Conflict: Second Seminole War
Combatants: Americans vs. Seminoles
Location: Florida (USA)
Outcome: Seminole victory
Resistant to being relocated away from their Florida lands, about 180 Seminoles ambushed two companies of American soldiers under the command of Major Francis Dade. Enroute to reinforce Fort King and believing he had passed the likely points of ambush, Dade and his men were unprepared when the Seminoles launched their attack. Dade was killed immediately. Of the 103 American soldiers, only three survived.
Points of Interest:
General Winfield Scott was dispatched to suppress the Seminoles the following February but withdrew in April due to a malaria outbreak.
General Zachary Taylor would effectively break the back of the Seminole uprising two years later at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee.
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Sources:
Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).
Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.
Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
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