DADES DEFEAT
On April 2, 2019 my wife and I traveled down to Tampa Florida to watch my grandson Russell Qualls play in a disabled hockey tournament. Near present day Bushnell Florida I noticed a small brown sign that simply read Dade battlefield. I told her that I wanted to stop there on our way home from Tampa. We followed the signs to the Dade battlefield that was in a beautiful and secluded spot just two miles off of I-75. Making a calculated guess I told my wife that this battle probably had something to do with one of the three Seminole wars that the United States fought intermittently from 1817 until 1858. I am very familiar with the First Seminole War conducted by Andrew Jackson but until I visited this battlefield I knew very little about the Second and Third Seminole Wars. The first war lasted from 1817 until 1818. It was prompted after a boat was attacked in November 1817 commanded by Lieutenant Richard W. Scott coming up the Apalachicola river by the Red Stick Creeks. Only seven soldiers survived out of forty-five and this came to be called the Scott Massacre.
The Indians had been raiding into American territory and using Spanish Florida as a haven but this attack was the straw that broke the camels back. President Monroe authorized Jackson to punish the Indians, even if it meant crossing over into Spanish Florida. This war resulted in the cessation of Florida to the United States by the Adams-Onis treaty in 1819. Another motivation of the Americans was the recapture of escaped slaves from as far away as Virginia and Tennessee. These escaped slaves found refuge among the Seminole and many were adopted into the tribe. In a quick campaign Jackson defeated the Seminoles, burned Seminole villages, and hung two British subjects named Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister. They were accused of giving aide to the Indians. Jackson would capture Saint Marks and Pensacola during this campaign. The formal occupation of Florida began in 1821 and Andrew Jackson was appointed military governor. Florida would become a state on March 3, 1845.
The second Seminole War lasted from 1835 until 1842 and the third war from 1855 until 1858. By the time of the Dade battle Jackson would be well into his second term as president. On May 28, 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which would ultimately be responsible for the second and third Seminole Wars. The Indian Removal Act affected five southeastern tribes. The Cherokee,Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole. In 1823 the government had signed a treaty with the Seminole called the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and the Indians were given a reservation in the central part of Florida. Fort King was built in present day Ocala and the army reported that things were peaceful with the Indians. This peace lasted for about five years. Then the White settlers began demanding that the Indians should be moved into Indian territory which is present day Oklahoma. The status of escaped slaves continued to be a source of irritation. Spain had granted them their freedom but the American's did not recognize this and they were living alongside the Seminole on the reservation. They came to be called the Black Seminoles.
White settlers who owned slaves in Florida had slaves that were escaping and living among the Seminoles also. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act the Seminoles resisted being sent so far away from their home. They began to grow hungry because game was becoming scarce on the reservation. Whites began to fear an Indian uprising or an armed slave rebellion. In the Spring of 1832 seven chiefs agreed to go to the Creek lands in Oklahoma for several months and see the area for themselves. If they liked it they would return and encourage members of their tribe to move there. They signed a statement in Oklahoma that said that they found the land acceptable. Upon their return to Florida most of the chiefs renounced the agreement saying that they had been bullied into signing it. Besides this they said that they had no power over other members of their tribe and could not force them to move. Even some U.S.Army officers agreed that the Indians had been bullied. This treaty became known as the Treaty Of Payne's Landing and it was passed by the Senate in 1834. The treaty gave the Indians three years to move west. The government interpreted the time period as beginning in 1832 and they were to be gone by 1835.
Fort King in Ocala was reopened in 1834 and it was the job of the Indian agent, Wiley Thompson, to talk the Seminoles into moving. He called the Indians together for a meeting but they told him that they were not moving. They said that they were not bound by the Treaty of Payne's landing. Some of the chiefs finally agreed to move but asked to be given until the end of 1835 and Thompson agreed. Things deteriorated and Thompson placed a ban on the sale of guns and ammunition to the Seminole. The great warrior Osceola was angered by this treatment and claimed that the Whites were treating them like the slaves. He told Thompson, "The white man shall not make me black. I will make the white man red with blood; and then blacken him in the sun and rain ... and the buzzard will live upon his flesh." Later Thompson had him locked up and before he could be released made him agree to abide by the Treaty of Payne's Landing. Violence against Whites increased and in August 1835 an Army courier named Private Kinsley Dalton was killed by the Indians traveling from Fort Brooke, present day Tampa, to Fort King. Dalton Georgia would be named after him.
The Indians had been raiding into American territory and using Spanish Florida as a haven but this attack was the straw that broke the camels back. President Monroe authorized Jackson to punish the Indians, even if it meant crossing over into Spanish Florida. This war resulted in the cessation of Florida to the United States by the Adams-Onis treaty in 1819. Another motivation of the Americans was the recapture of escaped slaves from as far away as Virginia and Tennessee. These escaped slaves found refuge among the Seminole and many were adopted into the tribe. In a quick campaign Jackson defeated the Seminoles, burned Seminole villages, and hung two British subjects named Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister. They were accused of giving aide to the Indians. Jackson would capture Saint Marks and Pensacola during this campaign. The formal occupation of Florida began in 1821 and Andrew Jackson was appointed military governor. Florida would become a state on March 3, 1845.
The second Seminole War lasted from 1835 until 1842 and the third war from 1855 until 1858. By the time of the Dade battle Jackson would be well into his second term as president. On May 28, 1830 Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act which would ultimately be responsible for the second and third Seminole Wars. The Indian Removal Act affected five southeastern tribes. The Cherokee,Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek (Muscogee), and Seminole. In 1823 the government had signed a treaty with the Seminole called the Treaty of Moultrie Creek and the Indians were given a reservation in the central part of Florida. Fort King was built in present day Ocala and the army reported that things were peaceful with the Indians. This peace lasted for about five years. Then the White settlers began demanding that the Indians should be moved into Indian territory which is present day Oklahoma. The status of escaped slaves continued to be a source of irritation. Spain had granted them their freedom but the American's did not recognize this and they were living alongside the Seminole on the reservation. They came to be called the Black Seminoles.
White settlers who owned slaves in Florida had slaves that were escaping and living among the Seminoles also. After the passage of the Indian Removal Act the Seminoles resisted being sent so far away from their home. They began to grow hungry because game was becoming scarce on the reservation. Whites began to fear an Indian uprising or an armed slave rebellion. In the Spring of 1832 seven chiefs agreed to go to the Creek lands in Oklahoma for several months and see the area for themselves. If they liked it they would return and encourage members of their tribe to move there. They signed a statement in Oklahoma that said that they found the land acceptable. Upon their return to Florida most of the chiefs renounced the agreement saying that they had been bullied into signing it. Besides this they said that they had no power over other members of their tribe and could not force them to move. Even some U.S.Army officers agreed that the Indians had been bullied. This treaty became known as the Treaty Of Payne's Landing and it was passed by the Senate in 1834. The treaty gave the Indians three years to move west. The government interpreted the time period as beginning in 1832 and they were to be gone by 1835.
Fort King in Ocala was reopened in 1834 and it was the job of the Indian agent, Wiley Thompson, to talk the Seminoles into moving. He called the Indians together for a meeting but they told him that they were not moving. They said that they were not bound by the Treaty of Payne's landing. Some of the chiefs finally agreed to move but asked to be given until the end of 1835 and Thompson agreed. Things deteriorated and Thompson placed a ban on the sale of guns and ammunition to the Seminole. The great warrior Osceola was angered by this treatment and claimed that the Whites were treating them like the slaves. He told Thompson, "The white man shall not make me black. I will make the white man red with blood; and then blacken him in the sun and rain ... and the buzzard will live upon his flesh." Later Thompson had him locked up and before he could be released made him agree to abide by the Treaty of Payne's Landing. Violence against Whites increased and in August 1835 an Army courier named Private Kinsley Dalton was killed by the Indians traveling from Fort Brooke, present day Tampa, to Fort King. Dalton Georgia would be named after him.
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| The Indian reservation after the Treaty of Moultrie Creek |
THE DADE BATTLE
When it sunk in that the Indians weren't leaving, the state of Florida mobilized for war. The Florida militia and the U.S. Army placed themselves on a war footing. White settlers were being massacred and fled to the large towns, forts, or left the state altogether. Osceola captured a militia supply train killing eight soldiers and wounding six. Slaves escaped and joined the Seminoles. At that time the U.S. Army only had 550 soldiers in the state. Fort King had one company of soldiers and it was feared that they would be overrun. Fort Brooke had three companies and two more were on their way to reinforce them. It was decided to send two of the companies at Fort Brooke to reinforce Fort King. Two days before Christmas on December 23, 1835 one hundred and ten men began the march to Fort King on the military road. They were under the command of Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade who was about 42 years old at the time. Dade knew he was being shadowed by the Seminole but he expected to be attacked at river crossings or in the areas that had thicker forests to the south that could conceal the movement of the Indians. When he got into the more open areas that consisted of pines and palmettos he let down his guard and pulled in his flank protection so his men could travel faster.
Today there are still many pines and palmetto's interspersed with oak trees. I read a historical marker that claimed that the oak trees were not there during the battle. In these forest the Indians could easily be seen if they were standing but they hid themselves from view by crawling and crouching. The Indians would probably have attacked sooner but they were waiting to be joined by Osceola's band of warriors. He was determined to kill Indian agent Wiley Thompson, the Indian agent who had humiliated him. Tired of waiting on Osceola the Indians led by leaders such as Micanopy, Alligator, and Jumper ambushed the soldiers. It was around 10:00 A.M. on the cold morning of December 28, 1835. Major Dade was riding a horse and he was the first to die. Half of the soldiers were killed or wounded in this first volley including three of their six officers. In addition to Major Dade, Captain Fraser and Lieutenant Mudge were killed.
The soldiers retreated a short distance and were able to slow down the attack with the single cannon they had brought along. This gave them enough time to build log breastworks. When the Indians resumed their attack the small area of the breastworks made it easier for them to kill the remaining soldiers. All but three soldiers were killed. Private Edward Decourcey survived because he was covered with bodies. Ransom Clark looked dead because he had been wounded five times and was bleeding heavily from his head. Private Joseph Sprague also survived after playing dead. The next day the Seminole pursued the three soldiers and Decourcey was killed. Sprague and Clark eventually made it back to Fort Brooke alive. Clarke collapsed within a mile of the fort and a friendly Indian woman helped him make it the rest of the way to the fort. When the battle ended the Indians stripped and robbed the bodies and around sunset they left the battlefield. After this forty or fifty escaped slaves rode in on horseback and butchered the men who were still alive.
Large plantations were burned and settlers killed all over Florida. By the end of 1836 all but one house in what is now Miami - Dade and Broward counties had been burned by the Indians. Major Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who was with the expedition in February 1836, that found the fallen remains of Dades command, bitterly stated "The government is in the wrong, and this is the chief cause of the persevering opposition of the Indians, who have nobly defended their country against our attempt to enforce a fraudulent treaty. The natives used every means to avoid a war, but were forced into it by the tyranny of our government" This battle was the opening shots of the Second Seminole War. After seven long years of fighting in this war the United States would spend forty million dollars which in today's currency would be the equivalent of one trillion dollars. Over 1,500 soldiers died along with countless numbers of Indians and White settlers.
By 1842 upwards of 4,000 Seminoles were forced to move out to the Creek reservation in Oklahoma. Many battles and skirmishes would be fought but the war would be declared over on august 14th 1842. The Second Seminole War would provide combat experience for many future Civil War officer and generals that fought for the North and South. Major Robert Anderson who defended Fort Sumter, Major General Abner Doubleday USA, Major General Jubal Early, CSA, Brigadier General William S. Harney, USA, General Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, Major General George G. Meade, USA , Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, CSA , General William T. Sherman, USA, Major General George H. Thomas, USA, Braxton Bragg-CSA; Joseph Hooker-USA; Edward Ord-USA; Samuel Heintzelman-USA; William H. T. Walker-CSA; Ambrose Hill-CSA, John Magruder-CSA, and Brigadier General Truman Seymour, USA. The Third and final Seminole War in the 1850's left a population of roughly 200 Seminoles in Florida. By this time the rest of the Seminoles agreed to go to Oklahoma. The remnant that remained hid out in the swamps and places that the White man was unwilling to bother with. The Florida Seminoles of today can trace their heritage back to this stalwart group.
Today there are still many pines and palmetto's interspersed with oak trees. I read a historical marker that claimed that the oak trees were not there during the battle. In these forest the Indians could easily be seen if they were standing but they hid themselves from view by crawling and crouching. The Indians would probably have attacked sooner but they were waiting to be joined by Osceola's band of warriors. He was determined to kill Indian agent Wiley Thompson, the Indian agent who had humiliated him. Tired of waiting on Osceola the Indians led by leaders such as Micanopy, Alligator, and Jumper ambushed the soldiers. It was around 10:00 A.M. on the cold morning of December 28, 1835. Major Dade was riding a horse and he was the first to die. Half of the soldiers were killed or wounded in this first volley including three of their six officers. In addition to Major Dade, Captain Fraser and Lieutenant Mudge were killed.
The soldiers retreated a short distance and were able to slow down the attack with the single cannon they had brought along. This gave them enough time to build log breastworks. When the Indians resumed their attack the small area of the breastworks made it easier for them to kill the remaining soldiers. All but three soldiers were killed. Private Edward Decourcey survived because he was covered with bodies. Ransom Clark looked dead because he had been wounded five times and was bleeding heavily from his head. Private Joseph Sprague also survived after playing dead. The next day the Seminole pursued the three soldiers and Decourcey was killed. Sprague and Clark eventually made it back to Fort Brooke alive. Clarke collapsed within a mile of the fort and a friendly Indian woman helped him make it the rest of the way to the fort. When the battle ended the Indians stripped and robbed the bodies and around sunset they left the battlefield. After this forty or fifty escaped slaves rode in on horseback and butchered the men who were still alive.
Large plantations were burned and settlers killed all over Florida. By the end of 1836 all but one house in what is now Miami - Dade and Broward counties had been burned by the Indians. Major Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who was with the expedition in February 1836, that found the fallen remains of Dades command, bitterly stated "The government is in the wrong, and this is the chief cause of the persevering opposition of the Indians, who have nobly defended their country against our attempt to enforce a fraudulent treaty. The natives used every means to avoid a war, but were forced into it by the tyranny of our government" This battle was the opening shots of the Second Seminole War. After seven long years of fighting in this war the United States would spend forty million dollars which in today's currency would be the equivalent of one trillion dollars. Over 1,500 soldiers died along with countless numbers of Indians and White settlers.
By 1842 upwards of 4,000 Seminoles were forced to move out to the Creek reservation in Oklahoma. Many battles and skirmishes would be fought but the war would be declared over on august 14th 1842. The Second Seminole War would provide combat experience for many future Civil War officer and generals that fought for the North and South. Major Robert Anderson who defended Fort Sumter, Major General Abner Doubleday USA, Major General Jubal Early, CSA, Brigadier General William S. Harney, USA, General Joseph E. Johnston, CSA, Major General George G. Meade, USA , Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton, CSA , General William T. Sherman, USA, Major General George H. Thomas, USA, Braxton Bragg-CSA; Joseph Hooker-USA; Edward Ord-USA; Samuel Heintzelman-USA; William H. T. Walker-CSA; Ambrose Hill-CSA, John Magruder-CSA, and Brigadier General Truman Seymour, USA. The Third and final Seminole War in the 1850's left a population of roughly 200 Seminoles in Florida. By this time the rest of the Seminoles agreed to go to Oklahoma. The remnant that remained hid out in the swamps and places that the White man was unwilling to bother with. The Florida Seminoles of today can trace their heritage back to this stalwart group.
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| The military road |
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| The terrain of the battlefield |
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| The area where the attack began |
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| Where Major Dade fell |
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| The breastworks |
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| An artist depiction of the battle |
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| National cemetery in St. Augustine where the casualties from the Dade battle are buried |
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| Battle relics |
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| A musket of the period |
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