Fort Basinger's original site is located approximately west of

Fort Pierce, Florida Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Florida’s Atlantic Coast. It is also known as the Sunrise City. Per the 2020 census, the population w ...

, along U. S. Highway 98 in

Highlands County, Florida Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital ...

. It was a

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

with two

blockhouse A blockhouse is a small fortification, usually consisting of one or more rooms with loopholes, allowing its defenders to fire in various directions. It is usually an isolated fort in the form of a single building, serving as a defensive stro ...

s that was built in 1837 by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. It was one of the

military outpost In military terminology, an outpost is a location where detachments of military personnel are stationed at a distance from the main armed force or formation in a region. Outposts are usually located in remote or sparsely populated areas, posi ...

s created during the

Second Seminole War The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between the United States and groups of people collectively known as Seminoles, consisting of Muscogee, Creek and Black Seminoles as well as oth ...

to assist Colonel

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

's troops to confront and capture Seminole Indians and their allies in the central part of the

Florida Territory The Territory of Florida was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 30, 1822, until March 3, 1845, when it was admitted to the Union as the state of Florida. Originally the major portion of the Spanish ...

in the

Lake Okeechobee Lake Okeechobee ( ) is the largest freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Florida. It is the List of largest lakes of the United States by area, eighth-largest natural freshwater lake among the 50 states of the United States and the second-largest ...

region. The Seminole Indians and their allies were resisting forced removal to federal territory west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

as directed by the

Indian Removal Act The Indian Removal Act of 1830 was signed into law on May 28, 1830, by United States president Andrew Jackson. The law, as described by Congress, provided "for an exchange of lands with the Indians residing in any of the states or territories, ...

.Roberts, Robert B. Encyclopedia of Historic Forts: The Military, Pioneer, and Trading Posts of the United States. New York: Macmillan. 1988, p. 169.

Brief History

On December 2, 1837, Colonel Zachary Taylor ordered the construction of

Fort Gardiner Fort Gardiner was a stockaded fortification with two blockhouses that was built in 1837 by the United States Army. It was one of the Outpost (military), military outposts created during the Second Seminole War to assist Colonel Zachary Taylor's t ...

during his Second Seminole War campaign as he marched his troops into the Lake Okeechobee region. Colonel Taylor determined that another

was required further south, so on December 21, 1837, he ordered another fortification constructed to support his plans. This particular fortification was named Fort Basinger after Lieutenant William E. Basinger who was killed during the

Dade battle The Dade battle (often called the Dade massacre) was an 1835 military defeat for the United States Army. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 the U.S. was attempting to force the Seminoles to move away from their land in Florida provided by ...

. Colonel Taylor assigned Captain Monroe of the 4th Artillery in command of Fort Basinger and stationed one company of troops and approximately 85 sick men and some Indians at the fortification. Captain Monroe was also charged with finishing the construction of the blockhouses and stockades around Fort Basinger. The remaining troops marched south from Fort Basinger and on December 25, 1837, they engaged in the

Battle of Lake Okeechobee The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Seminole Wars. It was fought between 1,000 U.S. Army troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, ...

. Colonel Taylor’s detachment suffered 26 killed and 112 wounded and had to retreat back to Fort Basinger. After a short stay at Fort Basinger Colonel Taylor’s detachment made their way to

, where they set up a makeshift hospital. A military escort accompanied many of the wounded soldiers to

Fort Brooke Fort Brooke was a historical military post established at the mouth of the Hillsborough River (Florida), Hillsborough River in present-day Tampa, Florida in 1824. Its original purpose was to serve as a check on and trading post for the native S ...

for additional medical attention.Mahon, John K. History of the Second Seminole War (1967). Gainesville, FL: University of Florida Press. pp. 219-230.Andrews, Mark. Forts Played Role in Florida History. Orlando Sentinel. August 11, 1991. pp. K1, K4. Fort Basinger survived the Second Seminole War and was used by U.S. Army troops and militiamen during the

Third Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were a series of three military conflicts between the United States and the Seminoles that took place in Florida between about 1816 and 1858. The Seminoles are a Native American nation which co ...

(1855–1858). It was eventually abandoned at the end of the Third Seminole War and most likely eroded away.Rolland, Dean. Time and the River. The Orlando Sentinel. October 15, 1967, pp. 6-F, 7-F.

Fort Basinger’s Namesake: William Elon Basinger

William Elon Basinger was born on September 27, 1806, in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. He was the great-grandson of Peter Tondee ( – 1775), who owned and operated Tondee’s Tavern in Savannah, where the first meetings of revolutionary sentiment were held in the

Georgia Colony The Province of Georgia (also Georgia Colony) was one of the Southern Colonies in colonial-era British America. In 1775 it was the last of the Thirteen Colonies to support the American Revolution. The original land grant of the Province of Ge ...

in 1770. Tondee’s Tavern became a hub for opposition to the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

’s control of the Thirteen American Colonies.Lawton, Edward P. William Elon Basinger: A Georgian Who Died for Florida. The Georgia Historical Quarterly. Vol. 45, No. 2 (June, 1961), pp. 105-119.Cullum, George W. Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy. Class of 1830, Vol. 1., p. 448, #588. Basinger obtained an appointment as a U.S. Army cadet at the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

. He entered the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1826. While at the academy his roommate was

Joseph E. Johnston Joseph Eggleston Johnston (February 3, 1807 – March 21, 1891) was an American military officer who served in the United States Army during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848) and the Seminole Wars. After Virginia declared secession from ...

and he was cadet sergeant-major under Cadet Adjutant

Robert E. Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a general officers in the Confederate States Army, Confederate general during the American Civil War, who was appointed the General in Chief of the Armies of the Confederate ...

. He graduated second in his class on July 1, 1830 without a single demerit. He was promoted to second lieutenant, 2nd Artillery on July 1, 1830. In 1831, he served at the garrison at

Fort Moultrie Fort Moultrie is a series of fortifications on Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, built to protect the city of Charleston, South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina. The first fort, formerly named Fort Sullivan, built of Cabbage Pal ...

, and at the

Augusta Arsenal The Augusta Arsenal was a 19th-century fortification in Augusta, Georgia. Established in 1816 and initially completed on the Georgia bank of the Savannah River in 1819, it was moved to the former Belle Vue estate in the Summerville (Augusta, Georgi ...

. He returned to the United States Military Academy as an assistant instructor of infantry tactic from November 24, 1831 to December 19, 1833. From 1834 to 1835, he served at the garrison at

Fort Jackson, Louisiana Fort Jackson is a historic masonry fort located up river from the River mouth, mouth of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. It was constructed as a coastal defense of New Orleans, between 1822 and 1832, and it was a battle s ...

, and at Covington, Louisiana. In 1835, he was transferred to Tampa Bay to prepare for defenses against the uprising Seminole Indians and their allies. On December 23, 1835, Brevet Major

Francis Langhorne Dade Francis Langhorne Dade (February 22, 1792 – December 28, 1835) was a United States Army officer who served in the War of 1812 and the Seminole Wars. Dade was killed in a battle with Seminole Indians that came to be known as the " Dade Massa ...

led a detachment of eight officers, including Lt. Basinger, and 100 troops from

Fort King Fort King (also known as Camp King or Cantonment King) was a United States military fort in north central Florida, near what later developed as the city of Ocala. It was named after U.S. Army Colonel William King, commander of the 4th Infantry Re ...

. On December 28, 1835, this detachment was ambushed by a group of Seminole Indians led by Chief

Micanopy Micanopy (c. 1780 – December 1848 or January 1849), also known as Mick-e-no-páh, Micco-Nuppe, Michenopah, Miccanopa, and Mico-an-opa, and Sint-chakkee ("pond frequenter", as he was known before being selected as chief), was the leading ...

, Ote Emathla (Jumper) and Halpatter Tustenuggee (Alligator) and their allies. Lt. Basinger was the last officer killed, and only two soldiers and their guide Luis Pacheco survived. This battle became known as

Dade's Massacre The Dade battle (often called the Dade massacre) was an 1835 military defeat for the United States Army. Under the Indian Removal Act of 1830 the U.S. was attempting to force the Seminoles to move away from their land in Florida provided by ...

, and it launched the Second Seminole War.Robison, Jim. Dashing Officer (Lt. William Elon Basinger) Among Fallen at Dade Ambush. Orlando Sentinel. December 31, 2000, p. 8. William Elon Basinger is buried in the

St. Augustine National Cemetery St. Augustine National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, St. Augustine in St. Johns County, Florida. Located on the grounds of the active military installation known as St. Francis Barra ...

St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...

. During his burial ceremony Zachary Taylor said, “this day I bury an officer as dear to me as a son and by reason of his untimely death the United States has lost a soldier who would have become one of our great generals."

Site of Fort Basinger

Today, no remnants of Fort Basinger exist, but its site is marked with a Florida Board of Parks and Historic Memorials sign in

. The sign reads, “Col. Zachary Taylor had Fort Basinger built in 1837, during the Seminole Wars, on the Kissimmee River 17 miles above its mouth. It was a small stockade which served as a temporary fort and supply station on the line of forts extending from Tampa to Lake Okeechobee. Named for Lt. William E. Basinger of the 2nd Artillery, who was killed in Dade’s Massacre. The fort was abandoned at the end of the Indian Wars.”

References

External links

2nd Seminole War Fort Diagram (Ft. Micanopy).

Florida Seminole Wars Heritage Trail.

Florida Frontiers: Search on for fort.

New Georgia Encyclopedia - Peter Tondee (ca. 1723-1775).

Find a Grave – William Elon Basinger (1806-1835).

The Seminole Wars - Seminole Nation Museum.
{{Zachary Taylor, state=collapsed

Basinger Basinger is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Barbara Fugger (1419–1497), born Barbara Basinger, German businessperson and banker * David Basinger (fl. from 1986), American academic * Jeanine Basinger (born 1936), Ame ...

Pre-statehood history of Florida Seminole Wars Second Seminole War fortifications