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Post by Jim Boylston on May 28, 2007 23:44:07 GMT -5
Some years ago I read Frank Laumer's "Massacre", about the Dade massacre that effectively started the second Seminole War. The battle was eclipsed in the news three months later by the battle of the Alamo, and has since been relegated to a relative footnote in the public consciousness, so there's a bit of a connection with our favorite subject. At any rate, "Massacre" was a good read, and I pulled it off the shelf again today to give it another look. In researching Laumer, I found this interesting article from a couple of years ago. I think Laumer has managed to live out a dream that a lot of us share. www.sptimes.com/2005/12/23/Floridian/The_ghost_of_Ransom_C.shtmlI may head over to Bushnell this week and pay my respects. Jim |
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Post by TRK on May 29, 2007 7:47:31 GMT -5
Interesting article on Frank Laumer, Jim. I like his quote, "When it comes to research, I am like a squirrel chewing through a hickory nut. Gnaw long enough, and you'll break through."
One of my goals this summer is to finally read Mahon's history of the Second Seminole War.
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Post by Jim Boylston on May 29, 2007 8:24:59 GMT -5
Laumer has apparently updated and revised "Massacre" (now out of print) with "Dade's Last Command", which I haven't read.
I was also not aware that a film had been made on the subject, "Naked In The Sun", released in the late '50's.
I should pick up the Mahon book, too. Lots of personalities reappear in the Mexican War.
Jim
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Post by jagjetta on May 29, 2007 15:00:40 GMT -5
Wow...what a fascinating story. I have to admit, though, I am troubled by "an amateur historian's" success in persuading a judge to let him dig up a grave. And, from the article, it had little supervision. That is a nasty precedent! I am sure there are way too many potholers who would claim that "history would be best served" if they dug up graves in Texas, near Gettysburg, or anywhere else where soldiers might possibly be buried with or without their trappings of war.
I still seethe with anger when I think about a novelist's successful bid to disturb the remains of General and President Zachary Taylor in what was, in my humble opinion, little more than a Geraldo-like publicity stunt. Disturbing graves really clashes with Western culture's idea of death and "final rest".
Okay...I am crawling down off my soapbox.
John A-G
Iola, WI.
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Post by Jim Boylston on May 29, 2007 16:15:27 GMT -5
Here's another article I found, this one by Laumer, that provides a bit more detail about the Ransom Clark case. It seems that the body was disinterred by court order (after some legal wrangling), and a pathologist was on site when the grave was opened. Laumer did a prodigious amount of work leading up to this find. I do agree though, John, that most often it's best to let the dead rest in peace, and that we should learn to live with the mysteries. Here's a link to the article: www.lib.usf.edu/ldsu/digitalcollections/T06/journal/v03n2_81/v03n2_81_005.pdfI love reading about historical detective work. On a related note, in the introduction to "Massacre", Laumer mentions that his idea to write a narrative history of the Dade massacre came about as a result of reading Walter Lord's "A Time To Stand". He greatly admired Lord's style and hoped to capture the same feel. Jim |
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Post by jagjetta on May 30, 2007 7:48:55 GMT -5
Boy, thank you so much for sharing that bit of info, Jim! I thought there had to be more to the story than the Laumer going down to the hardware store and buying a shovel, trowel and a bucket!
John
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Post by sloanrodgers on May 30, 2007 11:53:12 GMT -5
Ransom Clark must have been one tough hombre to trek
so far while severly wounded. A Florida version of Texas
Ranger C. R. "Rufe" Perry.
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 5, 2009 14:54:15 GMT -5
Bump!
A couple of us were discussing the Seminole War offline, so I thought I'd give this old thread a bump.
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Post by TRK on Jun 5, 2009 16:07:05 GMT -5
I have to confess a lot of ignorance about the Second Seminole War. You know the old cliche: the Mexican War was the training ground for officers for the Civil War...well, the Second Seminole War was equally a training ground of sorts for many of the officers who gained fame in the Mexican War. Part of my problem is, I've never set foot in the state, and have little grasp of the historical geography and topography.
I do have Mahan's and Sprague's histories of the war, and a cool book that came out in 1996: The Men of Fort Foster: Enlisted Uniforms, Equipment and Artifacts of the United States Armed Forces, 1835-1847, which is mainly a material culture study of the army in the Second Seminole War. I plan to try to snag a copy of Laumer's "Massacre." Any other key sources I should check out?
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 5, 2009 17:28:11 GMT -5
"Massacre" is out of print, I think. Laumer updated it with a book called "Dade's Last Command."
I have a bio of Osceola, "Osceola's Legacy," by Patricia Wickman that might be worth looking up...I read it years ago, but don't remember too much about it.
Unfortunately, Florida is a state that cares little about her history. I live only a few miles from Lake Monroe, and you'd miss the marker for Fort Mellon if you didn't know where to look. Outside of St. Augustine you have to search pretty hard to find anything historical.
I attribute a lot of that to the fact that this is a state full of transients and transplants; very few natives (people are generally surprised to find I was born here), and that a lot of the natives were more interested in exploiting the state than preserving it. Most residents have been here fewer than 5 years, or so I've heard.
If you want fast food and tourist attractions though, we've got you covered.
Jim
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Post by garyzaboly on Jun 6, 2009 5:08:38 GMT -5
One of my prized books is a reprint (by Readex Microprint in 1966) of Woodburne Potter's THE WAR IN FLORIDA, actually published in 1836. Aside from including a solid if all-too-brief account of the Dade massacre, it has useful maps: one of the area of the war being fought, the other (pp. 138-139) a plan of the Dade battlefield, showing the road, timber breastwork, the position of the troops and guns before and after the ambush, ditto those of the men, who are drawn as prone bodies! Also, the landscape is very clearly drawn, from above. Comes with a key of course. It's always given me the best idea of this battle, and Laumer smartly included it in his book.
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Post by TRK on Jun 6, 2009 7:26:10 GMT -5
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Post by garyzaboly on Jun 6, 2009 13:40:43 GMT -5
Tom,
No problem, I'll scan both maps and send as jpgs.
Gary
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 7, 2009 19:54:42 GMT -5
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Post by Jim Boylston on Jun 7, 2009 20:12:26 GMT -5
...and stumbled on this site, which has some interesting looking titles. I'd like to see enlargements of the covers on a couple of them to get a better look at the artwork. www.seminolewars.us/publications.html |
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