Dark Prospects

The Army set December 22, 1848, as the day for handing over the maroons. The deadline came and went -- harsh weather was the excuse this time. But the officers could not delay forever. At a January meeting with anxious Indians, General William Belknap set a final deadline for transfer in April. The general admonished the Indians "to treat their slaves well and not to sell them." The Army was now trying to enforce by dictum the same lenient Seminole customs that had provoked two wars and the wrath of Andrew Jackson.