Brass Bowl

Text follows image.

Years of Conflict

Throughout its existence, Fort Brook retained its prominence in the U.S. military’s offensive operations in Florida.  Below present-day Whiting St., there were horse sheds, a bake house, a carpenter’s shop, a Quartermaster’s store, a “pen” for Indian prisoners, a hospital, & a cemetery.  Nine overall commanders would take the field in Florida, & most of them would visit the fort at one time or another.  Among them were Gen., later President, Zachary Taylor, Gen. Thos. S. Jesup, & Lt. Col. William Harney.  Solders of all ranks, from privates to generals, would gain military experience here that would propel them to advancement in their nation’s later 19th century wars: the Mexican War, the Civil War, & the U.S wars against the western Plains Indians.  The Fort Brooke reservation, 4 miles square, reached the zenith of its occupation in late 1837, when 65 officers & 1596 enlisted men were in garrison.  Over the last year, 450 Indians had been gathered at the fort, awaiting transport to the West.  Others continued to come in or be captured.  On June 2, 1837, Osceola & Abraka & a war party of about 200, released the prisoners.   Gen. Jesup was disheartened.  “This campaign, so far as relates to Indian migration,” he wrote, “has entirely failed.”  In Oct. 1837, a number of Indian war leaders were captured, & the fort’s garrison was reduced, even as the war dragged on for another five years.  The U.S. withdrew from Florida in 1842, ending the 2nd Seminole War, & Congress pased the Armed Occupation Act, encouraging white settlement of the Florida frontier.