The Seminoles in Florida had grown increasingly furious at attempts by the U.S. Army to forcefully relocate them to a reservation out west and Dade knew his men might be attacked by the Seminole Indians who were shadowing his regiment, but believed that if an attack were to occur, it would come during one of the river crossings or in the thicker woods to the south.

The Seminoles refrained from attacking in the other places, not because they thought they could achieve better surprise later but because they were waiting for Osceola to join them.

They were passing through a high hammock with oaks, pines, cabbage palms, and saw palmetto when a single shot rang out.

[2] Dade, who was on horseback, was killed in the Seminoles' very first shot fired personally by Chief Micanopy, which by pre-arranged plan began the attack.

An eyewitness account by Seminole leader Halpatter Tustenuggee (also known as Chief Alligator) read as follows: "We had been preparing for this more than a year... Just as the day was breaking, we moved out of the swamp into the pine-barren.

"[3][4] The battle began either at 10:00 a.m. (according to Alligator) or at 8 a.m. and ending around 4 p.m. (according to survivor Private Ransom Clark),[5][6] with the Native and Maroon allies leaving around sunset.

"[8] The Indians hadn't scalped or butchered the dead and wounded when they over-ran Dade's men; they were in a hurry and were after guns, ammunition, and supplies.

But when the Indians left the field, "negroes fifty or sixty in number, came up on horseback, entered the enclosure, and commenced hacking and cutting the wounded in a most savage manner...[with] frequent cries of "what have you got to sell?

"[9][10] The next day, a Seminole pursued them on horseback and Decourcey was killed after they had split to avoid joint capture.

A third soldier, Private Joseph Sprague, age 32, born in Vergennes, Vermont, was on his 2nd enlistment and assigned to company B, 3rd Artillery.

In 1837, Louis Pacheco, the mulatto slave who guided and interpreted for the Dade command, resurfaced and gave a third eyewitness account of the battle.

News of the battle was reported in the Daily National Intelligencer, Washington, D.C., in the Wednesday, January 27, 1836, edition as follows: “Major Dade, with seven officers and 110 men, started the day before we arrived, for Fort King.

We were all prepared to overtake them the next day….when an intervention of circumstances deferred it for one day–and in the course of that day, three soldiers, horribly mangled, came into camp, and brought the melancholy tidings that Major Dade, and every officer and man, except themselves, were murdered and terribly mangled.” The impact of the Florida hostilities dominated the national news until later events that year at the Alamo.

Today, annual reenactments detail the battle events at the Dade Battlefield State Historic Site.