Dade Massacre

The "Dade Massacre" was an 1835 defeat for the United States Army that started the Second Seminole War, which lasted until 1842.

On December 23, 1835, two U.S. companies of 110 troops under Major Francis L. Dade departed from Fort Brooke (present-day Tampa), heading up the King Highway (military road) on a resupply and reinforce mission to Fort King (present-day Ocala). Dade knew his men might be attacked by Seminole Indians who were shadowing his men, but believed that if an attack were to occur, it would occur during one of the river crossings or in the thicker woods to the south. Having passed these, he felt safe and recalled his flanking scouts in order that the command could move faster.

Although the terrain he was now in, pines and palmettos, could not have concealed anyone who was standing or walking, it could and did conceal crouched or prone warriors waiting in ambush. The Seminoles did not refrain from attacking in the other places because they thought they could achieve better surprise later, but because they were waiting for Osceola to join them. They finally gave up waiting and attacked without him. Several Seminoles with their warriors assembled secretly at points along the march. Scouts reportedly watched the troops in their sky-blue uniforms at every foot of the route and sent reports back to the Indian chiefs. The troops marched for five quiet days until December 28th, when they were just south of the present-day city of Bushnell, Florida. They were passing through a high hammock with oaks, pines, cabbage palms, and saw palmetto when a shot rang out. Many sources state that the first storm of bullets brought down Major Dade and half his men.^[1] As it would turn out, In the late afternoon of that day, 180 Seminoles lay in wait approximately 25 miles (40 km) south of Fort King. The Seminoles had terrain and the element of surprise in their favor. Major Dade, who was on horseback, was killed in the Seminoles' very first shot fired personally by Chief Micanopy, which by pre-arranged plan began the attack. Many of the soldiers, in two single file lines, were also quickly killed. Only a few managed to get their flintlock muskets from underneath their heavy winter coats.

An eyewitness account by Seminole leader Halpatter Tustenuggee (Alligator, as the white man called him) read as follows:

"We had been preparing for this more than a year... Just as the day was breaking, we moved out of the swamp into the pine-barren. I counted, by direction of Jumper, one hundred and eighty warriors. Upon approaching the road, each man chose his position on the west side... About nine o'clock in the morning the command approached... So soon as all the soldiers were opposite... Jumper gave the whoop, Micanopy fired the first rifle, the signal agreed upon, when every Indian arose and fired, which laid upon the ground, dead, more than half the white men. The cannon was discharged several times, but the men who loaded it were shot down as soon as the smoke cleared away... As we were returning to the swamp supposing all were dead, an Indian came up and said the white men were building a fort of logs. Jumper and myself, with ten warriors, returned. As we approached, we saw six men behind two logs placed one above another, with the cannon a short distance off... We soon came near, as the balls went over us. They had guns, but no powder, we looked in the boxes afterwards and found they were empty".

Only three U.S. soldiers purportedly survived the attack. One of them was killed the next day by a Seminole. Ransome Clarke, although badly wounded made it back to Fort Brooke, where he provided the only narrative from the Army's side of what had occurred. A third soldier also returned to Fort Brooke, but died a few months later without leaving a report of the battle. The dead soldiers were buried at the site, then disinterred in 1842 and buried in St. Augustine National Cemetery under 3 coquina stone pyramids along with over 1,300 other soldiers who died in the Second Seminole War.^[2]

See also

• Dade Battlefield Historic State Park
• List of massacres in Florida

References

• Mahon, John K. (1992) History of the Second Seminole War 1835-1842. University of Florida Press. P. 106. ISBN 0-8130-1097-7
• Laumer, Frank (1995) Dade's Last Command. University Press of Florida. ISBN 0-8130-1324-0

External links

• Dade Battlefield Society