John Horse

Who was John Horse?

John Horse, also known as Juan Caballo, Juan Cavallo, John Cowaya and Gopher John, was an African-American of mixed ancestry who fought with the Seminoles in the Second Seminole War in Florida. He rose to prominence in the third year of what was to become a seven year war when the first generation of Black Seminole leaders was largely decimated and the primary Seminole war chief, Osceola, fell into the hands of the American military commander, General Thomas Jesup. John Horse had been fighting alongside Osceola and acting as his interpreter by this time. When they were taken prisoner during truce negotiations with Jesup's emissary, Florida militia general Joseph Hernandez, John Horse found himself imprisoned along with Osceola and other members of his band at Fort Marion an old Spanish fort at the one time Spanish colonial port of St. Augustine. John Horse gained his initial fame for joining with a Mikasuki brave named Wildcat, the son of the Mikasuki chief, King Phillip Emathla, in executing a daring escape from the fort which, until then, had been believed by American forces to be unbreachable.