Dade Battlefield Historic State Park Arch - Bushnell, Florida, USA
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BoomersOTR
N 28° 39.238 W 082° 07.508
17R E 390045 N 3170166
A gateway arch at the entrance to the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park located in Bushnell, Florida.
Waymark Code: WM17H16
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 02/20/2023
Views: 2
Originally built in the early 1920's at the behest of J.C.B. Koonce who then chaired the Dade Memorial Park Commission this gateway arch was to let those who pass through that they were entering a place of historic reverence.
Nearly 90 years earlier a massacre of American soldiers took place on these hallowed grounds. Also called the Dade Massacre site, it preserves the pre-Second Seminole War battlefield where tribal Seminole warriors fought soldiers under the command of Major Francis L. Dade on December 28, 1835.
The United States government negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1824, placing the Seminoles on a reservation that included the site of the future battle. A combination of white settlers moving onto public land in violation of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, slave hunters trespassing onto the reservation to capture black Seminoles without proof of ownership, and the government's decision to move the Seminoles over the protests of Seminole chiefs infuriated the Seminoles.
At around 8:00 AM on the morning of December 28, 1835, the Seminoles, led by Chief Micanopy, ambushed Major Francis L. Dade and 107 men along a segment of the Fort King Road as Dade and his men traveled to Fort King (present-day Ocala, Florida) to reinforce the troops stationed at Fort King.
Dade, another commanding officer, and the entire left flank, consisting of one-half of the troops, were killed in the first volley. Over the next six hours, Dade's remaining troops and the Seminoles exchanged gunfire; the gunfire ceased as all but three of Dade's men were killed. The Dade Massacre began the Second Seminole War.
Type: Gateway
Subtype: Municipal/Regional Entrance
Location: Dade Battlefield Historic State Park
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