins Worth-- Part 2: Second Seminole War and Mexican War

After the War of 1812, he became commandant of the military academy at West Point and was promoted to colonel.  After that, he was put in command of the newly-formed Eighth Infantry regiment stationed in Florida.  He gained victory there and was promoted to brigadier general in 1842.

Worth convinced Secretary of War John C. Spencer to allow  to allow the remaining Indians to stay in southwest Florida.  He also argued for an official end to the war in 1842.

Worth served under Zachary Taylor in Texas during the Mexican War.  Next, he commanded  the 2nd Regular Division Army of Occupation at the Battle of Monterrey in September 1846.  In 1847, he was transferred to  his old friend Winfield Scott army and placed in command of the First Division.

Worth died of cholera in 1849 in San Antonio, Texas.

The cities of Fort Worth and Lake Worth in Texas are named after him, as is Lake Worth in Florida.

--Brock-Perry

The Plattsburgh Barracks-- Part 4: The War of 1812 Fortifications

During the Second Seminole War, nearly a quarter of the U.S. Army strength was sent to Florida and Congress realized that the Army needed to be expanded and that was when it was raised to 12,539.  Along with the increase in strength, housing became a big issue which was why the Army built the Plattsburgh Barracks.

A permanent Army post was planned and was to have four stone barracks surrounded by a wooden palisade.

A site was selected outside of the town of Plattsburgh and just south of the three remaining earthwork fortifications from the 1814 siege:  Fort Brown, Fort Moreau and Fort Scott.

These forts had been constructed under the direction of Major Joseph Totten, an expert military engineer during the war.  There were also two smaller redoubts erected later, Fort Tompkins and Fort Gaines.  All five of these fortifications formed the endpoints of a pentagon which featured a field of interlocking cannon fire.

--Brock-Perry

The Plattsburgh Barracks-- Part 3: The Need for Permanent Barracks

Troops were stationed there from 1812-1823, but  they did not have permanent barracks or even a permanent military installation.  Men often stayed in dilapidated and inadequate log structures left over from the War of 1812.

In an October 1839 letter to the General of the Army, Major General Alexander Macomb, who had commended the troops at the Battle of Plattsburgh, and Brigadier General Abraham Eustis told of just how bad the barracks situation was at Plattsburgh.

It was decided to construct permanent barracks, with part of the reason for doing it because the strength of the Army had been raised to 12,539 men because of the Second Seminole War.

--Brock-Perry

Charles Rinaldo Floyd-- Part 2: Served in USMC

Next, he received a commission in the USMC as a lieutenant, but in 1820, was arrested for caning a  naval store keeper.  For this, he was tried and suspended from duty for twelve months but with full pay.

In 1824 he served as the commander of the Marine Honor Guard charged with protecting the Marquis de Lafayette in New York City and his tour of the United States.

He also served in the Second Seminole War and the Okefenokee.

He was appointed a brigadier general in the Georgia militia on October 1838 and ordered to chase the Seminoles into the Okefenokee swamp in Georgia.

Death came March 22, 1845.

--Brock-Perry

Jordan Noble's Battle of New Orleans Drum At Auction-- Part 2: In Four Wars

Jordan Bankston Noble lived from 1800 to 1890 and he beat the roll to arms for Andrew Jackson's troops at the Battle of New Orleans in January 1815.

He was one of the most revered figures in New Orleans for that.

After the battle, he continued his military service.  He was again with Andrew Jackson in 1836, at the Second Seminole War as a member of te Louisiana Volunteers.  During the Mexican War he was with the Washington Artillery and in the Civil War he was on the Union side as the captain of Company C, 7th Louisiana Volunteer Infantry.

--Brock-Perry

Camp Blount, Tennessee-- Part 3: Mustering Point for Other Wars

Camp Blount served as the mustering grounds for other wars than the War of 1812.

Tennessee troops mustered here for the Seminole Wars of 1818 and 1836.  Later they did the same for the Civil War.

It is likely that both Confederate and Union troops mustered here during the Civil War, though, obviously, not at the same time.

--Brock-Perry

War of 1812's Ichabod Crane-- Part 2: Sackets Harbor and Black Hawk War

During the War of 1812, Ichabod Crane served on the Northern Frontier and commanded an artillery battery at Fort Pike which he helped construct at Sackets Harbor, New York.  He was involved in the capture of Fort York on April 27, 1813, and Fort George at the end of May.

While he was at Fort George, a joint British-Canadian force attacked Sackets Harbor in the Second Battle of Sackets Harbor, but were unsuccessful.

After the war, he continued to serve in the Northern department.  In 1820, he was made the commander of Fort Wolcott, Rhode Island.  In 1825, he transferred to Fort Monroe in Virginia.  He led five companies during the Black Hawk War and also served in the Second Seminole War (1835-1842).

--Brock-Perry

William Goldsmith Belknap-- Part 2: Brevetted Three Times

From Wikipedia.

Born September 7, 1794 in New York.  Died November 10, 1851.  Career soldier, brevetted three times for service during three wars: War of 1812, Second Seminole War and Mexican War.  Eventually rose to the rank of brigadier general and served as commandant of Forts Gibson, Washita and Smith.

He was a lieutenant in the War of 1812 and wounded in the sortie from Fort Erie on September 17, 1814.

Was made captain on February 1, 1822 and major on Jan. 31, 1842.  Brevetted to lieutenant-colonel; March 15, 1842 for his service in the Second Seminole War in Florida.

In 1828, Captain Belknap assisted in the establishment of Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

--Brock-Perry

Fort King, Florida-- Part 2: Thompson, Dade and Osceola

I am writing about the Seminole Indians in Florida and the U.S. Army in this blog even though it took place after the War of 1812 because it is directly related to the war.  All the main Americans participated in the war, though I have been unable to find out much about their service.  But, the Indians were definitely one aspect of the war.

From Exploring Southern History.

To say that Wiley Thompson and the Seminoles, and especially warrior Osceola, didn't like each other would be an understatement.  At one point, Thompson had Osceola clapped in irons and held for a period of time.  Osceola decided to have his revenge.

On December 28, 1835, as Francis L. Dade was leading his troops to Thompson's relief, as Wiley Thompson and associates went for a walk, Osceola and his warriors ambushed him and Thompson was shot 14 times and scalped along with six others.

That same day, a larger force of Seminoles attacked Dade and killed him and over 100 others.

This caused the second Seminole War to take place.

--Brock-Perry

St. Augustine National Cemetery-- Part 2

It was designated a national cemetery in 1881.  When Spain owned Florida, it was part of a Franciscan monastery and occupied by the military during British occupation.  When the United States took over, part of the old fort barracks was set aside as the post cemetery with the first internment coming in 1828.  Many of the early burials were of men killed fighting the Seminole Indians in Florida.

On December 23, 1835, Major Francis L. Dade and his company were ordered from Tampa to reinforce General Wiley Thompson's troops at Fort King in Ocala, Florida.  They got lost and were ambushed by the Seminoles with only one survivor.

The bodies of Dade and his men were buried a few months later by U.S. troops.  In 1842, after fighting with the Seminoles ended, the bodies were reinterred in St, Augustine.

--Brock-Perry

Francis Langhorne Dade: A Miami Connection

From Wikipedia.

While writing about Duncan Clinch, i saw that he served with Francis Dade.  Could this be the Dade for whom Dade County (Miami) was named after?  After all, both served in Florida?

Born 1793?.  Died December 28, 1835.

Killed during the Second Seminole War during what is known as "The Dade Massacre."

Joined the Army in 1813 and breveted to major in February 1828 in the 4th U.S. Infantry.

After the Second Seminole War, the Army moved his body and those of his men to what is now the St. Augustine (Fla.) National Cemetery.

Miami-Dade County in Florida and Dade counties in Georgia and Missouri are named after him as is Dadeville, Alabama,and Dade City, Florida.

--Brock-Perry

Duncan Lamont Clinch-- Part 3: Successful Military Career

From John Horse.com

Duncan Clinch entered the Army in 1808 and rose quickly through the ranks and became famous in Florida, becoming one of the region's most prosperous planters and biggest slaveholders.

He had been orphaned as a youth and had inherited $1200, quite a fortune back then.

In 1808, Congressman Thomas Blount selected him as one of two young men to receive a commission as first lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

After the Battle of Negro Fort, he was breveted to brigadier general and led over 700 men against the Seminole Indians at the Battle of Withlacooche during the Second Seminole War.

On April 26, 1836, he tendered his resignation to President Andrew Jackson who tried to get him to reconsider, but to no avail.  Clinch resigned on September 21, 1836.

--Brock-Perry

Duncan Lamont Clinch-- Part 1

Troops attacking Negro Fort, which I wrote about the last two weeks, were led by Duncan Clinch.

From Good Old Wikipedia.

Born April 6, 1787, Died October 28, 1849.  American Army officer.

Also fought in the First and Second Seminole wars and a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  Born in North Carolina.

While in command of American forces in southern Georgia, he was ordered to attack the Seminoles and blacks who were at what was known as Negro Fort.  A shot from one of the gunboats assisting him, entered the magazine, causing a huge explosion and killing hundreds inside the fort.  This action led to the First Seminole War.

During the Second Seminole War, Clinch served with Major Francis L. Dade.

--Brock-Perry

Fort Gadsden-- Part 12: Service in Other Wars

Fort Gadsden was used as a forward base during the First Seminole War and held by the United States until 1821 when Spain gave up its claim to Florida.    From 1818-1821, more than 100 U.S. soldiers died at the fort and are buried somewhere on its grounds.

It was again reoccupied on a temporary basis during the Second Seminole War from 1835-1842.

During the Civil War, the Confederates posted a batter of field artillery and a small detachment at the site.  In 1865, a U.S. Navy boat party captured a few sentries there and cannons.  It eventually was a campsite for the 8th Florida Cavalry, CSA.

The next time we go to panama City, Florida, I will have to check this place out.

--Brock-Perry