SW0130 Martial Matters 7: Army Uses Duplicity, Settlers to Subdue Seminole When Decisive Battle Fails

After the Battles of Okeechobee and Loxahatchee, the Seminole changed their strategy to avoid any confrontations that could potentially cause mass removal to Oklahoma Territory. In response, the U.S. Army adapted as well, and engaged non-kinetic means in an attempt to subdue Seminole in Florida.

Jesse Marshall returns to discuss how the Army employed parlay, bribery, cheating, and duplicity in its attempts to force the Seminole to capitulate. In the end, the Army gave up and left the task to the well-regulated militia -- often homesteaders with a stake on "free" land that they defended with a musket or rifle. This was codified in the Armed Occupation Act of 1842.

Courtesy Illustration by Adam Hook

The U.S. Army employed duplicity when it detained Osceola, who was carrying of a white flag to parlay. It also imported bloodhounds from Cuba in an attempt to sniff out the Seminole. It failed but not before public opinion turned on the service for using the dogs in this fashion. Popular illustrations of the time ridiculed the bloodhound use.

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Fla.

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