The Second Seminole War & Dade’s Massacre
The Second Seminole War & Dade’s Massacre
Following the newly-acquired territory of Florida officially becoming United States territory in March 1822, settlers from the north clashing with the Seminole Indians at their settlement of Tallahassee, caused the then governor of Florida to offer the Indians relocation to a reservation south of where Ocala exists today. The Seminole refused to go, then in 1830 were required to move to land west of the Mississippi. Seminole chiefs signed a treaty agreeing to relocation, but later claimed they were duped and refused to go, bringing about a stalemate. Then a Seminole surprise attack later named the Dade Massacre, resulted in the deaths of over 100 soldiers led by Major Dade, and effectively started the second Seminole war. This essay describes how that assault and the war became pivotal in the future of the Seminole Indians, and ultimately caused their decline and forced relocation.
The Dade massacre was an attack by a force of Seminoles on an army column comprising some eight officers and 102 men including non-commissioned officers. The column was intended as “a show of military strength on the part of the Federal government” and was headed north about 100 miles to Fort King, where the garrison under General Wiley Thompson had been evaluated as unsustainable. According to Roberts, the column was the subject of a Seminole assault, which in the course of a single day wiped out the officers and soldiers, leaving only three wounded survivors who eventually made it to safety.
The loss of the hundred soldiers in the Dade massacre provoked the sending of even more troops into Florida with the express purpose of defeating the Seminoles, thus expanding and extending this second Seminole war which endured until August 1842. Those forces were ultimately successful, having driven the Indians south. In the meantime, Seminole chiefs had on more than one occasion agreed to leave the area, but such agreements always failed, until eventually Osceola was taken captive and in 1938 died whilst still in prison, triggering the decline of the Seminole, who were either killed or captured and forcibly relocated.
Andrew Jackson was clearly the main “player” on the Federal side, having set up the first Florida government and established William Pope Duval as governor, who offered the Seminole their first (rejected) relocation. Andrew Jackson also played a key role as President of the United States when he had Congress pass the Indian Removal Act, which ultimately led to the Dade Massacre and the war. On the Indian side there were a number of Seminole chiefs involved, but Osceola is the one most remembered in history, although there is doubt that he led or was even present at the Dade Massacre as he was allegedly attacking Fort King on the same day.
The Dade Massacre and the war were pivotal events for the Seminole Indians, ultimately causing their decline and forced relocation for the great majority. Having provoked the government into stronger military action by superior forces following the deaths of the Dade troops and the garrison at Fort King, the Seminole occupation of their homelands was sadly doomed to end. Also, once their figurehead and charismatic leader Osceola had been captured and thrown into prison, it is likely that their morale and fighting spirit had been broken.
Bibliography
“Exploring Florida: A Social Studies Resource for Students and Teachers > Florida Then & Now > A Short History of Florida > The Seminole Wars.” Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, University of South Florida, 2002, http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/sem_war/sem_war1.htm
Roberts, Albert, H. “The Dade Massacre.” Florida Historical Society Quarterly Vol. 5 No. 3 (Jan 1927), pp123-138. University of Chicago. Last updated 16 June 2010, http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Florida/_Texts/FHSQ/5/3/Dade_Massacre*.html
