Current Research: USA - Southeast
Reported by Gifford J. Waters gwaters@flmnh.ufl.edu
(Spring 2008 SHA Newsletter 40[4])
Florida
Fort Dade (submitted by Gary D. Ellis, Michelle Formica, Gulf Archaeology Research Institute, Crystal River, FL):
The Gulf Archaeology Research Institute (GARI) was Volume 41: Number 1 Spring 2008 Page 39 commissioned in 2006 by the Seminole Wars Historic Foundation, Inc. to conduct archaeological investigations to locate, identify, and evaluate the site of Fort Dade, Pasco County, Florida. The Second Seminole War fort, 1837-1839, was named after Major Francis Dade who, along with 108 of his men, was ambushed and massacred fourteen miles north of the Withlacoochee River in December 1835. Fort Dade was built by Lt. Col. William S. Foster to support a key bridge crossing of the Fort Brooke-Fort King Road on the Withlacoochee River. The fort also served as a supply depot for troops campaigning north along the Withlacoochee River. Fort Dade was the location selected by Maj. Gen. Thomas Jessup to convene the historic meeting with Chief Micanopy and other principal Seminole dignitaries that led to the 1837 treaty setting terms for the relocation of the Seminoles to the western territories.
Fort Dade was built on the site of at least two earlier (1835-1837) temporary log breastworks (Camps Birch and Eustis). The breastwork-style fort utilized horizontal log walls. Breastworks were commonly used for short-term fortifications during campaigns and situations where time or the availability of local building materials was insufficient to build a palisade wall. Foster’s troops dismantled and incorporated fortification elements from one or both of the earlier works into the new structure and added at least six structures and two blockhouses. The fort was burned to the ground by the Seminoles sometime after its abandonment in 1839 and the site was re-occupied for short periods thereafter to support military operations in central Florida.
The archaeological investigations follow several seasons of work conducted by the University of South Florida, Department of Anthropology (2002-2003). The current work is designed to locate, identify, and evaluate the nature and extent of the fort remains and provide a management plan for its long-term protection. The archaeological work is employing systematic geomorphic, soil and charcoal/burned wood analyses, remote sensing, and hand excavation units to define the fort’s context.
The work to date has established the presence of burned buildings and a suite of associated in situ building hardware, period glass and whiteware ceramics, shot, and military accoutrements. Nail types and their distribution have provided critical evidence for identifying the presence of fort structures in the sandy riverbank soil. The site has sufficient content and context to contribute to a wide range of historical, archaeological, and historic military architectural research questions for the Second Seminole War. The information recovered to date will support the nomination of Fort Dade to the National Register of Historic Places. The current work will continue through 2008.
