Okeechobee Battlefield Historic State Park

On December 28, 1835, a U.S. army column of 110 men and a six-pound cannon trudged its way through the through the swamps of Florida. The unsuspecting regulars were ambushed by over 100 Seminole warriors. After an extended firefight, the regulars ran out of ammunition, and the Seminoles advanced with their clubs and tomahawks. Only two U.S. soldiers survived. The Dade Massacre, as it became known, initiated the Second Seminole War, the longest United States-Indian conflict in our nation's history.

In the early 1830s, the United States signed a treaty with the Seminole Indians of Florida calling for their removal west of the Mississippi. Not all Seminoles agreed with this treaty, and in the face of forced removal, several thousand Seminoles revolted. In response to the Dade Massacre and the outbreak of war in the swamps of Florida, the United States sent the U.S. Army to quash the rebellion and force the Seminoles west in 1835-1836. Yet the task of defeating and removing the Seminoles proved exceptionally difficult. Florida's swamps were dense and unwelcoming to white invaders; in the summer months, fever and dysentery ravaged the army's ranks. The Seminoles knew the local terrain, and their ranks were also bolstered with runaway slaves and Black Seminole warriors. The Seminoles waged a protracted guerrilla war, striking at vulnerable army targets and then disappearing into the swamps. The Seminole War dragged on.

In 1837, General Thomas Jesup (one of many generals to command the department during the Seminole War) developed a multi-pronged offensive into Florida. Creating seven columns consisting of U.S. Army regulars and volunteer militia (supplemented in some placed with Native allies, U.S. marines, and Navy sailors), Jesup hoped to trap the wily Seminoles and force them to fight (or surrender). To carry out his offensive, Jesup commanded some 4,000 military personnel and another 4,000 volunteer militia from Southern and Western states, the largest force gathered by during the Seminole War.

The southern prong of Jesup's offensive was to be led by Colonel Zachary Taylor. A veteran army officer with combat experience in the Black Haw War, Taylor proved a direct, unpretentious commander. On December 19, 1837, Col. Taylor marched southward from Fort Gardner in central Florida towards Lake Okeechobee. His expeditionary force consisted primarily of U.S. regulars from the First, Fourth, and Six Infantry, along 180 mounted Missouri volunteers and 70 Shawnee and Delaware Indians; all told, the command numbered 1,032.

As Taylor advanced into the heart of Seminole territory, his forces surprised and rounded up numerous Seminole prisoners along the way (including the noted Seminole leader Jumper). He built a small stockade during his advance (Fort Bassinger), leaving the sick and prisoners under guard. Learning that a party of Seminoles had fortified a position near Lake Okeechobee, Taylor forged ahead.

The Seminole force consisted of nearly 400-500 warriors under the command of three Seminole leaders: Sam Jones, Alligator, and Coacoochee. Their willingness to stand and fight against the Americans was reflective of the excellent defensive position they had chosen. The Seminoles were stationed atop a hammock (an elevated tree grove amid the swamps), surrounded by tall sawgrass and swampy terrain. Only one firm avenue of advance cut through the swamps towards the hammock, and the Seminoles had cleared the sawgrass there to provide a clear field of fire. In short, they were well fortified and confident.

Upon reaching the enemy's position, Taylor placed the Missouri militia front and center, supported by the Fourth and Sixth Infantry to the Missourians' right and left rear. The First Infantry was kept in reserve. The decision produced controversy: the proud Missouri regiment had suffered tremendous attrition on their journey to Florida (the once numbered 600), and their place in the vanguard almost assured heavy casualties. When the Missourians' commander Colonel Richard Gentry proposed encircling the Seminole camp (likely not possible given the terrain), Taylor supposedly accused him of cowardice.

At 12:30 p.m. on Christmas Day, the Americans swept forward towards the Seminole camp. They were met with a fierce fire. The Missourians were decimated; Colonel Gentry was mortally wounded, and the Missourian advance faltered. The regulars of the Fourth and Sixth took up the attack. The Sixth Infantry's Colonel Ramsey Thompson fell mortally wounded as well, crying out "Remember the regiment to which you belong!" before dying.[2] Under heavy attack, the Seminoles held stout for a time, but the Americans' numbers began to take their toll. When Colonel Taylor ordered the First Infantry forward to attack the Seminoles' right, their flank collapsed. The Seminoles retreated into the swamps. Battered, the Americans were unable to follow.

The American victory at Okeechobee proved costly. The Americans suffered 26 killed and 112 wounded. Although driven from the field, the Seminoles lost only 11 killed and 14 wounded (though perhaps more if they carried some of their casualties with them). The Americans' pyrrhic victory held limited strategic value. The Americans' captured 180 Seminoles during the expedition, along with 600 cattle and 100 horses. While the expedition and their defeat undoubtedly further eroded Seminole strength, the Seminole War would continue until 1842. And even by then, although most Seminole had been removed westward, several hundred rebellious Seminoles remained. The victory at Okeechobee bolstered Zachary Taylor's career, earning him a brevet promotion to brigadier general. His treatment of the Missourians, however, caused a considerable short-term political uproar, one he ultimately weathered. Taylor would go on to earn victories in the Mexican War, his heroism carrying him to the White House.

In 1939, the Daughters of the American Revolution and descendants of Colonel Richard Gentry raised a historical marker noting the battle site. In 2006, the state purchased the battlefield and subsequently established Okeechobee Battlefield Historic State Park. The park preserves and interprets the site and routinely hosts living history events.

1. "Okeechobee Battlefield Historic State Park." Florida State Parks. Web. Accessed December 7, 2020. https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/okeechobee-battlefield-historic-state-park

2. John K. Mahon. History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842. 1967. Reprint. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1985.

3. Joe Knetsch. Florida's Seminole Wars, 1817-1858. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 2003.

4. Richard W. Stewart, ed. American Military History, Volume 1: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 1775-1917. 2nd ed. Washington, D.C.: Center for Military History, U.S. Army, 2009.

5. K. Jack Bauer. "Zachary Taylor." Handbook of Texas Online. Web. Accessed Decmeber 8, 2020. https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/taylor-zachary

6. John K. Mahon. "Missouri Volunteers at the Battle of Okeechobee: Christmas Day 1837." The Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 2 (October, 1991): 166-176.