SW096 Okeechobee Battlefield Friends Commemorate Christmas Day 1837 Clash

We are neck deep now in the season for living history battle interpretations of the Seminole wars. In the last weekend of February, the Battle of Okeechobee takes center stage on the calendar. Fought on Christmas Day 1837 – that is, December 25th --  organizers for this event wisely chose to hold it annually on a later date.

This clash of arms is arguably the biggest battle of the Second Seminole War. It made a hero of commander, Colonel, later general, Zachary Taylor. The Army, the government, and the American people, goaded by newspapers, viewed it as a great victory over the Seminoles. Others, however, viewed it as a wash since the Seminoles did successfully evacuate both their families and themselves before escaping into the Everglades to fight another day.

We will examine this battle itself in a later episode. In THIS episode, however, we are joined by Dowling Watford, the mayor of the City of Okeechobee. He details what the battlefield park is offering visitors for this commemorative event. A life-long city resident and 5th generation Floridian, Dowling knows his town. A soldier-reenactor and member of both the Okeechobee Historical Society and Okeechobee Battlefield Friends, he knows his battlefield and park, and, for our purposes, his event.

 

 

Dowling Watford and Jim Flaherty, both Soldier living historians, stand stubborn and staunch. Courtesy Photo. (below) Dowling Watford, Mayor of Okeechobee and podcast guest, watches and, out of character, photographs a cannon firing at a living history demonstration. Courtesy Photo. 

 

 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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