During the Seminole Wars in Florida, the United States Army constructed over 200 fortifications in its efforts to push the Seminoles South and force them into compliance with the Unites States Government's plan to remove them to the west. The major tactic of General Thomas Jesup, the supreme commander in Florida, was the construction of numerous fortifications that supplied the troops with the materials required to wage a successful campaign. The fortifications throughout Florida served many practical purposes such as supply depots, hospitals, and staging centers in warfare against the Seminoles. Without the military presence and capabilities of the forts in Florida the United States Government would have been engaged in a longer and less effective campaign against the Seminoles.
The Second Seminole War should be understood as an insurgency. The Seminoles actions of rebellion in response to the orders of the United States to leave Florida resulted in the beginning of a new strategy of warfare, which ended the ability of the military to confront a standing army. Fort Foster represents the role that forts played in both the strategy and tactics of a counterinsurgency. By understanding the role Fort Foster played in the Second Seminole War the actual political and military functions of forts are observed. Examining the military tactics and documented records reveal the public perceptions of wars in the nation's history.
