Editing Cedar Key, Florida (section)

===Indian War===
During the  [[Second Seminole War]], the [[United States Army]] established Fort No. 4 on the mainland adjacent to the Cedar Keys. (The name "No. 4" was later applied to a boat channel next to the fort, and then to a railroad trestle and a highway bridge over that channel.) In 1840, General [[Zachary Taylor]] requested the Cedar Keys be reserved for military use for the duration of the war, and that [[Cedar Key Light|Seahorse Key]] be permanently reserved for a lighthouse.{{sfn|Fishburne|1993|pp=14, 17}} In 1840, General [[Walker Keith Armistead]], who had succeeded [[Zachary Taylor]] as commander of United States troops in the war, ordered construction of a hospital on what had become known as [[Atsena Otie Key|Depot Key]].{{sfn|Mahon|1985|p=279}} (The island's name may reflect the establishment of a depot there by Florida [[militia]] general [[Leigh Read]]. The primary depot for the U.S. Army in Florida at the time was at [[Palatka, Florida]].){{sfn|Mahon|1985|p=279}}{{sfn|Fishburne|1993|p=23}} Depot Key was the headquarters for the Army in Florida, but Fishburne states headquarters was not in a fixed place, but wherever the commander was.{{sfn|Fishburne|1993|p=21}}

Cantonment Morgan was established on nearby Seahorse Key by 1841 and used as a troop deployment station and as a holding station for Seminoles who had been captured or who had surrendered until they could be sent to the West. A [[hurricane]] with a {{convert|27|ft|m|adj=on}} storm surge struck the Cedar Keys on October 4, 1842, destroying Cantonment Morgan and causing much damage on Depot Key. Some Seminole leaders had been meeting with Army officers at Depot Key to negotiate their surrender or a retreat to a reservation in the [[Everglades]]. After the hurricane, the Seminoles refused to return to the area. Colonel [[William J. Worth]] had declared the war to be over in August 1842, and Depot Key was abandoned by the Army after the hurricane.{{sfn|McCarthy|2006|pp=7-9}}{{sfn|Mahon|1985|pp=315-7}}