Taylor, Zachary | A letter to Captain Munroe, on the progress of General Jesup's march from Washington

Taylor, Zachary

Autograph letter signed ("Taylor"), to Captain Munroe, on the progress of General Jesup's march from Washington. [Np, January 1838]

1 page, 4to (250 x 195 mm). Ruled paper, remnants of wax seal, integral address leaf docketed; old folds, minor browning, a few stray spots, minor soiling along folds, small tear at top of address panel.  

"I have nothing new, and write you only for the pleasure of abusing you a little- General Jesup was heard from the other day ... It is said that it him 13 days to make this extraordinary March ..."

After ordering the construction of Fort Basinger late in 1837, Colonel Zachary Taylor assigned Captain Monroe of the 4th Artillery as its commander. Monroe was also charged with finishing the construction of the Fort's blockhouses and stockades. Following the Battle of Lake Okeechobee on Christmas Day, 1837, Taylor’s detachment retreated back to Fort Basinger, and after a brief stay made their way to Fort Gardiner, where they set up a makeshift hospital. 

Jesup's role in the Second Seminole War was controversial. In 1836, President Andrew Jackson had detached Jesup from his duties as Quartermaster General, first to handle the Creek tribe in Georgia and Alabama, and then to assume command of all U.S. troops in Florida during the War. It was his capture of Seminole leaders Osceola and Micanopy in 1837—under a false flag of truce—that provoked outrage in the United States and abroad. While many called for an inquiry and Jesup's dismissal, the government ultimately stood by its general, and at the conclusion of the hostilities, Jesup returned to his official post.