Archaeology & History mark Seminole War Battle Anniversary

Today marks the 203rd anniversary of the Scott Battle of 1817. The first Native American victory of the Seminole Wars, this engagement took place on the bank of the Apalachicola River at what is now River Landing Park in Chattahoochee, Florida. Click play above to learn more about the battle and a new archaeology project that is aimed at finding key evidence from the battlefield itself!

The Scott Battle of 1817 at Chattahoochee, Florida

First U.S. Defeat of the Seminole Wars

by Dale Cox

The attack on Lt. Scott's boat as painted by Eric Sapronetti.

Editor's Note: The following is excerpted from historian Dale Cox's book The Scott Battle of 1817: First U.S. Defeat of the Seminole Wars.

- Excerpt - 

THE BLOODIEST DAY OF THE FIRST SEMINOLE WAR dawned not much different than other recent days on Florida’s Apalachicola River. Mount Tambora still exerted its influence on the weather of the world, and temperatures along the border of Spanish Florida were falling to levels lower than normal.

Aboard the open vessel commanded by Lieutenant Richard W. Scott of the 7th U.S. Infantry, men, women, and children shivered in the early morning mist. Some of the soldiers shivered from the cold, but nearly half of them shook with the fever that had overcome them on their long journey from the Alabama River to the Apalachicola. Onshore and hidden in the trees where they could not benefit even from the meager sunlight of the morning, Creek, Seminole, Yuchi (Euchee), and African warriors shivered as well. It takes time for the sun to rise high enough over the bluffs that tower above the east bank of the river for the woods and swamps below to benefit from its warming rays.

The Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee, Florida, as seen
from the air on a beautiful fall day.

Roughly one mile below the original confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, the course of the Apalachicola makes a full bend. The site of the junction is now beneath the waters of Lake Seminole just above the Jim Woodruff Dam. One mile below the dam, however, the river still swings around the same bend as it begins its southward flow to the Gulf of Mexico. A panoramic view of the curve of the river can be seen from the dock at Chattahoochee Landing, and in 1817, as a boat rounded the bend from the South, it would have been possible for its passengers to see straight up the channel to the point of land formed by the confluence...

...As the boat entered the widest part of the arc of the bend, it was pushed hard by the full force of the water pouring from the river’s two main tributaries. The Apalachicola was beginning its winter rise, a fact that made its current even stronger. The vessel was pushed from the center of the river towards the east bank as the men pulled hard on their oars to maneuver it against the current and around the bend. Their forward progress stalled as the current ran hard against the side of the boat and drove it ever closer to the bank. All that could be seen there were the trees and bushes of the swamp, and the focus of the lieutenant and his men was devoted almost entirely to the navigation of the large bend so that they did not run aground in the shallows.

The boat used by Lt. Scott's command was similar to the
Aux Arc ("Ozark"), a 38-foot keelboat that is coming from
Arkansas to take part in the reenactment on Dec. 6-8.

The chill of the morning replaced by the heat of the adrenalin running through their veins, hundreds of warriors waited in the thick trees and brush that lined the east bank at the point where the boat would be forced closest to shore. Stripped for battle and painted in their traditional colors and designs, they took careful aim with their rifles and muskets and waited for the signal to open fire.

Lieutenant Scott and his men were focused almost entirely on getting their boat around the bend and into the straight channel that would take them up to the confluence when the east bank of the Apalachicola River suddenly erupted with a solid wall of flame:

[The survivors] report that the strength of the current, at the point of the attack, had obliged the lieutenant to keep his boat near the shore; that the Indians had formed along the bank of the river, and were not discovered until their fire commenced; in the first volley of which Lieutenant Scott and his most valuable men fell. 

The site of the Scott Battle of 1817 at Chattahoochee, Florida.

The explosion of gunfire from the trees and bushes along the bank all but annihilated the able-bodied portion of Scott’s command. The lieutenant and most of his armed men went down without ever firing a shot. The boat now floated on the current and in minutes was pushed aground in the shallows. The various war cries of the Red Stick Creek, Seminole, Yuchi, and African warriors rose above the scene, drowning out the terrified screams of the women and children of Lieutenant Scott’s party.

Among the soldiers on the boat that day was a man identified only by his last name, Gray. Severely wounded in the first volley, he was still at Fort Scott when Major General Andrew Jackson arrived there in March 1818 at the head of a brigade of Georgia militiamen. In the campfires of the army camps, Gray described the speed and ferocity with which the attack took place:

…As those on board were hooking and jamming (as the boatmen called it) near the bank, and opposite a thick canebrake, the Indians fired on them, killing and wounding most of those on board at the first fire. Those not disabled from the first fire of the Indians made the best fight they could, but all on board were killed except Mrs. Stuart and two soldiers Gray, and another man whose name I have forgot, if I ever knew it; they were both shot, but made their escape by swimming to the opposite shore. 

- End of Excerpt -

By the time the battle ended, Lt. Scott, 34 men, 6 women, and 4 children were dead. There were Native American casualties as well, but the total number is known. Six soldiers, five of them badly wounded, escaped by leaping from the boat and swimming to today's Jackson County shore. 

Editor's Note: The only other survivor of Scott's command was Mrs. Elizabeth Stewart, the wife of a soldier. She was rescued by a warrior named Yellow Hair. Her complete story is a fascinating part of Cox's book, the newest edition of which was released this week! It is available in both book and Kindle formats.

You can order now by clicking the ad below. 

Eve of Battle: Lt. Scott's Last Night

"I am not able to make a stand against them."

by Dale Cox

The keelboat Aux Arc (pronounced "Ozark") is similar to the
one used by Scott's command. It will take part in the annual
reenactment set for Dec. 7-8 in Chattahoochee, Florida.

Editor's Note: The annual Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle Reenactment begins one week from today on Friday, December 6, in Chattahoochee, Florida. It commemorates the first U.S. defeat of the Seminole Wars, a decisive battle that took place on the Apalachicola River 202 years ago tomorrow.

Lt. Richard W. Scott navigated his shallow-draft keelboat up the Apalachicola River 202 years ago today. He knew that hundreds of warriors waited somewhere near the forks of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers, which form the Apalachicola on the border between Florida and Georgia. He kept going anyway, despite the warning of a longtime trader:

Mr. Hambly informs me that the Indians are assembling at the junction of the river, where they intend to make a stand against those vessels coming up the river; should this be the case, I am not able to make a stand against them. My command does not exceed forty men and one-half sick, and without arms. I leave this immediately. [1]

The Apalachicola River as seen from Spanish Bluff, today's
Neal Landing in Blountstown, Florida. This was the site of
William Hambly's trading post.

William Hambly and his friend and sometimes business associate Edmund Doyle had farms on the east side of the Apalachicola at present-day Bristol, Florida. Hambly also ran a trading post on the west bank at Spanish Bluff near the town of the Upper Creek chief John Blunt, where the city of Blountstown stands today. Doyle was the storekeeper of the John Forbes and Company trading post at Prospect Bluff lower down the river.

Hambly undoubtedly knew of the U.S. Army's attacks on Fowltown, and this news likely formed the basis of his warnings to Scott. The lieutenant had gone down the river from Fort Scott to assist Maj. Peter Muhlenberg in bringing the supply ships Phoebe Ann and Little Sally upstream. The sailing vessels were slowing coming up the river, but Maj. Gen. Edmund Gaines worried about the speed of their progress.

Instead of keeping Scott and his 40-men as the general suggested, however, Muhlenberg replaced 20 of the lieutenant's able-bodied men with 20 sick soldiers from his own detachment and ordered him to take them, 7 women, and 4 children to Fort Scott. A supply of regimental clothing for soldiers of the 4th Infantry was also placed on the keelboat.

The Jim Woodruff Dam stands at the original point where
the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers merged to create the
Apalachicola. The blue water beyond it is Lake Seminole.

Scott stopped at Hambly's trading post, which overlooked the river from Spanish Bluff, where Neal Landing park is located today in Blountstown. There Hambly warned him of danger ahead and found a Native American warrior willing to run a message through the woods to Fort Scott. He encouraged Scott to wait, but the lieutenant underestimated the danger and decided to continue moving upstream. [Note: Neal Landing in modern Calhoun County should not be confused with Neals Landing in neighboring Jackson County.]

Lt. Scott's vessel is often described as a "flatboat" or "barge" by modern writers but really was a keelboat. Flatboats and barges were generally rectangular vessels designed for downstream travel. Quite often, they were broken up after reaching their destinations and the lumber used in other construction projects. A keelboat, however, was a shallow-draft vessel that could move both up and downstream,

Scott's keelboat was similar to the 38-foot Aux Arc
(pronounced "Ozark"), which is coming from its homeport in
Arkansas to take part in this year's Scott 1817 Seminole War
Battle Reenactment on December 6-8 at Chattahoochee, FL.

Common on American rivers in the late 18th and early 19th-centuries, keelboats were the workhorses of the expanding republic. They could carry tons of cargo while still drawing less than 2-feet of water. In fact, they remained in use on rivers like the nearby Chipola long after the introduction of paddlewheel steamboats because they could go places that the larger vessels couldn't reach.

Steamboats were not yet in use on the Apalachicola, so the army depended on keelboats to move men and supplies. All were propelled by oars, and some even had masts and sails. They also usually had a cabin or shelter, and accounts from the time of Scott's voyage indicate that this was the case with his vessel.

By nightfall on November 30, 1817, 202 years ago today, Lt. Scott's boat was nearing the confluence of the Chattahoochee and Flint River. He and his command had made it as far as the vicinity of today's Interstate 10 near Aspalaga Bluff but thus far had not seen so much as a single warrior. That would change the next day.

Editor's Note: To learn more about these real events, please consider Dale Cox's newly updated book, The Scott Battle of 1817: First U.S. Defeat of the Seminole Wars. It is available now in both paperback and Kindle editions.



REFERENCES:

[1] Lt. Richard W. Scott to Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, November 28, 1817.

Black Seminoles march for the Apalachicola

Fighters from the Suwannee prepare to battle the U.S. Army.

by Dale Cox

Abraham was a prominent Black Seminole or Maroon
freedom fighter and "sense bearer" or advisor.
He is portrayed here by Antonio Wright.

The United States Army's attacks on the Creek Indian village of Fowltown ignited outrage across the Florida borderlands. (Please see First Blood at Fowltown and Neamathla battles Arbuckle for details on the two days of fighting at Fowltown).

News that U.S. troops attacked the town in the dark, killing women as well as men, brought warriors across the region to their feet. Any hope that Cappachimico, the principal chief of Miccosukee, and others had of avoiding war with the United States, was now gone. Even leaders friendly to the whites were upset over the unprovoked raids and warned that they might not be able to control their young men.

One group of men who responded to Neamathla's calls for help knew well what it meant to oppose the United States military. They were Maroons or escaped slaves - commonly called Black Seminoles - from Nero's town on the Suwannee River. They were black men for whom every battle was a fight for freedom, and every night brought fears of raids by slave catchers from Georgia or the Carolinas.

The real Abraham as he appeared two decades later.
This engraving by N. Orr appeared in the 1848 book
The Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Florida
War, by John T. Sprague.

Among these fighters were survivors of the deadly 1816 U.S. attack on the Fort at Prospect Bluff or "Negro Fort." Abraham, Polydore, and others were in the log and earth fort on the lower Apalachicola River when a heated cannonball from an American gunboat ricocheted off a pine tree and struck one of their three gunpowder magazines. The result was a horrible explosion that killed 270 men, women, and children in an instant. 

Now, just one year later, they grabbed their British-made Brown Bess muskets and started for the Apalachicola, where the Prophet Josiah Francis, an influential Red Stick Creek leader, was raising an army to fight the Americans. The Maroons or Black Seminoles marched with confidence because they still possessed a magazine of arms and ammunition that was removed from the Negro Fort before its destruction.

The number of men under Nero's command is difficult to determine, as estimates by white writers of the time vary wildly. The consensus seems to be that he commanded around 300 well-armed men, many of whom were trained during their time with the British Colonial Marines in 1814-1815. In fact, quite a few probably still wore their British uniforms in 1817, although they were definitely starting to assimilate to the culture of the Alachua Seminoles alongside whom they lived.

The Maroons or Black Seminoles were among hundreds of
warriors who gathered here on the Apalachicola River to
attack any U.S. boats trying to bring supplies upstream.

A large contingent of the black fighters was sent by the Prophet to join a force assembling just below the forks of the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers. The Red Stick chief "Homathlemico" (probably Hoboeithle Mico) commanded the group of 300-400 warriors. In addition to the men from Nero's town, they included angry warriors from Fowltown, a group of Yuchi from the lower Chattahoochee River, and many Red Stick Creeks. Others joined as well.

The plan developed by Francis and the other vital leaders was to blockade all approaches to Fort Scott and prevent supplies from reaching the soldiers there. The Prophet learned well from the Creek War of 1813-1814 that the only way to defeat the U.S. Army was to cut off its provisions. Any boats coming upriver would be attacked and stopped.

Lt. Scott's command was aboard a keelboat similar to the
Aux Arc (pronounced "Ozark"), seen here. The beautiful
vessel will participate in this year's Scott 1817 Seminole War
Battle Reenactments on December 6-8.

The strike force just below the confluence camped around the abandoned War of 1812 British fort that is commonly called Nicolls' Outpost today. Several U.S. reports refer to it as "Fort Apalachicola." It stood atop a large prehistoric Native American mound at today's River Landing Park.

They waited there for an American vessel to appear and offer them a chance to strike back not just for Fowltown but for the destruction of the Negro Fort one year before. The next boat to come into view on this section of the big river would be the keelboat commanded by Lt. Richard W. Scott of the 7th Regiment, U.S. Infantry.

Editor's Note: The Maroons or Black Seminoles played a critical role in the Seminole victory at the Scott Battle of 1817. Antonio Wright will portray the famed leader Abraham this year. More than 1,000 area school students will have a remarkable educational opportunity to learn the real Abraham's story during Education Day activities on Friday, December 6. Wright will be joined this year by Matthew Shack, a descendent of Maroons and noted educator from Gulf Coast State College, who will tell the students more about Black Seminoles and their struggle for freedom.

The annual Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle Reenactment takes place at River Landing Park in Chattahoochee on December 6-8, 2019. Entry is free to all. Click to visit Scott1817.com for more information.

Click play below to enjoy a brief 30-second preview of this year's reenactment:

Battle reenactments two weeks away in Chattahoochee, FL

Scott 1817 event to feature amphibious battle on the Apalachicola.

by Dale Cox

Red Stick Creek warriors like these will join two days of
battle reenactments at Chattahoochee, Florida, on
December 7-8, 2019.

Soldiers and warriors are set to battle it out as the 19th-century comes to life at River Landing Park in Chattahoochee, Florida on December 6-8, 2019.

The beautiful park on the Apalachicola River will host this year's Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle Reenactment, three days of living history events, demonstrations, battle reenactments, and more. Friday, December 6, is Education Day with more than 1,000 students coming from schools and home school groups throughout the region to learn about early 19th-century life. 

The authentic 38-foot keelboat Aux Arc ("Ozark") will be
part of the fighting as warriors attack her from the banks of
the Apalachicola River on December 7 & 8, 2019.

Saturday, December 7, and Sunday, December 8, will be the main public days. The grounds will be open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern/8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central each day. Visitors can explore the living history camps to meet Creek, Seminole, Miccosukee, Yuchi, and Maroon (Black Seminole) warriors and their families. Then they will meet early frontier settlers, the soldiers of Jacksonian Guard, early boatmen aboard the authentic 38-foot keelboat Aux Arc (pronounced "Ozark"), and more!

At 12:30 p.m. Eastern/11:30 a.m. Central on Saturday and 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central on Sunday, the public is invited to witness full-scale amphibious battle reenactments along the banks of the Apalachicola River! 

Ed Williams, the captain of the Aux Arc, demonstrates the
firing of the boat's swivel gun. Original accounts indicate that
such a cannon was fired in the Scott Battle of 1817.
Photograph by Tim Richardson

The Scott 1817 event commemorates the first battles of the Seminole Wars, which took place along the Florida-Georgia border in November 1817. These began on November 21, 1817, with the first U.S. attack on the Creek village of Fowltown (please see First Blood at Fowltown), followed by more fighting in the town near Bainbridge on November 23 (please see Fighting continues at Fowltown).

The first two battles were launched by the United States. The third and most deadly fight, however, came when Native American and Maroon (Black Seminole) forces retaliated at today's River Landing Park on November 30, 1817. Several hundred warriors overwhelmed Lt. Richard W. Scott's command, which was making its way upriver to Fort Scott on present-day Lake Seminole. Lt. Scott, 34 soldiers, 6 women, and 4 children were killed in action, 5 other soldiers were wounded. Seminole/Red Stick Creek casualties are unknown.

Soldiers of Pensacola's Jacksonian Guard will take part in
the battle reenactments as musket, rifle, and cannon fire
flash across the Apalachicola River at Chattahoochee, Florida,
on December 7-8, 2019.

The dead of both sides will be remembered in a unique luminary service on Saturday night, December 7, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Central. Participants will light 400 luminaries along the Apalachicola River to honor the men, women, and children, who died in the fighting not only at the Scott Battle of 1817 but in other actions across the area in 1816-1819. Included will be 270 luminaries for the victims of the 1816 explosion that destroyed the Fort at Prospect Bluff or "Negro Fort" on the Apalachicola River.

In addition to the battle reenactments, visitors can visit a mobile museum, see exhibits, explore vendors, buy lunch, and much more. The soldiers of the Jacksonian Guard will provide military drill demonstrations and perhaps even teach a little old-fashioned dancing as well!

The Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle Reenactment is FREE to visit and open to visitors of all ages on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern/8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central, and during the luminary service on Saturday night. Please visit Scott1817.com or www.facebook.com/scott1817 for more information.

River Landing Park is at 500 River Landing Road, Chattahoochee, Florida. See the map at the bottom of this page for directions. Also, be sure to enjoy this quick 30-second video preview! Just click play:

First Blood: The Dawn Attack at Fowltown

Day One of the Battle of Fowltown

by Dale Cox

The probable site of Fowltown in Decatur County, Georgia.

Note: The following is excerpted from my 2017 book Fowltown: Neamathla, Tutalosi Talofa & the first battle of the Seminole Wars. Today is the 202nd anniversary of the first day of the three-day-long Battle of Fowltown, the first engagement of the Seminole Wars. To read yesterday's preliminary article, please see Soldiers cross the Flint River.

- Begin Excerpt -

The morning of November 21, 1817, was seasonably cold, especially as the soldiers moved down into the broad basin of Fowltown Swamp and Four Mile Creek. The creek flows out of the swamp just over one mile east of the Flint River and then runs in a slightly northwest directly to its confluence with the Flint. The route of the march from Burges’s down to the swamp likely followed a trail shown on the 1819 District Plats of Survey on file at the Georgia Archives. This pathway or “road” ran parallel to the Flint River about halfway between the east bank and today’s Faceville Road (GA 97).  [1]

Neamathla (Eneah Emathla)
The primary chief of Fowltown.

Neamathla was not expecting an attack by U.S. troops and no warriors had been placed to guard his town against surprise. This allowed Twiggs to approach the town undetected and begin to form his companies for an enveloping movement:

…Having marched all the night of the 20th I reached the town before day light on the morning of the 21st & posted the troops in order of Battle intending silently to surround it & without blood shed bring to you the chief & warriors, but they fled from the companies of Majr. Montgomery & Cpt. Birch on my right & fired upon my left under Capts. Allison & Bee when they were fired on in return. Discovering my superiority of force they fled to a neighboring swamp. [2]

The exchange of fire between Neamathla’s warriors and the soldiers of Bee’s and Allison’s companies on Twiggs’s right flank was the first of the Seminole Wars. Fighting would continue with an occasional interruption for the next 41 years.

Maj. David E. Twiggs, USA
(As seen 43-years later)
Matthew Brady photograph,
Library of Congress.

Fowltown had been taken by complete surprise, and the firing on both sides was wild. No soldiers were wounded, and Twiggs reported that the Creeks had lost “but few as they received but one round & fled.” He did not provide estimates of Native American losses in his brief written report of the affair but apparently told Gen. Gaines that the fire of Neamathla’s men “was briskly returned by the detachment, and the Indians put to flight with the loss of four warriors slain – and, as there is reason to believe, many more wounded.” [3]

Gaines wrote to Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson on the day of the attack, informing him of the skirmish and reporting that the village’s casualties included at least one woman:

It is with deep regret I have to add that a woman was accidentally shot with some warriors in the act of forcing their way through our line formed for the purpose of arresting their flight. The unfortunate woman had a blanket fastened round her (as many of the warriors had) which amidst the smoke in which they were enveloped, rendered it impossible, as I am assured by the officers present, to distinguish her from the warriors. [4]

The Native American account of the attack was included in a letter from Cappachimico and Boleck (Bowlegs) to Gov. Charles Cameron in the Bahamas. The document appears to have been written for them by Alexander Arbuthnot and is somewhat garbled. The part that appears to refer to the pre-dawn attack of November 21 begins with a mention of the letter sent to Cappachimico by Gen. Gaines:

Creek Heritage Trail interpretive panel for the Battle of
Fowltown at Chason Memorial Park in Bainbridge, Georgia.

…This letter only appears to have been a prelude to plans determined on by the said General and General Jackson, to bring on troops and settlers, to drive us from our lands; and take possession of them; for, in the end of [November], a party of Americans surrounded Fowl Town during the night, and in the morning began setting fire to it; making the unfortunate inhabitants fly to the swamps, and who in their flight had three persons killed by the fire of the Americans. [5]

The troops remained in Fowltown only until daybreak. Maj. Twiggs reported that they did not destroy the town but left it intact. He did report to Gen. Gaines that a significant quantity of corn was seen in the corncribs of the village and that he and his officers had inspected Neamathla’s home. There, according to the general, they found “a British uniform coat (Scarlet) with a pair of gold Epaulettes, and a certificate signed by a british Captain of Marines.” The certificate noted that Neamathla had always been a “true and faithful friend to the British” and was signed by Capt. Robert White of the Royal Marines. [6]

Twiggs returned to Fort Scott with his battalion on the same day as the skirmish, taking with him little besides a few horses and a few head of cattle. He reported to Gen. Gaines that his men and officers all performed well in what was for many their baptism of fire. [7]

- End of Excerpt -

The first attack did not really rise to the level of a full-fledged battle, but the fighting at Fowltown was far from over and the fiercest encounter was still to come.

Editor's Note: This special series commemorates the opening days of the First Seminole War and provides historical background for the coming Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle Reenactment in Chattahoochee, Florida. The event is set for December 6-8, 2019, and features living history encampments and demonstrations, exhibits, a mobile museum, battle reenactments, vendors, and more. For more information, please visit Scott1817.com.

References:

[1] District Plat of Survey, Early County, District 20, October 5, 1825 (copied from 1819 plat), Survey Records, Surveyor General, RG 3-3-24, Georgia Archives.
[2] Bvt. Maj. David E. Twiggs to Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines, November 21, 1817, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Letters Received, National Archives.
[3] Ibid.; Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines to Gov. Peter Early, November 21, 1817, published in the New York Commercial Advertiser, December 15, 1817.
[4] Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines to Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, November 21, 1817, Jackson Papers, Library of Congress.
[5] Cappiahimico and Bowlegs to Gov. Cameron, n.d., included in The Trials of A. Arbuthnot and R.C. Ambrister, London, 1819: 19-21.
[6] Gaines to Jackson, November 21, 1817.
[7] Gaines to Jackson, November 21, 1817.

Jacksonian Guard to bring history to life in Chattahoochee, Florida!

Noted Pensacola unit to represent U.S. troops at Scott 1817 event!

by Dale Cox

Soldiers of the Jacksonian Guard fire a salute during a Colors
Ceremony at Plaza Ferdinand in Pensacola. The celebrated
unit is coming to this year's Scott 1817 Seminole War event.

Pensacola's acclaimed Jacksonian Guard will be on hand as history comes to life at Chattahoochee's River Landing Park on December 6-8, 2019!

As promised in the wake of Hurricane Michael, the annual Scott 1817 Seminole War Battle reenactment and living history event is coming back to River Landing Park this year. Activities begin on Friday with education day for students from schools and home school organizations across the region Saturday and Sunday feature a wide range of activities for the whole family.

The Jacksonian Guard was established in 2016 to reenact soldiers of the United States and Spain during Florida's last days as a Spanish colony. This was the time of the First Seminole War (1817-1818) when the Scott Battle of 1817 was fought at the site of today's River Landing Park in Chattahoochee.

Drummers and fifers of the Jacksonian Guard portray the
youthful composition of the U.S. Army in 1817-1821.

Sponsored by Visit Pensacola and the University of West Florida Historic Trust, the Jacksonian Guard includes soldiers, fifers, and drummers who perform a Colors Ceremony on the third Saturday of every month in Plaza Ferdinand in Downtown Pensacola. That is where the actual change of flags took place on July 17, 1821, marking the official transfer of West Florida from Spain to the United States.

The Jacksonian Guard will be at River Landing Park on Saturday, December 7, and Sunday, December 8, this year, to provide a variety of demonstrations including military salutes, the manual of arms, fife and drum music, musket firing demonstrations. The soldiers will even introduce visitors to dance styles of the early 1800s! They will also take part in a unique memorial service for the soldiers and civilians, Native Americans, and Maroons (Black Seminoles) who lost their lives in the Scott battle on Saturday night, December 7, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern/5:30 p.m. Central.

Soldiers of the Jacksonian Guards demonstrate arms and
uniforms of the U.S. Army in 1817-1821.

The soldiers of the Jacksonian Guard will board the authentic 19th-century replica keelboat Aux Arc ("Ozark") on Saturday and Sunday for the reenactments of the Scott battle. They will represent the soldiers of the 4th and 7th U.S. Infantry Regiments who fought under Lt. Richard W. Scott on November 30, 1817, in the first U.S. defeat of the Seminole Wars. The battle ultimately led to Spain's surrender of Florida to the United States.

The Jacksonian Guard's appearance is made possible by a travel grant from Two Egg TV.

This year's battle reenactments will take place at 12 noon Eastern/11 a.m. Central on Saturday and 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central on Sunday (December 7 & 8). 

The Scott 1817 event will take place daily from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. Eastern (8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Central) on Friday through Sunday, December 6, 7, and 8, 2019.

Friday is education day, with hundreds of school students from throughout the area scheduled to attend. Saturday and Sunday are the main public days, and families from throughout the region are encouraged to attend. All events are family-friendly. This is an alcohol-free event. There will be food concessions, vendors, exhibits, and much more for families to enjoy.

The Scott 1817 event is free to attend. Donations are welcome and encouraged!

This year's event is sponsored in part by the Focus Foundation and Two Egg TV with support from Chattahoochee Main Street and the City of Chattahoochee.

For more information, please visit scott1817.com or www.facebook.com/scott1817.