Washington

In his communications to the President and Secretary of War, Jesup took up the cause of the Black Seminoles with the same fervor that he had once unleashed on them in war. He stressed that nine-tenths of the blacks were free by virtue of his proclamation. Many had served the Army faithfully and had lost friends and comrades in the struggle.

"I earnestly hope that the Executive will not permit the national faith then earnestly pledged … to be violated; but that all of the negroes who surrendered to me and have been sent to the West, be protected from capture by, or sale to, either Citizens, foreigners, or Indians; and that measures be taken to recover all who have been separated from their families or sold."