Seminole Chief Osceola by William R. Sanford

Author:William R. Sanford [Sanford, William R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4645-1168-4
Publisher: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2013-04-05T04:00:00+00:00

chapter 7

Two New Foes

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Osceola was a brilliant leader who made no mistakes.

Early in 1836, Winfield Scott took the field against Osceola. Scott was a hero of the War of 1812. Now Scott had his orders: He was to defeat the Seminoles once and for all. Scott could have as many troops, supplies, and weapons as he wished.

In March, Scott launched his plan. He divided his force into three groups. The 2,000 men of the right wing would invade Osceola’s heartland. They would drive the Seminoles southward. There two forces would await them. The 1,250 men of the center wing would head north from Fort Brooke. They would march to a point near the Withlacoochee. The left wing had the toughest job. Its 1,400 men were to march from the east coast. They would head for a spot near the Dade massacre site. Their route would lead them across some of the roughest terrain in the state.

Osceola was a brilliant leader who made no mistakes. The women and children were well-fed and safe. He kept a good supply of powder and lead. Few Seminoles had lost their lives. Osceola would not bunch his forces. Instead he divided his men into bands of two-hundred warriors. He told them what to do when they met soldiers. If they outnumbered the soldiers, attack. Otherwise let the soldiers pass by.

Scott began the right wing’s advance on March 25. For a week the troops slogged through the swamps. The Seminoles flitted ahead from island to island. Scott gave up; there was no way he could catch Osceola. After two weeks the right wing marched to Fort Brooke. The center wing had arrived the day before. It too had no success. The left wing marched from St. Augustine to Fort Brooke. The Seminoles harassed them all the way.

Scott’s plan was a failure. It might have worked elsewhere. But it was not suited to fighting Seminoles in the swamps. The army was no closer to defeating Osceola. In April, Scott left Florida. He went to Alabama to fight the Creeks.

General Richard Call then took over the fight. His plan was simple. He would force Osceola into a big battle. If Osceola lost just once, Call thought, his people would desert him. Call waited all summer for more troops. Meanwhile the army had abandoned Fort Drane. So Osceola and his men moved in.

Call’s advance reached Fort Drane on October 1. Osceola did not stand and fight as Call wanted. Instead the general found the fort empty. Call pushed on into the Wahoo Swamp. He used bloodhounds to track the Seminoles. But the warriors lay in wait. Then they killed the dogs with heavy charges of buckshot.

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