White Flags

Known to the whites as Wild Cat, Coacoochee was considered the leading war chief after Osceola -- and the most capable of them all, according to General Jesup. Lt. Sprague described the 28-year-old as "slight, with the activity of a deer … a countenance bright, playful, and attractive." Yet he was "by far the most dangerous chieftain in the field":

"War to him was a pasttime. He became merry by the excitement …. When being pursued through deep swamps, he has stood at a distance, and laughed at and ridiculed the soldiers floundering with their arms and accoutrements in mud and water."