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EYES TO THE OKEECHOBEE
31" X 60" Oil Painting
Video
Colonel Zachary Taylor on the eve of the battle of Okeechobee,
December 24, 1837.
As the Second Seminole War dragged into a second full year, U.S.
Army Commander General Sydney Jesup initiated a state-wide sweep
intended to engage and capture the numerous bands of fugitive
Seminole warriors.
In December of 1837, one of the armies in this operation was commanded
by Col. Zachary Taylor. His three regiments of Infantry, a regiment of
Missouri Volunteers and a militia unit known as "Morgan's Spies", moved
from the west of Florida to the east, seeking a large band of Seminoles
believed to be somewhere near the great lake of Okeechobee. They were
encountered on the shores of the lake on Christmas Day and a bitter battle
was waged.
The Seminoles were well positioned in the thick hammocks and had a clear
fire zone as the armies approached their front. Casualties were great for
the soldiers especially the Missouri Volunteers, who were at the forward
position as they advanced. Their Commander, Col. Richard Gentry died on
the field leading his men. The Seminoles were eventually routed from their
positions but many escaped from the soldiers to fight again. It was the
last time that the Indians would face the military in a conventional
engagement. They would hereafter fight a running, guerrilla style war.
The painting portrays Col. Zachary Taylor and the massed column of his
command on Christmas Eve, looking south toward the
distant Lake Okeechobee
where the following day they would fight the largest battle of the wars.
Zachary Taylor would later command troops in the war with Mexico and
eventually become the twelfth President of the United States.
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