Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1836-03-17
lFrom the Washington Globe.
OFFICIAL.


The following official statement, re-
ce'ved at the Adjutant Generals Office,
gives an interesting account of the re-
con""'ssnnc" o!ihe bs,ile ground, where
The gallant Dade, With his lMtl- communal
met its melancholy fate, in the action
with The Indinns, on the a8th of Drcen,-
Der last. We understand that Major
General Gaines arrived at Fort King,
from Tampa Bay, with his command, on
the 22d of February.
WESTERN DEPARTMENT,
Fort King, Florida, Feb. 22d, 1886.
GENERAL: Agreeably to your direc-
tons, I,observrd the battle ground six
or seven miles north Of the Ouithlacooche
river, where Major Dade and his COM
mand we're destroyed bv the Seminole
Indians on the 28th Of December last, =,
and have the honor to submit the follow
ing report.
The force under your command which
arrived at this post to-day from Tampa
Bay, encamped on the night of the 10Th
inst. on the ground occupied by NJ aor
Dade on the night of the 9th OF Decem-
her. He and his party were destroyed
an the morning Of the 28th of December,
about four miles in advance of that po-
sition. lie was advancing towards this
post, and was attacked from the north, so
that on the Goth inst. we came upon the
rear Of his battle ground about nine o.
clock in the morning. Our advanced
guard had passed the ground without
halting, when the General aud his staff
came upon one Of the most appalling
scenes that can be imagined We first
saw some bro en- and scattered boxes;
then cart, the oxen Of which were ly-
ing dead, M If they had fallen asleep,
their yOkes still on them: little To the
right, one or two horses were seen. We
then came to a small enclosure, made by
telling trees in such manner ns to form
"a triangular breastwork for defence
Within the Triangle, along the north and
west faces of it were about thirty bodies,
mostly mere skeletons, although much OF
the clothing was left upon them. These
were lying, almost every one Of them,
in precisely the position they must have
occupied during the fght-their heads
next to the logs over which they had de-
liverod their fire, and their bodies
stretched with striking regularity paral-
lei to each other. They had evidently
been shot dend at their posts, and In
dinns had not disturbed them, except by
taking the scalI,s of most ofthem. Pas
sing this little breast work we found 9th
er bodies along the road, and by the side
ofthe road, generally behind trees hich
had been resOrtcd to for covers from the
cncmy's fire. Advancing about 200
yards further, we found a cluster of bod
les in the middle OF the road. These
were evidently the advanced guard, and
ia the rear oi which was the body Of
Majcf Dnde, aud to the right, that Of
Captain Fraser. +
These were all dOubilrss shot down on
the first fire of the Indinns, except, per-
haps, Capt. Fraser, who must, however,
have fallen very early in the fight
Those in the road and by the trees, fell
during the first attack. II was during II
c. cessation OF the fire that the little baud !
still remaining, about thirty IN number,
threw up the triangular breast siwOrk,
which, from the haste with which it was
was necessarily defective, ),
and could not protect the men in the Sec
Ond attack. II
We had with us many Of the personal
friends Of the officers of MAJOR Dade's
command, and 1t is gratifying to be able
TO state that every officer was identified
by undoubted evidence. They were bu-
ried, aud the cannon, six FOUNDER, that !,
The Indians had thrown into swamp,
was recovered and placed vertically at
The head "t the grave, where il is TO he
hoped it will long remain. The bodies
pf the non commissioned officers and pr. ',
Yates were buried in two graves, and it
was found that every man was account
I'd for The command was composed Of
rigiit officers and one hundred and two
officers and privates.
The bodies Of eight officers and ninety I,
Eight men were inferred, four men hav-
my escaped; three Of whom reached
Tampa bay; thd fourth was killed the
lay after the battle.
II may be proper to observe, that the
,ttack was not made from IA hammock, /,
mt in a thinlv v wo"led c"uutry; the In
lians being concealed by palmetto and
,rass, which has since been burned.
The two companies were Captain Fra
'er's, of the Sd artillery, and Captain r
J iardiner's, Of the 2d artillery. The
,fficers were Major Dade, of the 4ih ,
Captains Fraser aud Gardiner,
econd Lieut.. Bassinger, brcvet second