Rage 
Once again, Jesup resolved to use captives to his advantage. Before Coa Hadjo's secret deal
had unraveled, Jesup had taken prisoner almost two hundred Black Seminoles, including Abraham, whom he regarded as the leading force of the black resistance. "[T]he negro portion of the hostile force of the Seminole nation not taken," he said, "is entirely without a head." Jesup contrived to make Abraham his agent:
"I have promised Abraham the freedom of his family, if he prove faithful to us; and I shall surely hang him if he be not faithful."
Army use of torture was not documented, but as historian
John Mahon put it, Jesup’s “policy toward captured Seminoles
kept him pretty well informed.” He threatened more than one
prisoner with hanging. Through whatever means necessary, the
general obtained the information he needed to pursue the
leading warriors.
  
Sources:
ASPMA 7: 842, Giddings Exiles 155, 162, Mahon 209. ©
Part 2, War: l |
