The Free and the Dead: The Untold Story of the Black Seminole Chief, the Indigenous Rebel, and America’s Forgotten War

In this lively revisitation of the Seminole Wars, journalist and historian Holmes (12 Seconds of Silence) highlights the fortitude and clever military tactics of the rebels. The 1835 standoff between the Seminole tribes under Chief Micanopy and the U.S. government under President Andrew Jackson was precipitated by U.S. acquisition of Florida from Spain in 1821. Southern Americans rushed in to violently claim lands and expand slavery. When Jackson became president in 1829, he demanded the Seminoles relocate to Oklahoma; when some Seminoles refused, he sent the Army to forcibly remove them. Micanopy and his close “Fellowhood” of advisers, including a free Black American known as Abraham and the famous Creek warrior Osceola, were among those who encouraged the Seminoles to stay and fight. Abraham, Micanopy’s “sense bearer,” a position akin to prime minister or privy counselor, was able to move through both the Indigenous and white worlds, and frequently reconnoitered in the latter. Meanwhile Osceola led guerilla forces in lightning-quick attacks that then melted away into Florida’s inhospitable swamplands and nearly impenetrable interior. Holmes also spotlights the American military officers who led the invasion, and whose racist underestimation of their opponents, particularly because many were Black, led to the “costliest” conflict of the Indian Wars. Fast-paced and action-packed, it’s a riveting look at courage and military prowess displayed in the face of insurmountable odds. (Feb.)