This engrossing study investigates the tactics, weapons, and combat
record of the Seminole warriors and US soldiers who fought three key
battles during the epic struggle for control of Florida.
During the 19th century, US forces confronted the Seminole people in a
series of bitter wars over the fate of Florida. After the refusal of the
Seminoles to move west to the Creek Reservation in Mississippi, the US
government sent troops to bring Florida under federal control, marking
the beginning of the Second Seminole War. On December 28, 1835, troops
led by Major Francis Langhorne Dade were ambushed and massacred en route
to Fort King. Two years of guerrilla warfare ensued, as the Seminoles
evaded the US forces sent to defeat them. Ordered to hunt down the
Seminoles, a US force led by Colonel Zachary Taylor incurred heavy
losses at the battle of Lake Okeechobee (December 25, 1837), but the
Seminoles were forced to withdraw. At the battle of the Loxahatchee
River (January 24, 1838), forces led by Major General Thomas S. Jesup
encountered a large group of Seminoles and met them with overwhelming
numbers and greater firepower. Despite their stubborn efforts to resist
the US military, the Seminoles were defeated and Florida became a state
of the Union in 1845. This fully illustrated study assesses the forces
fighting on both sides, casting light on the tactics, weaponry, and
combat record of the Seminole warriors and their US opponents during the
Second Seminole War.
