Indian Affairs
At the end of the war, Gaines was sent as commissioner to deal with the Creek Indians. The U.S. commanding general, Jacob Brown, died in 1828; and Gaines was one of two ranking generals who could have been considered for the post. However, he and the other general, Winfield Scott, had both publicly quarreled with each other, and Alexander Macomb was promoted over both of them. He commanded the Western Military Department during the Black Hawk War. He was still in command of the department during the Seminole Wars in which he personally led an expedition. At the Battle of Ouithlacoochie he was wounded in the mouth.
1n 1830, Gaines opposed President Andrew Jackson's policy of Indian removal.
On February 20, 1836, Gaines and his men were the first U.S. soldiers to revisit the scene of the Dade Massacre, where they identified and interred the bodies.
Read more about this topic: Edmund P. Gaines
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