Battle of Jupiter Inlet

A clipper ship card of a Seminole warrior

Date	January 15, 1838
Location	Jupiter Inlet, Florida
Result	Seminole victory, United States forces retreated.

Belligerents

United States

Seminole

Commanders and leaders

Levin M. Powell; Thomas Jesup

Ar-pi-uck-i

Strength

300

Casualties and losses

5 killed
22 wounded

unknown

The Battle of Jupiter Inlet occurred on January 15, 1838, between the Seminole Indians - Seminole Negro and the United States Navy. This was the first of a series of battles led by the US Navy in the area, also referred to as the First Battle of Loxahatchee. The battle started when Lt. Levin Powell led an expedition of 200 soldiers, sailors and marines, down the east coast of Florida. The Navy spotted a trail alongside the Jupiter Inlet, and seventy-five men were landed to find the Seminole camp nearby. The camp was led by Sam Jones, Ar-pi-uck-i, the spiritual medicine and war chief of the Miccosukee and Seminole people during the war. The officers that advanced on the camp were outnumbered and ambushed. After a long fight, the US retreated with five men killed in action and about twenty others wounded. Ltn. Powell was one of those killed in battle.

Seminole Wars

Watering Hole Massacre Negro Fort Fort Barrancas Dade Massacre Ouithlacoochie San Felasco Hammock Wahoo Swamp Lake Okeechobee Jupiter Inlet Pine Island Ridge

Background

After the American Revolution, Spain regained control of Florida from Britain as part of the Treaty of Paris, and the Seminoles set up farms and acquired land grants from the Spanish. At the same time, because the state was in Spanish control, escaped slaves took advantage of the treaty and were found refugee in Florida. These two developments pushed the U.S. to begin the First Seminole War (1817–1818) on the Florida-Georgia line, which pushed the Seminoles further south.

In May 1832, the Treaty of Payne's Landing required Indians to forfeit their land and move west within a three-year window. In 1835, the U.S. Army returned to Florida to enforce the treaty and found the Indians prepared to fight.^[1]

Results

The Battle of Jupiter Inlet led the U.S. to explore the area surrounding the inlet. The crew returned nine days later under the command of Thomas S. Jesup, with the help of The Tennessee Volunteers, led by Major William Lauderdale. Three hundred Seminoles met the soldiers on the banks of the Loxahatchee River, just west of the Jupiter Inlet, in the last battle of the Second Seminole War, the Battle of the Loxahatchee River. After the battle, General Jesup petitioned to allow the Seminoles to remain in the Everglades and end the war. His request was denied and on January 25, 1838, General Thomas S. Jesup was forced to establish Fort Jupiter, where 600 Seminoles were captured and held under a white flag truce.

Notable People

Joseph E. Johnston went ashore during the Battle of Jupiter and claims that there were "no less than 30 bullet holes" in his clothing, with one bullet cutting his scalp, leaving him with a scar.^[2] Because Ltn. Levin Powell was killed in action, on July 7, 1838 Johnston was given a brevet promotion to captain for his actions at the Battle of the Jupiter Inlet.^[3]

Thomas Jesup was an American military officer known as the "Father of the Modern Quartermaster Corps." His military career spanned 52 years, starting in the War of 1812 and ending after 42 years as Quartermaster General. In 1836, President Andrew Jackson detached him from his title as Quartermaster General. First, to deal with the Creek tribe in Georgia and Alabama and then to assume command of all U.S. troops in Florida during the Second Seminole War.

Sam Jones.

Notes

References

Neil, Wilfred T. (1956). The Story of Florida's Seminole Indians. Seaside Press. p. 73.

Guinn, Jeff (2005). Our Land Before We Die. Penguin. ISBN 978-1-101-16081-7.

Eicher, John H.; Eicher, David J. (2001). Civil War High Commands. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

Symonds, Craig L. (1994). Joseph E. Johnston: A Civil War Biography. New York, New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393-31130-3.

"The Seminole Wars". Florida Department of State.

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