Jupiter Courier Newsweekly from Stuart, Florida • 13

JUPITERCOURIERNEWSWEEKLYCOM I THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29 2018 I 11K Community Viewpoint Fort Jupiter During the Third Seminole War 1855-58 NOTE: The following appears as a guest editorial written by a resident of the Palm Beach North or Jupiter area communities It is an excerpt reprinted with permission of the author The Origins History of the Palm Beaches" information site is a retrospective look at the history of Palm Beach County and how its past has influenced the present This blog is a companion site to "Palm Beach County Issues Views" Both sites are edited by Robert I Davidsson retired manager of the Palm Beach County Library Government Research Service (GRS) and author of the book Indian River: A History of the Ais Indians in Spanish Florida" and related articles about past seph A Haskin and the First Artillery Regiment were stationed in Key West Haskin received orders to sail to the Indian Rivet Inlet with Company and assume command of Fort Capron Haskin was an 1839 West Point graduate During the Mexican War he was cited for bravery after losing his left arm in battle Despite his disability Haskin continued his military career until 1870 serving as the general officer in charge of artillery fortifications outside of Washington DC during the Civil War On Jan 14 1855 Major Haskin received a letter from Lt Ambrose Powell Hill reporting his observations about the best site for the construction of a second Fort Jupiter Lt Hill was sent from Fort Capron on a scouting mission to survey the inland water route to the Jupiter Inlet and report on the status of the old fort He reported "Old Fort Jupiter" was of timber and furtheT away from the Jupiter bar (inlet) than the new post which is a half a mile nearer has a convenience of timber good soil for gardening loading and unloading of boats and preferable to Old Fort Jupiter or any other location in the vicinity" After completing his mission Lt Hill was employed as an engineer-surveyor by the US Coastal Survey from 1855-60 He joined the Confederate army a year luter and served as one of General Robert Lee's division commanders during several of his campaigns Sm VIEWPOINT Page 20K Garrison duty at Fort Jupiter Unrelenting heat an overextended supply line swarms of mosquitoes and sand flies debilitating and the constant threat of Indian raids made garrison duty at Fort Jupiter one of the least popular Army postings during the Third Seminole War 1855-58 The Army post was the second to bear the name Fort Jupiter The original Fort Jupiter was established in 1838 following two pitched battles near the Loxahatchee River between US Army and Navy units against the Seminole tribe in the Second Seminole War 1835-42 When the Fort was decommissioned at the end of the seven-year conflict in 1842 the Jupiter Inlet was without a military presence until Congress approved funding for a lighthouse in 1853 Lt George Meade an Army engineer designed the brick and mortar tower and construction began a year later Work on the Jupiter Lighthouse was interrupted by renewed warfare between the United States and the Seminole nation on Dec 201855 The direct cause of the Third Seminole War was a foolish raid on an Indian plantation by an Army surveying party deep in the Seminole's Everglades sanctuary The Building of 'New Fort Jupiter' In the months prior to the renewed hostilities New York native Major Jo- Provided a photo of a Sominob ro-onactor taken during a past Fall Muster of Loxahatchoa Battlefield Preservationists a nonprofit group dedicated to education and preservation During a of Living at Loxahatchee River Battlefield Park in Jupiter Seminole and soldier re-enactors told the history of the times and gave weapons and artillery demonstrations contributed PHOTO BV LAURIE CORRYLOXAHATCHEE BATTLEFIELD PRESERVATIONISTS.