Osceola Strikes Back (1835)

Mon Dec 28, 1835

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On this day in 1835, influential Seminole leader Osceola (1804 - 1838) shot and killed Wiley Thompson, an Indian Agent who had imprisoned him, with Thompson’s own rifle. Thompson had forbidden the sale of guns and ammunition to Seminole people.

Earlier in 1835, Thompson had Osceola imprisoned for two nights in Fort King because he felt disrespected by the Seminole warrior in a verbal disagreement. On December 28th, 1835, Seminole warriors shot and killed Thompson and six others outside Fort King, while another group of Seminole ambushed and killed a column of 100 U.S. troops who were marching from Fort Brooke to Fort King. This event is sometimes called the Dade Massacre or Dade Battle, and was a catalyst for the Second Seminole War.

On October 21st, 1837, in what historian Thom Hatch called “one of the most disgraceful acts in U.S. military history”, Osceola was captured after U.S. forces disingenuously agreed to meet under a white flag of truce. Osceola was arrested along with 81 of his followers. He died in prison a few months later, on January 30th, 1838.