Combat· Second Seminole War
Charlotte Harbor expedition - Myacca River campaign
An early example of Marines operating as a boat-borne column in the Seminole war.
Lieutenant Levin Powell of the sloop USS Vandalia took two boats and about forty officers and men, including a small Marine detachment, from Tampa Bay to Charlotte Harbor to relieve settlers who had been attacked by Seminoles under Chief Wy-ho-kee. Once there, the naval party was placed under Army control and joined the campaign up the Myacca River into the interior of southwestern Florida. First Lieutenant Andrew Ross of the Marines accompanied the expedition as a volunteer and was given command of one of its columns, an early instance of a Marine officer leading a mixed force in the field. The expedition returned to Tampa Bay in late April. It produced no Marine casualties and brought no decisive engagement, but it pioneered the riverine, boat-and-shore method that the Navy and Marines would develop over the course of the Florida war.
Podcast episodes on Second Seminole War
Record no. 305