suit. The highly mobile Seminoles usually
dodged each American riposte, but many vil-
lages and food stores were burned. By 1837,
Micanopy began having doubts about the wis-
dom of this war and the suffering it caused his
people, for he surrendered to American au-
thorities on March 18, 1837, without incident.
That June, a timely raid by braves under Osce-
ola kidnapped him, for he retained great sym-
bolic significance to the tribe. More fighting
followed before Micanopy arranged a parley
with Gen. Thomas J. Jesup and declared, “My
warriors are all dead... we have only women
and children... I can fight you no longer.”
Jesup responded by promptly and illegally
seizing the chief under a flag of truce. After a
brief captivity at Charleston, South Carolina,
Micanopy was sent west with about 200 of his
people to the Indian Territory.
The Seminoles, accustomed to a wetter,
swampy environment, found the transition in
hot, arid Oklahoma extremely difficult. Food
was scarce, rations and supplies were not de-
livered as promised, and relations with their
closely related Creek neighbors were tense
and unfriendly. Most Seminoles felt safer en-
camped in the vicinity of Fort Gibson than
among their fellow refugees. Micanopy was re-
signed to his fate and did his best to set an ex-
ample. He took up and encouraged agriculture
and urged authorities to create a separate
Seminole enclave. However, his perceived col-
lusion with the Americans eventually cost him
his position as head chief, and he never en-
joyed his prior success or influence over them.
In 1845, he signed a treaty that granted the
Seminoles semiautonomy from the Creeks, but
self-government was not achieved until 1855,
six years after the chief’s death on January 2,
1849, following a long sickness and alco-
holism. Micanopy was scarcely a warrior of the
magnitude of Osceola or Billy Bowlegs, but he
perhaps played a more useful role in helping
the Seminoles adjust to a new way of life.See also
OsceolaBibliography
Covington, James. The Seminoles of Florida.
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1993; Lan-
caster, Jane F. Removal Aftershock: The Seminoles’
Struggle to Survive in the West, 1836–1866.
Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1994;
Largent, Floyd B. “The Florida Quagmire.” American
History34, no. 4 (1999): 40–46; Laumer, Frank.
Dade’s Last Command.Gainesville: University Press
of Florida, 1995; Mahon, John K. The History of the
Second Seminole War.Gainesville: University of
Florida Press, 1967; Marotti, Frank, “Edward M. Wan-
ton and the Settling of Micanopy.” Florida Historical
Quarterly73 (1995): 456–477; Weisman, Brent R. Un-
conquered People: Florida’s Seminole and Miccosu-
kee Indians.Gainesville: University Press of Florida,
1999; Wright, J. Leitch. Creeks and Seminoles: The
Destruction and Regeneration of the Muscogulge
People.Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1986.MODEL, WALTER
Model, Walter
(January 24, 1891–April 21, 1945)
German General
A
ggressive and outspoken, Model was
one of Germany’s best defensive com-
manders. His talent for reversing criti-
cal situations earned him a reputation as “the
Führer’s fireman.” The wiry little general was
also one of few senior officers able to stand
up to Adolf Hitler—and prevail.
Walter Model was born in Genthin, near
Berlin, on January 24, 1891, the son of a music
teacher. He joined the army in 1909 and ful-