Audio
The Great Escape
Transcript
Emily Ward (0:19) - Welcome to Castillo conversations. My name is Emily Ward and I'm a Public History major at Flagler College and I've been interning at the Castillo de San Marcos. I am joined today by a special friend and a fellow resident of St. Augustine, Bobby Batson. We are going to talk to you about some of the most commonly asked questions about the history of the Castillo. So, Bobby, what do you want to talk about today? Bobby Batson (0:41) - Well, so you know how I'm from Tallahassee, I'm a diehard FSU fan. And I was curious about, you know, the Seminole Tribe and Chief Osceola. Is it true that Osceola and the other Seminoles were held as prisoners at the Castillo? Emily Ward (0:57) - Yes, in 1837, the United States Army captured and held many Seminole prisoners at the Castillo, which at the time would have been referred to as Fort Marion. Bobby Batson (1:07) - Yeah. And then there was escape. Can you tell me about how the Seminole escape that Osceola led like how that happened, how to go down? Emily Ward (1:14) - I can certainly tell you about the Seminole escape, but Osceola was not the one who led it. Bobby Batson (1:19) - Really then how did they escape? Or why wouldn't he have led it? Emily Ward (1:24) - Osceola was very sick with malaria when he was here at Fort Marion, and he was too ill to leave. The escape was led by another warrior named Wildcat, he and 19 others slipped out on the night of November 29th. Bobby Batson (1:36) - And how did they escape? Emily Ward (1:38) - We're not really sure. The US Army report says who escaped, when they escaped, but does not go into great detail on how they escaped. Wildcat's account goes into greater details. He describes waiting until there was no moon to have the cover of darkness, climbing on each other's shoulders and using ropes and more to go out the windows. What we know for sure, is that they were held in the rooms on the southwest corner of the fort. Most of the fort rooms do not have windows, but those ones do. So Wildcat's story is possible. Bobby Batson (2:10) - And then what happened after they escaped? Emily Ward (2:12) - A month later Osceola and the remaining Seminoles were transferred up to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina, and Wildcat was leading troops against the US Army at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee in December. Osceola died of his illness in January of 1838, and they buried him right outside of Fort Moultrie. Bobby Batson (2:31) - Do you think that we're ever going to discover all the details of that daring escape? Emily Ward (2:36) - The details of the escape may be less important than the fact that it happened at all. After Wildcat escaped from Fort Marion he continued to fight with Seminole forces and led many victories in battle. Some historians argue that his escape helped to rally weary fighters to continue their efforts and that his leadership changed the course of the war. If Wildcat had not escaped, the outcome of the war, and the future of the tribe could have been very different. Even today, most members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida trace their heritage back to those 20 prisoners who escaped. The war between the Seminole tribe and the US Army concluded in 1842, but there was never an official treaty ending the conflict. In 1842, many of the surviving Seminoles in Florida fled South seeking refuge in the Everglades, and the Army gave up their effort to remove them from the territory. To this day, the Seminoles still call themselves the unconquered people. Bobby Batson (3:27) - Well, I definitely wish that was true for our football team, but I'm glad the tribe went undefeated. Anyways, thank you for answering the questions. That was actually really great to finally learn so thank you for that. Emily Ward (3:40) - Thank you for asking, and thank you to everyone for listening to this episode of Castillo Conversations, The Great Escape.
Description
Join Emily Ward, Flagler College Public History Intern at Castillo de San Marcos, and Bobby Batson, fellow resident of St. Augustine, to discover how the fort is connected to the "Unconquered People," the Seminoles of Florida.
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