Object 71: Dade Pyramids and Monument

On the south side of St. Augustine National Cemetery in Florida, there are three squat pyramids and a single taller obelisk. The Dade Pyramids and Monument, as they are known, mark the resting place of the U.S. soldiers who died in the opening engagement of the Second Seminole War (1835-42). The memorial honors lives lost while also serving as a grim reminder of the brutal conflict that erupted when the Federal government tried to evict the Seminole people from their tribal lands in central Florida.

In 1832, the United States negotiated a treaty signed by only some Seminole chiefs that gave the Seminoles three years to relocate to territory set aside for Native use west of the Mississippi River. Seminole leaders afterwards repudiated the agreement. In 1835, as the treaty deadline approached, both sides braced for battle. A Native leader named Osceola assembled approximately 1,000 warriors to resist any effort by U.S. troops to remove the Seminole.

In late December 1835, Maj. Francis Dade received orders to reinforce Fort King (near present-day Ocala), with the 107 regulars under his command. As the column neared the fort on December 28, Dade, who had been anticipating an ambush for days, grew lax and recalled his scouts. His decision proved fatal.

In a pine barren near present-day Bushnell, Florida, Seminole warriors attacked Dade’s troops from several sides. Dade and many of his fellow officers died in the first volley. Deprived of leadership, the remaining soldiers were unable to mount an effective defense. Only two or three men survived the ambush. It took the U.S. Army over two months to recover the bodies of the deceased and bury them on the battlefield.

The U.S. efforts to subjugate the Seminole turned into a long and costly campaign. The fighting finally petered out in 1842, without a formal agreement to end hostilities. The war inflicted grievous harm on the Seminole people. About 3,000 died during the conflict, including women and children. Most of the survivors moved west, but several hundred refused to accept defeat and took refuge in the Everglades region. The U.S. dead numbered over 1,400. 

In June 1842, Col. William J. Worth ordered the remains of every U.S. soldier who perished during the war transported to St. Augustine for permanent interment in the burial plot at the Army’s St. Francis Barracks. Worth also asked all officers and enlisted personnel in Florida to contribute a day’s pay from their salary to erect a monument to Dade and his men.

He intended to use the donations to construct three “suitable vaults” covered by “unostentatious monuments” for the deceased. The vaults were finished and the remains buried in a large ceremony held on August 15. Three five-foot tall pyramids stood above the vaults. The pyramids were made of coquina, a porous limestone rock composed of seashell fragments native to the area. A smooth layer of stucco painted white coated their exterior.

The estimated 165 persons interred in the vaults included not just the members of Dade’s company but other casualties from the war as well. Worth reported that the vaults and pyramids cost just $41.81, leaving him with $400 in unspent donations. He decided to use the leftover money to add an 18-foot obelisk made of coquina and marble at the burial site. Each side of the obelisk bears a different inscription. The north face reads, “Sacred to the memory of the Officers and Soldiers killed in battle and died in service during the Florida War.”

The memorial attracted its share of visitors, but interest in the pyramids and obelisk  waned over time. In the early 20th century, other sites related to the Dade ambush and the Seminole War came to overshadow this one. In 1921, the Florida state legislature appropriated funds to create a memorial park at the spot where the battle occurred. Initially known as the Dade Massacre Park, the state park has become a popular destination for locales and day-trippers interested in exploring its history or enjoying its many outdoor attractions.

In 1973, VA assumed responsibility for most of the Army’s national cemeteries, including St. Augustine. By then, Florida’s subtropical climate had worn away the stucco exterior of the three Dade Pyramids. VA chose to maintain the pyramids in the condition they were received, meaning without the whitewashed stucco. While the Dade Battlefield Historic State Park draws a crowd to its annual reenactment of the battle, VA performs the somber task of ensuring that the first and oldest memorialization of the U.S. soldiers who died in the Second Seminole War is properly preserved.