The Start of the Second Seminole War
The first significant event, which would be considered the start of hostilities, was the defeat of the column commanded by Brevet Major (Captain) Francis Langhorne Dade. This column included a detachment of Company "B", 4th Infantry , Company "C" and detachments from Companies "B" and "H" of the Second Regiment of Artillery and Company "B" of the 3rd Regiment of Artillery, along with a guide, surgeon, and teamsters. the force totalling approximately 100 men and eight officers bound for Fort King from Fort Brooke, now known as Tampa. Dade's force was told upon leaving Fort Brooke to be ready for any hostilities. There had been reports of recent uprisings north of the reservation and their route would take them into the heart of Seminole country. The messages sent by General Clinch from Fort King were vague in the description of the current situation. In his dispatches he had just stated that he needed troops at Fort King immediately, never stating why.
During the Second Seminole War, Major Francis L. Dade and all but three soldiers of his 110-man detachment were killed on 28 December 1835 during an ambush near Ocala, Florida.
The commanding officer at Fort Brooke took this as the Fort was under seige and needed help immediately. He frantically mustered the force and sent them on their way hoping to send re-enforcements as soon as they arrived by ship at Fort Brooke, which was reported to him as any day. With the hope that they would be able to join up with the column and break the siege of Gen. Clinch's troops at Fort King. The real reason for the message was to state that due to the lack of provisions he was forced to relocate his force to his plantation near Micanopy, Fla. and wanted Fort Brooke to supply the men for the garrison of that fortification. In past engagements the Seminoles perferred the hammocks of Florida, due to their hiding capabilities. Once Dade made it to the pine barrens he believed that there would be little to no trouble on his way to Fort King. On December 28, 1835, near Wahoo Swamp, Chiefs Micanopy, Alligator and Jumper laid in ambush for the column heading to Fort King. This location was one of several sites picked in the pine barrens around the swamp, because the Seminoles knew that the U. S. Forces did not expect to be attacked there. This site was selected primarily because Osceola, who was expected to join in, was late and Micanopy decided to start the engagement there. With swamp land on Dade's flanks the column had only one choice, to fight.
The Seminole force had been covering the U. S. force for many days and knew that their guard was down. Due to normal proceedures the enlisted men had their muskets inside their greatcoats or on the wagons to keep moisture from the weapons. This would have devastating consequences for Dade's men. Hidden by pines and palmettos, 180 Seminoles waited. Their initial musket volley at point blank range killed or wounded half the command. Major Dade and Captain Upton S. Fraser were the first to be killed. Three of the six surviving officers were wounded. Captain George W. Gardiner rallied the men and returned fire with the six-pound cannon.
As the Seminoles withdrew a short distance, the soldiers hastily built a small breastwork made out of logs in a triangle. They then cared for the wounded and collected ammunition from the fallen. The Indians' second attack lasted until about 2 p.m., when all the firing from the breastwork ceased. Most of the command was dead. The Seminoles, followed by their black allies, closed in. Three wounded soldiers, Edwin DeCourcey, Joseph Sprague, and Ransom Clark made it to Fort Brooke alive. Dade's black interpreter, Louis Pacheco, was taken captive. The Seminoles, with only three warriors killed and five wounded, retired to Wahoo Swamp to celebrate.
The scene of the ambush remained deserted for seven weeks. On February 20, 1836, an expedition under General Edmund P. Gaines identified the bodies and gave them proper military burials. The officers' bodies were placed on the east side of the trail, the 98 enlisted men in two graves within the log breastwork. The cannon was retrieved from a nearby pond where the Seminoles had thrown it. They mounted it. Muzzle down, at the head of the officers' grave, as a monument to the dead. Six years later on August 14, 1842, Dade's silent command was laid to rest at the National Cemetery in St. Augustine. This was made possible by contributions from the officers and men of the army. This battle was one of the most terrible defeats ever suffered by the U. S. Army at the hands of the native peoples, second only to Custer's Last Stand.
1836-1846
September 18, 1823 the Treaty of Camp Moultrie, for the Apalachicola clans, was signed. It stipulated that the Seminoles would be reimbursed for cattle, and property for a period of 20 years, all slaves that were taken, up to that time, were to be turned into the proper authorities so they may be return to their owners, and that the clans agreed to be relocated. The date for relocation was debatable. The U. S. believed that it was to be at the earliest convienence. The Seminoles believed that they could stay for 20 years, the period of time the payments were to be received. In order to clarify this the U. S. sought to establish a new treaty with the Seminole nation.
Osceola
On the 9th of May, 1832 the Treaty of Payne's Landing was signed, for the southern clans, by fifteen chiefs of the Florida clans and the United States Government. Under this treaty the Seminole Nation agreed to relocate to Indian Territory. In 1836, this was Arkansas to the western border of Oklahoma. The United States promised to compensate the Seminole for a period of 20 years for cattle, property and/or any other goods owned by the tribe along with rations for a year after their relocation. It also stipulated that the tribe could designate several of their chiefs to go and inspect the land they were to move to, and upon their approval of this land relocation would commence. In 1835, many clans within Florida did not wish to leave as in accordance with the treaties, which they believed were signed under duress. The blacks that were affiliated with the Seminoles as free men were worried about their freedom if removal was to take place. The tribes and their black allies started to prepare for armed resistance against the pending relocation.
Several incidents took place during the later part of 1835 which would rapidly start hostilities between the United States and the tribes in Florida. The first incident in the Florida Territory happened near present day Gainesville, Florida at a settlement called Hog Town. In June a party of seven Seminoles had left the reservation boundary, which was just south of Paynes Prairie, to hunt and gather supplies. The party of Seminoles had five days earlier split up and agreed to regroup near Kanapha Hall, just west of Gainesville. On the 19th of June, five of the seven were camped and waiting for the rest of their group. A party of white men came up upon the group and an altercation soon ensued between them, about the Seminoles being off their reservation and/or the killing of a settler's cow. The white settlers commenced to flogging the Seminoles with their bull whips. At this time the other two Seminoles had just arrived at the predestined meeting place and seeing that their comrades were being battered, shot a volley of musketry at the assailants. An enlivened skirmish soon took place between the whites and Seminoles. In this action one Seminole was killed and another fatally wounded, while the settlers had experienced three men wounded.
The Second Seminole War (1835-42) was the most fierce and costly war in America's history up to that time. Two hundred thousand soldiers fought, at a cost of over $20 million. The war began when some Seminole Indians refused to leave Florida, defying th e Removal Act. They also gave refuge to runaway slaves from Georgia, and the slave owners and plantation framers demanded immediate retribution. The American army committed several atrocities, including hunting Indians with bloodhounds (depicted here), and the capture of the Seminole warrior Osceola while under a flag of truce. The war lasted for more than seven years without ever coming close to a victory on either side, and eventually American troops withdrew. No peace treaty was signed.
Private Dalton was the designated mail carrier for the army on Fort King Road. This road ran from Tampa Bay to Fort King, in present day Ocala. On the 6th of August, 1835 he was on his route when he happened upon six Mecasuky Indians near the Hillsborough Bridge. Dalton not expecting any hostilities rode up on the group. When he approached, one of the Mecasuky grabbed the bridle of his mule and another Indian shot him. The Mecasuky Indians proceeded to mutilate the body of the courier after stripping him of his clothes. They shot the mule and took the saddle and bridle, along with the mail before moving on. There is speculation that the Mecasuky Indians involved were from the tribe of Seminoles that were harrased near Hog Town and were looking for retribution for that incident.
Andrew Jackson
Monday the 28th of December, 1835 General Wiley Thompson (Indian agent assigned to the Seminoles at Fort King) was dining at Mr. Erastus Rogers' (the sutler at Fort King) house with nine other individuals, just outside the gates to Fort King. The forts garrison had just left with General Clinch, for his plantation "Auld Lang Syne", due to the want of food and supplies. Before leaving, General Clinch sent a dispatch to Fort Brooke (present day Tampa) for troops to relieve the garrison. After the soldiers departed, Osceola and a band of supporters who were lying in wait till the column was gone came up on the cabin and fired a volley towards the front door of the house. The door was soon kicked open by the Seminoles and the members of the dinner party that were not killed in the first volley, scrambled for the windows. Several men made it out of the window and ran for the woods, only to be killed by their pursuers. Five of the dinner party survived the ambush and got away to tell their story. General Thompson was found with a total of fifteen musket balls in him. According to reports one of the rounds came from a silver plated rifle that he had given to Osceola in lieu of his help in keeping peace on the reservation. Osceola only a few days previous to this event was arrested by Gen. Thompson for losing his temper and was put in chains by the Indian Agent, this would be his retribution for what Thompson had done to him.
.......FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole! 
