Expanding KOCOA’s Potential: The Role of a West Point Military Academy Education on the Second Seminole War Florida (1835-1842)

Summary

The field of conflict archaeology has begun embracing KOCOA as a regular part of battlefield analysis. However, I argue KOCOA can be further expanded to include indirect expressions of warfare and incorporate them into a meaningful discussion of their role in the outcome of conflict. To accomplish this, I develop a model that allows for the investigation of hypotheses about decision-making processes and their effectiveness using the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) in Florida as a case study. In the early nineteenth century, the military as a cultural institution indoctrinated cadets through extensive training at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY. I propose this standardized education had a significant effect on the shape, direction, and outcome of the conflict. There was an educational discontinuity between the knowledge gained through training and the knowledge needed in the field when it came to the swamps and hammocks of Florida. 

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Boundaries and Defenses: Current Archaeological Perspectives on Areas of Conflict

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 522