LEGENDARY ORLANDO REEVES WAS A REMARKABLE MAN – OR WAS HE?

Last week, Flashback looked at several theories behind the naming of Orlando. Today, more about the legend of Orlando Reeves.

Orlando Reeves was either a militia grunt pulling overnight guard duty, or a renowned warrior given a field promotion to captain in the thick of battle after his unit’s leader was killed.

He either was killed by a sniper’s arrow, or he died in fierce hand-to-hand combat with Seminoles.

Reeves’ death came next to Lake Eola. Or could it have been Lake Minnie (now called Lake Cherokee)?

And then he was buried next to Lake Lawsona. Or maybe it was Lake Eola.

Either he lived, or all of this has been fabricated over the years.

There is no doubt that settlers in this part of Orange County in the mid- and late-1800s told stories about Orlando Reeves.

The people who named the city may even have been influenced by those stories – having assumed they were true since the events they describe would have occurred years before any permanent settler lived here.

Eldon H. Gore, an influential historian, had a lot to do with promoting the Reeves legend.

In his 1949 book, History of Orlando, Gore indicated that proof of Reeves’ service in the military could be found in government records. But later research of War Department records, which remain quite complete dating back to the early 1800s, has turned up no one by that name serving in the U.S. Army in Florida or in a territorial militia.

Still, the stories were told. And they vary considerably in their details.

The version favored by Gore has Reeves standing guard at his militia camp on the east shore of Lake Minnie during the night when he saw what appeared to be a log rolling toward him in the lake. Realizing it was a Seminole, he fired his gun to warn his comrades but was mortally wounded by the Seminole’s arrow.

A memorial to Reeves placed next to Lake Eola by Cherokee Junior High students in 1939 gives the date of the incident as September 1835 and says it happened on Lake Eola.

Another version says Reeves was killed, not by a sniper, but during pitched battle with the Seminoles after his platoon commander had fallen.

“Among the troops was one Orlando Reeves, a daring soldier whose bravery was unquestioned and whose gallant deeds were frequently recounted around the campfire,” according to an account librarian Olive Brumbaugh gave over WDBO radio in 1929, which was reprinted in a newspaper.

“Beloved by all his comrades and feared by the Indians, Orlando could always be found where the fighting was the thickest, with a smile and a word of cheer to ever encourage those about him to deeds of valor. . . .

“In the midst of the onslaught, the commander of the American troops was seriously wounded and with one accord, the soldiers turned to Orlando Reeves as their captain,” said Brumbaugh, librarian of the Albertson Public Library, forerunner of the Orlando Public Library.

Her account is quite florid in its description of Reeves’ bravery: “Leading his comrades on to victory, Orlando Reeves made the supreme sacrifice upon the altar of patriotism in defense of his country’s flag.”

Yet another account says the man for whom the city was named was Orlando Reed, described as a “runner” (probably referring to a mail carrier) between Mellonville (now part of Sanford) and Fort Gatlin, which formed the nucleus of the settlement that later became Orlando.

“He had camped in Orlando with some friends the evening he was killed,” according to a 1936 account attributed to Cy Meanor.

“He was an Englishman, little accustomed to the Indian’s stealthy method of combat. When they hid on the approach of savages, Reed thrust out his head thru curiosity and an arrow struck him full in the face. He died immediately.”

This week in Orange County history:

* Seminole Chief Osuchee and 16 followers were killed or captured near Lake Apopka by an Army infantry company under Gen. Thomas S. Jesup in 1837.

* J.C. Palmer and Dr. J. Howard Johnson bought much of the town of Windermere in 1911.

* Florida Festival, a tourist attraction celebrating Florida, opened in 1980. It later became part of Sea World.

Originally Published: January 18, 1998 at 5:00 AM EST