When James Monroe signed the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, the Seminole peoples were forced to give up all claims to Florida land and move into a reservation in central Florida. Seven years later, Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act of 1830 forcing the Seminoles to leave Florida and relocate West of the Mississippi. Andrew Jackson was determined to get the Seminoles to move west and become part of the Creek Nation, but the Seminoles did not consider themselves part of the Creeks and resisted relocation attempts. The Treaty of Payne's Landing signed in 1832, gave the Seminoles three years to move west, but only a few Seminole clans moved out. Those who remained were given an ultimatum by Jackson to move or be moved by force. Realizing that the Seminoles were unwilling to leave, 550 U.S. Soldiers were stationed in Florida to prepare for war. On December 28, the Seminole ambushed soldiers under the command of Major Francis L. Dade, killing 107 soldiers. The ambush or Dade massacre marked the beginning of hostilities known as the Second Seminole war lasting for the next seven years.
Unlike the War of 1812, the Second Seminole War used Volunteer regiments to augment the Regular army. During Martin Van's first year in office, General Zachary Taylor first 132 volunteers from the First Missouri to fight with his regulars, but soon Congress authorized additional Volunteer regiments from Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri. Dr. Barry M. Stentiford described the use of volunteers during the Second Seminole War.
"One of the first Volunteer regiments to arrive was the First Missouri Mounted Volunteers, with about 600 men. However, General Zachary Taylor believed only 132 men from the First Missouri were fit enough for fighting, and in December of 1837, employed them in front of his Regulars during a fight against Seminoles in a swampy area.8 While General Taylor received harsh criticism from the government of Missouri, which charged that he had put the Volunteers out in front of his Regulars so that the Volunteers would receive the brunt of the Indian attack. Taylor countered that he needed his Regulars behind the Volunteers to ensure discipline and prevent a route. Congress later authorized new Volunteer regiments to serve for either three or six months. This new authorization led to Volunteer regiments coming from Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee, and Missouri.
Two separate companies of Volunteers came from Pennsylvania and a single company from the District of Columbia and another from New York. Florida of course also formed regiments for the war, although the Florida Volunteers were often described as dirty and ill-disciplined by the Regular officers. Major General Thomas S. Jesup of the Regular Army, who commanded the soldiers in Florida, had at one point some 9,000 men under his command, of whom over 4,000 were Volunteers." (Stentiford pg. 42)
In President Van Buren's first State of the Union address, he expressed his expectation and desire to bring the Seminole war to a "speedy close” and urged Congress to authorize increasing the size of our regular forces.
"The accompanying report of the Secretary of War will bring to your view the state of the Army and all the various subjects confided to the superintendence of that officer.
The principal part of the Army has been concentrated in Florida, with a view and in the expectation of bringing the war in that Territory to a speedy close. The necessity of stripping the posts on the maritime and inland frontiers of their entire garrisons for the purpose of assembling in the field an army of less than 4,000 men would seem to indicate the necessity of increasing our regular forces; and the superior efficiency, as well as greatly diminished expense of that description of troops, recommend this measure as one of economy as well as of expediency. I refer to the report for the reasons which have induced the Secretary of War to urge the reorganization and enlargement of the staff of the Army, and of the Ordnance Corps, in which I fully concur."
Van Buren added though, that it was not proper to keep a large regular army to maintain the defense of the western frontiers during times of peace. For this, Van Buren also agreed with the plan submitted by his Secretary of War to use volunteer corps for these matters.
"It is not, however, compatible with the interests of the people to maintain in time of peace a regular force adequate to the defense of our extensive frontiers. In periods of danger and alarm we must rely principally upon a well-organized militia, and some general arrangement that will render this description of force more efficient has long been a subject of anxious solicitude. It was recommended to the First Congress by General Washington, and has been since frequently brought to your notice, and recently its importance strongly urged by my immediate predecessor. The provision in the Constitution that renders it necessary to adopt a uniform system of organization for the militia throughout the United States presents an insurmountable obstacle to an efficient arrangement by the classification heretofore proposed, and I invite your attention to the plan which will be submitted by the Secretary of War, for the organization of volunteer corps and the instruction of militia officers, as more simple and practicable, if not equally advantageous, as a general arrangement of the whole militia of the United States."
References
“First Annual Message.” First Annual Message | The American Presidency Project, 5 Dec. 1837, www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/first-annual-message-4
Army Expansions Augmenting the Regular Army During War, Dr. Barry M. Stentiford, Combat Studies Institute Press, https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/Army%20Expansions%20Digital.pdf
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