Osceola and the Great Seminole War: A Struggle for Justice and Freedom

Thom Hatch's book on the Seminole leader Osceola provides a great overview of a man who fought hard to retain the way of life of a people that was threatened by the encroachment of the white man. Actually of Creek origin, Osceola (AKA Billy Powell) was chased out of southern Alabama after the Creek Wars and merged his people with those of the Seminole who had a similar culture. The war left Osceola bitter and he did what he could to fight the Americans who were at that time entered into the Spanish territory of Florida to retrieve black slaves who fled from their masters by entering into the area.

The book details the warfare that went on. Despite the cunning and skill of Osceola and his warriors, the sheer numbers of United States soldiers entering into the fray left little doubt that it was only a matter of time before the war was lost and the result would be that many of the Seminoles would be shipped west over the Mississippi. Deceit was the order of the day with many of the Seminole being fooled or bribed into signing treaties that majority of the tribe rejected. Unfortunately, Osceola was a product of his time and did some things that were not right. Two that came to mind in reading this book is that he murdered Wiley Thompson who imprisoned and humiliated him. Osceola also warned his fellow tribesmen that any who agreed to move west would be killed. Being free to do what one wanted in the tribe only went so far. Nonetheless, the book was a great read and showed Osceola as he was; he was not a pure man, but he showed courage in the face of impossible odds and fought for freedom of his people to a large extent. The book has 275 pages of text and a great index and bibliography. There were some errors in the book, especially listing a point in central Florida as the high point of the state, when in fact the high point is in present-day Walton County in the Florida panhandle.