In November 1836, David Moniac was felled by a shot from a Seminole musket thus ending his life and with it the Battle of Wahoo Swamp during the Second Seminole War. Moniac's charge as commander of an all Creek unit within General and Governor Keith Call's Florida Militia was to lead his men across a swampy stream to engage the Seminole force that was firmly established and waiting for the attack. Prior to that fateful day, however, Moniac had led a complex existence moving between the world of the whites and that of his Creek heritage.

Moniac was born to Creek Indian Samuel Manac in 1802. Sam owned and operated an inn that was located just south of Montgomery and served the many travelers that ventured along the Federal Road. David's mother was Elizabeth Weatherford Moniac who was the sister of William Weatherford (Red Eagle) the famed Creek leader of the 1813-14 Creek War. Sam Manac, on the other hand, served as a guide for the United States military during the conflict, a fact that demonstrated the depth of the Creek Civil War that was very much a part of the overall Creek War. In the end David Monac received the opportunity to attend the United States Military Academy at West Point, most likely as a result of the service of his father.

Reticent to attend West Point unprepared the young Moniac first studied with a tutor, John McLeod, before enrolling as a cadet. He graduated in 1822 as the first Indian to successfully navigate the nation's premier military institution. He was then poised to embark on an unprecedented career when he suddenly resigned his commission as a second lieutenant in the Sixth U.S. Infantry Regiment. It is believed that Moniac returned to aid his father who had fallen on hard times in Baldwin County having lost much of his property and turned to alcohol as solace. This point is underscored by a letter sent to Moniac in 1822, by his uncle David Tate that described the dire situation. Tate maintained that he had advised Manac to better manage his affairs but "it had no effect - he kept continually drunk, and made bad trades, and every advantage was taken."

As a result of family needs Moniac returned to manage the family's holdings. As the years past he acquired property and prestige raising cattle, farming, and breeding racing horses. He married Mary Powell and settled into the life of a country gentleman on his remote north Baldwin property. Moniac seemed settled on his estate and content in his domestic life when he was called back into service in 1836, to put down a short lived uprising among the displaced Creeks of eastern Alabama.

In was in that year that Brigadier General Thomas Sidney Jessup was detached from his post as Quartermaster General to put to rest a potential conflict with the Creeks in east Alabama. Many of the Indian residents of that part were unhappy with what they deemed corrupt land practices and speculation. Much of the force brought to bear in this incident was made up of Creek men including David Moniac. As a result of this event numerous Creeks were removed west opening up even more Alabama territory for settlement by eastern whites hungry for more land.

Also, in 1836, Moniac was called upon to lead a contingent of Creek troops in the Second Seminole War. He was commissioned as a Captain in the Creek Regiment of Volunteers in August 1836, and was subsequently promoted to major shortly before his untimely death. From 1817 onward, the United States had fought in a series of conflicts with the Seminole in Florida in a move to secure the territory from the Spanish and clear it of its Indian inhabitants. Over the next twenty years, however, the U.S. government had found little success in ending the confrontation with the Seminole. It was near the end of the Second Seminole War that Moniac found himself at the head of his Creek soldiers fighting a battle for their lives in a territory that was very formidable and certainly favored the indigenous Seminole.

In Wahoo Swamp, Moniac was charged with leading his men through this almost impassible quagmire. Faced with crossing an untested stream, not knowing its depth, but understanding that the enemy awaited on the other side, Moniac made his decision to charge headlong into the water and force the issue. He was cut down by a well placed Seminole musket shot and died immediately. His loss stymied the attack and eventually forced the withdrawal of U.S. forces including the 700 Creek volunteers that served under Moniac. Eventually the Seminole conflict subsided and Florida filled with settlers as had Alabama previously. David Moniac's legacy, especially after his actions at Wahoo Swamp, became one of self sacrifice and service to his men, his people, and his country.