Battle of Withlacoochee was a Early Republic and War of 1812 engagement fought in Florida, 1835. It was an American victory.
On December 31, 1835, forces clashed along the Withlacoochee River in what is now Citrus County, Florida, in an engagement that unfolded as part of the Second Seminole War.
On December 31, 1835, forces clashed along the Withlacoochee River in what is now Citrus County, Florida, in an engagement that unfolded as part of the Second Seminole War.
Passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 set the stage for hostilities pitting the Seminole, Mikasuki, Creek, and other allied tribes against the U.S. Army within the Territory of Florida. Tensions boiled over in the Dade battle, an event many regard as the opening clash of the Second Seminole War. Just days after Major Dade and his column met their fate, though word of it had not yet reached other units, the Army sent out a force with orders to wipe out a band of Seminole camped in a region known as "the Cove," situated along the southwest bank of the Withlacoochee River.
The soldiers, made up of regular troops under Gen. Duncan L. Clinch alongside militia commanded by Richard K. Call, reached the Withlacoochee River on December 31, 1835. The bulk of the volunteer militia had enlisted for a term of just three weeks, since those in command of the U.S. military expected that period to be sufficient for breaking Seminole resistance entirely.
At that point, neither Clinch nor his men yet knew that American forces had been defeated at the Dade battle just three days before.
The regulars went first, edging across on a single canoe that made for painfully slow progress. Meanwhile several militiamen chose to swim their horses over, though doing so meant stripping off clothes and weapons and leaving them behind on the bank. To make matters worse, the water ran higher than anyone had anticipated.
By the time about 225 American soldiers had made it to the other side, Seminole warriors hidden in wait opened fire on them. General Call had been busy rigging up a footbridge from logs, pushing his men across as quickly as possible when the ambush struck. He responded by ordering the remaining troops to get over however fast they could manage, then took the canoe himself and crossed even as the battle reached its fiercest point. A good number of volunteers managed to reach the far bank during the chaos of fighting, and this kept the Indians from wedging themselves between the regulars and the river to sever their escape. Among those wounded in the clash was Officer Leigh Read, a man who would later rise to brigadier general of the Florida militia before the war's end.
Approximate location. The nearest recorded settlement is shown; the exact site is unrecorded.
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