In the month of October, 1837, a message came to Fort Peyton from Osceola to the effect that he was a short distance away and desired an interview with General Hernandez. He asked General Jessup to come out and talk with him. Instead of replying, that officer ordered one of his lieutenants to lure Osceola and his companions into the fort, and then make them prisoners. But the Seminole was too wily to be trapped and declined the invitation. General Hernandez was now sent with two hundred and fifty men to hold a parley with the Seminoles, and the lieutenant was told to report whether the answers of the Indians were satisfactory. He came back after a short time with word that they were not. Jessup then ordered Major Ashby to seize the whole party, and this, too, despite the fact that the meeting was under a flag of truce. It was so done. Seventy-five Indians, including Osceola, were made prisoners under the white flag, and without the firing of a gun, October 23, 1837, and the act was accepted by our government. While the deed must ever remain a blot upon our honor, it is only fair to name some of the circumstances that were urged in excuse. The Seminoles themselves had repeatedly violated flags of truce, and were so treacherous that they had placed themselves outside the pale of civilized warfare. Furthermore, there was every reason to doubt the honesty of Osceola and his brother chiefs. They had made the same professions before, for no reason except to gain time. Finally, there was every cause to believe that his capture and that of the prominent leaders would either end, or hasten the end, of the war, and prevent the shedding of a great deal of innocent blood through the termination of hostilities. These arguments named may be accepted as a partial excuse for the act of General Jessup, though it cannot be justified. All the abuse he had suffered before was as nothing compared to that now heaped upon his head, but he had probably become used to that sort of thing, and believed that when peace speedily followed, those who blamed him would speak words of praise. But peace did not come, and the war dragged on for year after year. [Illustration: OSCEOLA, THE SEMINOLE] Osceola and his brother prisoners were sent to St. Augustine. The leader was soon after removed to Fort Moultrie, in Charleston harbor. His heart was broken, his spirit crushed, and he pined away and died within the following year. That he possessed courage and much strength of character cannot be denied, though in no respect was he the equal of several leaders of his race who have been named in these pages in the true stories that have been told.