Second Seminole War

Second Seminole War
Part of the Seminole Wars and Indian removal

Rampage during the Second Seminole War.
DateDecember 23, 1835 – August 14, 1842
(6 years, 7 months, 3 weeks and 1 day)
Location
Florida, United States
Result Nominal end to conflict; no peace treaty; approimately 4,000 Seminoles forcibly transported to Indian Territory; approximately 575 Seminoles remained in Florida; unresolved conflict led to Third Seminole War in 1855.[1][2][3][4]
Belligerents
 United States Seminole
Commanders and leaders
Strength
more than 9,000 in 1837[5] cumulative 10,169 regulars, 30,000 militia and volunteers[6] 900–1,400 warriors in 1835,[7] fewer than 100 in 1842[8] 6,000 up to 10,000 total population in 1835
Casualties and losses
1,600 regular troops, unknown militia and civilian[9] 3,000[10][11] up to 5,500

The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Creek and Black Seminoles as well as other allied tribes (see below). It was part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as the Seminole War, is regarded as "the longest and most costly of the Indian conflicts of the United States".[12] After the Treaty of Payne's Landing in 1832 that called for the Seminoles' removal from Florida, tensions rose until fierce hostilities occurred in Dade's massacre in 1835. This engagement officially started the war although there were a series of incidents leading up to the Dade battle. The Seminoles and the U.S. forces engaged in mostly small engagements for more than six years. By 1842, only a few hundred native peoples remained in Florida. Although no peace treaty was ever signed, the war was declared over on August 14, 1842 by Colonel William Jenkins Worth.[13]

  1. ^ Rhodes, Rick (2003). Cruising Guide to Florida's Big Bend: Apalachicola, Chattahoochee, Flint, and Suwanee Rivers. Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing Company. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-1-58980-072-4.
  2. ^ Schultz, Jack Maurice (1999). The Seminole Baptist Churches of Oklahoma: Maintaining a Traditional Community. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. p. 36. ISBN 978-0-8061-3117-7.
  3. ^ Swanton, John Reed (1922). Early History of the Creek Indians and Their Neighbors, Issue 73. Washington, D.C.: US Government Printing Office. p. 443.
  4. ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2011). Encyclopedia of North American Indian Wars, 1607–1890. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 719. ISBN 978-1-85109-697-8.
  5. ^ Missall 122–25
  6. ^ Mahon 323, 325
  7. ^ Buker 11
    It is not clear whether this number includes Black Seminoles who often fought alongside the Seminoles.
  8. ^ Mahon 318
  9. ^ Mahon 321, 325.
    Missall 177, 204–205.
    Florida Board of State Institutions. 9.
  10. ^ Foner, Eric (2006). Give me liberty. Norton.
  11. ^ Mahon 321
  12. ^ Lancaster 18.
  13. ^ Bauer, P. (2021, December 21). "Second Seminole War". Encyclopædia Britannica.