'Dade Massacre' re-enactment captivates audience

BUSHNELL - About 2,000 visitors and re-enactors were caught up in the sweep of history Saturday at Bushnell, with a similar number on Sunday, on day two of the Dade Battle Re-enactment, complete with soldiers, Seminole warriors and period tradesmen.

As one onlooker, Richard De Fran of Clermont, said on Saturday, "I liked the sweep. I liked the entrance of the soldiers, the attack of the Indians, the firing of the cannons. I like the detail. I liked that the major [Steve Bolt, portraying Lt. William Basinger] put the soldiers through such a rigorous drill beforehand."

De Fran was referring to the soldiers' rehearsal for their final volley. By tradition, once the smoke has cleared at the re-enactment and the "dead" brought back to life, each side salutes the other with their weapons: muskets and cannon for the soldiers, and more modern rifles for the Indians.

As long-time Seminole re-enactor Earl DeBary of Ocala said on Saturday, "Whoever can load faster, and put out the most bullets, wins .Ê.Ê. They [the Seminole] could fire five times a minute, the soldiers two times."

In a reference to the soldiers' muskets, DeBary said, "At 150 yards out, the safest place is right in front of the musket. This guy [his rifle] - at 250 yards I'll bring you down."

He attributes the Seminoles superior firearms to a gift from the government - an inducement to persuade chiefs to move their tribes to Oklahoma. Others say the Seminoles made some good trading decisions leading up to the battle.

The Dade Battle is narrated by the "ghost" of Private Ransom Wilson, who was the only member of Brevet Maj. Francis Langhorne Dade's command to live long enough to tell what happened.

"Yeah, this is the place," the ghost tells his audience. "So much misery and death. They all died here,"

The battle, also known as the Dade Massacre, marked the start the Second Seminole War.

It took place on Dec. 28, 1835, at the same time that Fort King in Ocala was attacked.

The Treaty of Payne's Landing, signed in 1832 by representatives of the United States government and by some of the Seminole chiefs, dictated that the Seminole in Florida would head to reservations west of the Mississippi River.

Some of the Seminole preferred armed resistance. While the dispute between the U.S. and the Seminoles was brewing, a smaller dispute was also brewing.

Seminole Chief Osceola in 1834, was imprisoned for a while by Fort King Indian agent Wiley Thompson for, as Seminole War historian John Missall puts it, "insulting" Thompson.

Missall quotes Osceola as saying to Thompson, on his release, "You will live to regret this day."

When Major Dade left Fort Brooke (modern day Tampa) on Dec. 23, with 108 men, he was headed to Fort King, 100 miles north. His goal was to relieve the soldiers at Fort King and to protect the Indian Agency there.

The goal of the 180 or so Seminole warriors that attacked him on day six of Dade's journey, was to repel the military force that was threatening their homeland. The attack had been planned for over a year.

Chief Osceola was supposed to be part of the attack, but he had other plans. His primary goal seemed to have been taking revenge on Thompson - called General Thompson due to his service in the Georgia militia. At approximately 2:15 p.m., at just about the same time that the battle in present-day Bushnell, was winding down, Osceola and some of his warriors surprised Thompson at Fort King, peppering him with 14 bullet holes. Thompson died, as did an associate who was unfortunate enough to have been caught in the ambush with Thompson.

The ensuing war lasted until 1842. It is generally considered the costliest of the nation's Indian wars, both in terms of lives and of money.

The battles over the weekend were the 27th annual re-enactment of the event.