On Dec. 28, 1835, the United States Army suffered one of its worst defeats at the hands of Native Americans. The battle marked the start of the Second Seminole War, the longest and most costly of America’s Indian wars.
In 1821, the U.S. acquired the Florida Territory from Spain. The Seminole Indians were a powerful tribe living in the territory. The government eventually decided that the solution to the Seminole problem was to relocate them in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). Some of the chiefs signed a treaty agreeing to that, but most did not and were determined to fight for their land. Another factor was the Indians gave refuge to runaway slaves.
On Dec. 23, a resupply and reinforcing column left Ft. Brooke on Tampa Bay for Ft. King at present-day Ocala. The 103 soldiers were led by Maj. Francis Dade. He was aware that there might be an Indian attack, but he figured the attack would come at one of the two river crossings or in the thicker woods. When his command had passed those places, he figured the rumor was untrue. He called in his flankers so the double file column could speed up. The Seminoles had been paralleling the Americans from the start. They delayed the attack because they were waiting for Osceola, who was off killing Wiley Thompson, the superintendent for removing the Indians. The Indians eventually got tired of waiting for him and opened the attack. The battle took place in a pine and palmetto forest. The first shot was fired by chief Micanopy and killed Dade. The volley that followed this signal killed about half the soldiers. Those left standing struggled to get their muzzle-loaders out of their coats. Over a few hours, all the whites except three were killed or wounded. The Indians did not do any scalping. They left the area soon after the last shot was fired. At this point, a group of fugitive slaves entered the battle site and killed the wounded and looted the bodies. Only three soldiers survived. They tried to reach Fort King which was 25 miles away. One was tracked down by Indians on horseback. Pvt. Ransom Clark got to the fort and gave the only eye-witness report of the massacre. He died soon after from his wounds. Pvt. Joseph Sprague lived until 1848. The battle initiated Indian raids that hit all but one home in the area. The others were burned. The war lasted four years and there were other small-scale battles. In the end the Seminoles lost and were forced to go to Indian Territory. As far as the title of this anecdote, I used the most common name for the incident. But clearly the Indians were defending their land and it was not a massacre because the losers were not unarmed civilians. It would be better known as the Dade Battle or the Dade Ambush.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dade_battle
https://www.trailoffloridasindianheritage.org/dade-battlefield-state-park/
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