SW0126 Martial Matters 3: Keeping and Bearing Arms with the Militia in Seminole Wars Era Proved Anything But Simple

 

Militiamen brought whatever arms they had to muster for use against the Seminole. This image is a 
re-enactment at Fort Cooper State Park in Inverness, Fla. Photo by Andrew Foster

 

In this episode, our Martial Matters guest, Jesse Marshall, gives us the ins and outs on the right to keep and bear in territorial Florida during the Second Seminole War and how that included militia service. Specifically, we will examine how US citizens used that right for their own protection and for service in the militia when called upon.

 

Living Historian Jesse Marshall "inspects" a militia formation at Dade Battlefield Historic State Park in Bushnell, Fla.

Various weapons a militia soldier might take to a muster include rifles, muskets and even swords. 

 

Quality and motivation among militiamen varied. 

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Fla. 

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