the southern part of Florida to the
northwestern extremity of Lake Superior. The Eastern Department was
under the command of General Winfield Scott, and the Western under
that of General Gaines, and by reference to a map it will be seen that
the line passed directly through the theater of hostilities in
Florida. The meeting of these two distinguished generals was purely
accidental. General Scott was in Washington when the news was received
of General Clinch's engagement with the Seminoles. After dispatching
his letter to the adjutant general, General Gaines proceeded to
Pensacola for the purpose of getting the co-operation of the naval
forces at that station. He found, however, that Commodores Dallas and
Bolton and Captain Webb had received orders to direct their attention
to the inlets of Florida, whence they had sailed. He received here the
most alarming intelligence of the state of affairs in Florida. He
proceeded to Mobile on January 18th, and there learned that Fort
Brooke was invested by the Indians and the garrison in great danger of
being cut off and slaughtered. He at once sent an express to General
Clinch, supposed to be at Fort King, stating that he would arrive at
Fort Brooke about February 8th with seven hundred men, and requested
General Clinch to take the field and march southward and form a
junction with him at Fort Brooke.

As the crisis demanded immediate action, and General Scott being
present to receive the instructions of the Government in person, he
was charged with the direction of the campaign without regard to
department boundaries. General Gaines had left his headquarters at
Memphis, Tenn., on a tour of inspection through his department, and it
was very uncertain when or where the orders and instructions of the
Government would reach him; and as the immediate services of an
officer of high rank of mind and discreet judgment were required to
maintain the neutrality of the United States during the war between
the Texans and Mexicans, General Gaines was selected for that
important duty. However, the official dispatches did not reach General
Gaines until he had already taken the field in Florida and marched
from Fort Brooke to Fort King, within ninety-five miles of where
General Scott had established his headquarters.

In pursuance of this plan, Lieutenant-Colonel David E. Twiggs was
ordered to receive into service the eight companies of volunteers
requested of the Governor of Louisiana, adding