Blacksmith Gerry Jamison and his assistant Clinton Bast showed students how to shape iron. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

Blacksmith Gerry Jamison. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

At the soldiers' camp, students learned how soldiers fought in the Second Seminole War. Left to right are Brian Burback, James Marshall and Jaxon Arrants. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

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OKEECHOBEE – Okeechobee school children learned about the Battle of Okeechobee when they visited the Okeechobee Battlefield State Park on Feb. 27.

Groups of students visited the blacksmith, the Army doctor’s tent, the soldiers’ camp and the Seminole camp. They were also treated to demonstrations of Seminole beading work and frybread cooking. The last stop was a presentation about alligators and turtles.

Blacksmith Gerry Jamison said he has been a blacksmith for 50 years. He started as a farrier, shaping iron bars into horseshoes. He later became interested in using his blacksmith skills to shape iron into works of art.

He said the forge heats the iron to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. When the iron bar is taken out of the forge, it cools quickly, losing 50 degrees a second. The cooler the iron is, the harder it is to shape, he explained. That's why it is important to "strike while the iron is hot."

At the doctor's tent, Robert Feeney (who is not a medical doctor in real life, but is working on his PhD)  showed off some of the tools used by Army doctors in the Battle of Okeechobee. He said it was common for them to amputate an arm or a leg if a musket ball shattered the bone.  He said a doctor's medical kit included things like quinine to treat fever and malaria and opium to use as a painkiller.  They also carried mercury pills which were used to treat constipation, he explained, which was a common problem due to the soldiers' diet of hardtack (a dense cracker made from flour, water and salt) and salt pork. 

Feeney said doctors in 1837 did not know about disinfectants. He said they did not bother to wash their hands or surgical  instruments. Bandages might be rinsed out in the river or the lake and reused.

At the soldiers' camp, James Marshall told the students about the muskets Army soldiers used in the Battle of Okeechobee, showing them the parts of the musket -- the lock, the stock and the barrel -- as well as the bayonet that attached to the gun. He said they carried gunpowder and musket balls wrapped in paper, and it was important to keep the powder dry -- especially challenging in the Battle of Okeechobee because much of the battleground was flooded.  It was impossible to aim the muskets -- which had no sights -- so they just shot in the direction of the enemy  and hoped to hit something.  Marshall said historical interviews of soldiers who fought in the battle found most of them never even saw a Seminole Indian, who were hidden in trees and brush. The soldiers fired in the direction of the smoke from the enemy's guns.  He said sometimes soldiers added buckshot on top of the musketball, which made the musket more like a shotgun.

The annual Battle of Okeechobee Re-enactment will be held Feb. 28 and March 1 at the park, 3500 SE 38th Ave, Okeechobee. Gates open at 10 a.m. Narrated battle re-enactments will be at 2 p.m. daily.

The Battle of Okeechobee, fought on Christmas Day in 1837 was considered the bloodiest battle of the Second Seminole War.

OKEECHOBEE -- Dowling Watford was impressed by the beadwork of Evi Nunez, Sloan Bowers, Saede Johns and Sarah Randolph. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE -- Evi Nunez works on a beaded bracelet. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE -- Cooking demonstrations included fry bread and pumpkin bread. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE -- Blacksmith Gerry Jamison strikes while the iron is hot. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE -- Battle of Okeechobee re-enactors included Brian Burback of Brooksville, who has been a re-enactor for about 25 years; James Marshall of Hernando, who has been a re-enactor for 35 years; and Jaxon Arrants of Okeechobee who joined the re-enanctment group 2 years ago. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

OKEECHOBEE -- Harvard Burney of Fanning Springs is a Seminole warrior in the re-enactment. Burney is not a member of the Tribe but became interested in the history. He has been a re-enactor since 1997. [Photo by Katrina Elsken/Lake Okeechobee News]

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