History
of Fort Dade
On
December 23, 1836, exactly one year
after Major Francis L. Dade set
out from Fort Brooke with his men
on their ill-fated march, construction
began on the fort that would carry
his name. It was one of a series
of forts built in the seat of the
war to establish supply lines for
the troops fighting under the command
of Major General Thomas S. Jesup.
Fort Dade was constructed at the
intersection of the Fort King road
and the Withlacoochee River, in
order to protect the bridge there.
The
Fort is Constructed
We
know some details of its construction
from the journals of Lieutenant
Colonel William S. Foster, and Lieutenant
Henry Prince, who had just finished
building Fort Foster north of Tampa
Bay. The fort was square, with blockhouses
at opposite corners. The walls of
the fort were not the standard
vertical pickets, but were made up
of horizontally stacked logs which
connected the blockhouses and
several storehouses. These
two-story blockhouses were sentry
posts, but also provided quarters
for the men.
Fort
Dade’s Role
Before
construction was even completed,
General Jesup set up temporary headquarters
at Fort Dade. It was here on March
6, 1837, that Jesup, along with
five Seminole chiefs and representatives,
signed the Capitulation that effectively
ended the war. The Seminoles agreed
to emigrate, and Jesup, on behalf
of the United States, agreed to
protect and provide for them. For
the next three months the Seminoles
collected supplies from the Army,
and then disappeared overnight on
June 2nd. Fort Dade continued to
serve as an outpost; it was burned
on June 4th, 1838, rebuilt, and
reoccupied seasonally throughout
the war. No signs of its
existence remain today.
Historical
Archaeology
The
Seminole Wars Historic Foundation
has acquired this property, and
in conjunction with the University
of South Florida, and Dr. Brent
Weisman, is sponsoring an archaeological
investigation of Fort Dade. In March
2002, initial surveying and testing
was done. No definitive military
items were recovered, but artifacts
indicating possible military presence
include clay pipe stems and bowl
fragments, cut iron nails and spikes,
and bottle glass, burned glass and
ironstone sherds possibly associated
with this time period. In December
of this year, plans call for establishment
of a mapping and grid system, before
actual excavation begins. - see
Fort Dade Newsletter
Camp Izard
Early
on Sunday morning, February 28,
1836, nearly a thousand US Army
regulars and Louisiana
Volunteers pushed through the thickets
cloaking the steep banks of the Withlacoochee River. Their
objective: cross the river for a
deadly strike against the Seminole
Indians and their Black Seminole
allies who had gathered nearby, in
the Cove of the Withlacoochee, to
fight against U.S. government attempts to
remove them from their
Florida homes. Led by Maj. Gen.
Edmund P. Gaines, the troops began
their march two days earlier at
Fort King. Dragging a six-pound
cannon, the soldiers were ready
for a fight and had been fired on
the previous day.
Upon
his first step into the dark Withlacoochee,
Lt. James Farley Izard fell with
mortal wounds, shot by Seminole
muskets fired from the south bank.
Immediately the Seminoles
poured heavy fire on the advancing
troops "spatter, spatter, then whang! whang!" in the words
of one of the soldiers. The
cannon was fired but to no avail.
Gaines had not expected to
meet such stiff resistance. As
many as 1,500 Seminole warriors
led by Alligator, Jumper, and Osceola
lay concealed behind trees and underbrush
on both sides of the river. The
troops were forced to pull back
behind a hastily constructed log
breastwork, named Camp Izard in
honor of the battle's first casualty.
Sporadic
but heavy Seminole firing held the
soldiers captive behind Camp Izard's
walls through March 6. Rations
ran short and the men were forced
to eat their horses. Peace
talks on March 6 were accidentally
interrupted by Gen. Duncan Clinch's
reinforcements, who fired on the
Seminole delegation. On Marcy
9, Gaines turned his command over
to Clinch and the army retreated
north to Fort Drane. The war
had not ended. For now, the
army had met its match. Six
more years of conflict would take
a heavy toll on both sides.
Five
soldiers were killed during the
Izard battle, 46 wounded. The
Seminoles later reported 33 killed
and five wounded. The Battle
of Camp Izard was the largest and
longest action of the Second Seminole
War. By March 27, Gen. Winfield
Scott reoccupied Camp Izard and
from there swept through the Cove
of the Withlacoochee. But he too
failed to crush the elusive Seminoles.
Among
the infantry soldiers under fire
at Izard was Henry Prince, a
26-year-old 2nd lieutenant from
Eastport, Maine, that state's first
graduate of West Point. Prince kept a journal
of the sights and sounds of battle,
a remarkable eyewitness account
that brings the action alive for
the modern reader.
"the
bullets twitter over our heads like
a rush of blackbirds on a fine morning"
Henry
Prince writing from Camp Izard,
March 5, 1836
Edited
by Frank Laumer and published by the
Foundation in
1998, "Amidst a Storm of Bullets: the
Diary of Lt Henry Prince in Florida
1836-1842" is now reaching
a wide audience with one man's unique
experience of daily life during
the Second Seminole War.
The
Archaeological Investigation
Archaeology
is playing a major role in preserving
the Camp Izard site and understanding
its importance. Using the
Prince account and other military
maps as guides, archaeologists have
located the general area of the
breastwork. Soil stains, topography,
and the recovery of artifacts such
as lead shot all provide clues in
the search for traces of battle
positions. No above-ground
remains of Camp Izard exist. Future
investigations will focus on discovering
areas within the breastwork where
the soldiers cooked and slept and
where the Seminoles were hidden
in the surrounding woods.
Partners
in the Camp Izard Battlefield archaeological
project include the Seminole Wars
Historic Foundation, Inc., Gulf
Florida Archaeological Research
Institute, the Seminole Tribe of
Florida, and the University of South
Florida.
Preserving
the Past
Preserving
Florida's unique natural and cultural
treasures is a goal shared by many
of us. Florida's land acquisition
programs lead the nation in making
public funds and agency support
available for buying lands of critical
environmental and historical importance.
In 1994 the Southwest Florida
Water Management District purchased
the 8,110 acre tract now known as
the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve
with funds from the Save Our Rivers
and Preservation 2000 programs.
Under a special use agreement
lease, the Seminole Wars Historic
Foundation leads research, education,
and management efforts at the Camp
Izard site and several other historically
significant locations.
Camp
Izard is part of the Southwest Florida
Water
Management
District's Halpata Taskanaki Preserve.
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