Battle of Lake Okeechobee The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Second Seminole War . It was fought between 800 troops of the 1st , 4th , and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers ( under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor ) , and between 380 and 480 Seminoles led by Billy Bowlegs , Abiaca , and Alligator on 25 December 1837 . The Seminole warriors were resisting forced relocation to a reservation out west . Though both the Seminoles and Taylor ' s troops emerged from the battle claiming victory , Taylor was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General as a result , and his nickname of " Old Rough and Ready " came mostly due to this battle . Taylor ' s army came up to a large hammock with half a mile of swamp in front of it . On the far side of the hammock was Lake Okeechobee . Here the saw grass stood five feet high . The mud and water were three feet deep . Horses would be of no use . It was plain that the Seminole meant this to be the battleground . They had cut the grass to provide an open field of fire and had notched the trees to steady their rifles . Their scouts were perched in the treetops to follow every movement of the troops coming up . At about half past noon , the sun shining directly overhead and the air still and quiet , Taylor moved his troops squarely into the center of the swamp . His plan was to make a direct attack rather than encircle the Indians . All his men were on foot . In the first line were the 132 Missouri volunteers . As soon as they came within range , the Indians opened with heavy fire . The volunteers broke , and their commander , Colonel Richard Gentry , fatally wounded , was unable to rally them . The Indians then mounted a counterattack on the remaining soldiers . In the deadly assault some of the soldiers were scalped by the Indians . Gentry had suggested to Taylor before the battle an encirclement strategy which Taylor rejected , charging that Gentry was afraid of a direct confrontation . This could have motivated Gentry to keep charging the Seminole positions even though the original battle plan had the militia retreating at the first sign of enemy fire to re - form behind the regular army lines . As a result of the additional casualties induced by the continued charge , the Missouri Militia fled back across the swamp , where they were too disorganized and disheartened to re - form as planned . The fighting in the saw grass was deadliest for five companies of the Sixth Infantry ; every officer but one , and most of their noncoms were killed or wounded . When that part of the regiment retired a short distance to re - form , they found only four men of these companies unharmed . The 6th Infantry ' s commander , Lieutenant Colonel Alexander R . Thompson , was among the dead . 26 U . S . soldiers , including the majority of Taylor ' s officers and NCOs , were killed , with 112 wounded , against 11 Seminoles killed and 14 wounded . The battle stopped Taylor ' s troops from further advance south ( for the time being ) and no Seminoles were captured , although Taylor did capture 100 ponies and 600 head of cattle . Years later Holata Micco ( also known as Billy Bowlegs ) visited Washington and on being escorted through the buildings of the Capitol and viewing many statues and paintings , he suddenly halted before a portrait of Zachary Taylor , grinned and exclaimed : " Me whip ! " Battlefield Endangered . The National Trust for Historic Preservation placed the site of the Battle of Okeechobee as one of 11 places , in the whole country , on a list of " America ' s Most Endangered Historic Places 2000 " . The state of Florida spent $ 3 . 2 million for a park . An annual battle reenactment is held to raise money for the State park .