The Battle Of Dade

Do you know or have you heard about the battle of Dade? The historical site where this battle took place is preserved at the Dade Battlefield Historic State park in Bushnell Florida. To learn more about this battle and its significance it is necessary to go back to the 1830's.

It was during the years of the 1830's that the rivalry conflict between the U.S. Government and the Seminole Indians was intensifying. In 1821 Florida was acquired from Spain and became a U.S. territory. In just nine years the clash between the white settlers and the Seminole Indians was on the rise. Our president at that time was Andrew Jackson who urged congress to pass the Indian Removal Act. In order to pass this law congress had to ignore the treaty guarantees given to the Seminole's. The law gave authorization for the president to begin negotiations for removal of the southern Indian tribes. The details of the law were simple, the Indians were to move west of the Mississippi River to federal territory in exchange for their ancestral homelands. Many of the Seminoles left peaceably, but some of the Seminole Indians refused to leave. There have been many conflicts or events that have taken place between the U.S. Government and the Seminoles. However on December 28, 1835 the battle of Dade brought the U.S. completely into war with the Seminoles. This would turn out to be the most costly Indian war in U.S. history.

In December of 1835 U.S. soldiers were leaving from Fort Brooke (present day Tampa) on a March up to Fort King (present day Ocala). Leading these soldiers was Major Francis Dade who was part of the one hundred and eight soldiers on this march. These soldiers had one piece of artillery and their mission was to fortify the garrison at Fort King. As they continued toward Fort King the soldiers were vigilant about possible attacks from the Seminoles. By December 28, 1835 the soldiers became relaxed because they were leaving the underbrush and swamps and moving into more open space. The soldiers had no idea that the Seminoles had been following them for days. Major Dade made two mistakes; allowing his men become relaxed from the fear of attack and secondly he had no scouts on his flanks. These two errors became costly and on December 28, 1835 Major Dade was attacked by the Seminoles. The Seminoles were concealed by Palmetto which are a smaller version of the Palm tree. In fact its name Palmetto is a Spanish word that means little palm. Major Dade was completely unaware that they were headed for an ambush. Then shots rang out from the camouflaged positions of the Seminoles. After the first shots were fired about half of the soldiers went down. Major Dade was able to get off one shot from their piece of artillery which paused the battle. It gave Major Dade and his men time to regroup and build a log breastwork. Breastwork is a temporary fortification that is breast high. After the second attack Dade's army was wiped out except for four badly wounded soldiers. Two of those survivors were Thomas and Ransom Clarke who were able to bring word of the attack back to Fort Brook. A third soldier, Joseph Sprague, dyed after reaching Fort Brook. The remaining soldier was killed before he was able to reach the fort.

Today you can see this historic battlefield at the Dade Battlefield Historic National Park. At this park you will find a hiking trail, a visitor center which has information and displays about this historic battle and a twelve minute video about the history of this battle.