Dade Massacre

Significance

The Dade battle was a military defeat for the United States Army occurring in December 1835, early in the Second Seminole War. The engagement took place against the backdrop of U.S. efforts to enforce the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which sought to relocate the Seminoles from their Florida lands, guaranteed under the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, to Indian Territory as stipulated by the Treaty of Payne's Landing. The Seminole resistance that produced this defeat signaled that enforcement of the removal policy would not proceed without substantial armed opposition, setting the conditions for a prolonged conflict that would extend until 1842.

Commanders (7)