• Read Object 71: Dade Pyramids and Monument

    History of VA in 100 Objects

    Object 71: Dade Pyramids and Monument

    On the south side of Florida’s St. Augustine National Cemetery, three squat pyramids and a single taller obelisk rise from the ground above the other nearby markers and headstones. 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 Florida.