David Moniac (December 25, 1802November 21, 1836) was a United States Army soldier of

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

descent. He was the first Native American and first non-white graduate of any race from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

in 1822.James Lamar Appleton, "David Moniac"
''Encyclopedia of Alabama'', 2007-2011, accessed 20 November 2013 He was born into a prominent family of Upper Creeks, and was related to major Creek leaders on both sides of his family. Moniac was also the first cadet to enter West Point from the new state of

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. Moniac resigned his commission in 1822 to manage his clan's property in Alabama, where he developed a cotton

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

. In 1836, during the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, Moniac was commissioned as a Captain and selected to command a unit of Muscogee mercenaries who were hired to help fight against the

Seminoles The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

. Most of the officers who commanded the Muscogee mercenaries were White, and he was the only Native American among these officers. Moniac was killed by Seminole warriors at the Battle of Wahoo Swamp. In the 1990s, his remains were transferred from a local cemetery to the newly established

Florida National Cemetery Florida National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the city of Bushnell, Florida, Bushnell in Sumter County, Florida. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs it encompasses and began interments ...

for military veterans, a few miles away.

Early life and education

David A. Moniac, as his name was sometimes recorded, was the son of the prosperous Creek merchant Samuel Moniac and Elizabeth Weatherford, both mixed-race Creek. His mother was the sister of the Creek leader William Weatherford, and his great-uncle was

Alexander McGillivray Alexander McGillivray, also known as ''Hoboi-Hili-Miko'' (December 15, 1750February 17, 1793), was a Muscogee (Creek) leader. The son of a Muscogee mother, Sehoy II, and a Scottish father, Lachlan McGillivray, he was literate and received a ...

, an important Creek chief on his mother's side. The Creek had a

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

kinship system, so Moniac was considered to be born into his mother's Wind

Clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

and gained his social status there. Moniac's maternal uncle would have been more important to his upbringing than his father. The Moniac family lived in present-day

Montgomery County, Alabama Montgomery County is a county located in the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, its population was 228,954, making it the seventh-most populous county in Alabama. Its county seat is Montgomery, the state capital. Montgomery County ...

, near the unincorporated community of Pintlala. His father served with the U.S. forces in the

Creek War The Creek War (also the Red Stick War or the Creek Civil War) was a regional conflict between opposing Native American factions, European powers, and the United States during the early 19th century. The Creek War began as a conflict within th ...

, as he was allied with the Lower Creek who were more assimilated. They defeated the Red Sticks. At this time, the United States was encouraging assimilation of the Creek and other tribes of the Southeast to European-American ways. They became known as the

Five Civilized Tribes The term Five Civilized Tribes was applied by the United States government in the early federal period of the history of the United States to the five major Native American nations in the Southeast: the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Muscogee (Cr ...

, for they adopted many aspects of U.S. culture. The 1790 Treaty of New York and the Fort Jackson Treaty, which concluded the Creek War, included provisions for the education of the Creek people. His father's military service, most likely enabled Moniac to get an appointment in 1817 to the U.S. Military Academy, located in New York. No doubt a role was played by John Crowell, Alabama's first member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and after that,

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...

to the Creeks (which usually meant a Creek wife; white husbands were coveted). Before starting there, Moniac studied with John McLeod, a tutor in Washington, D.C, to prepare for the entrance exam and classes. At his request, he repeated a year of college; he graduated 39 out of 40 in 1822, although the 40 were the survivors of an entering class of 117. Moniac served for five months as a Brevet Second Lieutenant in the Sixth Infantry, but resigned his commission on December 31, 1822. President Madison was encouraging Army officers to resign, as in 1821, the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

and

First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

s over, Congress had cut the size of the Army and West Point was graduating more officers than the Army could use. He returned to Alabama to deal with clan property.

Return to Alabama

Moniac returned to Alabama, where he settled in Baldwin County. He developed a cotton plantation and bred thoroughbred race horses. He married Mary Powell, a Creek who was a cousin of the Seminole leader

Osceola Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Vsse Yvholv in Muscogee language, Creek, also spelled Asi-yahola), named Billy Powell at birth, was an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. His mother was Muscogee, and his great-grandfa ...

. Among their children was a son, David A. Moniac, who served as sheriff of Baldwin County, where the Moniac descendants stayed. Sheriff Moniac is buried in the Old Methodist Church in

Daphne, Alabama Daphne () is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The city is located along I-10, 11 miles east of Mobile and 170 miles southwest of the state capital of Montgomery. The 2020 United Sta ...

. The plantation home, built in the 1830s, still stands today. It may be the oldest house in Baldwin County. It is located on Gantt Road in Little River, Alabama. Edit added 6/7/2022 - About 3 years ago the home burned. There is nothing but a few brick pillars left that supported the home.

Second Seminole War

Fourteen years after he graduated from West Point, with the outbreak of the

in 1836, Moniac was called twice into service: he first served with the Alabama

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

to suppress an uprising of displaced Creek. Indian removal had started in the Southeast, as tribes were relocated to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

west of the Mississippi River. In August 1836, Moniac was commissioned as a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Creek Mounted Volunteer Regiment. It was a volunteer unit of Creek warriors led by white officers on leave from regular units. He was the only Native American officer in the unit. The regiment patrolled and skirmished with the Seminole in Florida along the Withlacoochee River. He was promoted to major in November. That month, Territorial Governor Richard K. Call took a force of 2500 regular soldiers, Moniac and his Creek volunteers, and Tennessee and Florida militia from Ft. Drane, to the Wahoo Swamp on the Withlacoochee River. They were to find and destroy the stronghold of Seminole Chief Jumper. In what would become known as the Battle of Wahoo Swamp, Call's force attacked an estimated mixed force of 600 Seminole and African-American warriors, who were defending their families. The deep water blocked the American force. Moniac ran ahead into the water to encourage his men to cross. He was shot dead by the Seminoles. General Call called off the attack after taking fierce fire from the Seminole camp, and being unsure if the water was fordable. The American dead from the battle were buried near those killed the previous December in 1835 at the nearby Dade's Massacre site, where the Seminole defeated U.S. Army forces.Mishall, John and Mary Lou Mishall. 2004. ''The Seminole Wars: America's Longest Indian Conflict''. University Press of Florida. . pp. 90–91, 95–97. Later all the bodies were moved for burial at the St. Augustine National Cemetery.

Honors

*In the 1990s, Major Moniac's remains were transferred and reinterred in the

, as a recognition of his military service. The new cemetery was established a few miles from the Wahoo Swamp Battlefield.

References

External links