Dade Battlefield Historic State Park is a state park located on County Road 603 between Interstate 75 (Exit 314) and U.S. Route 301 in Sumter County, Florida. The park includes of pine flatwoods and a live oak hammock. Also called the Dade Massacre site, it preserves the Second Seminole War battlefield where tribal Seminole warriors fought soldiers under the command of Major Francis L. Dade on December 28, 1835. Each year, on the weekend after Christmas (as close to the original date as possible), the Dade Battlefield Society sponsors a reenactment of the battle that started the Second Seminole War. Under the title of Dade Battlefield Historic Memorial, it is also a United States National Historic Landmark (designated as such on April 14, 1972). History The Second Seminole War The United States government negotiated the Treaty of Moultrie Creek in 1824, placing the Seminoles on a reservation that included the site of the future battle. A combination of white settlers moving onto public land in violation of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, slave hunters trespassing onto the reservation to capture black Seminoles without proof of ownership, and the government's decision to move the Seminoles over the protests of Seminole chiefs infuriated the Seminoles. At around 8:00 AM on the morning of December 28, 1835, the Seminoles, led by Chief Micanopy, ambushed Major Francis L. Dade and 107 men along a segment of the Fort King Road as Dade and his men traveled to Fort King (present-day Ocala, Florida) to reinforce the troops stationed at Fort King. Dade, another commanding officer, and the entire left flank, consisting of one-half of the troops, were killed in the first volley. Over the next six hours, Dade's remaining troops and the Seminoles exchanged gunfire; the gunfire ceased as all but three of Dade's men were killed. Privates Joseph Sprague and Ransom Clarke returned to Fort Brooke (present-day Tampa, Florida); Sprague later served until the end of the Second Seminole War, and Clarke died from his injuries five years later. The Dade Massacre began the Second Seminole War. Ordered by General Thomas Sidney Jesup to build a supply depot, a regiment of Tennessee militiamen led by Major Robert Armstrong, built Fort Armstrong at the site of Dade's Massacre. From Fort Armstrong, Brigadier General Keith Call led an attack on the Seminoles living in the Wahoo Swamp a few days after the fort's construction ended. Later