Black Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole Negro - Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army between 1870 and 1914. The unit included both Black Seminoles and some native Seminoles. However, because most of the Seminole scouts were of African descent, they were often attached to the Buffalo Soldier regiments, to guide the troops through hostile territory. The majority of their service was in the 1870s, in which they played a significant role in ending the Texas-Indian Wars.
Service history
Texas-Indian Wars
The Black and native Seminoles originally came from Florida; after escaping their masters, several hundred black freedmen sought refuge among the Seminoles, who granted them autonomy in exchange for periodic tribute and military service. In 1842, the Seminoles reluctantly agreed to move to a reservation in the Indian Territory. Not long after the Seminoles were removed to the Indian Territory, the Black Seminoles, as they became, went to Coahuila, Mexico, to escape enslavement. There they were welcomed by the Mexicans and later joined by native Seminoles, Black Creeks and Black Cherokees.
In 1870, the United States Army issued a message to the Black Seminoles' chief, John Horse, inviting him and his band to come back to the United States to enlist as Indian scouts and help fight hostile Native Americans; in exchange, they would be repatriated to Indian Territory. The Black Seminoles, about 200 people, accepted the agreement, believing that they would be granted land in the United States, food and provisions, as well as reimbursement for traveling costs. The treaty was sent from Fort Duncan to Fort Sam Houston, but has since been lost, and none of these promises ever were kept.
They crossed the international border on July 4 and were officially mustered into service on August 16 at Fort Duncan, near Eagle Pass, Texas. Most of the scouts were moved to Fort Clark near Brackettville in July 1872. Their first able commander was a Quaker and Civil War veteran, Lieutenant John L. Bullis, the others were too unreliable to control the unit. Having been a commander of black soldiers during the Civil War, Bullis was trusted by his men and even asked to perform marriages for the tribe.
Between May 1872 and 1881, the Seminole scouts fought in several engagements with Comanches, Kiowas, Apaches and Kickapoos, sometimes traveling into Mexico, the Indian Territory and Kansas.
During their service against hostiles, not a single scout, out of no more than fifty men, was killed or seriously injured. Usually the scouts fought with the cavalry regiments stationed at Fort Clark but occasionally they launched their own operations. Fort Clark was also the headquarters of Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie, the leader of multiple expeditions into Mexico to punish hostile natives that crossed the border to raid in the United States. Mackenzie played a key role in ending the Indian wars in Texas. In 1873, the Secretary of War William W. Belknap and General Philip Sheridan went to Fort Clark for "secret talks" with Mackenzie. It was decided that the colonel would lead a punitive expedition across the border to fight the Lipan and that scouts would guide the way. On May 17, 1873, Colonel Mackenzie crossed the border into Coahuila Mexico with the scouts and a detachment of 4th Cavalry. They fought a successful skirmish against Kickapoo raiders at El Remolino, forced the Mexican Army to keep from intervening and then hastily returned to the fort. During the Red River War, a notable engagement occurred on September 19, 1874, when three Black Seminole scouts and two Tonkawa scouts were sent out by Mackenzie to search for enemies. During the journey the five men were ambushed by about forty Kiowas. The only option was to try and fight their way out and escape. Details of the engagement are unclear but the scout Adam Payne was awarded the Medal of Honor for risking his life to save the others. Under fire, Payne engaged the Kiowas, allowing the other four men to get away. Eventually Payne's horse was shot out from underneath him but he was able to kill one of the attackers and take his horse. Payne was decorated for his "habitual courage" and received the Medal of Honor.