White Flags  
General Hernandez ran through a series of questions
prepared by Jesup. Surgeon Nathan Jarvis recorded the scene:
"General: Are you ready to give up all the property
you have captured?
"Coa Hadjo: We intend to do so now ....
"General: Why have you not given up the negroes
before as Coahajo promised at Ft. King?"*
Osceola offered no answer. Hernandez then informed the
Seminoles that they were his prisoners. The Indians protested. They understood that they would be free to leave.
At this, Hernandez gave the signal. His soldiers withdrew their
arms and immediately surrounded the enemy. The outnumbered
Seminoles surrendered without a fight. At a stroke, the U.S. had captured the leading war-spirits of the nation.
  
Sources:
Sprague Origin 174, Jarvis "Diary" 6-9, Motte 138-39, ASPMA 7: 886. ©
Part 2, War: l
*Mahon 215 includes a longer excerpt from the dialogue. For the complete exchange as Jarvis recorded it, see the Jarvis "Diary" 6-9. |
