Bvt. Major Francis Langhorne Dade
(1792-1835)

Died aged c. 43

Bvt. Major Francis Langhorne Dade was born in Virginia in 1792 but spent most of his life in Florida. During the twenty years that Major Dade served throughout the Territory of Florida, from Pensacola to Key West, his assignments included both leading Seminole Warriors and fighting in campaigns against them. In 1835, he led a command north from Ft. Brooke (Tampa) to relieve Ft. King (Ocala). The command was ambushed by Indians. Of the 108 men, all but three were killed, with Major Dade among the dead. This defeat led to the seven-year Second Seminole War. A fort built on the north bank of the Withlacoochee River was named in honor of Francis Dade. Eventually the civilian community that grew up around Fort Dade began calling itself Dade City.

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Francis Langhorne Dade (1793? – December 28, 1835) was a Brevet Major in the U.S. 4th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, during the Second Seminole War. Dade was killed in a battle with Seminole Indians that came to be known as the "Dade Massacre".

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