Combat· Second Seminole War
Powell's expedition
A more ambitious version of the boat warfare that Lieutenant Levin Powell was making his specialty.
Building on the Charlotte Harbor operation, Powell led a combined Navy and Marine boat expedition along the southeastern Florida coast, pushing inland from the coastal waters up the Miami, Ratones, and New River systems into the trackless country behind the shore. The idea was to carry the fight to the Seminoles in the watery, roadless terrain where conventional columns could not follow, using ships' boats to move and supply a landing force deep into the interior. The expedition produced no casualties and no large battle, but it was an important proof of concept: it showed that Marines and sailors could operate as a self-contained amphibious raiding force well beyond the beachhead. Powell's riverine experiments anticipated the larger Everglades operations that McLaughlin's flotilla would mount a few years later.
Podcast episodes on Second Seminole War
Record no. 306