SW052 Military Strategist Examines Evolution of U.S. Army War Preparations on Eve of 2SW

For nearly 250 years and with a few notable exceptions, US Army readiness has swung like a pendulum from woefully inadequate to veritable invincible force in its engagements for war. From the Revolution to the War of 1812, from the Civil War to the Second World War, too often the Army began fighting unprepared and only over time – and at great cost in blood and treasure -- has it righted itself to gain the victory it sought.

The Second Seminole War was little different. The Army entered unprepared for an extended conflict with Florida Indians. Fortunately, the fate of the Republic was not at stake. After getting whipped in its early encounters with the Seminole in late 1835 and throughout 1836, the Army muddled along through failed strategies and failed tactical execution, through poor supply, poor medicine, and poor conditions, until it belatedly recognized the futility of total Seminole removal, declarejd victory and went home. It left behind roughly two hundred ravaged but still defiant Seminole warriors and their families to live in peace, at least for the time being. It learned some lessons from the conflict but these were quickly forgotten, along with the war, when hostilities finally ceased. The Army's lesson was not to get involved in THIS kind of war again. 

Historically, why has the Army done this? In Preparing for War: The Emergence of the Modern U.S. Army, 1815-1917, JP Clark, a US Army colonel, Army War College professor, military strategist, and military historian, answers why, especially for the Second Seminole War. He weaves the chronicle of the US Army's state in the 1830s into an overall century-long narrative of challenge, change, and adaptation. He examines four generations of Army forces and how military culture evolved from just after the War of 1812 until our expedition overseas in Europe for the Great War in 1917.

Although every Soldier carried a musket, marksmenship was limited to rote reputation of the manual of arms and close-order drill. Soldiers rarely practiced weapons firing. Despite the weapon's inaccuracy, they were important because one could affix bayonets -- the ultimate weapon of the era. (courtesy photos)

Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 

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