Liberty or Death

On December 20, Col. Taylor and his men left Fort Gardner and plunged into the swamps in pursuit of the enemy. Among the ranks were men whom John Horse had known since childhood -- soldiers of the Fourth U.S. Infantry, the same unit that was stationed at Tampa Bay in 1826 when "Gopher John" played his tortoise scheme on Lt. George Brooke. 

180 Missouri volunteers and 70 Delaware Indian mercenaries rounded out the U.S. force of 1,000.