Dade Battlefield Society

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On December 28, 1835, a column of 107 officers and men under the command of Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade were 4 days into a 100+ mile march from Fort Brooke (present day Tampa) to Fort King (present day Ocala) to reinforce and resupply Fort King. A little over halfway to Fort King, they were attacked by Seminole warriors in a pine forest in present day Bushnell. Major Dade was killed with the first shot and half the command was wounded or killed with the first volley. As the remaining troops began to take more casualties, they were directed to build defensive walls out of logs called a breastworks. Over the next few hours, troops and Seminoles continued to fight each other. All but 3 soldiers were killed on that day and 1 of those soldiers was killed while attempting to make it back to Fort Brooke. Of the 180 Seminole warriors who fought in the battle, three lost their lives. This battle started the Second Seminole War which lasted until 1842. It was the longest and deadliest of any of the Indian Wars.

The replica breastworks that stands in the park today is a symbolic representation of the battle that took place at what is now Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. In addition to its use during the battle, it also marks the place where the soldiers were buried approximately 2 months after the battle when troops arrived looking for evidence of what occurred. After the Second Seminole War ended, the bodies of Dade’s men were reinterred at St. Francis Barracks in St. Augustine.

Our breastworks is in desperate need of replacement. Years of weather have not been kind to it and we want it to remain a visual reminder of the battle and the lives lost on both sides. We are raising money to replace the entire breastworks with heartier materials so that the public can continue to learn from it for years to come.

Current State of the Breastworks: