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Seminole Wars: First Lieutenant George A. McCall, 4th US Infantry
Camp on the Sabine River, 1 May 1836My Dear Father: When the news of Dade's massacre reached me at Memphis, I stepped on board the first downward bound steamer on my way to New Orleans, as already remarked, and reached there in time to sail with the troops. On our arrival at Fort Brooke, Tampa Bay, it was ascertained that the garrison, consisting of two companies of United States artillery, had had no communication with General Clinch, commanding at Fort King, the old Indian Agency, since the 25th December, 1835, the day on which Major Dade's command had marched from Fort Brooke. This detachment consisted of one company of the 2d Regiment United States Artillery, and one company of the 3d Regiment. The officers were Captain G. W. Gardiner and Lieutenants W. E. Bassinger and R. Henderson of the 2d Regiment; and Captain U. S. Frazer and Lieuts. R. R. Mudge and J. L. Keais of the 2d Regiment,-in all numbering one hundred and eight men; and were to have been commanded by Captain Gardiner. The wife of this officer, however, was quite ill at the time; and Bt. Major Dade, whose company formed part of the garrison, generously volunteered to take command of the detachment, and insisted on Captain Gardiner's remaining to take care of his wife. It was, indeed, so arranged; Captain Gardiner, after much resistance, yielding to the solicitations of his friends. In the meantime, the master of a small vessel lying at the dock had agreed with a gentleman at the Fort to take himself and wife to Key West; and Mrs. Gardiner having expressed great desire to accompany this lady, it was at last decided by her husband that she should accompany her friends to Key West, and thence sail for New York or some other Northern port. Although very low, she was carried on board, and departed with her friends the same day. Nothing now remained to detain Captain Gardiner, and he made known his determination to accompany his command; but as Dade had volunteered to go in his stead, he offered to serve under the Major, if the latter still proposed to accompany them. It was thus that Dade fell into association and command of this most unfortunate but truly gallant little party, of whom "the whole command, save three, fell without an attempt to retreat:" as stated in the official notice of the affair, by the Adjutant-General of the Army at Washington. As already stated, this devoted little band marched on Christmas day, and moved forward about ten miles to the Little Hillsborough, where they made their bivouac. Some hours after nightfall, a party of Indians, some forty or fifty apparently in numbers, were heard shouting their war-whoop, and singing war-songs. This was unmistakable evidence of their determination to fight, if an attempt to remove them by force, which had been threatened by the Agent, Mr. Thompson, should be made; and they correctly construed the advance of this force in the direction of the Agency at Fort King, to reinforce that garrison, as the first move towards carrying that threat into effect. And now, par parenthese, let me say, what I cannot refrain from, namely, that this outbreak of the Seminoles, which I predict will prove to be a seven years' war, and cost us fifty millions of dollars, has been brought about either by huge blundering, or by unfair dealings on the part of Government agents. The Treaty of Payne's Landing (on the Saint John's River, made with these Indians by Colonel Gadsden, Special Agent of the Government some two years ago) was an agreement to this effect: that the Seminoles should send a delegation of seven chiefs to the west of Arkansas, and beyond the Cherokee Reserve, to examine the counry with respect to the character of the soil, the water, the salubrity of the climate, the game, and so forth; that, upon the return of the delegates, the Seminole nation should be called together in council to hear their report, and take into consideration the proposition laid before them by Colonel Gadsden, to give up their Florida possessions, and remove to the West, in consideration of certain inducements offered by the United States. In furtherance of this agreement, the chiefs designated set out to visit the country referred to. On their arrival at Fort Gibson, General Arbuckle, commanding that post, sent guides with them, and they passed some weeks in a thorough exploration of the country. On their return, General Arbuckle by some means, but under what instructions I know not, induced these chiefs to sign a treaty accepting the lands shown them, and ceding their Florida lands. In due time the delegation reached home, and a council was called: the report was made; but it was not unanimous, some of the chiefs pronouncing the country they had visited, in every respect less desirable than their native land. In fine, it was decided in council, by a large majority, to decline the offer made by the United States. Soon after this, Thompson, the Agent, sent for Micanopy who had succeeded to the chieftainship on the death of Tuko-see-mathla, or John Hicks, and told him he must prepare his people to be moved by a certain day, as ships had been ordered to be at Tampa at the time stated to transport the Indians to New Orleans. Micanopy then for the first time made known to the Agent the decision of the nation in council assembled. This news was received by Thompson with great surprise and amazement. He told the chief that he must go home and sleep upon what he had been told, and that he must return in the morning and bring a better talk. Micanopy quietly retired;-he returned the next morning, when Thompson directed Abraham,-a negro, once a slave of Dr. Sierra of Pensacola, but for many years past claiming to belong to Micanopy, and now his interpreter,-to ask the chief what he had to say in reply to the Agent's order to prepare his people to embark at an early day at Tampa Bay.
The question was put, and the answer returned by Abraham in these words: "The old man says to-day the same he said yesterday, 'that the nation had decided in council to decline the offer of the United States Government.'" These are the very words as reported to me by Major William A. Graham, who was present at the interview. This negro, Abraham, exercised a wonderful influence over his master; he was a very shrewd fellow, quick and intelligent, but crafty and artful in the extreme. For a negro, he had a remarkably high and broad forehead; but an awful cast in his right eye, which gave to his gentle, insinuating manner a very sinister effect. I doubt not that he had on this occasion, as usual, much to do in keeping the chief, who was of a vacillating character, steady in his purpose.
Thompson repeated his threat, that, if the Indians were not ready to embark at the time appointed, the troops would be called out. It was in compliance with his requisition made soon afterwards, that the detachment, the command of which had accidentally devolved upon Major Dade, marched to reinforce the garrison of Fort King. Such was the state of affairs on the 25th of December. The following are the facts I have been enabled to collect from the most reliable sources. On that night, as I have stated, and on the two nights following, the Indians hung about the bivouac of the troops, whooping and occasionally firing their rifles, evincing in every way a highly exasperated state of feeling. At daybreak on the morning of the 28th, a very large proportion of the warriors of the nation had assembled at the point where the trail from Okahumpy, Micanopy's town, intersects the military road; and here it was proposed to attack the troops before they united with those at Fort King. Micanopy was undecided, until he was plainly told, as the troops appeared in sight, he must declare whether he was with them or against them. This he clearly understood was the question of life or death to himself, and he replied, "I will show you;" and with that he took his position behind a pine-tree about thirty yards from the road. The rest of the Indians laid down in the high savannah grass with which the spot was covered, although the ground at this time was dry. The troops had an advance-guard of an officer and eight men, who were full two hundred yards in advance of the main body. Dade was the only officer who was mounted, and he was riding at the time by the side of Captain Frazer, who was in command of the advance-guard. Unsuspecting and too confident, notwithstanding the warning they had received, the party moved on. When the Major arrived opposite to where Micanopy had taken his stand, the chief raised his rifle, took deliberate aim at him and fired. Dade fell dead from his horse, shot probably through the heart, as I should judge from the bullet-hole in his side, which I saw when General Gaines and his little band reached the battle-ground about two months afterwards. The body was stripped of coat and shirt, and although the flesh had shrunk, the skin was sound and as hard as parchment; this was the case with all. But to resume my narrative, as received from private Clark (now with us), one of the three wounded men who escaped, and after incredible toil and suffering succeeded in reaching Fort Brooke. When Dade fell, the Indians who lay concealed in the tall grass rose, and with one volley laid low Captain Frazer and his eight men. They had, evidently, all been shot dead,-not a man had moved from the place where he fell, as they lay just in rear of the Major, each man occupying the position in which he had marched. The first intimation that Captain Gardiner and his command received of the extent of the disaster was the sight of Dade's horse running back riderless. The gallant Gardiner had scarcely time to put his command into line and unlimber his six-pounder gun, before he received the fire of the enemy, who advancing rapidly, was still concealed. The fire of the Indians was returned with effect, although the latter were widely extended, covering a semi-circle whose radius was the range of their rifles, and were concentrating their fire upon our troops; the discharges of canister-shot from the fieldpiece were directed to different quarters, as found necessary. After about an hour's fighting, the Indians withdrew. They held a council at a short distance from the position occupied by our devoted band, as their voices could be distinctly heard as the chiefs addressed their warriors; and an hour passed before they came to the decision to renew the attack. This enabled Gardiner to throw up a log breastwork of the pine-trees growing on the ground where his men fell. Meantime a small party was sent forward to the advance to bring in the wounded, or to render such assistance as might be required; but the sad tale was soon told: the two gallant and valuable officers and the eight men had fallen in the service of their country, to rise no more till time should cease to roll on. The Indians now advanced to the second attack more fiercely than before; the woods rang with their war-whoops; and the crack of their rifles was as one incessant peal of sharp ringing bells, to which the loud reports of musketry and the booming of the artillery formed a fitting though fearful accompaniment. The Seminoles constantly closed in upon our brave fellows, who were as one to twenty of their enemies (the Indians being, as since ascertained, about two thousand strong). The proof how well our men fought, was seen by us in the dozens of musket-balls crowded into single trees on the sides that faced the little breastwork not over three to four feet high. These shot had been fired at particular Indians who fought from behind these trees. On the other hand, the logs composing the breastwork, none of which were over eight inches at the butt, were filled on every side of the exterior with rifle-bullets of small size. I carefully examined our poor dear fellows, both officers and men, as they lay within the little fort, in posture either kneeling or extended on their breasts, the head in very many instances lying upon the upper log of their breastwork; and I invariably found the bullet-mark in the forehead or the front of the neck. The picture of those brave men lying thus in their "sky-blue" clothing, which had scarcely faded, was such as can never be effaced from my memory. As I have said in the case of Major Dade, the flesh had shrunk, but the skin remained whole, dried, smooth, and hard; the hair and beard remained; and the officers were all, I believe, recognized by those who knew them well. I readily recognized those with whom I had been personally acquainted,-they were only two, Dade and Gardiner. The former was one of the senior captains of my regiment when I joined it; the latter had command of the company of bombardiers, sappers and miners at West Point, when I was admitted to the Military Academy as a cadet. Gardiner himself was a graduate of that institution. There were but three or four of the men that had fallen backwards into the interior of the little work; the rest lay as regularly at right angles to one or other of the three faces of their little fort, the head lying on the top log, as I have said, or immediately below it, as if they had been toy-soldiers arranged by a child in his sport. Gardiner lay near the centre of the enclosure, where he had doubtless stood to overlook the scene and direct what should be done. In the beginning, or rather when the Indians retired from the first attack, he could not retreat without leaving his wounded to the tender mercy of the savages, which must be interpreted into being left to be tortured by the fiendlike foe. His noble spirit could not entertain such a thought, and his men catching enthusiasm from his gallant bearing, fought till their ammunition was exhausted, or until not a man was left to fire the last charge of powder and lead that remained to them. A nobler instance of self-devotion is not on record in the history of wars, ancient or modern.
This narration I received from Clark, who was with General Gaines on this occasion. He had received three wounds, when the fire of the troops ceased entirely, and the Indians entered the little fort and dispatched with their knives some few in whom a ray of life still glimmered, he (Clark) feigning death, lay still until the savages had exhausted their diabolical spirit in wreaking vengeance on all in whom life still lingered; then, as darkness cast its pall over the scene of cruel, unequal conflict, he ventured out; and with bleeding and unstanched wounds he crawled onward, with one knee on the ground, from which he was unable to raise it, and following the military road, in this condition at last reached Fort Brooke on the third day after the battle. His sufferings from hunger and thirst, as well as from his wounds compelled him to adopt, are almost incredible. But he related them to me in a quiet, simple way that would have carried conviction of his truthfulness to the most skeptical listener.
In addition to this, on our arrival at Fort King, I found, among a few Indians and negroes that had come in to that post, and given themselves up as loyal subjects of the United States Government, an old acquaintance in a negro, named August, whom I had known well in former days. He had always proved himself an honest, truthful fellow.
I had several conversations with him, and he corroborated Clark's account in every particular. He told me that he was present on the battle-ground, but did not enter into the fight. He said, moreover, that when the fire of the soldiers ceased entirely, the Indians advanced to the breast-work and entered it; he went forward with them. As they entered the little fort, a young officer, the only man of the whole command who was not killed or desperately wounded, came forward to meet them; he was a very handsome young man, dressed in a blue frock-coat. As the Indians came in, he advanced towards them and offered his sword; but the man he offered it to was the very worst Indian in the nation, and he drew up his rifle and shot the young officer dead. As August said this, his voice grew a little husky, and he continued, "When I saw that handsome young officer fall, the tears came into my eyes, and I cried like a child."
From August's description of the personal appearance of this officer, the officers present with us at Fort King, who knew the younger officers of Dade's command, were satisfied that it was Bassinger, who had thus early terminated a career which promised to be one of distinction as a military man, and of usefulness as a citizen of our common country.
I must now go back to bring up another branch of the sad narrative, which is necessary to the right understanding of this eventful war.
The Governor of Louisiana having, in compliance with the requisition of General Gaines, called out a regiment of volunteers, under the command of Colonel Persifer F. Smith, for service in Florida, they embarked at once with part of the 4th Infantry, in a Brig; and two companies of artillery armed as infantry, (the garrisons of Fort Pike and Fort Wood,) and the remainder of the 4th Infantry, were put on board the little steamer Florida. On my arrival in New Orleans, on reporting to the General, he informed me that he had taken into his military family Captain Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who happened to be in the city, and who was acting as Assistant Adjutant-General; but, added he, "You will now resume your duties in that office, and I will appoint Hitchcock to the duties of Inspector-General."
All things now being in readiness, the General and his staff went on board the Florida, and we, in company, sailed for Pensacola, where it would be necessary to replenish our supply of wood and water, and fresh provisions. On our arrival at this port, the General found in the newspaper a copy of a General Order, assigning General Scott to the command of the troops in Florida who were to operate against the Seminole Indians. This was, as may well be supposed, a matter of surprise to the General; for the Territory of Florida was divided by a north and south line, the western portion being comprised within the district commanded by General Gaines; the eastern in that of General Scott. As the war broke out in General Gaines' district, and no orders from Washington had reached him, he, with the spirit and promptness of a true soldier, at once took command in person of his available forces, and proceeded to the scene of action. General Scott had not yet left New York; the troops with Gaines, and especially the senior officers, were desirous that he should accompany them; and the condition of affairs in Florida being unknown, altogether decided him to proceed with his command at least to Tampa Bay, where he could learn something further. With this view we put to sea again as soon as the necessary supplies were on board. As we entered the mouth of Tampa Bay, he directed me to address, in his name, a letter to General Scott, offering to him three distinct propositions: first, stating his willingness to turn over to Scott the troops, consisting of eleven hundred men, which he had brought from New Orleans, and to leave the conduct of the war entirely to Scott; second, if Scott preferred to leave the country, that he (Gaines) would take upon himself the prosecution of the campaign; and third, that they should at the same time commence operations on opposite sides of the peninsula, move simultaneously towards the centre, and let the only strife be, who should render the better service to the country. This letter I wrote and handed to the General for his signature, which was duly affixed; and the letter was left in my possession, with instructions to have it forwarded by the earliest opportunity after we had landed. The next day we landed, and learned from the commanding officer at Fort Brooke, that no intelligence of any nature or from any source had been received of the state of affairs at Fort King, where General Clinch was with a small force; it being doubtful whether he had been attacked by the Indians or not.
Under these circumstances, Gaines felt it incumbent on him to proceed to Fort King, as Clinch might be beleaguered, in want, and unable to send for supplies and support. It was decided to move the next morning at daylight. Meantime the troops were organized into a "Light Brigade," the 4th Regulars, Br. Lieut.-Colonel W. S. Foster commanding; the Louisiana Volunteers, Colonel P. F. Smith commanding; and a battalion of 3d Artillery armed as infantry, Brevet-Major F. S. Belton commanding. The brigade was under command of Lieutenant-Colonel D. E. Twiggs, 4th Infantry; 1st Lieutenant I. F. Izard, 1st Dragoons, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General; Captain S. Shannon, Brigade Quartermaster. Twelve horses only were brought from New Orleans with the brigade; these I was directed by the General, after consultation with Captain Shannon, to distribute as equally as possible to the officers commanding regiments, &c., as pack-horses for the transportation of their baggage and subsistence. In the discharge of this delicate duty, I was obliged, in regard to strict and impartial justice, to assign a single horse for the service of the General and his staff. This important piece of information I communicated to the General as we sat at dinner, and I was complimented for having so strictly discharged my duty. At the same time the General read us a small lecture on the stern necessity of always, at the commencement of a campaign, reducing the impedementa to the lowest mark practicable. Hitchcock and myself at once expressed our readiness to march with one shirt, one pair of drawers, and one pair of stockings, besides those we had upon our precious persons. This refinement of self-denial on the part of his staff so delighted the General, who is always ready to share the hardships, dangers, and privations of a march with the private soldier, that he smiled blandly and benevolently, as he sipped a glass of champaign, with a bottle of which he had treated the mess on this occasion, and said, "Gentlemen, you have acted so entirely in accordance with my own approved views, that I think we may indulge ourselves with a little luxury, say one bottle apiece for the campaign!"
Now you must be informed, if you do not already know it, that the General is a strictly temperance man, (I do not mean a teetotaler,) not only from principle but by nature; and this indulgence of his was an unmistakable proof of his approval of our decision just expressed. As he had appointed myself to carry the purse from which all expenditures of this kind should be made, for, with the generosity which marked his life, he insisted on bearing all the expenses of his mess, I said, "Well, General, what shall your bottle be?"
He replied, in a slightly suppressed voice,-"A bottle of porter."
To stand this announcement unmoved was a painful trial of forbearance, although I knew the General's penchant for a glass of porter, when he felt unwell. I made a note, however, in my memorandum-book; and turning to Hitchcock said, "Now, Captain what will you take?" It evidently cost him an effort of resolution to go one step beyond the General, and he replied, "I think I'll say a bottle of wine."
Having made a note of this also, it now came to my turn to declare the dictates of my judgment as to what was fitting for the march, and I said, "General, we may meet with wild and unwholesome waters in the imperfect limestone country, and I think it will be but prudent to have with us a little corrective; therefore I will take a bottle of brandy."
To this no remark was made. And it is a positive fact that we marched the next morning with a bottle of porter, a bottle of wine, and a bottle of brandy as our "canteen," on an arduous march through the Seminole country, where they might dispute our advance at any point on a line of one hundred miles of road. I should, however, mention here, that I had succeeded in purchasing an excellent pony for the General, at a very fair cost, from a person claiming to enjoy the benefit of a residence under "the flag." Our little army had their bivouac under the wide-spreading live-oaks; and at daylight in the morning, every company was quickly formed by its captain; the brigade was soon in line, and filed off in high spirits upon the military road leading to Fort King. The General took his place at the head of the column on his steed, Hitchcock and myself by his side on foot; and with an advance guard and about one dozen friendly Indians in front, we commenced the march to Fort King, to release General Clinch, should he have been surrounded by a heavy force of Indians. We marched about twelve miles without the occurrence of any incident of a military character; yet I must not pass over a piece of good luck that befell myself. As the troops made a brief halt at the Big Spring, about three miles from Fort Brooke, a sub-chief joined his companions mounted on a handsome horse; as he joined his party, all of whom were on foot, I walked up to him, attracted I must confess by the appearance of his steed; and much to my surprise and pleasure recognized in his rider an old acquaintance and friend, Tustenuggee Hajo. On recognizing me, he exclaimed, "Hie la! ay-it-liepts-e-chez?" "Ah! how is your health?"
I replied, "Hin-cla," "good," and we shook hands. Then pointing to his horse, I said, "Echo-thlock hin-cla;" "A good horse." "Chato kanawa nacho-ma echo-thlocko oepa-taka che-malis chez?" "How many dollars do you want for the horse, saddle, and bridle?"
He replied, "Chato kanawa palin-chakebin." "Fifty dollars."
Without further parley, I took out pen, ink, and paper, and wrote an order on the sutler at Fort Brooke to pay Tustenuggee Hajo, on demand, fifty dollars, and charge the same to my account. I then told him to hand the paper to the sutler (sneezer), and get his money; he took the order, which he placed in his tobacco-pouch, and handed me the bridle of the horse. This was a mark of confidence at which the Louisiana Volunteers, many of whom were standing around, expressed their astonishment, and their incredulity, in fact, until they saw me mount the horse and ride off. He was a spirited fellow and in good plight; the saddle was a common American saddle, and not much the worse for wear. I may as well conclude the account of this transaction by stating that the chief accompanied us on our march, and did not present the note till several months afterwards, when he received his money. As I have mentioned, we marched about twelve miles to a branch of Fish Creek, an old hunting-ground of mine; and after we halted, I recollected that not far from the place where we sat with the General, I had four years agone, while on a hunting-party with two or three officers, lunched at this creek, and as we rose again to mount our horses, I took up the black bottle from which we had taken our noon-er, still half full of whisky, and placed it in a concealed cleft in the rocky bank, saying, "We'll find this the next time we lunch here." I related the occurrence to the General, and said, "I know the exact spot so well, that if it is still where I put it, I can easily find it." The General expressed a desire to know whether the bottle was still there, and furthermore whether I would be able to find it. I therefore rose and went down the creek to the rock, which I recognized as if I had been there but yesterday; I examined the ledge on which I had placed "Brown Bess," but she was there no more: some unusually high freshet had probably carried her down the stream, and into the world of waters that ebbed and flowed not a mile distant. The place where I had placed the bottle was one strongly marked, and I could not have mistaken it; for the locality was one that had long been familiar to me; and I only mention it because the General, who has himself the "organ of locality" largely developed, evidently wanted to test mine. At this moment the General's orderly arrived at the tent with the pack-horse or sumpter, (for Captain Shannon had brought a tent for the General without saying anything about it). This orderly, as he termed himself, had been a sergeant in the army, and in New Orleans had induced the General to hire him at high wages as factotum. He now led the horse up in front of the General, and with a bold assurance of manner, reported that he had arrived with every thing safe except the bottle of brandy, which the horse had broken by running up against a tree. The bottles had been hung on top of the pack, on the outside, but resting on a soft substance that would yield, a thick, heavy bottle would not be likely to break.
I looked at the General: he was perfectly calm and unmoved, and the man escaped even reproof. For a moment I felt disposed to break the fellow's neck, as he had broken that of the bottle, after he had sold the brandy to the volunteers, and left the neck dangling from the pack; but fortunately I had self-control enough to say nothing. The next day was passed like the first, as the Spaniard says, "sin novedad," until we arrived at our camp-ground. I had selected a very pretty knoll in the pine wood, near the water, when Colonel Twiggs came up and entered into conversation with the General. While this was going on, the orderly and the pack-horse came up. He adressed the General with imperturbable impudence, and reported that the horse to-day had broken the wine-bottle. At this I laughed heartily, for it was the most transparent piece of rascality that my eyes ever looked upon; yet the General did not show the slightest suspicion, nor did he apparently entertain any. I walked up to the horse and untied the remaining bottle.
"General," said I, "let me recommend to you to take your porter to-day, for if left till to-morrow, I apprehend it will meet the fate of the brandy and the wine." To this the General assented, or rather made no objection; so I managed with my knife to cut the wire and extract the cork. I then poured out a full bumper, knowing that Twiggs was a teetotaler, and handed it to the General; he with inimitable politeness begged Twiggs to take it. He of course declined; the General then smiled and finished the bumper at a draught. I offered to refill for him, but he begged me to help Hitchcock, who helped himself very moderately, and again I presented the cup to the General, but he excused himself and said, "Will you not finish it,-I beg you to do so." There was a full bumper left, which I without further entreaty dispatched. And thus ended the history of the three bottles, on the second day of our march. On the eighth day we reached Dade's battle-ground, of which I have given you an all-sufficient description. After throwing out a strong guard around the field of battle, a portion of the men at a time were permitted to walk round the ground to examine the position our men had so nobly defended, and to ponder on the sad sights there presented to their view. At the same time a spot was selected for the burial-place of the officers, and another near by for the men. Both officers and men were with great care interred, side by side. Then the troops were formed in column of companies; and while the full band of the 4th Regiment at the head of the column played with much solemnity and expression a funeral dirge, the men, with arms reversed and with sad but stern countenances, at a slow pace, marched round the entire ground, and the funeral-rites of their brethren-in-arms were concluded. Nothing further of general interest occurred until we arrived at Fort King, at the time commanded by Colonel Ichabod B. Crane, of the 4th Artillery. Here we learned that General Clinch was at Fort Drane, twenty-two miles northward, whither a messenger was sent to announce General Gaines' arrival. Adieu.
Camp Sabine, near the Sabine River, 18 May 1836To General Thomas Cadwalader,
My Dear Sir: A rapid change of position and almost constant occupation during the last four months have prevented, until now, my making "the Florida War" the subject of a letter. The first intelligence of "actual hostilities" in that section of his military department, was received by General Gaines at New Orleans, whilst on a tour of inspection to the Gulf posts. The news of the massacre of Dade's detachment had burst like a thunderclap upon the inhabitants of the great Southern emporium. On receiving the official report of the sad disaster, General Gaines immediately addressed to the Adjutant-General, at Washington, a letter, in which he urged that no time should be lost in applying to the savages on that frontier the last and obvious means of correction; at the same time declaring, from his knowledge of the Seminole Indians and the country they inhabited, his conviction, that the only sure means of speedily and effectually terminating the difficulties in that quarter would be to bring into the field an army of at least four thousand men, aided and supported by a strong naval force. Under this impression he recommended that the cavalry and parts of the 1st and 7th Regiments of Infantry be ordered to Florida, to reinforce the United States troops on the Gulf, and such volunteers from the adjoining States as the emergency may call forth. On the same day he made a requisition on the Governor of Louisiana for a regiment of riflemen or infantry; and soon after requested of Commodore Bolton, at Pensacola, the co-operation of such naval force as he might feel authorized to order on that service.
Some days subsequent to this, the receipt of intelligence that Fort Brooke (Tampa Bay) was invested or hemmed in by the Indians and negroes, and the garrison in danger of being cut off, determined General Gaines to proceed at once to their relief with what force he might be able to collect at New Orleans. He accordingly wrote by express to General Clinch, who commanded in Florida, and was at that time at Fort King, one hundred miles north of Fort Brooke, that he (General Gaines) would be at the latter fort, on the 8th of February, with seven hundred men. General Clinch, it was understood, would have by that time a respectable force (volunteers) from Georgia and the upper counties of Florida. He was accordingly ordered, if strong enough to take the field, to march to the southward in time to effect a junction with General Gaines at or near Fort Brooke. Under these circumstances, General Gaines embarked at New Orleans on the night of the 3d of February with a brigade of about eleven hundred men-to which number his force had fortunately increased-consisting of six companies of the 4th Infantry under Lieutenant-Colonel Twiggs, and a regiment of Louisiana volunteers under command of General P. F. Smith, Adjutant-General of the State. The transports, being steamboats, were obliged to touch at Pensacola for wood; and here it was that General Gaines met the Adjutant-General's letter of the 22d of January, which purported to cover the "Order, No. 7," directing "General Scott to repair to Florida, and take command of the troops operating against the Indians in that quarter." This order, No. 7, was not enclosed, nor did General Gaines see it until his arrival at Fort King sixteen days afterwards. This fact may be a matter of no great import; but, as the continuance of the movement, (from Pensacola to Tampa,) after his being notified that such an order had been issued, is one of the two prominent features of the campaign that have been very unhesitatingly criticised and condemned in some of the public prints, it may be well to examine what might have been the consequences, had he abandoned the expedition at that advanced stage of its progress.
In command of a military department, he had received, at a point far distant from the seat of Federal Government, (whence alone special or new instructions should be sent him,) the intelligence of a great and unlooked-for disaster having occurred on the extreme southern frontier of the country, occupied by the left wing of his division. He learned the melancholy news that a large white settlement had been overrun, sacked, and burned, and many of the inhabitants killed; the United States Agent of Indian Affairs murdered; eight valuable officers and ninety-eight brave soldiers of his division cut to pieces by an overwhelming savage foe!-and he was aware that the military forts on the borders of the Indian country, viz., Forts Brooke, King, and Drane, with the station at Key West, (all within his military department,) were without any other works of defence than such as a daring leader with five hundred men might, at the risk of little loss, take and destroy in a few hours-the garrisons of three of those posts being insufficient for their defence. What, then, was the duty of the commander of the department? Had he hesitated one single moment, he would, indeed, have merited the stern opprobrium of his fellow-citizens. He did not hesitate-he collected what force he could and marched immediately for the theatre of the war. On the route, and within two days' march (by steam) of the Indian border, he received a notification that General Scott had been ordered to repair from the city of Washington to Florida, "and take command of the troops operating against the Indians in that quarter." At the same time, he was informed that "the state of affairs west of the Mississippi might soon require his attention, if not his presence in that quarter," and he was directed to await further orders in the city of New Orleans. Had hostilities actually existed on the Louisiana frontier, and General Gaines received an order to repair thither immediately, it is difficult to say whether the historian would have approved or condemned his conduct at that stage of the game, had he obeyed the order, and, by so doing, left General Clinch, in expectation of a promised co-operation, to extricate himself as he could from any difficulty into which failure on the part of General Gaines in preconcerted movements might peradventure throw him. And without General Gaines, the volunteers, his principal force, were unwilling to proceed. Moreover, he was firmly persuaded that the instructions from the War Department, requiring him to await further orders in the city of New Orleans, were forwarded before that Department could possibly have received a detail of the circumstances which rendered the immediate movement to Florida not only proper but imperative. A little reflection determined him to continue the movement until the President should be apprised of all the particular circumstances attending it,-or until the officer authorized to operate in his Department should make his appearance in person in that part of the country which constituted the principal theatre of the war, or the Indians be subdued and the security of the frontier re-established.
This view of the subject is based upon a sound principle of military law, and is supported by the ablest writers of all enlightened nations whose arms have been crowned with success. Had General Gaines disregarded this principle, he well knew that he might expose to difficulty, or perhaps destruction, a body of troops expecting his co-operation, and consequently leave the citizens dwelling within that quarter of his command to the tomahawk and scalping-knife.
Was it his duty, under such circumstances, to abandon an expedition on the prosecution of which the safety of the border people possibly hung; or was it his duty to strike promptly at the enemy, if possible subdue him, or, at all events, endeavor to check his devastations, until the President should have notice of his strength, and the determined spirit with which he seemed prepared to carry on the war?
General Gaines proceeded to Tampa Bay. On his arrival at Fort Brooke, he learned that the day previous a party of about one hundred of the friendly Indians had been attacked near the Fort, and driven in by a superior force. The country occupied by the hostile tribes lying between Forts Brooke and King, no communication had been kept up between those posts since the massacre of Major Dade's command; and consequently General Gaines, on arriving at the first-named station, was unable to gather any information from which he could form even a tolerable conjecture of General Clinch's strength or movements. But relying on the co-operation of that officer, he determined, as soon as his horses could be landed, to place a sufficient garrison in the pickets, and with the remainder of his force march out to meet him.
Owing to the expense and difficulties attending the transportation of horses from New Orleans by sea, the baggage-train brought with the brigade was necessarily small; and the expectation that the requisite number to complete the train might be procured at Tampa was not realized, the horses and cattle in that vicinity having been stolen or lost during the alarm which broke up the settlement, and drove the families for protection to the Fort. Some half dozen Indian ponies were, I believe, all that the Quartermaster could procure to add to the number brought from New Orleans. The question, then, among both officers and soldiers was, not "what they might get along with?" but "what they could do without on the march?" Ten days' rations were issued to the troops, (five of which were to be carried in the haversacks,) and on the morning of the 13th the brigade took the field.
The friendly Indians, who, to the number of seventy-seven, accompanied the brigade, having reported their belief that the war-party which attacked them a few days before was not only formidable, but was probably still encamped on the Alafia River, at a point some fifteen miles from Fort Brooke, and seven from the main road to Fort King, General Gaines made a detour to the right, for the purpose of breaking up and driving before him this band of marauders. On the second day's march, however, it was ascertained that the enemy had not been on the Alafia in any strength; and the troops having received two additional rations, which had been directed to meet them by water at Warren's, proceeded on their route. On approaching the Withlacoochee, on Dade's line of march, and some thirty miles above Clinch's battle-ground, the friendly Indians expressed their firm belief that a vigorous attack would be made the following day, and urged strenuously that they might be permitted to return home, i.e. to Fort Brooke. This faltering on the approach of battle created some surprise, not unmingled with distrust of their fidelity. A half hour's talk, however, reassured them, and they moved on without evincing any further timidity. The expected attack, however, was not made; and the brigade arrived, without annoyance, at Dade's battleground, when funeral honors were paid to the gallant band, who had left on the trees around abundant proof of a field nobly contested against an overwhelming foe. The sad scene can never be erased from the memory of those who witnessed it; but its images, still vivid in the mind, recall feelings too painful to permit me to dwell longer upon a scene which has already been described by many.
Up to this time, the eighth day since he marched from Fort Brooke, General Gaines had been in hourly expectation of meeting General Clinch. Knowing the promptness of that officer, General Gaines could not now but apprehend that some serious obstacle had arisen to prevent the desired junction. Being only about forty miles from Fort King, the General felt bound to proceed thither to ascertain the situation of Clinch's command, and if possible to gain some information with regard to the movements of the enemy. His only doubt with regard to the expediency of proceeding thither was on the score of provisions; the men had with them enough to carry them back to Tampa if he returned immediately, and there, we knew, were abundant supplies. But if he proceeded to Fort King, he might not find a sufficient provision to make that position the basis of his operations, without embarrassing General Clinch with whom he desired to co-operate;-or General Scott, should he have arrived. An officer then mentioned to the General, that the Quartermaster had received, before we left Fort Brooke, a letter from the Quartermaster-General, notifying him that one hundred and twenty thousand rations had been ordered to Fort King in January preceding. This letter was immediately called for. It was from the Quartermaster-General's office, and dated the 19th of January. The passage that had been referred to was as follows: "Large supplies of provisions have been ordered from New York for Fort King; and thirty thousand rations to St. Augustine from the same place." This was the first time General Gaines saw the letter in question, or knew that a large additional supply had been ordered from New York to Fort King. He had brought a large supply of subsistence and forage to Tampa Bay, and had written to General Clinch to that effect from New Orleans, intending to make Tampa the basis of his operations. But now unable to gain the least information of General Clinch's strength or movements, or those of the enemy, in any other way than by proceeding to Fort King, the acquisition of the information above detailed, removed the only doubt he had entertained with regard to the expediency of the measure.
He decided to push on without delay, and the order to march was given the moment the simple but solemn funeral-rites of the band of heroes was concluded. I have been thus precise in this part of my narrative, because a want of knowledge of the circumstances attending this measure has caused the whole movement to be so misconstrued, as to lay General Gaines liable to the charge of dashing, heedlessly, into the wilderness without any plan of operations, suffering himself to be separated by a wide district of the enemy's country from the depot of his supplies; and thus exposing his men to hardships and privations as unnecessary as profitless. But this is the second principal feature of the campaign that has been most unhesitatingly criticised.
The troops reached Fort King on the 22d of February, without meeting with any incident worthy of remark. A single company of the 3d Artillery constituted the garrison of this station. General Clinch with his principal force was at Fort Drane, twenty-two miles to the northwest. With great regret General Gaines now learned that Clinch had not received the expected reinforcement from the northern border of the territory-but two volunteer companies having joined him from that quarter. His force was four companies of artillery, one of infantry, and the two companies of volunteers I have mentioned. General Gaines was not less disappointed when he was told that the supply of provisions at these two posts (King and Drane) was little more than sufficient for their support. Whether this disappointment was consequent to a reasonable expectation or not, I shall not pretend to determine. The simple facts from which must be determined the reasonableness or unreasonableness of the conclusion drawn from the information received by General Gaines on Dade's battle-ground, are these: the troops had marched from Fort Brooke on the 13th, with ten days' rations; at the Alafia they received two days' rations, brought thither by water, making in all twelve; that is, they were provisioned to include the 24th of February. On the 20th of February, General Gaines saw the letter of the 19th of January, already alluded to. From the date of the letter to the day he saw it inclusive, was thirty-two days; and to the 24th of February, the day to which his troops had been provisioned, is thirty-six days. The supplies had been ordered on the 19th,-how long before that, he knew not. The facilities of water-transportation from New York to the mouth of the St. John's River, and up that river by steam to Picolata, whence it is about seventy miles to Fort Drane, and ninety-two to Fort King, led to the conclusion, that in thirty-six days the supply would have reached its destination. The roads the troops had travelled were in fine order, the season having been remarkably dry; we were told no rain had fallen from some time in September till the day before we reached Dade's battleground, when there was a light rain.
At Fort King it was learned that preparations were making for the campaign, at Picolata, under the direction of General Scott. It was not thought, however, that he would be enabled to take the field with any considerable force for some time.
Finding he could expect no immediate co-operation from a quarter where he had expected to meet a considerable force,-Clinch's command being barely sufficient to supply the necessary escorts to the provision-wagons between Picolata and Fort Drane,-and unwilling to draw upon the nucleus of supplies here collecting, General Gaines decided on returning immediately to Tampa Bay, and make that the basis of his operations. He informed General Clinch of this, and requested barely a sufficient supply to last him on the march. He had marched from Fort Brooke to Fort King, by the main route, the common wagon-road. This road is longer, by a day's march, than the route by Chocochatee; he, therefore, determined to return by the latter. It was, indeed, the opinion at Fort King, that the Indians had established themselves near the point at which this trace crosses the Withlacoochee, viz., Clinch's battle-ground. If so, so much the better; he might beat them by the way. At any rate, the movement of one thousand men through the country occupied by the Indians, would have the effect of keeping them concentrated, and consequently relieve the frontier from petty depredations. Of the seventy-seven friendly Indians, who accompanied the brigade from Fort Brooke, ten returned with it, the balance remaining with General Clinch.
These men, who acted as guides, promised to find a ford somewhere near the point at which General Clinch had crossed. On the 27th, General Gaines reached the Withlacoochee at this point,-and a half hour or more had been passed in searching for the ford, when the enemy opened a fire from the opposite bank. The stream is about forty yards wide, but deep and rapid. A few companies were immediately brought into action, and very soon the fire became general from the left to the centre. This skirmish, the first bush-fighting the men had seen, lasted half an hour. The loss of the troops was one killed and seven wounded. The troops encamped near the river, and the guides declared the ford must be about three miles below, where a trail leading to the right struck the river.
The next morning by sunrise the three columns marched for the point indicated, on reaching which, a spirited fire was immediately opened from the opposite bank, which was quickly returned, and continued with occasional intermissions till one o'clock. In the early part of this action, the gallant Lieutenant Izard was mortally wounded. The loss this day was one killed and three wounded. The stream at this point also proved to be too deep to be forded. And the guides who had been accustomed to hunt in the lower country, and had not been in this section for many years, were totally at fault. The banks of the stream however, at this point were less thickly clad with the customary undergrowth, and the General determined to cross. A detail was accordingly made to prepare canoes and the flooring for a pontoon bridge; and the cheerful sound of the axe was soon mingled with the crack of the rifle and the animating war-cry. At four o'clock P.M. a distant but very loud whooping was heard, which indicated the approach of a large reinforcement to the enemy on the opposite side. The friendly Indians immediately declared it to be Micanopy, whose force they estimated at eight hundred warriors.
General Gaines, then satisfied that the whole force of the enemy was in the field, considered the opportunity of bringing the war to a close too favorable to be lost. Under this impression he sent an express to General Clinch, recommending an immediate movement of the force under his command, with an additional supply of ammunition and provisions. Clinch was desired to cross the river some ten miles above and move down on the left bank. General Gaines added that he would endeavor in the mean time to amuse the enemy, prepare his boats, &c. for crossing, but would not cross till he heard from Fort Drane, where General Clinch expected by that time some accession to his force.
By this movement it was believed that the two brigades would be enabled to attack the enemy in front and rear at the same time, and probably terminate the war in a few days.
The customary log breastwork was thrown up, about three feet high, and the troops left undisturbed that night. The following morning an attack was thought not improbable from some quarter; and one third of the men were kept on duty at the breastwork. At ten o'clock A.M., the working-parties were fired upon, and immediately afterwards a dashing attack was made on three sides of the camp. The Indians advanced boldly and fired with great rapidity, but not with precision. At one time they set fire to the high grass and palmetto on the windward side of the camp, and made a bold dash under cover of the smoke, which, mingled with flame, came rolling towards the breastwork like a heavy sea. The fire was coolly extinguished, and the audacity of the assailants punished by the Louisiana riflemen. The fight lasted till a few minutes past twelve o'clock M., when the enemy withdrew. Their numbers were estimated by those considered the best judges at fifteen hundred. The troops, having the advantage of the slight breastwork before mentioned, lost this day only one sergeant killed, and thirty-four officers and men wounded,-among the latter was General Gaines himself. The loss of the enemy was considerable, the troops firing with a coolness and precision which would do honor to veterans. Nor should the 29th of February be passed without bestowing a word of praise on the marked gallantry of their red assailants, who fought-many an old Indian-fighter present said-"as Indians never fought before." As the Indians had crossed the river, a runner was sent that night to General Clinch, informing him of the occurrences of the morning. In concluding this letter, General Gaines said: "I have abstained, and shall abstain from a sortie until I hear from you, in expectation that this course will tend to keep them together, while a sortie might contribute to disperse them. I am now satisfied that a direct movement to this place is more desirable than to cross the river higher up, as I suggested in my letter of yesterday. I am, moreover, of opinion that, if mounted men can be obtained in a few days, your force should not move from Fort Drane without that description of troops. The Indians move with too much celerity to be pursued with any chance of success by any other than mounted men." The following day, March 1st, there was light skirmishing, and occasional shots were fired at those who passed out of camp. On the morning of the 2d of March an attack was made nearly as vigorous as that of the 29th, and was kept up for one hour; but the troops having raised the breastwork, sustained little loss.
It was possible that General Clinch might arrive this afternoon; and many of the men, who were somewhat hungry, began to look eagerly for his appearance; though when they were told that if he should be detained by the non-arrival of the mounted men, it might yet be some days before they received a supply of provisions - in which case they must be content to dine on horse-meat until they could do better,-I do not think there was a man who did not declare his willingness to do so, as long as there was a prospect of bringing the war to a successful termination by so doing. All the corn in camp was turned in as common stock, and afforded about a pint per man; and afterwards some horses were killed and the meat regularly issued. The 3d, 4th, and 5th of March did not produce any incidents greatly differing from those of the preceding days. The Indians were frequently firing into the camp by night as well as day, generally selecting the hour of guard-mounting or parade, when the men were most exposed. Our sharp-shooters, however, kept them at long shots, and their bullets whistled through the camp without doing much execution. On these occasions, as usual, the woods rung with the exciting war-cry. During this time we lost but one man killed and two wounded. At ten o'clock P.M. on the 5th, some one was heard hailing the camp. It was at first supposed to be a return express from Fort Drane, who was thus giving notice of his approach lest he should be fired on by the sentinels. He was told to advance. In a few moments a negro called out at the top of his voice:- "The Indians are tired of fighting, and wish to come in to-morrow, and shake hands."
He was told that, if they had anything to say, they might come in the morning, with a white flag, and they would be heard. Whereupon he retired, bidding us a hearty "good-night." At ten o'clock A.M. on the 6th, three hundred warriors, or thereabout, drew up in line facing the rear of the camp, at the distance of four hundred and fifty or five hundred yards. After some delay and apparent hesitation on their part, two or three advanced about half-way with a white flag. Here they were met by Adjutant Barrow, to whom they communicated their desire to have a talk with General Gaines. They said they had lost a great many warriors, and were unwilling to lose any more except in the course of nature, or perchance by the fall of a forest-tree. Captain Hitchcock, Acting Inspector-General, was then sent to hear what they had to say. He returned and reported that the Indians did not wish to fight any more; but that they were desirous that the troops should withdraw from the Withlacoochee. The celebrated Oceola was much dejected, and apparently subdued in spirit. Captain Hitchcock was directed to return and tell them that a large force would soon be in the field; and the inevitable consequence of their refusing to come to terms would be the destruction of a great portion of the nation. They expressed a desire to treat with General Gaines; and said they would hold a council on the subject, and give their answer in the afternoon. They returned at the appointed time, and again expressed their desire to make peace with General Gaines, but said their act could not be binding without the sanction of Micanopy, the principal chief, who had gone to his town. They said they would send for him, and then sign a treaty. Captain Hitchcock communicated to them what he had been instructed to say, viz., that General Gaines had no authority to treat with them; but that if they would return to the south side of the Withlacoochee, and remain there without molesting the inhabitants of the country until the United States Commissioners should appoint a time and place to meet them, they should not for the present be disturbed. The chiefs present gave their promise to do so. At this moment General Clinch's advance came in sight of the party that had accompanied the chiefs, and not knowing what was passing at the camp, wheeled into line, and poured a volley upon the Indians, who immediately fled and crossed the river, as did the chiefs who were with Captain Hitchcock, fearing no doubt they would be shot down. This broke up the conference.
The brigade with Clinch was received with heart-felt greetings. He brought the greater part of the garrison from Fort Drane, and a squadron of mounted men, raised in the counties immediately north of Fort Drane, and with them all the supplies his slender means of transportation would allow, together with forty head of beef-cattle. From this time up to the 9th of March, the Indians remained true to their promise to abstain from hostilities, our men having frequently during these days fished and bathed in the river without molestation. Micanopy, however, did not arrive, and General Gaines decided this day to place the troops under the command of General Clinch, whose gallantry and decision had proved him so worthy of the trust; and prepared to return immediately to New Orleans, in pursuance of the instructions he had received at Pensacola.
On the 10th, General Clinch took up the line of march for Fort Drane. That night a negro, who had a wife among the hostile Indians, and among whom he had been sent on the 8th, returned, and reported that they assured him of their intention to adhere to their promises, and told him they would meet the whites on the Withlacoochee in five days, when all the principal chiefs would be present.
They said they had seen the soldiers fishing on the banks of the Withlacoochee, but, desiring to be at peace, they had not fired on them.
On the 11th, the brigade encamped about three miles south of Fort Drane. At parting with General Gaines, they addressed him a most complimentary and affectionate letter.
The General proceeded to Fort Drane, and soon after set out for New Orleans, by the way of Tallahassee and Pensacola. At New Orleans he received the instructions from the War Department relative to this frontier, and immediately proceeded to Fort Jesup.
This is a rough sketch, but you may rely on the facts, and you are at liberty to make use of the letter, if you think proper, for the information of the public.
P.S.-I mentioned in the foregoing that General Gaines was among the wounded. I must tell you how it occurred. A few minutes previously he had sent me with an order to Colonel Foster, commanding my old regiment, the 4th Infantry; for I was still a First Lieutenant in that regiment, although detached on special service, as chief of General Gaines' staff. Foster was on the north front, where there was a small patch of woodland; and the Indians had occupied this wood in force, and were pouring in a heavy fire upon Foster. Of course I had to run the gantlet; but I found the Colonel, delivered the message, and returned unscathed. The General, as I returned to his side, addressing me, said in his quaint, old-fashioned style: "I'm glad to see, sir, that you have a very good stomach for war."
He had scarcely uttered these words, when a small rifle-ball struck a tree a little to the left and front, glanced and passed through his lower lip, breaking the two lower front teeth; the shock threw his head back, and he uttered a low exclamation, then at once leaned forward, and a stream of blood fell from his mouth. I bent towards him and asked, "General, are you badly hurt?"
"No," he replied; "there is the ball;" and he put his hand to his mouth, took the ball between his fingers and handed it to me. This little bullet is deeply indented with the impression of the two teeth; it is in my possession still. The old hero did not leave the ground.
George A. McCall. Letters From the Frontiers. (1868), pp. 299-332.
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Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2005.


text:
Reading synopses, reviews, and open-mouthed shock reactions for Ted Post's 1973 weirdo exploitation romp The Baby, I had somehow got the idea that at least part of the movie's shock value was inherent in the reveal of its premise--a social worker goes to the house of an eccentric family to assess the needs of their "special" youngest member, only to discover that the "baby" she thought she'd be caring for is in fact a thirty-year old man in an oversized crib and diapers. Therefore I worried that, since I knew the premise going in, much of the effectiveness of that shock reveal would be diffused.
Parishioners, I was happily misinformed--not only about how much the flick's effectiveness relies on that shock reveal (hint: it doesn't), but about that knockout premise's centrality to the plot as a whole. Yes, there's a thirty-year-old man with the brain of a pre-verbal infant who sleeps in a gigantic crib and occasionally needs his nappy changed, but surprisingly that's just a small part of what makes the movie tick. It's merely the soup base, if you will, to which Post and writer Abe Polsky add a variety of savory exploitation ingredients--some diced, some chunky, some pureed--to arrive at a delicious Mad Movie stew.
Social worker Ann Gentry (Anjanette Comer, previously of the beloved-by-some Mexican oddity The Night of a Thousand Cats) is a lonely woman whose life has been marred by some unspecified tragedy involving her husband--a tragedy she's loath to discuss, but is always reflected in her sad, striking blue eyes. She spends her days immersed her her work with disadvantaged and disabled children, and her nights in the darkened palatial mansion she shares with her devoted mother-in-law, watching home movies of happier times. It's a sad existence, and one that clearly leaves Ann unhappy and unfulfilled.
All that changes when she takes on the case of the Wadsworth family, a trio of eccentric women who depend on governmental assistance to care for their youngest brother/son, "Baby" (David Mooney). There's no shock reveal here, as before the opening credits are over Ann has thumbed through a series of photos showing the infantilized adult crawling on the carpet, lying in his crib, and modeling the Depends™ Fall Line with undeniable panache. Ann takes an unusual--indeed, downright unhealthy--interest in the case, and quickly inserts herself into the daily life of the Wadsworths so she can spend as much time as possible with Baby.
This doesn't sit well with Mama Wadsworth (an absolutely wonderful Ruth Roman, twenty years on from her top-billed female lead role in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train), who would much prefer the social worker just rubber-stamp their file, send the check, and butt the hell out. Mrs. Wadsworth is a tough, no-nonsense matriarch you definitely don't want to cross--think Varla from Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, only thirty years older and living in the suburbs. When Ann comes to her with ideas about how to improve Baby's condition, Mrs. Wordsworth lets her know she will not suffer her motherly toes to be stepped on. "Maybe you think too much," she tells the timid woman, archly. "When it comes to Baby, I do all the thinking."
That comparison to Russ Meyer's most famous anti-heroine is a considered one, as Mrs. Wadsworth and her two daughters make up a trio of villainesses that would feel right at home in the Meyer universe, if only they had the giant boobs required for entry. Youngest daughter Alba (Susanne Zenor) is a lanky pigtailed blonde who gives tennis lessons for pocket money. She's the angriest and most out-of-control of the Wadsworth women, vicious with Baby, sadistic with her would-be lovers, and given to delivering lines like Katherine Hepburn channeling Bette Davis ragging on Joan Crawford. (Nota bene: if you've never heard Bette lay into Joan, get thee to youtube or a quote site, stat. It's art.) Eldest daughter Germaine (Marianna Hill, who the same year memorably starred as Arletty in the MMMMMasterpiece Messiah of Evil) brings in a negligible amount of cash as a model and actress in commercials, and would probably make more money if she didn't come off like one of the forgotten members of the Addams Family. Sporting the vampress bouffant and slinky floor-length skirts, Germaine is the quiet, creepy sister, whose motivations for her kindness to both Baby and Ann prove to be somewhat less than altruistic.
a grown man in diapers or a velvet Lord Fauntleroy outfit, no malicious teasing or giggling, pointing children. The closest we come is when a doctor Ann consults repeatedly refers to Baby as "retarded" (after a scene in a school for developmentally disabled children that's probably the most exploitative segment in the film), and blames it on Mrs. Wadworth's moral failings. ("Each child by a different man!" he notes, damningly, as if nothing more need be said.) The fact that Baby is treated just like any other baby--especially by Ann, who doesn't even hesitate to offer to change his loaded nappy (ewww)--gives the movie a further sense of unreality that again reminded me of the mad universe of Mr. Meyer.
But that doesn't mean Post and Polsky don't milk their premise for all it's worth. For instance, when Mama Wadworth and the girls decide to go out for a night on the town, they hire a young babysitter to watch Baby for the night. The girl is in her very early twenties and has apparently sat for Baby before, and is totally comfortable with him. After a telephone argument with her boyfriend lets us in on her sexual frustration, she goes to mind the baby, who is cranky and hungry. Despite his child-like mentality Baby *is* as strong as a thirty-year-old, and he starts pawing at the girl's breasts--clearly hoping for a little snack before bed! The girl resists at first, but finally allows Baby to latch on, a look of clearly sexual pleasure on her face! It's a testament to the film's disorienting skill that this reads more as the girl abusing Baby than vice versa.
The Wadsworth women pick that moment to come home, and Mama is most displeased to find Baby's lips wrapped around the milk-nozzle of the hired help. So displeased that she orders Germaine and Alba to teach the girl a lesson, which they do by slapping her bloody on the changing table before Mrs. Wadsworth takes the strap to her! As the sobbing girl flees, Mama reminds her not to go to the police, lest she be charged with "molesting a mental case."
As Ann investigates Baby's case files, she begins to find even more disturbing evidence. Baby's previous case worker had tried to spend a lot of time working with him as well, but then strangely disappeared just when she was beginning to report progress. (Dun-dun-DUN!) Furthermore, she theorizes that Mrs. Wadsworth, abandoned by her last Baby-daddy, now hates all men and is dead-set on making sure Baby, the only male member of the family, stays dependent on her and so never leaves. "He's imprisoned by a kind of sick love!" she tells her boss, and not heeding his warnings, begins to encourage Baby to speak and walk.
But the main focus of the film is on Ann and her battle to wrest Baby away from his supervillain family. As her concern morphs into obsession, Ann begins to dream of adopting Baby, taking him home to live with her and her mother-in-law in their huge, largely empty home. Though usually timid and vulnerable, periodically Ann displays flashes of grim determination, as when she gets fiercely competitive in a game of darts with Alba. Similarly, her home life is punctuated with strange mysterious notes. For instance, why is her mother-in-law living with her in the absence of her familial connection, and why does she seem so devoted? What was the tragedy so severe that it causes Ann to crumple under Germaine's relentless questioning? What does Mom-in-Law mean when Ann asks her how her day was and she replies, "My feet hurt...among other things!"
(Hint--the implied answer later will knock your socks off.)
It all culminates when Mama Wadsworth throws a 70s-style blow-out for Baby's birthday. Words can really not to justice to the awesomeness of this party, but I'm going to try, nonetheless. With Germaine glammed up like Helena Bonham Carter gone Disco, Alba in full-on sex-tease/party-bitch mode, and at least three-dozen of Mama Wadsworth's closest friends (INCLUDING the babysitter they beat to a pulp earlier!), this had to have been the social event of the season, if not the decade. Have we got red light bulbs? Have we got enough booze to keep Oliver Reed happy for 36 hours? Have we got hippie girls doing the frug with silver-haired middle-aged men straight out of Weekend with the Babysitter? Have we got Grave of the Vampire's Michael Pataki in one of the most amazing fringed suede jackets ever? YOU BET YOUR SWEET BIPPY WE DO.
"No, seriously! I was on an episode of T.J. Hooker once!"
Having had enough of Ann's meddling, Mama decides it's time to get her out of the picture permanently by drugging her drink and dragging her to the basement for later disposal. It works like a charm until Pataki notices and has to be distracted by Alba, who promises him sex if he can hold his hand over a flaming lighter for a full minute. ("I'll do anything to get to paradise, Alba, but does it have to be in an ambulance?") Unfortunately no one's minding the Baby, and with his inadvertent help Ann is able to escape and take him back to her place, slashing Mama's tires on the way out. ("That BITCH!" Mama spits. "She thinks of EVERYTHING!") This leads to an all-out SWAT-style attack as the Wadsworths invade the Gentry Mansion to get their Baby back (baby back baby back baby back), and that shock reveal I was waiting on all this time finally leaps out of the shadows and hits me in the face with a soaking wet nappy.
The very definition of "only in the 1970s," The Baby is a Mad Movie gem. The heightened-reality vibe I associate with Russ Meyer is here in full force, minus the bouncing boobs and cartoon sound effects. The Wadsworth women are larger-than-life icons, and Ruth Roman is absolutely monumental. With that Old Hollywood acting style and the bemused expression of a gangster who knows he could make one call and have your family's digits express delivered to your door, Roman absolutely nails the role. The other Wadsworth girls are great too--particularly Marianna Hill in her weird, disturbingly sexual role--but it's Roman who really makes things sizzle.
Anjanette Comer plays Ann as the polar opposite to Mrs. Wadsworth's supreme self-confidence and dangerous capability. Ann is vulnerable and sad, an emotional open wound, whose obsession with Baby is a desperate attempt to fill the crater in her life left by that unnamed meteor of tragedy. Finally, David Mooney as Baby is admirably committed to the role, though at times he seems to play Baby less like an infant than like a puppy. Apparently Mooney recorded the "baby sounds" for his performance--crying, baby talk, etc.--but Post later replaced them with actual baby sounds. I can't help thinking hearing Mooney's original interpretation might make things even weirder and more effective, but sadly that track seems to be lost.
Given its premise, the film demonstrates what some might call admirable restraint in many ways, as detailed above. However, the score of the movie by Gerald Fried is not one of those instances. In fact, it's downright schizophrenic. There are passages that sound like Henry Mancini Pink Panther-style jazz, juxtaposed with bombastic Spaghetti Western music (both Fried and Post have many Westerns in their filmographies), switching then to plinky music box and finally to experimental Kronos Quartet-style string screeches. If Fried meant to capture the mental states of the various characters in this score, well, I have to say he succeeded.
In closing, if you only see one movie this year about a man-baby cared for by strong, eccentric women and kidnapped by a well-meaning social worker for ulterior motives of her own, make sure it's this one and not Adult Baby Fetish 5: Oops I Crapped My Playpen. 3 Thumbs for this exemplary Mad Movie.
Nota Bene: Aunt John over at Kindertrauma (one of the Duke and Vicar's absolute favorite web stops--follow it now if you haven't already!) put together a wonderful post on Baby's Birthday party that must be seen and thereafter applauded maniacally. Here's the link. Go there now!
A few more images from The Baby (1973):
"Cover your ears, Baby--Mommy's about to call someone a cocksucker!"
"Awww, oos got him a wittle boo-boo?"
Just like in the dream!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
The Baby (1973): or, You Oughta Wean Him, He's Old Enough
Posted by The Vicar of VHS at 8:16 AM
Labels: '70s, 3 Thumbs, Chekhov Rule, Incest, Men in Diapers, Retard Seduction, Strange, Whipping
13 comments:
I teach a course at my university called ART, CULTURE, AND THE HORROR FILMS OF THE 1970's. As the companion movie to discussions about "The Women's Movement," THE BABY never fails to exceed all audience expectations. I see the film as a "cry for help" by the all-male filmmakers against the onslaught of femininity unleashed as represented by the largely female cast. Take note of the way males are depicted in the film as impotent, cloying nonentities, or worse, as infantile subhumans, typified by "Baby" himself. And if you don't agree with me, I'll beat you bloody with a macrame wall hanging.
- August 17, 2010 at 1:02 PM
- Colin Lorimer said...
One of my all time favourites! And that ending....!!!!
- August 17, 2010 at 1:11 PM
- Samuel Wilson said...
Never heard of this one before today. Knowing that it exists has sort of brightened my day. I'm going to have to see this some time, thanks to you.
- August 17, 2010 at 9:59 PM
- Jenn said...
I tout this one constantly and reviewed it awhile back at the Cavalcade. It's truly one of the craziest fucking movies EVAR and I never fail to be completely weirded out/entertained by it on repeated viewings. All of it is so wickedly perverse, it's like it was made just for me.
Excellent review, as usual, my dear Vicar :)
- August 17, 2010 at 10:41 PM
- Sadako said...
I've actually never heard of this one, and I thought I'd heard of all the weird wacky movies worth knowing about. I think I might have to see it.
- August 18, 2010 at 12:56 AM
- aunt john said...
Excellent review of one of the bestest movies ever! And @ The Professor... where do you teach & do you offer this course online?
- August 18, 2010 at 8:04 AM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
@The Professor--I am delighted to learn that somewhere in this great nation of ours, THE BABY is on the college curriculum! Who says tax dollars are wasted by the educational system? Your reading of the flick is intriguing, and borne out by the source, I think. Now put down that macrame!
@Lubbert Das--It's a great ending, isn't it? It wasn't until the next day after my viewing I connected it with the mother-in-law's complaint about her feet hurting, "among other things"! o_O
@Samuel--I'm glad to have brought it to your attention! Any day I can help educate a scholar such as yoursel, whose knowledge of film is frankly intimidating and awesome to me--well, that's a good day! :)
@Jenn--good to hear from you again! Where have you been keeping yourself? :P Thanks for the kind words. I would encourage all my interested readers to go over to Jenn's review of The Baby and partake in her special love and glee for the flick!
@Sadako--I learned long ago that whenever you think you've heard/seen it all in 70s cinema, a movie will always pop up and blindside you to punish your hubris. ;) There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in our philosophy, and more things in 70s exploitation even than that!
@aunt john--I freely admit that it was your Baby party post that made me bump this one up my queue, and of course I'm so glad I did! And I'd be interested to know where The Professor teaches as well!
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
- August 18, 2010 at 8:20 AM
Unfortunately its not offered online. The class is an art elective I offer on an irregular (very irregular) basis at JMU. Some of the other topics/films in the class:
Investigative journalism (Watergate)/THE NIGHT STALKER
Biowarfare/THE OMEGA MAN
Counterculture/DRACULA AD 1972
Black Power movement/BLACULA
New age religion/THE WICKER MAN
Satanism/THE EXORCIST
Mei Lai massacre/THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE
Pop art/SUSPIRIA
Environmental movement/KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS
Consumer culture/DAWN OF THE DEAD
Just for the hell of it/ZOMBI
It's a fun class, and you wouldn't believe how many of the students have seen NONE of the listed films, not just the rare ones ( like THE BABY.)
- August 18, 2010 at 9:30 PM
- said...
Just got around to checking this review out. I too have seen THE BABY and it is truly a mad mad mad mad movie. Dare I say one of the maddest?
I dare Hollywood to try and remake this one!
- August 21, 2010 at 2:10 PM
- ... said...
This is a great, and as far as I can remember, extremely accurate review. I saw The Baby at least 15 years ago on late night telly and it left a strong impression on me. This review has brought back all the reasons why, and reminded me of details I had forgotten. Which to be honest was most of it. Strangely enough I remember a Scott Bakula lookalike playing Baby, which is clearly inaccurate!
To me the strong anti woman aspect of the film has nothing to do with anti feminism, but is more of a statement on the absurdity and irrational fears of anti feminists of that period.
- June 2, 2011 at 10:39 AM
- Elizabeth West said...
I just watched this on Netflix. One of my guilty pleasures is really weird B-movies, particularly horror. This was one of the strangest, most perverse and hilarious films I've ever seen. I'm still chuckling. What was in the water in the 70s anyway!
- February 2, 2012 at 11:04 PM
I still don't understand the mother in law's "my feet hurt, among other things" comment. Can someone explain? I feel so dense!
- March 3, 2013 at 3:24 PM
I was thinking of this movie just yesterday and thought I may have to ask someone in the family if they remembered it.... so I go to the trusty internet and BAM! I now want to see it again so that I can see for myself that the ending is how I remember it... thanks !
- September 6, 2013 at 5:39 PM

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Five-foot-nine heavyweight Bobby "Zombie" Brents (12-2) earned an impressive win over fellow prospect Rogent Lloret (11-3).
The bout served as the featured contest of Saturday's Cage Warriors Fighting Championship 45 event, which took place at London's HMV Forum and streamed live on MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).
And despite facing an opponent with vaunted grappling skills, Brents got the job done via submission.
The fighters traded leg kicks early before Brents snatched a leg and earned a quick takedown. However, Lloret scrambled back to his feet with relative ease.
The two went back and forth for the remainder of the frame until a heavy right hand sent Lloret toppling to the floor. Brents followed quickly to the floor and locked in an arm-triangle choke. The black belt tried his best to survive the squeeze, but with seconds 19 remaining, Lloret had no choice but to tap.
Following the win, Brents made light of his MMA-driven grappling skills.
"I've rolled around the mats long enough that my white belt has turned black," Brents said.
Brents improves to 12-1 in his past 13 fights, with the lone loss coming to current UFC contender Stipe Miocic. Llorent falls to 2-2 in his past four fights.
In the night's co-feature, American Top Team lightweight James "J.P." Reese (7-2) outwrestled Englishman Brad Wheeler (7-7) en route to a one-sided decision win.
Reese earned a takedown almost immediately following the opening bell. Wheeler earned a reprieve halfway through the round, but after throwing a few wild punches, he was immediately back on the floor. Following a second restart, Wheeler landed a front kick to the face but was then elevated and power-bombed to the floor in spectacular fashion.
In the second, Reese took the fight to the floor again, though Wheeler threatened with a crafty kimura attempt. However, Reese remained patient and eventually worked free, settling into top control for the remainder of the round.
Wheeler again looked for a kimura in the final frame, but he never got close, and Reese simply dominated the positioning en route to picking up a unanimous-decision win. Reese is now 4-1 in his past five fights. Wheeler sees a two-fight win streak snapped.
In a middleweight tournament opening-round bout, Chris Fields (10-3) earned a quick stoppage of Jack Mason (17-11). Fields launched a high kick with his lead leg, and it connected flush to the chin. Mason appeared to be battling back a bit, but Fields pounced with hammerfists, earning a spot in the tournament's semifinals. The bout was waved off in just 50 seconds.
Fields next faces John Philips, who advanced to the semifinals by default when opponent Tony Machado was forced out of the bracket due to a back injury.
Irishman Conor McGregor (10-2) improved to 8-1 in his past nine fights after earning a first-round stoppage of fellow featherweight Steve O'Keeffe (7-2).
McGregor opened up quickly, throwing heavy hands and blasting powerful knees into the head of a covering O'Keeffe. The Englishman tried to press in and take the fight to the floor, but McGregor blasted away with nearly a dozen more vicious elbows to the temple, and O'Keeffe collapsed to the floor.
The bout was waved off 93 seconds after it began, and McGregor then asked Cage Warriors officials for a shot at the 145-pound title.
In heavyweight action, 6-foot-10 Englishman Dave Keeley (6-4) earned a first-round stoppage of Sweden's Eddy Bengtsson (4-3), but it didn't come easy.
Keeley worked for a can-opener and then a kneebar when the fight hit the floor in the early going, but it it was Bengtsson who looked as if he would end the fight with a gruesome looking keylock. Keeley came close to tapping but somehow pulled free from the hold and returned to the feet. Once there, Keeley delivered a few thunderous elbows to the head of his opponent, who collapsed to the floor in obvious agony. Keeley pounced with a few hammerfists to seal the deal with just 20 seconds left in the round.
The bout's first fight proved a bloody affair, as a Brett Sizeland (5-1) first-round elbow opened up a gash on the right side of his opponent's head. However, Brett Bassett (7-3) carried on following a doctor's inspection, and he continued to gush for the remainder of the contest.
Bassett's corner cleaned him up between rounds, but the wound opened back up in the second and forced a stop to the bout at the 1:47 mark. With the win, Sizeland has won two-straight contests. The bout snapped a two-fight win streak for Sizeland.
MAIN CARD (MMAjunkie.com)
- Bobby Brents def. Rogent Lloret via (submission) arm-triangle choke – Round 1, 4:41
- James "J.P." Reese def. Brad Wheeler via unanimous decision
- Chris Fields def. Jack Mason via TKO (kick and punches) – Round 1, 0:50 – middleweight-tourney opening round
- Conor McGregor def. Steve O'Keeffe via knockout (elbows) – Round 1, 1:33
- Dave Keeley def. Eddy Bengtsson via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 4:40
- Brett Sizeland def. Brett Bassett via TKO (cut) – Round 2, 1:47
PRELIMINARY CARD RESULTS (Facebook)
- Jacek Toczydlowski def. Shah Hussain via unanimous decision
- Charlie Watts def. Chad Brown via submission (punches) – Round 2, 2:12
- Ben Hajir def. Michael Jones via submission (armbar) – Round 3, 3:06
For more on Cage Warriors 45, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
(Pictured: Bobby Brents)


text:
The Cambrian Period
The Cambrian Period marks an important point in the history of life on Earth; it is the time when most of the major groups of animals first appear in the fossil record. This event is sometimes called the "Cambrian Explosion," because of the relatively short time over which this diversity of forms appears. It was once thought that Cambrian rocks contained the first and oldest fossil animals, but these are now found in the earlier Ediacaran (Vendian) strata.
Almost every metazoan phylum with hard parts, and many that lack hard parts, made its first appearance in the Cambrian. The only modern phylum with an adequate fossil record to appear after the Cambrian was the phylum Bryozoa, which is not known before the early Ordovician. A few mineralized animal fossils, including sponge spicules and probable worm tubes, are known from the Ediacaran Period immediately preceding the Cambrian. Some of the odd fossils of the biota from the Ediacaran may also have been animals representative of living phyla, although this remains a somewhat controversial topic. However, the Cambrian was nonetheless a time of great evolutionary innovation, with many major groups of organisms appearing within a span of only forty million years. Trace fossils made by animals also show increased diversity in Cambrian rocks, showing that the animals of the Cambrian were developing new ecological niches and strategies such as active hunting, burrowing deeply into sediment, and making complex branching burrows. Finally, the Cambrian saw the appearance and/or diversification of mineralized algae of various types, such as the coralline red algae and the dasyclad green algae.
This does not mean that life in the Cambrian seas would have been perfectly familiar to a modern-day SCUBA diver! Although almost all of the living marine phyla were present, most were represented by classes that have since gone extinct or faded in importance. For example, the Brachiopoda was present, but greatest diversity was shown by inarticulate brachiopods (like the one pictured below, left). The articulate brachiopods, which would dominate the marine environment in the later Paleozoic, were still relatively rare and not especially diverse. Cambrian echinoderms were predominantly unfamiliar and strange-looking types such as early edrioasteroids, eocrinoids, and helicoplacoids. The more familiar starfish, brittle stars, and sea urchins had not yet evolved, and there is some controversy over whether crinoids (sea lilies) were present or not. Even if present, crinoids were rare in the Cambrian, although they became numerous and diverse through the later Paleozoic. And while jawless vertebrates were present in the Cambrian, it was not until the Ordovician that armored fish became common enough to leave a rich fossil record.
Left: Acrothele, a fairly common inarticulate brachiopod from the the Wheeler Shale of western Utah. Middle: Olenellus fremontii from the Latham Shale of southern California. Right: A hyolith, also from the Latham Shale.
Other dominant Cambrian invertebrates with hard parts were trilobites (like the one pictured above), archaeocyathids (relatives of sponges that were restricted to the Lower Cambrian), and problematic conical fossils known as hyolithids (like the one pictured above, right). Many Early Cambrian invertebrates are known only from "small shelly fossils" tiny plates, scales, spines, tubes, and so on. Many of these were probably pieces of the skeletons of larger animals.
A few localities around the world that preserve soft-bodied fossils of the Cambrian show that the "Cambrian radiation" generated many unusual forms not easily comparable with anything today. The best-known of these sites is the legendary Burgess Shale (middle Cambrian) in the British Columbian Rocky Mountains. Sites in Utah, southern China, Siberia, and north Greenland are also noted for their unusually good preservation of non-mineralized fossils from the Cambrian. One of these "weird wonders", first documented from the Burgess Shale, is Wiwaxia, depicted at lower left. Wiwaxia was an inch-long, creeping, scaly and spiny bottom dweller that may have been a relative of the molluscs, the annelids, or possibly an extinct animal group that combined features of both phyla.
A lot can happen in 40 million years, the approximate length of the Cambrian Period. Animals showed dramatic diversification during this period of Earth's history. This has been called the "Cambrian Explosion". When the fossil record is scrutinized closely, it turns out that the fastest growth in the number of major new animal groups took place during the as-yet-unnamed second and third stages (generally known as the Tommotian and Atdabanian stages) of the early Cambrian, a period of about 13 million years. In that time, the first undoubted fossil annelids, arthropods, brachiopods, echinoderms, molluscs, onychophorans, poriferans, and priapulids show up in rocks all over the world.
Stratigraphic boundaries are generally determined by the occurences of fossils. For instance, the trace fossil Treptichnus pedum marks the base of the Cambrian. This boundary is an unusual case, since stratigraphic boundaries are normally defined by the presence or absence of groups of fossils, called assemblages. In fact, much paleontological work is concerned with questions surrounding when and where stratigraphic boundaries should be defined. At first glance, this may not seem like important work, but consider this: if you wanted to know about the evolution of life on Earth, you would need a fairly accurate timeline. Questions such as: "how long did something stay the same?" or,"how fast did it change?" can only be assessed in the context of time.
Tectonics and paleoclimate
The Cambrian follows the Ediacaran Period, during which time the continents had been joined in a single supercontinent called Rodinia (from the Russian word for "homeland", rodina). As the Cambrian began, Rodinia began to fragment into smaller continents, which did not always correspond to the ones we see today. The reconstruction below shows the rifting of Rodinia during the second stage (Tommotian) of the Cambrian . Green represents land above water at this time, red indicates mountains, light blue indicates shallow seas of the continental shelves, and dark blue denotes the deep ocean basins. (For clarity, the outlines of present-day continents have been superimposed on the map.)
World climates were mild; there was no glaciation. Landmasses were scattered as a result of the fragmentation of the supercontinent Rodinia that had existed in the late Proterozoic. Most of North America lay in warm southern tropical and temperate latitudes, which supported the growth of extensive shallow-water archaeocyathid reefs all through the early Cambrian. Siberia, which also supported abundant reefs, was a separate continent due east of North America. Baltica what is now Scandinavia, eastern Europe, and European Russia lay to the south. Most of the rest of the continents were joined together in the supercontinent Gondwana, depicted on the right side of the map; South America, Africa, Antarctica, India, and Australia are all visible. What is now China and east Asia was fragmented at the time, with the fragments visible north and west of Australia. Western Europe was also in pieces, with most of them lying northwest of what is now the north African coastline. The present-day southeastern United States are visible wedged between South America and Africa; they did not become part of North America for another 300 million years. Tectonism affected regions of Gondwana, primarily in what are now Australia, Antarctica, and Argentina. The continental plate movement and collisions during this period generated pressure and heat, resulting in the folding, faulting, and crumpling of rock and the formation of large mountain ranges.
The Cambrian world was bracketed between two ice ages, one during the late Proterozoic and the other during the Ordovician. During these ice ages, the decrease in global temperature led to mass extinctions. Cooler conditions eliminated many warm water species, and glaciation lowered global sea level. However, during the Cambrian there was no significant ice formation. None of the continents were located at the poles so land temperatures remained mild. In fact, global climate was probably warmer and more uniform than it is today. With the retreat of Proterozoic ice, the sea level rose significantly. Lowland areas such as Baltica were flooded and much of the world was covered by epeiric seas. This event opened up new habitats where marine invertebrates, such as trilobites, radiated and flourished.
Plants had not yet evolved, and the terrestrial world was devoid of vegetation and inhospitable to life as we know it. Photosynthesis and primary production were the monopoly of bacteria and algal protists that populated the world's shallow seas.
Also during the Cambrian, the oceans became oxygenated. Although there was plentiful atmospheric oxygen by the beginning of the period, it wasn't until the Cambrian that there was a sufficient reduction in the number of oxygen-depleting bacteria to permit higher oxygen levels in the waters. This dissolved oxygen may have triggered the "Cambrian Explosion" when most of the major groups of animals, especially those with hard shells, first appeared in the fossil record.
Aldan River, Siberia,: This early Cambrian fauna tells us about the early evolution of animals with skeletons.
Burgess Shale, British Columbia: Thousands of soft-bodied animal fossils paint us a picture of early marine life.
House Range, Utah: An array of Cambrian critters has been found in the Wheeler Shale and the Marjum Formation.
Marble Mountains, California: Olenellid trilobites and more are found in this Mojave Desert locality.
White-Inyo Mountains, California: Visit ancient Cambrian reefs in these mountains of eastern California.
* Dates from the International Commission on Stratigraphy's International Stratigraphic Chart, 2009.
Page content written and completed by Ben M. Waggoner and Allen G. Collins, 11/22/1994; tectonics and paleoclimate material added by Karen Hsu, Myun Kang, Amy Lavarias, Kavitha Prabaker, and Cody Skaggs as part of a Biology 1B project for Section 112 under Brian R. Speer, 5/1/2000; Ben M. Waggoner revised the Life content, 9/2001; Sarah Rieboldt updated the pages to reflect the Geological Society of America (GSA) 1999 Geologic Timescale, 11/2002; Dave Smith recombined the content into a single page, adapted it to the new site format and made some content updates, 7/6/2011; Acrothele and hyolith photos by Ben M. Waggoner; Olenellus photo by Dave Smith; source of Tommotian map unknown