Page 28 - Our Place in History

Ormond Beach, Florida

Third Seminole War

1855–1858

This struggle, also known as the Billy Bowlegs
War, was the final clash of an intermittent guerilla
conflict between the Seminole Indians of Florida and
the United States. It had started in 1817 with fierce
Seminole resistance to land-coveting white settlers
encroaching from neighboring Georgia, and then
resumed in 1835. The U.S. had adopted a policy of
removing Indians to "Indian Territory" west of the
Mississippi. By the mid-1850s, more than 3,000
Seminole had been deported.

Relentless U.S. military incursions, complete with
bloodhounds, reduced the Seminole population to
between 200 and 300. The war ended with Bowlegs'
surrender on May 7, 1858. He had only 40 warriors
with him. Shortly after, Colonel Loomis, commander
of the forces in Florida, announced an end to all
hostilities. In effect, the U.S. government had
abandoned efforts to remove all Seminoles.

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