Introduction: Colonel John A. Wilder, a Union officer, in April 1865 visited Punta Rassa, then with Lt. Charles Camilus DeRudio, went on to Fort Myers where they took aboard their barge two Indian women, the younger of whom was rendezvousing with her future husband.

For two weeks we had been coasting the Florida shore in the genial springtime. Whether the gentle wind filled the sails, or our little yacht tossed aimlessly up and down the transparent waters of the Gulf, we were always in sight of the land, sometimes rising into bluffs crowned, as our pilot said, with groves of orange and lemon trees, and again low and covered with pines, but always blue and pleasant.

At length we entered the Caloosahatchee River and began to approach Punta Rassa, our place of destination....its only sign of civilization a huge barrack-like building raised with a kind of comically conceited air upon stilts, and bearing upon its front, in irregular and huge letters of black paint, Parker House, did not seem to promise much either of comfort or romance.

Scores of white tents gradually appeared, ranged on each side of the Parker House, which served as headquarters for the commanding officer, while in the early morning light, dark bodies of men could be seen drilling, some in compact order and closed ranks, and others, farther in the distance, scattered as skirmishers behind bush, or stump, or tree, a darkly moving speck, or an occasional reflection of the sun upon a gleaming gun-barrel alone betraying their existence....

As we neared the wharf, and before we made fast to it, a confused mass of human beings of all ages and colors crowded to the shore—white soldiers, long, cadaverous, and slim, with straight hair and an unmistakable Southern air about them, but all clothed in the familiar uniform of the United States; other soldiers of ebony black or chocolate color, stout, full-chested, and strong, weighing more than their white comrades, and capable of far more labor at throwing up entrenchments or any kind of fatigue duty; officers in full or undress uniform; pale, sickly women, wives, mothers, and friends of the first mentioned soldiers, with troops of towheaded children.

Raised upon the steps of the Parker House, too dignified to be interested, and having no friends on board, but unable wholly to escape the contagious influence of those about them, sat a party of Indians in paint and gee-gaws, proud representatives of a proud race, the only quiet and unmoved spectators of the scene...

On landing we were hospitably received at the Parker House—a huge comfortless affair of one intense room, the several corners of which were occupied respectively by the post commissary, quartermaster, surgeon, and adjutant, while a space had been hastily boarded up by the commanding officer and one or two other officials, to whom the preservation of dignity was no small affair, and one of the necessities of the position...

I amused myself during the morning in wandering among the tents and observing the peculiarities of the men. Parts of three regiments were stationed here, the 2d and 99th United States Colored Infantry and the 2d Florida Cavalry (loyal). The first named regiment was raised at Washington, D. C. and officered with care. During the months the regiment was encamped at Arlington Heights, it was visited by scores of officials and distinguished persons from our own and foreign countries and had every advantage of drill and criticism.

Then and subsequently it attained such proficiency and exactness, that perhaps not a regiment in the service, regular or volunteer, surpassed it. With shining muskets and white gloves, and glittering brasses, and a light springy step which constant drill had made to supersede the heavy plantation gait, they looked the very beau ideal of black soldiery, and were, of course, properly puffed up with their own conceit.

The 99th, on the contrary, had been raised in Louisiana as part of the corps d'afrique. They were fine men physically and had not seen much rough work, but did not pretend to compete with the 2d in drill. They were fresh from the Red River dam, which they had powerfully contributed to raise. Being mostly from the Creole parishes, they, of course, talked a patois very astonishing to their brethren from Virginia and Maryland...

The 2d Florida Cavalry differed hardly more in color than character from the others. Cavalry they were called and as cavalry they were paid, but they never were mounted, much to their disgust. This was a regiment not to be lumped.

Each man had a history of his own, sometimes more startling than fiction. In some the burning cottage, the destruction of home and household goods, the exposure of wife and children to cold, penury, and starvation, if not a worse fate, filled the background of a picture not colored by imagination.

Nearly all had been hunted, many by dogs. It's not a pleasant thing for a man to be hunted as though human life was of no more value than that of a fox or a wolf, and it leaves bitter thoughts behind. Finally, through many perils, after lying for weeks in swamps and woods, they had straggled one by one into the Union lines. Happy were they who carried no corroding recollections of sudden death to friends, nor of fearful and bloody work to avenge them.

Tall, thin, and loose-jointed were these men, incapable of rigid discipline, and all ages, but the best shots, guides, and scouts in the army. They freely traveled at night the enemy's country, were gone weeks, and safely returned with their families. Bitter experience had made them familiar with every outlying track and swamp, had taught them their friends and their foes, and established in the country a sort of masonic brotherhood in danger.

Some, it is true, attached to neither side, and alternately deserting from each, intent only on plunder and villainy, were among the rarest scoundrels and cutthroats which unsettled and perilous times produce, but the greatest number were staunch and true...

In the evening I strolled into the tent of Lt. Charles C. DeRudio, an officer of the 2d....

"The boat is ready sir," said an orderly, respectfully, appearing at the door of the tent.

"Will you go with me?" said the lieutenant. "We are to make a midnight excursion to Fort Myers, and I shall be glad of your company."

"Nothing would delight me more."

"Well, then," said he, "if you are ready, we will start in fifteen minutes from the landing," and I hurried off to make immediate preparations.

"Give way," said the lieutenant, as I took my seat in the stern-sheets of the barge. There were eight oarsmen, picked men and selected with care from the lieutenant's company, as much as home upon the water as on the land....

The night was dark, and two dim objects were sitting on a thwart, immediately before us, without oars, and whom I could not immediately make out.

"Indians," said the lieutenant, "squaws who wanted to go up to Fort Myers. We can save them a long walk."

The river was smooth, and without much current; the oars kept perfect time, hardly making a ripple on the water as we rapidly and noiselessly skirted the low shore...

Fort Myers, some twenty or thirty miles up the river, had been, until recently, the only post held by our troops in this part of the country. It was built during the old Indian wars, had been garrisoned during a part of the rebellion, and until quite recently by several companies of the 2d United States Colored Infantry and the Florida Cavalry. It afforded a convenient place from which to make raids and a secure and provoking refuge for the flying loyalists who wanted to reach our lines.

In fact, it was an eyesore to the rebels of long standing and no common magnitude. A few weeks previously, with pluck and endurance worth of a better cause, they had marched a long distance through the wilderness, dragging their cannon with them, intending to reduce the Yankee stronghold, and blot it out from the land.

They arrived near the fort at noonday and were wholly unexpected, and had they charged immediately, following the surprised pickets as they retired into the fort, they would probably have been successful, and the world might have been startled by another Fort Pillow massacre, or a worse one; for of the two classes which formed the garrison, the "deserters," as they were termed, and the colored troops, it is perhaps hard to say which would deserve the less mercy.

But their boldness failed them here, and with it their luck. Sending a white flag into the fort, they promised protection on surrender and threatened awful severities if resistance was made to their superior force. The gallant officer who commanded, thus forewarned, sent a spirited defiance, and hastily made such preparation as he could. The rebels, after a spirited and brisk cannonade, were driven off, and the garrison relieved.

It was deemed best, however, not long after, to retire to a more secure position, and Fort Myers was dismantled and abandoned, and the troops being temporarily concentrated at Punta Rassa.

Whether the enemy yet occupied Fort Myers was unknown, and caution became necessary in our movements. A bright lookout was kept, the oars were muffled, and the guns placed where they could be easily reached...

It is generally supposed that since the termination of the Seminole war there are no Indians left in Florida, but this is an error. It is true that the government has nominally removed them, but there are a few still left, haunting, in a melancholy and ghostly way, some of their favorite spots. Away in the interior, in some hidden place unknown to white men, a feeble remnant of the race still linger in the land which once was theirs....

Of the two in the boat, one was an old squaw of some consideration in the tribe, though partly of African blood, and the other, whom we subsequently had abundant opportunity to see in daylight, a pure Indian, of fair complexion and noble figure, and apparently about eighteen. Her face was pleasing, or at least dignified, but of studied coldness and immobility.

We had in the regiment a man who was formerly a slave and had escaped to the Indians and who lived years among them, though never, I believe, formally adopted into the tribe. He was a splendid rifle shot, as indeed he had need to be, and on the startling phenomenon being brought to his knowledge of men of his color bearing arms, he had left the tribe and enlisted in the regiment.

Through him the lieutenant had learned something of the history of the girl, and it was at his suggestion, and, as a measure of safety and precaution mainly, that he had taken the squaws into the boat, already sufficiently full.

The girl was the posthumous daughter of a chief of the best blood and greatest consideration in the tribe. Her mother never would emigrate, and the child grew up with her, inheriting little from her father except his good name and a full share of his pride and spirit, as we subsequently saw.

By some means she became attached to a brave a number of years her senior, who had emigrated westward with the rest of his tribe, but who had now returned over many weary miles to claim his bride. Both he and she had been at Punta Rassa for a number of days, though she had held no intercourse with any, save to purchase some slight articles of finery from the sutlers, and which alone betrayed the heart of a woman beneath her marble exterior...

At length the stars faded in the misty night, and the sky began to flush and crimson with the dawn....Our princess never moved a muscle or condescended to notice the admiration with which we could not help regard her. Finally the sun threw his full and level beams into the hazy air, lighting up the landscape, and making a cheerful picture of woods and water.

We were approaching Fort Myers...Half an hour brought us a bend in the river, from which the fort was clearly visible in the distance to the naked eye...

A few more strokes of the oars brought into view a solitary Indian standing in relief against one of the white-walled buildings, and apparently the only tenant of the deserted fort. He never would allow himself to be used as decoy, and we knew it. Passively he stood until we were near the broken wharf, when he turned and disappeared among the buildings. I was disappointed for I wished to witness the interview between the girl and her lover, as I felt it must be....

Fort Myers was truly a charming spot...A portion of my regiment had been stationed here for many months and truly their experience must have been a pleasant one. Countless herds of cattle roam in the savannas of Florida, and from them Lee's army was long supplied after the opening of the Mississippi had cut off the supplies from Texas.

Glorious were the raids under the skillful guidance of the loyal Floridians, just enough of the excitement and peril were there in hunting these animals, wild almost as the buffalo of the western prairies, and in bringing them safely in, in spite of the vengeful pursuit of the enraged Johnnies; to say nothing of such other ready means of annoyance as opportunity offered to inflict. The garrison waxed fats on the spoils of the land....

Shadows already began to darken among the trees when we thought of departing...For a considerable distance around the fort the wood and underbrush had been cleared so as to allow full sweep for artillery. This space they could not cross without exposing themselves, and we could see a considerable group, all mounted, and evidently clustered for consultation. These Florida rebels had a strong passion for riding horses and would never go afoot if they could help it...

No time was to be lost...We made hastily for the boat, and as we approached, I saw a dark object in the gathering gloom, sitting bolt upright on one of the seats..."Pooh," said the lieutenant..."It's the princess, can't you see?"... A few vigorous strokes sent us quickly into the stream, and long before the disappointed rebels appeared upon the wharf, we were out of gunshot, and heading rapidly for Punta Rassa...

It was daylight when I awoke...It was not long before we...came in sight of the wharf....The whole camp was astir, drums were beating, banners flying...Richmond had fallen, and the back of the rebellion was broken...

The good news delighted everyone, but none more than the loyal Floridians who were congregated at Punta Rassa. For us of Northern birth it was a triumph of the nation and a glorious reward for long years of weary anxieties, watching and sacrifice.

For them it was all this and more. It meant poor souls, as they saw it, a return to house and home, if indeed there were any left, not with trembling footsteps, watched and dogged from swamp to swamp, and from one wretched hiding place to another, but in the open day and with honor. It removed the halter from their necks and the stigma from their names. Henceforth loyalty to the country was no longer treason and rebels no longer their judges. The son could look the father in the eye and the father the son and know that they were no longer despised, even if they were henceforth to be feared. It was a proud satisfaction, and they felt it.

A ball was arranged by the female part of the community, and the officers all invited... The commanding officer kindly consented to the use of the Parker House...I was away during the afternoon and did not return until night. The Parker House was a blaze of glory. Out of the broad open doorway came a flood of light, brightening the wharf, and shining far out on the river, where mast and rope were distinctly visible in the unusual illumination. Merry music was borne through the open windows, while dancing shadows on the walls came and went in the flickering light, long before we reached the building.

Wonderful was the metamorphosis as we entered. The bare and dingy walls were hung with evergreens and festooned with flags. From the beams overhead depended glittering chandeliers of burnished bayonets, each with a tallow-candle inserted at the butt. Stacks of glistening muskets reflected the light, and a number of the drum-corps of the 99th, glorious in their brilliant uniforms, furnished acceptable music of violin, banjo, and bones.

Dancing was progressing vigorously as we entered, while perspiring belles and sweltering beaux lined the sides of the room, resting from their labors, or engaged in animated conversation. The ladies were gay with many colors, mainly in brilliant calicoes which—believe it who can—were many of them that morning lying unmade in the sutler's schooner. By what magic they had in this brief space been transformed by needle and pin and button into passable robes for the occasion, the light of the glittering chandeliers did not reveal, and perhaps it was hardly prudent to inquire.

It must be confessed that by daylight, and to a fastidious taste, the ladies of the loyal Floridians might seem somewhat obnoxious to criticism on the score of habits and manners. They certainly were unsophisticated and primitive in these respects. The chivalry, as we know, did not cleave to us. That it was genteel to be a rebel carried off more thousands than the doctrines of Calhoun or the seductions of the persuasive Yancey.

These ladies were loyal, however, and tonight they were happy. Yet it was an odd collection. Tow-headed urchins, long since consigned to theoretical slumbers, peeped furtively through the chinks, or gathered timidly beyond the sentry at the open door, and all agog at the unaccustomed splendor. Heads of wool and eyes white gleaming in the light, looked in by dozens at the open windows. Mothers, unable to stay away, stood, I had almost said danced, with their infants in their arms. Boys and gray-haired men, soldiers, civilians, and sailors, all joined in the dance...

The dancing was different than anything I had ever seen before. Rows were formed as in a contra-dance, but there the resemblance ceased. Each couple danced violently and ridiculously upon one spot, until apparently exhausted, when they exchanged sides and recommenced, as if they had received accessions of vigor. One or two attempts on the part of some of the officers present to introduce more customary modes of salutation failed ignominiously, and they withdrew chagrined.

Refreshments were at last served, and candor compels me to add, more than one of the fair belles removed from her dimpled cheek a capacious quid of tobacco, from which she had been industriously withdrawing the juice, in total unconsciousness of any violation of etiquette or propriety....

"Will you come and see the princess married?" said the lieutenant..."These young gentlemen have persuaded that confounded Indian that he must be married in Christian fashion, and they have come to me to do it."

The bridegroom, a powerfully built man of more than twice the age of the bride, showed a slight shade of anxiety and perplexity on his face, which was marked with hard lines and traces of care. Wearing moccasins and leggins fringed with hair, perhaps from horrid scalps which he himself had taken, the upper portion of his body was covered with a red shirt and a private's military coat not much the worse for wear, and with buttons shining for the occasion. Though commonplace, he looked well and powerful.

Not so the bride. Strings of pretty white shells bound up her hair, which was black and abundant. A clean new blanket was thrown over her shoulders, hanging nearly to her feet, yet not wholly concealing a sort of vest or bodice curiously wrought with beads or small many-colored shells. A petticoat of buckskin reaching to the knee, white stockings, and a neat substantial boot—the gift of the admiring sutler—completed the most of her attire, which could be taken in with a glance. Earrings, however, she wore, and fingernails, and her hands and feet were small.

In a few simple and well-chosen words were explained to them the nature of the ceremony, and the importance attached to it by the whites. I watched the bride with interest to see if on this sacred occasion any signs of gratified pride or other human feeling would be visible.

Allusion was made to the long and painful journey from the Far West which the bridegroom had made to claim his bride, and they were requested to join hands. As they did so, she looked up into his face with a momentary expression of feeling, so womanly and tender, that I was hardly prepared to believe it. In an instant, however, she recovered herself, and a look, not hard, but proud and cold—her usual expression—took its place.

She is human, then, thought I. Finally they were pronounced man and wife, and with loud words of command, arms were presented, drums rattled, fifes screamed, and the ceremony was over...

At length the ball broke up, and Lt. DeRudio and myself were slowly moving towards his quarters in a distant part of the encampment, when two strange figures passed us, making their way to the woods. One in advance, unburdened with fardels, stepped firmly out with light and sinewy tread; the other moved slowly, almost staggering under a pack, seemingly a load for a mule. To my horror I recognized the Indian brave and his new-made wife.

"And this is what my princess has come to—to be a slave and a pack-horse for that man!"

"True Indian fashion from time immemorial, however," said the lieutenant....

Suddenly a strange, wild cry, now sinking, now rising, plaintive yet powerful, and almost defiant, came distinctly from the direction of the woods....

"That?" said he, laughing, but not cheerfully, "It was that infernal Indian...It was his farewell to civilization, I suppose," and he rode on.

And she will abandon the home of her childhood, the pleasant Land of Flowers, and even perchance the hope of the Fountain of Youth, to follow that howling devil through many weary years, in distant lands and under other skies, patiently bearing a hard lot for his sake? Yes, for she is a woman too, as well as a princess.

"And she'll be the mother of men," said I, as I turned in my blanket.

This article, as "History: Colonel John A. Wilder," was published in The Herald-Advocate (Wauchula, Fla.) in four parts on July 15, 22, 29, and August 5, 2004.