Seminole Wars Swamp Skirmish!
The swamps of Florida witnessed a hard-fought clash between attacking US marines and defending Seminole Indians on Friday 21 November at the Centre, as Philip staged a Sharp Practice game in 28mm using his very nice figures.
The terrain was swampland, as Doug commanded four Seminole tribes and two groups of Maroons (ex-slaves), while Rob and Patrick led six groups of US Marines and three Tennessee skirmisher units.
The Indians concentrated at their primary deployment area at the rear of the raised island (hammock) at their table edge.
The Marines and skirmishers piled on at the opposite side of the table.
More Indians arrived on the right, as both sides built up forces and moved towards one another.
They soon approached each other from either end of a hammock toward the centre-right of the table.
Tennessee skirmishers in buckskin initially dealt a couple of shocks to the leading unit of Seminoles, who pulled back.
However, a Seminole unit on the Indian left soon charged a unit of Tennessee, inflicting two shocks with tomahawks…
The melee was bloody indeed: the skirmishers rolled 6 dice, the Indians 8 dice, and the skirmishers were wiped out to a man! (Although two Indians were killed and received one shock marker.)
Doug’s Indians passed through their own lines and soon forced more skirmishers to evade…
However the recently triumphant Indians on the flank received 4 shocks from the Marines and retreated 9 inches… and later routed
Doug tried another charge by a Seminole unit on the hammock but stopped short and the Marines dealt four shocks. The Marines soon followed up and attacked the rear of the Indians who had failed to charge, destroying them!
The Indians were down to 3 command morale points, and looked to have been broken. Another desperate Seminole charge on the Marines killed two, but the Indians lost four and took three shocks, and were pushed back
The Indians were badly mauled and the remnants of three units were retreating, barely held together by a rearguard of the Seminole unit least damaged by the carnage.
The US forces kept advancing, and soon secured the hammock, despite weak resistance from the Indian rearguard
The Indians lost three ‘tribe’ units, whereas the US forces lost a unit of Tennessee skirmishers and a handful of marines.
Conclusion
A bloody encounter in an unusual war, well umpired by Philip. We discussed using blinds next time to better simulate Seminole knowledge of the ground, although Sharp Practice rules allow for late deployment via mobile deployment areas. The US forces had superior rifles, but were potentially vulnerable to Seminole ambushes, which were not really simulated on this occasion, as the game devolved into a more conventional fire-fight.
Who are the Seminole?
Historically, the Seminole are a Native American people who emerged in Florida in the 18th century from the Muscogee, Creek, and other groups, and are known as the ‘Unconquered People’ for their resistance to removal by the U.S. government. Today, they are represented by three federally recognized tribes in Oklahoma and Florida. The Seminole Wars (1818-1858) saw the U.S. government’s attempts to forcibly remove the Seminole from their land, which led to three major wars. Despite significant resistance, many Seminoles were killed, captured, or forced to relocate to what is now Oklahoma.
