Seminole chiefs Tuskegee and Halleck Hadjo had…

Seminole chiefs Tuskegee and Halleck Hadjo had approached General Jesup in February with the proposition that they would stop fighting if they would be allowed to stay south of Lake Okeechobee.

Jesup favors the idea but has to write to Washington for approval.

The chiefs and their followers camp near the Army while awaiting the reply.

When the secretary of war rejects the idea, Jesup seizes the five hundred natives in the camp, sending them west.

In May, Jesup's request to be relieved of command is granted, and Zachary Taylor assumes command of the Army forces in Florida.

With reduced forces in Florida, Taylor concentrates on keeping the Seminoles out of northern Florida by building many small posts at twenty-mile (thirty-kilometer) intervals across northern Florida, connected by a grid of roads.