Nobody's Hero. Frank Laumer

      Pineapple Press, Inc.

      Sarasota, Florida

      Copyright © 2008 by Frank Laumer

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

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      Pineapple Press, Inc.

      P.O. Box 3889

      Sarasota, Florida 34230

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      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Laumer, Frank.

      Nobody’s hero / Frank Laumer. -- 1st ed.

       p. cm.

      ISBN 978-1-56164-431-5 (alk. paper)

      1. Clark, Ransom--Fiction. 2. Dade Massacre, Fla., 1835--Fiction. 3. Seminole War, 2nd, 1835-1842--Fiction. I. Title.

      PS3612.A944224N63 2008

      813’.6--dc22

       2008027858

      First Edition

      10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

      ISBN978-1-56164-594-7 (e-book ISBN)

      Design by Shé Hicks

      Cover art by Jackson Walker

      Printed in the United States of America

      All the shadowy peoples of the past have lived perplexed and haunted by mystery as we live, have gone out into the Great Darkness with hearts full of wistful doubt and questioning, as we go. Surely there is something beyond the darkness, where light and peace shall come to all who, however defeated, have tried to be true and loyal; where the burden shall be lifted and the heartache shall cease; where all the love and hope that slipped away from us here shall be given back, and given back forever.

      —F.H. Balch, Bridge of the Gods

Acknowledgments

      For nearly fifty years I have been searching for Ransom Clark. Virtually everyone I know has aided in the quest—people near and far, family, friends, and strangers. The list is staggering. Each one has helped me find a piece of the puzzle. I could never have attempted to recreate his world and his life without your help. I thank you all.

      Members of The Seminole Wars Foundation, and in particular the board of directors, have encouraged and given support to this work, along with their valuable contributions in saving important sites of the wars and publishing both rare and new material on the wars.

      Jackson Walker, noted painter of Florida’s past, has recreated the moment of Clark’s first shoulder wound for the front cover; his painting of Dade’s Battle is on the title page. I can only hope that the text portrays these moments with anything near the accuracy and feeling of Walker’s paintings.

      Debbie Harper, a cherished friend, secretary, and magician, has come to the rescue time and again through the years of research and writing to save me from my own computer missteps and the despair that came from the seeming loss of words, pages, and even chapters. I will be forever grateful.

      June Cussen and Helena Berg at Pineapple Press have been diligent and considerate in preparing this work for publication, gently and diplomatically suggesting a better way around my many errors. And I thank publisher David Cussen who made this publication possible.

      My wife Dale Anne and our daughter Suzanne read the manuscript and suggested modifications that have greatly improved the telling of Clark’s story. Our daughter Amie handled years of email, letters, and phone calls in the quest for all things relating to Clark, in addition to managing our family business. Her patience, her affection, have made all the difference. The encouragement of our daughters Jennifer and Jodi and our son Christopher has helped to justify taking time from the responsibilities of life to indulge the privilege of writing. The work on Dade’s battle has been going on through our children’s entire lifetimes. Each of them has had a hand in the research in both written work and the field, has contributed to the perpetual discussion. Their unqualified support has brought me through.

Preface

      Ransom Clark, private, Company C, Second Regiment of Artillery, joined the army when he was twenty-one. Two years later he was in Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade’s battle with the Seminole Indians in Florida on December 28, 1835. Of the 108 officers and men of Dade’s command, only Clark and one other soldier survived the battle and made it back to Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay. The destruction of this command, nearly one-fifth of the regular force then serving in Florida, was the pretext needed by the United States to begin what was to be the longest Indian war in American history.

      Clark—his right pelvis shattered, a bullet in his right lung, another through his right shoulder—was discharged in May 1836 with a pension of seven dollars a month. He returned to his hometown, Greigsville, New York, married, and had a child. Permanently disabled by his wounds, he attempted to provide for his family by giving lectures on his experiences in Florida. He also wrote a brief account published in 1839 titled The Surprising Adventures of Ransom Clark: Among the Indians in Florida. In his Introduction he wrote: “It is not the design of the subscriber to give . . . a full account of his adventures or disasters. Arrangements, however, are being made . . . to put forth an entire account of his life and adventures. But he was not given time to complete this work. The wound in his shoulder never healed. He died of infection in 1840, age twenty-eight.

      My home is fifteen miles south of Dade’s battlefield, now Dade Battlefield State Historic site. Forty-six years ago I visited the battlefield for the first time. Upon inquiry I found that a history of the battle was not available, only the date and a few names.