The Forgotten Volunteer
He was an individual who is credited with, among other things,
being an instrumental force in holding together a loose-knit
group of soldiers in one of American history's most trying times.
While the glory and the glamor went to his superiors in the
history books, he would become a legend in his own right –
a man who would leave behind a legacy of service few could equal
and a city, which still bears his name to this day.
William Lauderdale was born in Botetourt, VA around 1782 to
Mr. and Mrs. James Lauderdale. The hearty Scots-Irish family
were prominent in the Fincastle community of Virginia and had
the self-sufficient skills that were common to the era. Their
rise to prominence primarily came through their military service
to the British and then to the newly-formed American government
in the Revolutionary War where land grants were given to soldiers
in exchange for their service. Land was the lifesblood of Scots-Irish
families who could farm the cash crops that were vital to the
early American economy. It propelled many of them to great wealth
as foreign nations opened trade with the emerging nation.
As the great migration began over the Southern Appalachians
to the new lands of Tennessee, the Lauderdales divested themselves
of their Virginia holdings and moved to present-day Sumner County
in 1796. William aided his father in building a log cabin near
Greenfield Fort and the family began working the land raising
cotton and tobacco. The young boy had been educated well by
his mother and father. Although he did not possess much formal
education, the ability to read and write allowed him to better
himself in that regard.
It was a time in Tennessee where Indian raids and attacks on
settlements were gradually diminishing and troublesome tribes
were moving further South away from the well guarded settlement.
The constant alert, however, fit the Scots-Irish mentality and
the skills of combat and war were also taught to the young man
and his brothers. The local militia often gathered and drilled
on the Lauderdale property, which attracted people from throughout
the County to watch. Four years later, tragedy struck when William
Lauderdale’s father suddenly passed away leaving the teenager
and his brothers to support the family.
Although described as somewhat small in stature, William Lauderdale
continued the hard-working ways of his father and soon became
a prominent man in his own right in the community. William Lauderdale
managed to parlay his father’s property into a moderately
sized plantation where he prospered in the ways common to the
time. Among the many prominent people in or near Sumner County
who would play pioneering roles in Tennessee’s early development
and befriend the young man, was Lauderdale neighbor Andrew Jackson.
His home lay across the Cumberland River from the County and
the Lauderdale family became close friends with the future president.
In September 1812, in a special session of the Legislature,
Gov. Willie Blount informed those assembled that an order had
been issued calling up 100,000 militiamen to take up arms against
the British and Spanish interests that were threatening American
sovereignty. In addition, the two European nations were supplying
rogue elements of the Creek Indian tribe with arms to attack
so called "illegal settlements" in disputed territory.
Blount also told them that the special order had been forwarded
to Gen. Andrew Jackson, who was calling the state’s militia
into action to fill Tennessee’s quota of 2,500 men. William
Lauderdale had marched south twice as a Volunteer in 1803 to
Louisiana territory to fight against the Spanish and the Indians,
but no conflict emerged and Gen. Andrew Jackson had released
them from service in Vicksburg.
On Sept. 22, 1812, Gov. Willie Blount signed William Lauderdale’s
commission as a captain in the 15th Regiment. Following President
Jefferson’s orders, Gen. Jackson converted the state militia
into the Tennessee Volunteer Infantry, which was under the direction
of the Congress. On Nov. 12, 1812, Gov. Willie Blount was forced
to recommission William Lauderdale as a first lieutenant. Andrew
Jackson himself was recommissioned as a Major General of the
Tennessee Volunteer Infantry. With one of the most severe winters
in years, the Tennessee troops made the difficult journey only
to be once again disbanded and ordered home.
William Lauderdale returned to his plantation and took care
of business until news suddenly reached the middle Tennessee
region about the massacre of white settlers at Fort Mims in
Alabama on August 13, 1813. The Red Stick Creeks, who were recovering
from a fractious civil war in their tribe had organized and
now back by European interests posed a dangerous threat on the
frontier borders. Gen. Andrew Jackson immediately put out the
call to his officers to assemble. Pres. James Madison sent out
a call to raise three militias from Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee
to deal with the Red Sticks and guard the Southern frontier.
First Lieutenant –now Captain– Lauderdale was given
command of his own company and ordered to meet up with Jackson.
The General was recovering from a dueling wound and appeared
unable to command, but managed to organize the troops and get
them into the field. Through the years, he had developed a close
trust with William Lauderdale and depended on him to help with
the day-today business of managing the troops.
William Lauderdale excelled in the post and proved himself under
fire time and again against the Creeks. Lauderdale had a respect
for the Indian warriors that Jackson didn’t and the Tennessean
learned much from his experiences with them, especially in terms
of combat. At Tallushatchee, Lauderdale had to come to grips
with the "no quarters" style of fighting that was
common to the Indian Wars. He found himself revolted by the
carnage of death that included women and children in the village.
Following orders, however, he continued towards Talladega and
engaged in his first combat with the talented Red Stick warriors.
The Tennesseans remained victorious in their battles, but Gen.
Jackson spent the next few months trying to keep a rein on his
troops as their enlistment periods ended. The ever faithful
Capt. William Lauderdale took on numerous tasks to help support
Jackson‘s command, even at the expense of angering his
friends and family, which included the defection of two of his
brothers from the Army. The Tennessean became so trusted by
Jackson that he found himself named as aide-de-camp. Following
the disastrous battle of Emuckfaw Creek, where American casualties
were heavy and those killed included Jackson’s nephew,
Lauderdale devised an ambulance method that evacuated the wounded
smoothly from the field.
The climax of the campaign came at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend
in Alabama. On March 27, 1814, 3,100 Tennesseans battled 1,000
well defended Creek Warriors at Horseshoe Bend. Following the
American victory, Jackson continued his march southward to Mobile
and into Pensacola before turning his attention to New Orleans.
The American newspapers up north were touting Jackson’s
victories and giving them the respect previously reserved for
battles of the American Revolution. Capt. William Lauderdale
had earned the respect of his superiors through his management
abilities to keep the Army supplied and Jackson soon appointed
him his Chief Quartermaster.
Capt. Lauderdale engineered the Army through the long field
march from Florida to New Orleans and kept the men supplied
well enough to endure the rugged terrain. In addition, Lauderdale
helped Jackson secure men for the impending battle, which included
calling upon free blacks to enlist in New Orleans. Jackson,
who was a notorious micro manager, gave Lauderdale full authority
to manage his position and often praised the Tennessean’s
enterprising abilities.
At the Battle of New Orleans, tragedy struck in the heart of
victory when Lt. Colonel James Lauderdale was killed in the
skirmishing that preceded the battle. In spite of the grief,
Capt. Lauderdale stayed at his post and kept every fort on the
frontier in supplies throughout the battle and afterwards in
case British forces regrouped for another strike.
On April 15, 1815 after 18 months in active military service,
the Tennessean finally returned home to his Goose Creek Plantation
in Sumner County to begin working on expanding his estate. After
five years of moderate success, Capt. William Lauderdale, at
age 40, married for the first time. He and his young wife settled
on the family plantation and started raising a family.
Capt. William Lauderdale had two sons and one daughter by his
wife Polly, but was shocked in 1826 when she suddenly passed
away leaving him to raise the children on his own. He eventually
remarried fellow widower Helen Goodall, who was also raising
her two-year-old daughter on her own. She would go on the give
birth to three children of which two survived.
Throughout the ups and downs of Lauderdale’s fortunes,
he continued to assemble and drill the militia on his plantation
property and keep them in shape. Like Jackson, the Creek Wars
had taken their toll on the Tennessean and he suffered from
a lung ailment that often came and went. The ghosts from the
Creek Wars were ever present as well. Following the destruction
of the Creek tribe, a 10-year-old boy had fled along with his
mother to the jungles of Florida. The half-breed boy who was
called Powell by Jackson and Lauderdale had become known by
the name "Osceola" among the disenfranchised Creeks
who were now termed Seminoles to indicate they were relocated
Creeks.
As President, Andrew Jackson implemented his Indian Removal
policies against all Indian tribes of the Southeast and the
Seminoles, which included a good number of blacks among them,
had organized a warrior force to fight relocation. While Indian
agents had supposedly obtained signatures from Seminole Chiefs
on treaties, the leadership of many tribes by men like Osceola
had declared the treaties null and void and refused to abide
by them.
On Dec. 28, 1835, a group of warriors under Osceola attacked
and massacred 110 U.S. Army regulars and killed Indian Agent
Wiley Thompson, which began an undeclared war between the Seminoles
and the United States. The incident began America’s own
version of the "Seven Years War" and turned into a
major problem for then-Commanding General Winfield Scott. The
Seminoles’ success encouraged other Creek tribes in Alabama
and Georgia to openly attack white settlements and led to the
Governors calling on President Jackson to deal with the problem.
Jackson turned to his home state and once again would call upon
his old friend Capt. William Lauderdale.
President Jackson’s dictatorial policies, however, had
created a revolt in his home state and his supporters were feeling
the wrath of the newly elected Whig Governor Newton Cannon.
He withheld supplies from Capt. Lauderdale’s Mounted Brigade
of Tennessee Volunteers. The Brigade overcame the snubs by the
anti-Jackson partisans and served with Generals Thomas Jessup
and Robert Armstrong removing rogue tribes from Alabama and
Georgia and starting them towards Arkansas.
During his tenure in the operation, Capt. William Lauderdale
was promoted to the rank of Major and worked as an aid to General
Armstrong. The hardships endured by the troops, however, were
monstrous. More than 30 men died of disease, ten were killed
in combat, and 25 wounded. In addition, only 100 Tennessee horses
out of 1,500 survived.
In 1837, General Jessup and the Secretary of War Joel Poinsett
asked the Governor of Tennessee to raise Tennessee Volunteers
to assist Gen. Jessup in the Florida campaign, but he refused
because of the 1836 problems unless the government could give
him assurances that the problems wouldn’t be repeated.
Former President Andrew Jackson, now retired to the Hermitage,
wrote to the Secretary that Major William Lauderdale would be
the best man to raise the necessary troops to assist Jessup.
Major Lauderdale, who had recently been convalescing in the
Smoky Mountains of North Carolina, returned and raised five
companies of 100 men each to make the trip to Florida and aide
in the Seminole War. Major Lauderdale reached Florida in November
1837 and reported to Jessup.
Once again, the Tennesseans faced an impossible situation. The
Seminoles had not planted corn crops, which were counted on
to help feed the horses and the men constantly suffered from
lack of supplies and bad generalship.
Gen. Zachary Taylor did engage the Seminoles and fought the
biggest battle of the war at Lake Okeechobee against the main
Seminole body where Americans suffered heavy casualties. The
Seminoles then retreated deep into the swamps of the Everglades
and forced American command to rethink their options. Major
Lauderdale and his Tennesseans continued their move southward
clearing a road from Fort Jupiter to a position on the New River.
His company mainly operated as scouts in the country locating
Seminole villages. They were ordered to reach the New River
where a band of Seminoles numbering close to 500 were expected
to be encamped.
Despite the heavy rains, the Tennesseans made excellent time
clearing the road and reached a location on the New River on
March 5, 1837 where they made camp after finding no Indians
in the vicinity. The next day Lauderdale and his staff chose
a location to erect a fort near a stand of oak trees that would
offer some protection and support from Indians in the nearby
Everglades. Under Lauderdale’s direction, 223 Tennesseans
and elements of the U.S. Third Artillery Regiment under command
of First Lieutenant Robert Anderson began work on the structure
while scouting the area for Seminoles. By March 10, the troops
had completed a two-tiered 30-foot long blockhouse that would
serve as a fort and began working on a stockade fence to enclose
the property.
On March 16, 1838 Gen. Jessup filed Special Order number 74
stating: "The new post established on the New River by
the Tennessee Battalion of Volunteers and Company D, 3rd Artillery
will be called Fort Lauderdale."
As work continued on the Fort, Major William Lauderdale and
his men continued scouting the area and became the first military
officer to explore the eastern section of the Everglades and
the Atlantic seacoast in the Hillsboro, Middle, New, and Rio
Rantones rivers. On March 22nd, Major Lauderdale and his Tennesseans
assisted in the military engagement against the Seminoles at
Pine Island. The U.S. Army emerged victorious from the battle
and never again would Indians engage the military in South Florida.
On April 7, 1838, Major William Lauderdale and his Tennessee
Volunteers were ordered to Tampa Bay to be mustered out of service
and returned home to Tennessee. The campaign had taken its toll
on the aging Lauderdale. He could no longer ride a horse and
had to be transported in a carriage. He continually suffered
from a high fever and was coughing up blood throughout the journey.
Around April 24, the Tennesseans battered and beaten arrived
at Fort Brooke where they turned over their arms and horses
and boarded a ship for Baton Rouge to be mustered out of service.
The men arrived around May 3 and Major Lauderdale was carried
off the ship to the Army Barracks where he lingered with fever.
On the night of May 10, 1838, the day before the Tennesseans
were scheduled to be ceremoniously discharge, Major William
Lauderdale passed away. The ceremonies were postponed until
later in the evening while the men gathered to bury their commander.
In the presence of a riderless horse, the band played, colors
were presented, and a barrage of artillery and muskets fired
a salute across the Mississippi River in honor of the Tennessee
warrior. The next morning, the Tennesseans boarded the ship
and returned home to their native state. While newspapers in
Baton Rouge and New Orleans carried the news of Major Lauderdale’s
death, the Nashville Republican, which was an anti-Jackson paper,
completely ignored the story. A small ceremony was held at the
Church in Hartsville, Tenn. where his friends paid their tributes
to the fallen warrior. In addition to his widow, Lauderdale
left six children – one son would later be killed in combat
in the Mexican War.
His greatest contribution to American would be the small fort
he and his men constructed. It would not only survive the Second
Seminole War of 1838 to 1842, but would flourish and the city,
which grew up around it, would become one of the nation’s
most prominent and forever bear the name of its founder as Fort
Lauderdale, Florida.
There has never been found a likeness or image of William Lauderdale.
The family had a long-standing habit of naming many of their
children James and William and this has often led to confusion
among genealogists studying the family’s history. There
is one excellent standing monument to the Tennessean near Fort
Lauderdale, Florida at Forest Ridge, which was sculpted by Luis
Montoya, but very little has been done to commemorate him in
his home state. Lauderdale County was named after his brother
James, who was killed at the Battle of New Orleans.
The body of William Lauderdale has never been found to this
day. It is believed he was buried in the officer’s section
of the graveyard in Baton Rouge, but the growth of the city
and changes on the military post have forever lost the exact
site. The graveyard was located on an ancient Indian Mound and,
when bodies were exhumed in later years, numerous iron coffins
were discovered, but no names were affixed to them. Many believe
his remains could have been removed in 1880 and placed in the
local National Cemetery in a section containing "unknown
graves". The possibilities are too many and it can only
be reasoned that they are forever lost to time.
William Lauderdale’s loyalty to Gen. Andrew Jackson hurt
him in the end, but the Tennessean knew no other way. While
numerous alumni of the Battle of Horseshoe Bend would go on
to greatness in American history, numerous soldiers who revolted
against Jackson because of his dictatorial policies would also
rise to prominence and cause him a lot of political damage in
later years. Unfortunately, those loyal to him would also suffer
as did Lauderdale.
When he mustered his troops on the lawn of the Hermitage for
the march to Florida, the Governor, who had attended every such
muster since the War of 1812, refused to be present and the
Nashville Republican newspaper never carried a single story
about the Mounted Brigade in Florida. It was Lauderdale’s
former troops and friends who honored him and no state ceremony
was ever given. In later years, his widow would testify in a
pension hearing about his failing health and it is from those
hearings that a lot of information about Lauderdale would be
first entered into the public record.
William Lauderdale is considered one of the most obscure figures
of Tennessee history. Gathering information for this story involved
a lot of work and special thanks has to go to descendant Eugenia
Lauderdale Messick of Memphis. Throughout her life, she has
worked diligently researching records to document and preserve
the facts about his life. A book was written about him by Florida
historian Cooper Kirk in 1982 entitled: "William Lauderdale:
General Andrew Jackson’s Warrior". The book is out
of print and extremely difficult to locate, but does offer a
somewhat detailed account of his battlefield exploits.
"William Lauderdale represents the spirit of Tennessee’s
military tradition," said historian Stephen Arlen. "Men
such as him can be found throughout the state’s records,
but disassembled in such a way that they easily escape notice
of those studying Tennessee history. From the 1780s forward
Tennesseans have been in the front lines of American conflicts.
It is why the state’s Medal of Honor recipients are so
notable. Other states may have more, but none can boast a recipient
in every American conflict as does Tennessee."
William Lauderdale would also be credited with founding one
of the first official "Tennessee Volunteer" companies
that would go on to lend its name to the ensuing Mexican War
and enshrine the state’s men in military history. Although
reports from Army generals considered the Tennesseans’
service in Florida as inconsequential, historians will point
out that the men were battle hardened enough to know the Seminoles
were not going to be taken out of the Everglades without a devastating
fight. By 1838, Native American tribes had more than three hundred
years of European contact and knew how to combat the most advanced
military tactics. Arlen and other historians say there should
be some effort to erect a monument in Tennessee honoring Lauderdale
near his home in Sumner County or Nashville.
"There aren’t many men who can be credited with founding
a city like Fort Lauderdale," said Arlen, "and there
should be some credit given to such an individual."
