Dade's last command

by Frank Laumer

Dade's Battle in December 1835 precipitated the Second Seminole War. It was the first American war fought over the issue of slavery, Frank Laumer writes, and it occurred principally because of white determination to protect the institution. In their search for runaway slaves, white citizens of Georgia and Florida invaded Seminole land and were met with resistance; violent encounters followed that led to Dade's Battle. As a result, Laumer says, the escape hatch was closed, Native Americans were removed from the land, and Florida was made "safe" for white expansion. Coupling thirty years of research with a passion to understand the fate of Dade's command and the motivations of the Seminoles, Laumer has written a vivid account of the battle that changed Florida's history. After walking the Fort King Road (the route followed by Dade) from Tampa to the battlefield north of the Withlacoochee River - in the complete woolen uniform of an enlisted man, carrying musket, canteen, pack, bayonet, a