General William Jenkins Worth was born on March 1, 1794 in Hudson, New York. His parents were Quakers, and his father, Thomas, was a seaman and "one of the original proprietors of Hudson." His mother was Abigail Jenkins. After a common school education at the Lenox Academy in Hudson. Worth worked briefly at a store in Hudson before moving to Albany to pursue a mercantile career. War of 1812 On the opening of war with Great Britain he joined Col. George Izard's 2nd Regiment of Artillery. He later applied for a commission in the army, and on 19 March, 1813, received the appointment of 1st lieutenant and served as aide to General Winfield Scott, and for gallantry was promoted to the rank of captain, 19 August, 1814. During the war he was an aide-de-camp to General Winfield Scott and at the battle of Lundys Lane on July 25th, 1814 and was severely wounded by grapeshot --- he would remain lame for the rest of his life. He was made a captain at Chippewa, and awarded the rank of major at Niagara. West Point After the war, though not a graduate of the United States Military Academy, Worth served as its fourth commandant of cadets at West Point. He became an instructor of tactics at West Point in 1820 and in 1825 was made commandant of cadets. Wars of the 1820s and 1830s During the 1830s Worth served under Scott in the Illinois campaign against the Black Hawks and participated in the removal of Cherokee Indians from the southeastern United States. He helped maintain peace between the United States and Great Britain when Canada's Patriot War erupted along the border. 2nd Seminole War For ten years of military service Worth was promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1824 and became colonel of the Eighth Infantry in 1838, during the Seminole Wars. In November of 1840 he was appointed the commander in Florida by Secretary of War John Bell. For his service in the Seminole War he was appointed brigadier-general by President James Knox Polk (1795-1849). When Worth became the 8th Florida commander of the Seminole War in June 1841, the war was being downgraded. No longer was it essential to have a General in charge (with the reduction in the militia there were no militia generals to outrank a regular U. S. Army Colonel. Yet the problems with the war were still the same. It was the American army’s first guerilla war. The war was being fought in swamps and hammocks across the territory of Florida by bands of 5 to 10 Native Americans that were in essence living off the land. The U.S. Army was heavily equipped, dependent on long supply lines and unfamiliar with the territory. Worth’s plan was to eliminate the Indians between the Withlacoochee and the frontier settlements and then to fight the bands south of that line. The U.S. troops were to keep fighting year round even through the summer season. The force consisted of around 5,000 men through February of 1842. His instructions were “find the enemy, capture, or exterminate.” One important future General in this army was Lieutenant William Tecumseh Sherman (read story) who escorted Coacoochee into Fort Pierce. Coacoochee was ordered to bring his band in with direct threat from Col. Worth that he and his fellow captives would be hanged if he failed. Halleck Tustenugge, Tiger Tail, Nethlockemathia, and Octiarche agreed to put to death any of Coacoochee’s ambassadors. Coacoochee’s men brought in almost all the band. Coacoochee also helped Worth in the capture of Hospetarke which brought in another 320 people. Alligator was brought back with a delegation of seven chiefs and persuaded Tiger Tail and Nethlochemathla to come surrender which added another 162 people. They set up camp at Fort Brooke on 19 October, 1841. By 1842 Worth estimated that there were only 301 Seminoles left in Florida which included 143 who were in the far south and were not involved in the war. Halleck and a band of 40 warriors fought southeast of Peliklakaha near Lake Ahapopka on April 19, 1842. Col. Worth lead a force of about 400. This was the last battle of the 2nd Seminole War and resulted in one soldier killed and 3 wounded. The Seminole main camp and their gear were taken. At a later conference Col Worth captured Halleck and his band of 43 warriors, 37 women and 34 children. On May 10, 1842 the new Secretary of War John C. Spencer notified General Scott to end hostilities as soon as possible. On July 14 Halleck and his band are transported west. The war was pronounced over on August 14, 1842. General Worth resumed command on November 1, 1842. He captured Tiger Tail (Thlocklo-Tustengee) by Lieutenant TJordan and his 3rd Infantry in camp and Octiarche by Major Seawell at Fort Brooke. Tiger Tail would die in New Orleans. By April 1843 General Worth reported that only 42 Seminole, 33 Mikasukis, 10 Creeks and 10 Tallahassee warriors remained in the territory. The chief was Bowlegs (Hotate-mathlochee) and Ossinawa, Otulkethlocko and Halpatter Tustenugee were sub-chiefs. A St. Augustine Diversion State of Florida City of St. Augustine To Francis P Ferreira, Sheriff of the County of St. Johns Greeting In the name and by the authority of the State of Florida, you are hereby commanded that you arrest, Brigadier Genl William J. Worth and him forwith bring before me at my office in the City of St. Augustine to answer the complaints of William W. Loring charging him the said William J. Worth with an assault and battery upon him he said William Loring whilst in the discharge of his official duties as one of the patrol on the night of the 20th inst. Given under my hand at the City of St. Augustine the 21st day of August 1845. E B Gould, Mayor City of St. Augustine (taken from a clipping in MC 17 Patrols 1838 - 1867 B4 F13. St. Augustine Historical Society) Mexican War Worth participated in the Mexican-American War (1846-48) During the Mexican War Worth served under generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He was second in command to General Zachary Taylor at the opening of the war with Mexico, leading the van of his army, and being the first to plant, with his own hand, the flag of the United States on the Rio Grande. He attempted to resign his commission over a dispute with Col. DavidTwiggs of the 2nd dragoons over whose rank was higher. His resignation was not accepted by President Polk. He led the first troops ashore in the United States amphibious landing at Vera Cruz in March 1847. He took part in all of the engagements from Vera Cruz to Mexico City. He was the first to enter the Mexico City, where, with his own hand, he cut down the Mexican flag that waved from the National palace. He was given his highest rank--major-general--in 1846, and became the temporary governor of Vera Cruz and Puebla. Following the war Worth commanded the armys Department of Texas and while there died of cholera on May 17, 1849. The city of Fort Worth and a large lake in Florida are named in Worth's honor. Worth was a member of the Church of Christ (Congregational), a Democrat, and a Mason. He married Margaret Stafford of Albany, New York, in 1818. They had three daughters and a son. Monument Throughout his life Worth was a respected military tactician, and his writings have been required reading for generations of cadets at West Point. The recipient of a Congressional Sword of Honor, the frontier post he manned became the metropolis of Fort Worth, Texas. Lake Worth, Florida, and Worth Street in Manhattan are also named in his honor. After Worths death, his body was temporarily interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, before being buried on Evacuation Day, November 25, 1857, at the monuments location at the intersection of Fifth Avenue, Broadway, and 25th Street. The burial followed an elaborate processional, which included 6,500 soldiers. A relic box was placed in the cornerstone, and Mayor Fernando Wood delivered the principal oration. Across the street (5th Ave and 25th Street) west of the park is a 51-foot, Quincy granite obelisk honoring Gen. William Jenkins Worth, a hero of the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars and the Mexican War. (The Texas city of Fort Worth is named for him.) The monument was dedicated on November 25, 1857, which makes it second oldest in New York’s parks. It was designed by James Goodwin Batterson and given by the City of New York. Honoring General William Jenkins Worth (1794-1849), and dating to 1857, this site is the second oldest major monument in the parks of New York City. The Worth Monument was designed by James Goodwin Batterson, who founded Travelers Insurance Company, and was also involved in the design and construction of the United States Capitol and Library of Congress in Washington, D. C., as well as the New York State Capitol in Albany. The monument consists of a central, 51 foot-high obelisk of Quincy granite with decorative bands inscribed with battle sites significant in Worths career. On the front is attached a bronze equestrian relief of Worth, a decorative shield and ornament. On the back is a large bronze dedicatory plaque. Four corner granite piers (which once held decorative lampposts) support an elaborate ornamental cast-iron fence whose pickets are replicas of Worths Congressional Sword of Honor and which has an oak swag motif. The north side fence was removed around 1940 to accommodate an above ground utility shed which services the water supply system pipes beneath the monument. In 1941 the City restored the monument. In 1995, the monument again underwent an extensive restoration funded mainly by the Paul & Klara Porzelt Foundation and U.S. Navy Commander (Ret.) James A. Woodruff Jr, Worths great-great grandson. He and his family have endowed the maintenance of the monument and surrounding planting bed, through the Municipal Art Societys Adopt-A-Monument Program. |
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| General William Jenkins Worth |
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