Dade Battlefield Reenactment

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The Dade Battlefield Historic State Park is less the 20 miles from camp. We have driven by many times as we head to some other location, but hadn’t gotten around to stopping to check it out. Since it isn’t a “state park” but an “historic state park”, it didn’t have as much appeal to us. I suppose our procrastination worked in our favor, because when Chris investigated what there is to see and do there, she discovered that they hold a battle reenactment on the first full weekend of January. We have never been to any Civil War or Revolutionary War reenactments so it isn’t like we are aficionados of them but we thought this sounded unique and was close enough to check it out. I think for the rest of the year, entrance to the park is $3 per vehicle but during this event, they tack on an additional $5 per person but it is still a reasonable price. We decided to go to the event on Saturday January 1 to kick the New Year off with a bang.

Entrance to Dade Battlefield

A little history about what happened on this site. Florida became a U.S. territory in 1822. Over the next 10 years, there was a lot of friction between the Seminole Indians that had called this place home and the incoming settlers. By 1832, a treaty was signed by some of the tribal leaders to relocate their people to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) but many refused to leave. On December 28, 1835 a column of 107 soldiers was heading from a fort near Tampa Bay to one near Ocala when they were attacked by 180 Seminole warriors. The battle was decisive with all but 3 of the soldiers being killed while only 6 of the warriors perished. It marked the start of the Second Seminole War.

We arrived mid morning and the place is already quite busy. The battle reenactment doesn’t start until 2 PM so we had some time to check out what else is going on. We knew there was a geocache on the park grounds so we headed there first figuring we could get it before even more people show up. Turns out the location of the cache and our timing couldn’t have been much worse. One of the Seminole warriors was giving a talk about the history of this place less than 50 feet from the hiding spot. Worse we’re the several dozen visitors gathered in front of him all facing the spot we needed to search. We change our plan and listen to the talk instead of searching for the cache. I was fascinated by how in to their roles these participants were. This particular person had on face paint and authentic looking clothing. He also seemed to be quite knowledgeable about this battle and what life was like during this time period.

Speaking to Large Audience

Elaborate Clothing and Face Paint

The reenactors actually camp in the park for this event. A large percentage of them had period appropriate tents that didn’t look all that comfortable. In other sections of the park were more of them with present day tents and RVs to provide for a bit more comfort given how chilly it was overnight. From what I could tell, there were likely about 50 to 60 men here to participate in the event but a good number of them had their families with them and many of them were also dressed in their 1830’s attire.

Soldier Poses by Tents

We head over to the large vendor area to check things out. Many of them were selling things that fit in with the theme and time period. If we had needed a coonskin hat or deer antler knife, we would have been all set! The booth that Chris liked the most was the one with goats. There were a couple adult goats and three young ones. When we asked about the kids, the owner said the two larger ones were less than a week old and the small one had just been born the day before.

Vendors at Event

Mama Goat

Day Old Goat Naps

All Three Kids

There were also several food trucks with the standard county fair food choices. We had brought along our lunch so we found a picnic table to eat and people watch. Next we head over to the Seminole encampment. It looked like it was setup to hold quite a few people. The shelters here looked even less comfortable. Fortunately precipitation wasn’t in the forecast. Since we were getting close to the start of the battle, the reenactors were getting prepared which included several on horseback.

Teepee in Seminole Encampment

Horse and Warrior Ready for Battle

Others in Seminole Encampment

Another Seminole Warrior

We follow the crowds over to the actual battlefield for the event. By this time, it was quite warm and I felt sorry for the U.S. troops that had on wool uniforms. There is a large viewing mound that allows the public to have a decent view of the action. It took a bit to figure out the proper seating areas. There were several large bleachers on top of the mound that were furthest from the action but had a decent view. However, there seats were in the full sun and we suspected we would bake in the afternoon sun. Other people had brought along their lawn chairs and were setting them up along one roped off section. We had chairs back in the car but didn’t feel motivated to go get them. We determined that the roped off section in front of the chairs and bleachers on the side of the mound was intended for people to sit on the grass. We found a spot that was in some shade and got situated.

Large Audience Looks On

At the start of the event, several people came out and spoke with the crowd. The sound system wasn’t the greatest so it was difficult to hear each speaker. They gave more background about the event and then we were introduced to our two narrators for the battle - one from each side. The column of soldiers came in from the left along a grassy path. Next to them was a sparse forest with lots of palmettos and low scrub brush. From this forest a shot rang out and the battle began.

Soldier on Horseback

And the Battle Begins

For the next 30 minutes, there was a lot of shooting back and forth. Both sides were using muskets and would actually need to take the time to reload after each shot. The army also had a cannon that would get fired several times during the battle. This was quite loud and startled everybody when it went off. The man in charge of the groups would bark out orders and position his men to defend the area. As soldiers were “shot” they would drop to the ground. One that went down early in the battle initially fell to the ground in a bright, sunlit area but decided to crawl a few feet into the shade to “die” there.

Another Shot Fired

As the battle waged on, more and more soldiers were shot. The remaining troops started to build a small wall made of logs to place the dead and injured soldiers. It didn’t take much longer before most of the soldiers were down and the warriors moved in. As the warriors looked over the dead soldiers, one soldier got up and ran and was shot in the back. That ended the battle and the reenactors got up and did one last volley of shots signifying the end of the reenactment.

Placing the Wounded Behind Log Wall

Warriors Check Soldiers

We headed back over to the soldier’s encampment to find the geocache and spoke with one of the soldiers about how choreographed the battle is. It sounds like the bulk of the action is planned out but sometimes if a soldier’s musket jammed and couldn’t be fired, that soldier would pretend to get shot.

We checked out the inside of the visitor’s center but didn’t spend much more time reading the displays about what happened in the battle since we had first hand experience under our belts. All in all, it was fun and definitely something different from our normal sightseeing activities. If you’re in the area in early January, it would be worth the visit.